It’s been almost a year since the proposed merger between Amazon and MGM was first floated into the realm of possibility. As that deal wound its way through regulatory evaluation and all the motions required to potentially make it a reality, people have wondered how it would affect, among other things, the future of the James Bond movies. Now, with the deal closing at an $8.5 billion acquisition, MGM just got paid a gigantic amount of moolah, which is potentially great news for anyone hoping to see 007 find a permanent streaming home.
Per the announcement from Amazon, MGM has now officially joined the e-commerce giant’s family of companies. Among the statements issued to commemorate this new relationship was one made by the chief operating officer of MGM, Chris Brearton. While no immediate plans were mentioned to bring 007 to Prime Video permanently, here's Brearton's statement, which has us rather hopeful:
We are excited for MGM and its bounty of iconic brands, legendary films and television series, and our incredible team and creative partners to join the Prime Video family. MGM has been responsible for the creation of some of the most well-known and critically acclaimed films and television series of the past century. We look forward to continuing that tradition as we head into this next chapter, coming together with the great team at Prime Video and Amazon Studios to provide audiences with the very best in entertainment for years to come.
In the more immediate future, it sounds like this new corporate entity is intended to provide a more permanent streaming home for MGM’s classic catalog. Which means that, at the very least, we could expect to see all of the James Bond movies through Pierce Brosnan’s run of Bond films returning to Prime Video. We first saw this happen in 2020, in the run up to No Time To Die’s release, and what’s even better is all of the classic 007 films have been presented in 4K as well.
Of course, there’s still a bit of a wrinkle caused by the Daniel Craig reboot era, because what would a James Bond celebration be without some form of rights issues. As Casino Royale through Skyfall were co-productions between MGM and former studio partner Sony, the streaming rights to those installments get a bit complicated. The same can be said for Craig’s dramatic finale No Time To Die, as despite Sony’s lavish bid to stay in the game, those distribution rights went to Universal Pictures.
At the moment, the good news seems to be that the first 20 James Bond movies have a logical home for a streaming friendly future. When or if the Daniel Craig era films will join the party remains to be seen, but if the golden oldies fall into place, you could assume that all it will take is time and money to complete the set. In the meantime, No Time To Die will eventually hit Epix and Paramount+, as that’s the currently negotiated streaming home for the 25th Bond movie.
