The 2025 movie schedule has been a pretty rough time to be a 007 fan. With Amazon-MGM’s creative control deal putting them in the driver’s seat for the road ahead, and those recent Bond copyright issues threatening to derail Bond 26’s rumored production/release schedule, no one knows when or how James Bond will return.
It's the perfect time for something like the announcement trailer for IO Interactive’s 007 First Light to hit, and if the movies are given this much care, I’m even more optimistic about the future. Revealing the first public look at what was once called Project 007, that reel has taken the first steps into this modern stand alone prequel. Per reporting out of PlayStation’s official blog, here’s what to expect from young James:
This is Bond as you’ve never seen him before — the youngest Bond fans have ever met. In 007 First Light, at only 26 years old, he isn’t the fully fledged 007 you know from the tux-and-martini days but a man with sharp instincts, sometimes reckless, who is still learning when to fight, when to bluff, and when to disappear into the shadows.
Now unless we’ve discarded Charlie Higson’s Young Bond books, this 007 First Light claim is absolutely true. But putting that nitpick aside, we’ll be seeing James Bond grabbing the spotlight after showing his pattern of risky behavior that goes against rules and regulations.
What’s more, Amazon-MGM Studios has collaborated with IO Interactive on First Light’s story. With all respect to the good people at EON Productions, it looks like previous James Bond game restrictions are now officially out the window.
Gunplay is definitely on the table here, as are car chases, Roger Moore-style pick-up lines, and a new version of the On Her Majesty’s Secret Service theme I need an MP3 of at once. We’re going to see young James Bond “earn the number,” as the game’s tagline states. It’s a refreshingly modern looking take that's reminiscent of when Casino Royale rebooted the Bond legacy in 2006.
Despite sounding like a more modern reinvention that discards the past, there are a lot of classic references throughout 007 First Light. The Alpha build footage shows us a chess game similar to the one in From Russia with Love, Bond wearing a jacket styled like the one in Dr. No, and various outfits and locations that nod to every era of James Bond movies.
Mixing those two halves together in the way that First Light has is key to making a good James Bond story - no matter what medium it's in. So if this is the first inkling of what Amazon-MGM's reign will give audience in James Bond 26, consider my ticket already bought.
007 First Light doesn’t have a release date, but is scheduled to be released at some point in 2026. Let’s just hope this title and Grand Theft Auto VI stay clear out of each other’s way, so as not to collapse the internet, massive world economies and countless relationships in their wake.
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