No, absolutely not.
Like many long-running franchises, it is a sliding timescale. Each movie is more or less set in the present day (to the production) with previous movies having happened in the fairly recent past.
Not true. There were several references to Bond’s marriage, for example. And Craig had the car from Goldfinger.
Yes Tracey’s death is mentioned/referenced in TSWLM and FYEO when Moore was Bond, and again in LTK with Dalton. Connery is also going after Blofeld in retaliation for her death at the start of DAF, although it’s not directly referenced. So you can say that Connery, Lazenby, Moore and Dalton are all Bond in the same universe. You could argue that Brosnan exists in a separate universe, and then Craig another again.
The Goldfinger DB5 thing in Skyfall is just silly. Bond wins a ‘normal’ DB5 in CR, which then somehow turns into the gadget-laden version kept in a lockup in Skyfall.
like Felix Leiter changed how many times?
BTW, it’s not clear how much money Amazon paid to the Broccoli family for full control over the James Bond franchise, but one article I saw said that the $8.5 billion that Amazon spent to buy MGM (including partial ownership of the franchise) was mostly for it.
Estimate is $1 billion:
Thanks. So roughly ten billion dollars, mostly for ownership of the James Bond franchise. I read something once that the big studios each want or have multiple tentpole franchises. So taking Warner Bros, for example, their tentpole franchises might be the DC comic book movies, the Harry Potter movies, the Lord of the Rings movies and the Lego movies. Each of these franchises might produce one or more billion-dollar movie each year or two.
There’s a podcast I enjoy called The Rest is Entertainment, starring comic/author Richard Osman and Guardian columnist Marina Hyde, that tackled the behind-the-scenes stuff about the Bond sale, and is worth a listen. Hyde says she’s spoken to insiders at both Amazon and Eon, and what she reports has the whiff of truth to it, IMHO.
The TL;dr of it: Barbara Broccoli was very emotionally invested in Daniel Craig, as he was the first Bond that she cast for the role (her father Cubby had chosen Brosnan), and not only did she let him somewhat dictate how his arc would wrap up (he had a producer credit on No Time To Die) she was also kind of at loose ends after he left. And if the franchise was going to do something so bold as to kill 007 at the end of the film, they should have already had a plan as to how to bring him back once it had been cast for a new film (I’m assuming everyone here saw the movie, but I covered the spoilers just in case), but the producing/writing team went ahead and filmed NTTD without the slightest plans for what comes next. And this left the series in a really precarious position. Add that to her sense of loss about Craig, and she was more willing to sell than she would have been otherwise.
Even though it’s assumed that James Bond should be a continually updated franchise that never ends, I’m surprised that there hasn’t been anyone to suggest (like they do for a lot of other franchises) that it should quietly retire. Just end it, or take an extended break. Spin-offs about other ancillary characters can keep it alive financially, but actual Bond should be sequestered.
This will never happen as long as there are stockholders waiting on the ROI.
Variety has an article on the change. It mentions that the Broccolis retain a small stake in the franchise although Amazon MGM is running things now. And the article mentions the need for someone to take the lead in running the franchise, much as Kevin Feige does for the Marvel movies.
All right, you’ve twisted my arm, I’ll do it. I’ve watched nearly half of them, that should be enough, right?
That would really run the risk of the general public forgetting about it, I think. Sure, Craig has a lot of young fans, but I imagine the majority of Bond fans, the ones who show up every time, who have some history with the series, skews older. I’ve been watching them since I was a kid on TV, and haven’t missed one in the theatre since I saw The Living Daylights, and I’m 51. If it goes on a decade-or-more hiatus, they’ll need to introduce the character anew to a whole generation of audiences and that’ll be an uphill battle, if they retain all the elements that make him Bond, and don’t tweak it to an insanely pandering hip level.
Maybe if you’re helming nu-Star Trek, but that won’t work for Bond.
I’ll have to do it. Sigh.
A couple well-known producers–but more interesting would be who would be the directors and new 007.
The producers are a hint at the tone?
Bond franchises have varied in how much they lean into gritty complex characters vs comedic or even camp. Neither the Spider-Man or the Harry Potter franchises have been on the gritty side. Not fully camp or tongue in cheek either. Plus side is that neither have used special effects as a substitute for good story telling and characters you care about. Good FX generally served functions rather than there for its own sake.
It makes me hopeful that they will succeed in hitting a balance. Taika Waititi being given the reins, to bring some silly fun with serious action like he did for the Thor character.
I think the point is the producers they hired have experience managing a major franchise.
Was there any question about that happening? Did anyone think they would give the production of this huge investment to a newbie?
Still some experienced franchise producers are known for setting one sort of tone or another, for making conservative decisions on what creative talent to hire or being willing to swing bigger and … different. How goofy or dark the movies end up being. Or if they aim for a balance of the elements of some sort. Do we get a wise cracking Bond in a Spiderman flavor? A self doubting Bond who nevertheless is a chosen one fighting evil?
Both franchises are also generally considered loyal to their respective source materials, so there’s that.
I happened to visit the 007 exhibit at the Griffin Museum of Science & Industry today. There were some meh parts but the good stuff was really cool. All the vehicles were great: the assult boat, the submar-Lotus, switchblade wingsuit, assorted AMs. There were some amazing hero props like Jaws’ steel teeth and the Golden Gun, a Moonraker pistol, the cello case sled. Hurry, I think it closes in a few weeks!