James Bond has faced many villains in his time as 007, but if you ask Oscar-nominated screenwriter John Logan, who shepherded Bond through his adventures Skyfall and SPECTRE, the superspy may have met his match in Amazon.
The corporate giant recently purchased Bond’s studio, MGM — and its entire library of thousands of films — for more than $8.4 billion, and, in an op-ed for The New York Times, Logan says when he heard the news, “a chill went through me.”
Logan insists that Amazon is, “a global technology company…not necessarily a champion or guardian of artistic creativity or original entertainment.”
He adds, “I know that Bond isn’t just another franchise, not a Marvel or a DC; it is a family business that has been carefully nurtured and shepherded through the changing times by the Broccoli/Wilson family.”
Logan is referring to Barbara Broccoli, whose father, Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, famously produced — and protected — the franchise for decades. After her father’s death in 1996, Barbara and her half-brother, Michael G. Wilson, took over the franchise, producing the movies through MGM.
Logan asks rhetorically, “What happens if a bruising corporation like Amazon begins to demand a voice in the process? What happens…if there’s an Amazonian overlord with analytics parsing every decision? What happens when a focus group reports they don’t like Bond drinking martinis? Or killing quite so many people?”
In closing, Logan says, “Please let 007 drink his martinis in peace. Don’t shake him, don’t stir him.”
The latest 007 film, the pandemic-delayed No Time To Die, finally hits theaters October 8.
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