It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
Having worked for Amazon, I have a first hand experience of what they are like to work for. All the things said reported about how they treat their staff, true. They should not be allowed to get away with it, but they are. The company doesn’t give a rats ass, as once they’ve given you the Spanish archer, or you’ve left on your own choice, they get one of the agencies they work with, to send in the next poor sod.
Amazon bad treatment of staff is well known and bezos should accept the blame for this ?
The biggest reason is that I don’t want anything to do with Amazon ever again and I hate Bezos and the way he s**** on everything, especially his poor workers. I refuse to give that rat bastard another cent. For the love of all that’s good in the world, keep your damn hands off Bond, Ernst Stavro Bezos. X(
Presumably the Bond films would still be out on Blu-ray.
MGM is not really MGM anymore except in name. For example, Sony bought the MGM studio lot decades ago.
I agree with your first part. But I do think the long gaps will be eliminated, if mostly because it was MGM's financial crap that caused most of the headaches to begin with. I'm hoping that Amazon will make MGM more viable.
Maybe the deal makes sense: Bezos resembles someone we know. ;)
The part I don't know anything about is how cautious Eon needs to be at the moment on a film by film basis, because MGM's and their own finances are so dependent on the previous Bond film working out. Maybe Amazon can go to them and basically say: We assure you today that we are going to finance three films at X budget in the next 10 years, go and do it. Instead of having to wait what the income from the previous one is and then putting all of that in the next basket again.
I dislike these Disney timelines where they tell you the opening date for all of their films for the next 5 years, but something like that would be a nice salve after this whole NTTD farago.
As an aside: The "expansion" of the franchise I would like, is a series of documentaries. But sadly, that doesn't really seem like Amazon's wheelhouse (although I might be wrong)
Very much agree - this could be a sort of "best of both worlds" scenario. So many of the troubles during the last few decades (!) has been because of legal and financial wrangling, not artistic or box-office problems.
On everything (including the novels) with Bond on it, the blurb says that Danjaq owns the trademark of James Bond 007, so I think you're right.
I think they probably own the movie (or maybe even audiovisual) rights to all Fleming Bond stories too, don't they? MGM own, I would guess, all of the existing Bond movies.
So the new owner would control any dvd/bluray releases. And anything else not film finance related is controlled by EON/IFF. Interestingly international release is not controlled by MGM so Amazon may not be able to exclusively stream outside the USA
Maybe that makes it a tiny bit clearer.
Danjaq seemingly control the full rights to make films based on the literary works (that isn't in here, but we know from Casino Royale and SPECTRE that they now also have the Ratoff/Feldman rights to CR and the McClory rights to Thunderball). The copyrights to the first 20 films specifically are shared by Danjaq/Eon and MGM and (and I didn't know this before) the copyrights to the Craig run are shared by Danjaq/Eon, MGM and Columbia. Eon and MGM have an agreement, that MGM is the distributor for all future films. The way I understand copyright, that would mean Eon could go and try to do a new series, based on the books alone, but they wouldn't be allowed to use anything that originated in the films without MGM's approval and without MGM distributing. They clearly aren't going to do that.
On the other hand, I don't think there is any case for MGM to do anything Bond related without Eon's approval.
(I am not a lawyer. Just to be clear)
That's very interesting: I had no idea that the Craig films were kind of a different beast to the rest.
Yes I would say that's definitely true: Danjaq own James Bond- I don't think anyone can technically do anything Bond-related without their approval (including Ian Fleming Publications).
As I vaguely understand it, MGM stump up the cash and Eon make the films for them: it's a bit like paying a builder to put up a shed for you- you own the shed as you paid for it, but you don't own the tools the builder used to make it, the 'tools' in this case being James Bond 007.
(Although in this case the builder owns a share in the finished shed, so it doesn't quite work! :) )
This kind of double-veto situation of course can always lead to stalemates, where everything is blocked by one of the partners. We have already had that in the life of the franchise and these entities have of course previously sued each other. But I think everyone involved is aware that they have a golden goose on their hands.
The other variable is of course Danjaq being sold, possibly to whoever owns MGM in the future. Then one entity would have full control over the franchise and could do whatever they want.
I guess that's possible, but in a way I can't imagine them doing that- it's certainly hard to imagine that messrs Wilson and Broccoli will be short of cash any time soon. It would make more sense to sell Eon if they ever wanted to retire and continue to cream off the profits of owning Bond by retaining Danjaq.
I expect it's not as simple as that! :D In fact I guess anyone who bought Eon would want Danjaq, as what's to stop Danjaq creating a new production company and making new Bond films?
Bezos is vile. However, I really want this deal to happen.
Personally, I think Prime Video is a really great service. I use it a lot...Perhaps even more than Netflix. Its originals are a little sparse, but it has a deep bench of other titles available and there are plenty of cheap rentals. In fact, when I want to watch a Bond film these days I rent it through Prime Video! The thought of having all the Bond films on 4K in one place for the price of my regular subscription is tantalising!
I was reading some comments on the first page of this thread about how Netflix's attempt to shorten the theatrical window to 45 days was sacrilegious. Well, perhaps in 2019 it was. Moving past 2021, it will soon become the norm. Having a company like Amazon behind 007 gives the franchise stability and a 'home.' MGM alone couldn't provide that. They needed partners for their franchise material. Now they are part of the streaming arms' race and have sided with a very powerful player.
Amazon probably want spin-off's from Bond. Will they get it? It's too early to tell. We know Eon wanted to do a Jinx movie in 2002. However, they have actively spoken out against building a 'Marvel Cinematic Universe' franchise, with Barbara saying: "I think Bond lives in his own universe. I don’t think he wants to share it with anyone else." We know that Naomie Harris and Barry Jenkins pitched a Moneypenny film and Barbara said no.
My hope is that Amazon will put their attention in getting Bond 26 out sooner than later. That could be a potential $1billion theatrical release (if they get the right actor and let it play in cinemas) and eventually a massive streaming hit. One thing I hope they do instead of a 'Bond universe' is to do what Infinity War/Endgame did and what Mission Impossible 7 and 8 will do. Give us a two-part story with Bond!
EON has been very successful. I doubt Amazon will mess with that too much, except in getting films out quicker. Bond is the only viable product that MGM has (aside from Rocky/Creed).
Trademark, in the US at least, has to do with usage. So as long as Eon keeps *making* films, it is theirs to use...
The smartest thing MGW ever did (I'm assuming he was behind the purchases) was to buy back the rights to CR and TB. Eon has millions and that knocked out any competitors.
Yes, I know Eon's copyright *might* expire (lobbyists keep extending them), but Disney's copyrights helpfully expire before Eon's, so Eon can just ride the coattails of Disney's lawyers/lobbyists...
Not necessarily even that if usage is all it takes: just more reprints of the Fleming novels potentially.
https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmcase/page/Results/1/UK00914737407
I checked for Casino Royale and naturally Danjaq have that pretty much on everything too: https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmcase/page/Results/1/UK00904812418
but amusingly there's another Casino Royale trademark which was incorporated in, where else? Montenegro :)
https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmcase/page/Results/1/UK00801199970