It is more than two years since No Time To Die drew a firm line under the Daniel Craig era (if you somehow haven't learned why, we won't specify lest you explode with fury). And in that time, we've had plenty of speculation over who will inherit the guns, gadgets and guts of the James Bond character. And because of how the character has been going, probably a dollop of existential angst. But according to Bond boss Barbara Broccoli, we shouldn't expect much movement on any future movies just yet.
Talking to The Guardian, Broccoli admitted that she and producing partner/half-brother Michael G. Wilson are taking their time: “I think these movies reflect the time they are in, and there’s a big, big road ahead reinventing it for the next chapter and we haven’t even begun with that.”
And she reflects on the fact that the franchise has been counted out before: “I go back to GoldenEye when everyone was saying, ‘the cold war is over, the wall is over, Bond is dead, no need for Bond, the whole world’s at peace and now there’s no villains’ — and boy was that wrong!”
The Craig era was a chance to rework the series, to mostly successful effect. But even with Amazon buying MGM and therefore the rights to release the Bond movies and make other projects based on the idea, don't go expecting an MCU-alike swathe of TV spin-offs.
"We make the Bond movies for the big theatrical screen and everything about the Bond movies is for audiences to see around the world on that format," says Broccoli, "so we’ve not wanted to do television."
That's not strictly true, though — there is reality competition series 007: Road To A Million, which sees Brian Cox sending pairs of everyday people enduring physical and psychological challenges in Bond-related locations to win £1 million. That'll launch on Prime Video on 10 November (see the trailer here). For more from Broccoli, head to The Guardian's site.