Perhaps it was inevitable. James Bond is going to work for Amazon.
This week it was announced that after 25 films, from Dr. No in 1962, with Sean Connery as the first to portray Ian Fleming's Bond, to No Time to Die in 2021 starring Daniel Craig, Amazon MGM Studios will take creative control of the James Bond franchise.
"We are honoured to continue this treasured heritage," Mike Hopkins, head of the studios, said in a statement that includes the Anglo "u" in honoured, "and look forward to ushering in the next phase of the legendary 007 for audiences around the world."
Amazon, of course, owns more than a hundred companies, including Whole Foods, Zappos, Twitch, and Woot!
The company is also, we must disclose, among NPR's financial supporters, though we cover them like we do any other business.
Some voices in the entertainment industry expressed concern that Amazon might change the Bond franchise, perhaps by switching formats from movies to streaming series. But I think Amazon stewardship might offer creative possibilities for subtle promotion.
Under Amazon, 007 wouldn't have to be a license to kill, but a discount code. Just enter your three-digits here!
The next time you see Bond, James Bond, drift from a plane under the billows of a Union Jack parachute, he may be delivering cat food, dental floss, and an eight-pack of tube socks to an Amazon customer.
An Aston-Martin whizzing over twisting roads in the French Alps might be 007 bringing a pet hair roller and a squeaky duck toy to a Prime member. With free shipping!
And why should James Bond risk his life by leaping from the Eiffel Tower, or bungee jumping down a Swiss dam?
These days, Amazon can discover just about any intimate detail about an evil genius through algorithms gleaned from their searches for a shower caddy, light therapy lamp, and truffle salt. Overnight delivery if ordered by 4 pm today!
Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder and executive chairman, also owns The Washington Post. Perhaps the next James Bond could be skilled in the martial arts and marksmanship, heli skiing, deep sea diving, and martinis shaken, not stirred, who is posing as a daring and stylish…news reporter.
But who would ever believe that?
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