Skyfall Writer Fears Amazon Will Water Down James Bond

John Logan, the man who penned the script for the James Bond film, Skyfall, has opened up about his thoughts on the Amazon and MGM Studios deal, and he’s not happy about it.

Logan recently wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times about the Amazon MGM Studios deal and what it means for the future of the James Bond franchise.

It’s a really interesting read, and what I’ll do here for you guys, is give you some of the best bits from his article.

First off, in the article he does take the time to acknowledge that Eon Productions, the production company that has overseen the James Bond franchise for decades, is still technically in charge of the franchise.

They are still a family-run business with Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson at the helm and it’s said that they have ultimate control over the franchise.

However, Logan does state that he’s very worried about how much pressure Amazon can apply to the Eon Productions duo.

James Bond writer thinks that Amazon will water down the franchise

Credit: Universal Pictures

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Here’s what Logan wrote:

What happens if a bruising corporation like Amazon begins to demand a voice in the process?” What happens to the comradeship and the quality control 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? And that English accent’s a bit alienating, so could we have more Americans in the story for marketability?

He then added:

From my experience, here’s what happens to movies when such concerns start invading the creative process. Everything gets watered down to the most anodyne and easily consumable version of itself. The movie becomes an inoffensive shadow of a thing, not the thing itself.

Amazon needs to let James Bond’s producers do what they do best

Credit: Universal Pictures

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Logan then credits Broccoli and Wilson as the main reason why the franchise has stood the test of time, and also worries about what Amazon will do to Bond’s legacy.

According to Logan, making a Bond film is like a lively discussion at a family table, one where no executives are present to run the numbers on an idea (which is how films should be made).

“That’s why we don’t have a mammoth Bond Cinematic Universe, with endless anaemic variations of 007 sprouting up on TV or streaming or in spinoff movies. The Bond movies are truly the most bespoke and handmade films I’ve ever worked on. That’s why they are original, thorny, eccentric and special. They were never created with lawyers and accountants and e-commerce mass marketing pollsters hovering in the background.”

What do you make of this news?

Are you looking forward to watching future James Bond movies from Amazon Studios?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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