camillia-khamedoost

[camillia-khamedoost]

Remembering 2001: A Space Odyssey and its infamous score

Stanley Kubrick’s psychedelic science fiction, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), was one of the most revolutionary and experimental films of its time. The concept of the exploration of space and “the infinite” on screen was unheard of, and the film’s special effects and the departure from conventional storytelling sparked conversation amongst film lovers of the late 1960’s. However, the film would not hold the same effect that it does today if not for the careful selection of its score, which captivated audiences throughout the nation. 

Kubrick took it upon himself to scratch the original soundtrack that was made for the film, and instead chose classical pieces to fully capture the vision he had for 2001. One selection specifically involved György Ligeti's Requiem, a piece that appeared alongside the film’s famous black monolith and contributed to the mysterious and ominous association that we have with the structure. As seen during the apes’ discovery of the tool and man’s discovery during space exploration on the Moon, Requiem continuously created an eerie and daunting atmosphere and personified 2001’s black monolith. 

The first instance where Requiem was played was during the introduction of the monolith, which we later come to find is associated with the evolution of mankind. The monolith is confronted by many apes, who spend time observing and contemplating what the structure is and why it has arrived. Following this encounter, the apes discover that a bone can be used as a weapon or tool, implying that the monolith gave the apes the power to evolve and adapt. Requiem, which can be mostly compared to sounds of monks chanting, bees swarming, or ghosts lingering, was essential in this advancement. These dragged-out frequencies of ringing and almost screeching are haunting and add to the monolith's mystery. 

The following encounter with the monolith involves a space team on one of the Moon’s craters. The same track again ignites this menacing and forbidden quality as Man discovers the monolith. Here, the song is truly associated with the feeling of the monolith, being the second time we have seen them juxtaposed, and the audience is conditioned to expect a technological advancement. Requiem slowly increases in volume to create a panicked and anxiety-ridden sound that captures what the astronauts may have been feeling in the void of space during this new finding. 

Requiem begins by giving off an essence of humming or almost inanimate noises, and then slowly transitions into the sounds of humans or some sort of chanting or whispering. This personifies the monolith and adds to the eerie quality while also furthering the question of why is it here and how it is communicating to mankind? 

During this second encounter with Requiem, however, the astronauts are met with an alarm or siren that becomes unbearable to their ears just as they try to capture a photograph of the monolith. We conclude that the monolith doesn’t want to be captured on camera because the discovery should not be released to all of mankind. The monolith is personified and is emitting these unearthly sounds to warn the explorers and advance the plot. 

György Ligeti's Requiem was essentially the most memorable track that 2001 had to offer, and the bizarreness added to the curiosity of the characters and the viewer. The looming score replayed throughout the film and was crucial to its strange narrative. Kubrick’s selection of the music made the black, shapeless, inconclusive monolith all the more peculiar and catalyzed the evolution of the characters throughout the transformative film.

[camillia-khamedoost]

Who shapes culture? On Marvel Studios and the Frankfurt School

Today, Deadline reported that Marvel and Sony’s new Spiderman film, No Way Home, has surpassed Avatar as the third highest-grossing domestic film of all time at $760 million. This number is $100 million shy of Avengers: Endgame’s record, which earned second place on this same list in 2019. 

Marvel Studios has continued to have a hold over theatrical audiences for the past decade, however, despite their impressive numbers, the studio is met with a lot of criticism by film geeks, specifically in online chat forums. Audiences continue to debate whether all Marvel movies are telling the same story, and this discussion goes much deeper. Do corporations know of a winning formula that sells, and are they feeding it to us without our knowing? 

Critical theorists and members of the Frankfurt School Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer consider this phenomenon in their 1947 academic publication, The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception. Here, Adorno and Horkheimer critique popular culture and the capitalist commodification of it, stating that all forms of light entertainment follow a formula and are stamped with “sameness.” 

They state that this formula is built up of variables that can easily be modulated and switched out to give the illusion of choice. “There is nothing left for the consumer to classify. Producers have done it for him.” However, to say that creativity has been lost within popular culture and that consumers are oblivious to the mass deception they have been fed is almost entirely inapplicable to the 21st century. 

While the theorists may have believed that consumers don’t shape popular culture themselves, this has been proven false since their time. Now more than ever, audiences are angered by this design, and studios are being met with criticism and activism regarding the lack of representation of diverse races, genders, and sexualities. With events such as 2015 #OscarsSoWhite, 2016 #TimesUp, or the 2020 Civil Rights Movement, consumers have expressed their dismay with the discrimination within the industry. 

Film studios and fans alike are addressing the unequal representation and creating solutions, such as Marvel’s incorporation of Black Panther and Shang-Chi. As much as some would like to believe that these studios are pumping out representation out of the kindness of their heart, the reality is, nowadays audiences won’t settle for anything less. These corporations are no longer manipulating the culture industry, but instead listening to our wants and needs, and meeting our demands. We are finally doing culture. 

Marvel Studios and other media industries are breaking these glass ceilings that Adorno and Horkheimer claim we ignored by giving audiences what they are asking for. So while the theorists may have expressed their disappointment with the subjects of pop culture in the mid 20th century, experts of the media and entertainment industries have since taken action through progressive, diverse, and representative content, and more communities can say there is a superhero that looks like them. 

[camillia-khamedoost]

Why women over 35 aren’t returning to theaters

As COVID-19 restrictions slowly lifted in the fall of 2021, moviegoers began to trickle back into theaters. However, a recent Wall Street Journal article points out that one demographic in particular is reluctant to return to theaters– women over 35. Surveys concluded that amongst 13-64 year olds, only 15% of ticket sales came from this demographic. Research firm Guts+ Data stated this is down 22% from 2019. 

Previously, theaters were worried about losing the attendance of younger audiences as digital streaming platforms grew in popularity. However, a study by Engine Insights proves that exhibitioners should fear the opposite. According to this survey, 66% of women over 35 prefer to watch a movie at home. This could be in part due to the increased risk that COVID-19 presents to older audiences, but it could also be a result of the dwindling power of FOMO, or fear of missing out, as one gets older.

FOMO is a powerful tool on Gen Zers and Millennials, otherwise known as the digital natives. These generations feel an increased sense of urgency to see films right away in order to avoid spoilers on social media and/or be able to join the conversation on apps like Letterboxd, a newly introduced networking platform for film fanatics. While this may account for the discrepancy in age demographics, it still doesn’t speak to the gender gap of theater returnees.

Unfortunately, it’s a chicken or egg situation, where many studios are asking if women over 35 simply care less about the theater-going experience, or if the post-pandemic box office hasn’t offered a promising enough selection for them. If the former applies, this phenomenon could undermine the success of female-skewing stories such as House of Gucci, West Side Story, and The Tragedy of Macbeth. If the latter applies, it's up to studios to bridge the gap. 

[camillia-khamedoost]

West Side Story banned from several Middle Eastern countries

Steven Spielberg’s recent release, West Side Story, is a movie musical that follows a love story between two young people from different ethnic street gangs in 1950’s New York City. However, the couple’s story has been banned in several Middle Eastern countries including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, and Kuwait. 

It is understood that the West Side Story censor is in regards to a transgender character named Anybodys portrayed by non-binary actor Iris Menas. A similar ban was placed on Marvel’s new ensemble film, Eternals, which featured a superhero, Phastos, in a same-sex marriage. Several Middle Eastern markets as well as the Chinese market censor LGBTQ+ stories as they don’t comply with the nation's cultural views. 

While it is not every film studio’s responsibility to create global stories for all countries’ governments to agree with, it does beg the question of whether studios are being punished for creating diverse and inclusive storylines. As the film industry slowly but surely expands its representation to different sexualities, genders, races, ethnicities, etc., national bans act as speed bumps. Now, each studio must decide whether or not the editing and altering of stories is worth the additional revenue of a wider, more globalized release. 

Spielberg’s musical adaptation was not presented with much choice seeing as the ban was pertaining to an entire character and not a single scene, but other films have previously been granted ultimatums. Disney made clear that authentic stories were their priority in their refusal of censoring scenes in Eternals. Quentin Tarantino made a similar decision in 2019 for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood when Chinese censors stated the film painted Bruce Lee in a poor light. 

On the other hand, MGM agreed to edit Red Dawn in 2012, making the Chinese invaders North Korean, and Paramount removed a Taiwanese flag from a trailer for the upcoming film Top Gun: Maverick so as to not upset Chinese censors. 

Entertainment companies are increasingly being presented with this moral dilemma, and it's a gamble as to whether or not they will prioritize profit over portrayal. 

[camillia-khamedoost]

Dev Patel joins the list of actors with production companies

This past week, Lion and The Green Knight star Dev Patel launched his own production company titled Minor Realm. Minor Realm, as the British actor puts it, has a mission for representing stories that would often go unrecognized in larger-than-life ways. Patel recently recruited Lakshmi Iyengar and Samarth Sahni as executives, both of whom worked with Patel on previous projects at Sony Pictures. Minor Realm has already inked a first-look deal with ShivHans Pictures on all of their film and TV projects. 

Minor Realm’s mission statement and studio’s launch come only a few months after Patel shared in an interview with The Guardian that he feels stuck in a “Cultural No Man’s Land” as a British, South Asian actor. Patel continues to say he feels type-casted and exotified by Hollywood, mostly appearing in films revolving specifically around the South Asian experience. 

As a result of this type-casting, it’s clear that Patel wants to take matters into his own hands with Minor Realm, and he is certainly not the first actor to do so. Minor Realm is now one of several production studios launched by an actor or celebrity, including Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment, Drew Barrymore’s Flower Films, and Dwayne Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions. 

While celebrity production companies were initially seen as a fad for actors who wanted complete control over their roles, many of these studios have gone on to see box office and even Academy success. Brad Pitt is now an Oscar-winning producer for 12 Years a Slave and Moonlight, and Matt Damon also saw several nominations for Manchester by the Sea. 

Celebrity-backed movies are more likely to secure financial backing and perform well at the box office, and with how saturated the film and TV industries currently are, it shouldn’t be surprising that movies produced by star talent are the ones cutting through the noise. While it’s still too fresh to predict Minor Realm’s future as a studio and Dev Patel’s future as a producer, the actor-to-producer pipeline is certainly an industry trend we will see more of.

[camillia-khamedoost]

Matrix 4 China Release Date Creates Piracy Concern

Matrix Resurrections, the fourth film in the popular Matrix franchise starring Keanu Reeves, is set to release in Western markets on Dec 16th and will be streamed on HBO Max Dec 22nd. Matrix Resurrections is also one of the few Hollywood films that will be streamed to Chinese markets following increased censorship on U.S. releases as a result of the rise in national tensions. 

The Matrix movies have long been a favored franchise of Chinese audiences since the first film was released in 1999 before China was its own major entertainment market. Many in China came out to see the first two films, The Matrix and Matrix Reloaded. Although the third film, Matrix Revolutions, did not see much success in the country as it was only released in 12 theaters, it was the first time a U.S. film had been released in China on the same day as Western markets, creating a cultural buzz around the movies. 

After receiving a green light from local Chinese censors, Warner Brothers still had to remain on standby for an official release date, which the country just confirmed would be Jan 14th. This is nearly a month after the HBO Max release, creating a major piracy concern for the film. 

Walt Disney Studios saw a similar issue with the release of Jungle Cruise, which hit the Chinese box office weeks after its streaming debut on Disney+. As a result, Jungle Cruise only garnered $3 million in its opening weekend and $7 million overall, suggesting piracy was a large factor since there was plenty of social media support and an existing love for Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. 

In 2020, it was reported that China had the third most piracy site visits, following the United States and Russia. Simultaneously in 2018, nearly $47 billion in revenue was lost to global piracy of film and TV, and this number is estimated to reach $52 billion in 2022. 

The disparities in global release dates around the world alongside the rise in streaming will continue to contribute to the overall problem of piracy of media. We should expect Matrix Resurrections to not reach its full box office potential in China.

[camillia-khamedoost]

The Animation Guild demands same pay as live-action counterparts

Following the IATSE renegotiations earlier in the season, which now enforces 10-hour turnarounds between shifts and minimum 54 hours of rest on weekends, the union also called for justice for The Animation Guild. The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839 otherwise known as TAG, bargains separately from IATSE and the Writers Guild of America, causing the union to enter their own negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Pictures, AMPTP. 

The Animation Guild Writers are demanding the same pay as their live-action counterparts in the Writer’s Guild, stating on Twitter that their writer’s make anywhere from 22 to 66 percent less on freelance projects. The closely followed Twitter campaign has also launched viral hashtags #PayAnimationWriters and #NewDeal4Animation. 

TAG is also asking for better terms when it comes to streaming shows. The current terms for animated streaming were agreed upon when streaming was a much smaller, riskier business, and need to be renewed now that SVOD as a format has grown immensely. 

There are a few potential outcomes for the contract negotiation, the first one involving a strike by The Animation Guild. This would first require an authorization vote by active members, and if agreed upon would then send electronic ballots to members in good-standing. Another scenario would be reaching an impasse, which would require the mediation of a third party. 

The negotiations entered an unexpected fifth day on Dec 3rd, but were paused for the year once an agreement was not reached. The date of return to the bargaining table has not been set, but if The Animation Guild is able to successfully negotiate equal pay to The Writer’s Guild, it may affect the number of animated films distributed.

Historically, live action films do better in the box office than animated films, so the increased pay for animation workers may deter studios from investing in animated films altogether. This is not to say that TAG should give up on their demand for highly-deserved equal pay, especially with animated film and TV being the backbone of the recent coronavirus pandemic, but it could create a domino effect that may transform the animated film industry as we know it. 

[camillia-khamedoost]

Saudi Arabia’s 5-Year Plan to Be the Film Hub of the Middle East

Saudi Arabia is currently holding its first-ever film festival, the Red Sea Festival, from Dec 6-15th. This festival is one of the many initiatives that the country has planned to expand its entertainment exports and become the next cultural hub for film and TV. Forbes states that the region plans on investing $64 billion in its entertainment sector in the next five years. 

This cultural revival of entertainment is following a 35-year ban on cinema in the country. The ban was lifted in 2018 along with the loosening of other social restrictions. Saudi Arabia wants to not only create more opportunities for filmmakers, but also have an additional source of revenue for the country’s capital as it weans the economy off oil. 

Saudi Arabia’s five-year plan has many facets to it, the first being the Red Sea Festival with 138 titles from 67 predominantly non-Western countries, with many awards up for grabs. Red Sea also held a women in film celebration at Venice Film Festival to help combat the country’s image on gender. 

A partnership was recently inked between Saudi Arabian production company Telfaz11 and Netflix as the streaming service prepares to ramp up its content production in the Middle East. The country is also planning on launching a Saudi Film Institute which will be dedicated to filmmaking and other technical creative skills such as animation. The film institute wants to create a National Archive of Films in order to collect and preserve Saudi Arabian content.

The country is also setting up an investment and awareness program as an incentive for investors, from film studios to private entities and suppliers. Saudi Arabia also plans to create a “one-stop-shop” for permits, visas, licenses and other film production requirements to develop a smooth process for filmmakers. 

Saudi Arabia’s extensive plan to revive the film industry and modernize the country to combat long-lived stereotypes. Through deals with Netflix, film festivals, and a general push for more creative career choices, Saudi Arabia hopes to create a Hollywood for the Middle East.

[camillia-khamedoost]

CJ Entertainment expands into global market with Endeavor deal

Last week, the South Korean distributor CJ Entertainment, the studio behind Snowpiercer and 2020 Oscar Best Picture Parasite, made a $775 million deal with Endeavor Group. CJ now has the majority stake in Endeavor Content’s scripted arm after Endeavor was forced to divest their interest following a settlement with the Writers Guild of America. WGA argued that Endeavor Group would have a conflict of interest with it owning WME, the largest talent agency in America.

On CJ ENM’s end, this deal is one of many that the studio has made to have more stake in the global market, and some have forecasted the company will soon become a key player in the entertainment industry. CJ is calling this their largest M&A deal since its conception, and Bloomberg reported that CJ has plans to invest $4 billion in the next five years on content production. Although the company has been investing in Hollywood through early deals with Dreamworks Pictures, Skydance Media, and now Endeavor, it also plans to continue to invest in the Korean entertainment industry as well. CJ is considering buying a stake in SM Entertainment, a major K-pop production agency. 

CJ’s investments as well as the rise in popularity of Korean content around the world only reinforces that Hallyuwood, the South Korean Hollywood, will become a large entertainment hub alongside China, India, and the United States. The South Korean government agency that oversees its content exports has reported a 6.3% rise in exports in the last year alone, led by K-pop and K-dramas. Many call this rise in Korean content popularity since the 1990s the “Korean Wave.”

CJ Entertainment will be a studio to closely watch as they not only invest more in American film production, but also as they continue to drive Korean content production for the whole world to enjoy.

[camillia-khamedoost]

Lionsgate To Seperate from Starz

Mini-major Lionsgate, the studio behind the Hunger Games and Twilight franchises, has reported a profit of $7.5 million in the recent fiscal quarter, officially surpassing the burden that COVID-19 put on many distributors. However, the recent restructuring of the feature film industry has caused the studio to consider selling or spinning off from the streaming service, Starz. 

Starz is a cable TV network as well as a subscription service that Lionsgate acquired in 2016 for $4.4 billion in an attempt to enter the rapidly expanding world of streaming. Its subscribers continue to rise each year and the service has now reached 30 million global subscribers.

This past year has seen several hot deals within film production, including MGM’s acquisition by Amazon, a WarnerMedia and Discovery merger, and Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine media company being backed by Blackstone Group in a $900 million deal. This recent consolidation of the industry has caused Lionsgate to consider whether expanding their television scope is really the way to go.

Lionsgate’s original intention for the service was for it to be a platform to launch programs that could then be bought by global buyers, but the domestic shift to SVOD forced the company to launch Starz as a direct-to-consumer app. While Starz has allowed Lionsgate a platform to expand their television business and stream their films, it has also added to its debt, and the studio has decided that it wants “investors [to] have the ability to value our studio assets and Starz separately.”

The Board of Directors have not shared which type of transaction they are leaning towards, however this isn’t the first time the studio toyed with the idea of separating from Starz. In 2019, there were talks of a $5 billion offer from ViacomCBS, but this never materialized. 

With all of this being said, it should not come as a surprise if consumers see a “Lionsgate+” launch ahead, as the studio still has to find a way to keep up with the streaming wars. Starz just didn’t prove itself as the platform to do so.

[camillia-khamedoost]

The Tragic Death of Halyna Hutchins & The Future of Firearms on Set

On October 21st, Halyna Hutchins, director of photography for Rust, was tragically killed when the film’s main star Alec Baldwin shot a prop firearm at the camera. The details of the incident, which also left director Joel Souza severely injured, are slowly being released. The tragedy has left many Americans confused as to how this happened in the first place, and how a detail like live ammunition on set slipped through the cracks. Hutchins’ death occurred only weeks after the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) entered an ongoing battle with studios to fight for safer working conditions. The Rust DP herself was in full support of a union strike, and many of the film’s crew members had walked off set just days prior to the tragedy. 

Unfortunately, despite the attention from the media, Hutchins’ death was not one of its kind. The Associated Press conducted an investigation that showed 43 deaths on U.S. film and TV sets since 1990. One of the more publicized tragedies included Brandon Lee, son of famous martial arts actor Bruce Lee, who died on the set of The Crow in 1993. In both of these cases, the cause of death was prop firearms loaded with either blanks or real bullets, both of which have been proven to be deadly and dangerous. 

Despite how realistic and developed modern CGI can be, studios have long preferred real firearms over fake ones because it saves them time and money in post-production. While many are stating that the Rust set must have not been following protocol, which consists of having a licensed “weapon master” on set and providing bulletproof plexiglass to surrounding crew members, others feel that real firearms should be banned from sets altogether. As IATSE has been reiterating, when studios cut corners, the wellbeing of cast and crew are at stake. The labor union will continue to fight for the rights of filmmakers with Hutchins in mind, and may change the way Hollywood operates altogether. 

[camillia-khamedoost]

Marvel's Lauren Ridloff Urges Studios to Invest in Hard of Hearing Talent

With Marvel’s heavily anticipated film, Eternals, hitting theaters in a few short weeks, it is hard to ignore the astounding diversity of the all-star ensemble. Eternals will highlight the experiences of several marginalized communities including the LGBTQ+, South Asian, and differently abled communities. One superhero that Marvel fans are looking forward to seeing brought to life is Makkari, Marvel’s first deaf superhero played by Lauren Ridloff. In the comics, Makkari is portrayed as a hearing white man, but Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao pointed the character in a different direction after meeting Ridloff.

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Ridloff spoke about the many trials and tribulations of being hard of hearing on set. The Eternals star expressed not wanting to look difficult to work with, and put pressure on herself to make sure deaf actors don’t appear “fragile,” especially considering the additional costs of filming with hard of hearing actors. Ridloff states that deaf actors require more support than just an ASL interpreter and that studios should invest in their hard of hearing talent both in front of and behind the camera-- and Marvel seems to agree.

While Makkari is the first deaf Marvel hero, she most certainly will not be the last. In late November, Marvel will air their new TV series, Hawkeye, to Disney+, which will introduce deaf superhero Echo to Marvel’s cinematic universe. Echo, also known as Maya Lopez, will be portrayed by Alaqua Cox, who is deaf, indigenous, and paraplegic, and the actor’s real-life identities will be translated to the character as well. Echo is set to have her own Disney+ spin off, which is still in early stages of production. Marvel has made sure to have experts on these communities in the writer’s room and on set as the character is developed.  

It’s incredibly important that Marvel continues to invest in the communities they’re representing, as the line between true inclusivity and checking off diversity boxes can easily be blurred. While it may be more expensive to film with hard of hearing actors, it’s crucial that studios hire talent that truly represents these communities, and support marginalized actors in any way they need. 

[camillia-khamedoost]

Venom: Let There Be Carnage sets a new pandemic record

In a surprising turn of events, a COVID box office record was made this past weekend. The sci-fi sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage grossed a whopping $90.1 million in its opening weekend, making it the highest grossing opening weekend for a film since the start of the pandemic. The sequel also outshined its predecessor, which grossed roughly $80.3 million in its opening weekend exactly three years ago.

While there is still time to see how the movie will play out in the box office, Venom’s record-setting number beats the Black Widow opening weekend, seated at $80 million, as well as the Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings opening weekend, which grossed $6 million. It’s important to note that Shang-Chi is still the highest grossing film domestically in 2021 despite its first weekend, so the first Friday-Sunday window doesn't mean everything. However, the record-setting Venom sequel still calls for celebration. 

With the rise of streaming and the overall halt of the movie theater industry since the COVID-19 outbreak, experts speculated that the pandemic will have long lasting effects on the way we consume film, and that we could potentially see the fall of exhibitioners as we know them. Venom’s opening weekend is still nowhere near the numbers we were used to pre-pandemic, but the record goes to show that people are still willing to see movies in theaters, and that the industry is not doomed. Yet, it’s important to note that Venom: Let There Be Carnage does not speak for all movies or genres. Industry analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research states that younger people are less deterred from theaters, which is why we are seeing success for action, superhero, and horror films that appeal to low-risk audiences. 

Venom: Let There Be Carnage might not break any more records this year or speak for the future of movie theaters, but the numbers look promising, and the movie theater industry might see recovery faster than expected. 

[camillia-khamedoost]

James Bond’s future as the next Spider-Man following Amazon’s MGM acquisition

With the recent acquisition of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) by streaming giant Amazon Prime Video, conversations have surfaced about the future of the James Bond franchise. While Amazon’s purchase includes the rights to MGM’s large library of movies, including Agent 007, the character is still co-owned by its original creators, Eon Productions. The production studio has been building out Bond movies since 1961 and has no interest in handing over creative control to Amazon. The family-run company has expressed that it will continue to be fiercely protective of the character’s image.

This deal should not feel unfamiliar, as Marvel Studios and Sony fought a similar battle in 2019 over the rights to Spider-Man. The deal decided that Spider-Man was allowed to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but that ultimately the superhero would remain Sony’s character. Many speculate that the same tug-of-war will happen for Bond, seeing as Amazon and Eon have different futures in mind for the franchise.  

While Eon Productions believes that the films should continue to appeal to dedicated Bond fans, Amazon will most likely want to target general movie-goers. Many believe that Disney had a similar approach to their acquisition of the Star Wars franchise, and while there is no doubt that this tactic draws in larger audiences, it can also ruin fans’ relationships with their favorite characters, resulting in a decrease in merch sales, theme park tickets, and overall brand loyalty. 

The upcoming October release, No Time to Die, will be the 25th movie for the Bond franchise, and Amazon has stated that this movie, and all future Bond sequels, will have an exclusive theatrical release before being uploaded to Amazon Prime Video. While this is the best option for the streaming giant financially, these decisions are always subject to change. The future of 007 is a waiting game, but there is no doubt that Eon will closely defend the integrity of their beloved character, and nothing will get past the studio’s approval. 

[camillia-khamedoost]

About the Author:

Camillia Khamedoost is a student at New York University studying media, communications, and business through the lens of the entertainment industry. She is a film fanatic, foodie, and creative.