SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
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 honored to continue this treasured heritage, Mike Hopkins, head of the studios, said in a statement that included the Anglo U in honored, 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's 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's 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 p.m. 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 was posing as a daring and stylish news reporter. Ah, but who'd ever believe that?
(SOUNDBITE OF MONTY NORMAN'S "JAMES BOND THEME")
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