Amazon Boss Clues "Modern" James Bond Movie With Exact Status Update Revealed

In March 2025, Amazon MGM Studios gained creative control of the James Bond franchise, resulting in longtime producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson stepping down from those duties. Since then, there have been some notable announcements regarding the 26th James Bond movie, and Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, recently opened up on what the creative process has been like.

Appearing on Variety’s Strictly Business podcast, Hopkins highlighted how Amazon MGM’s first priority on this project was to “hire the best people in the world to bring this new story to life, this new chapter in the Bond franchise.” That included selecting Denis Villeneuve to direct Bond 26, tapping Steven Knight to write the script, and recruiting producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman, making for a “world-class storytelling team.” Hopkins continued:

The second thing is, we are gonna try and figure out, how does James Bond get into the next chapter and then be relevant for customers for a long period of time. And so there was still a lot of work to do. We're sort of in the bottom half of the first inning of bringing this to life.

Hopkins’ Bond 26 update follows a month after Amazon MGM announced that the “search for the next James Bond is underway” following the hiring of Game of Thrones casting director Nina Gold. Additionally, neither a title nor a release date has been announced, so the public still has a long way to go before the next 007 debuts. However, Hopkins also mentioned he expects Bond to continue to be part of the company’s “big investment in theatrical,” even with Prime Video being in the streaming business.

The James Bond series of movies launched in 1962 with the film adaptation of author Ian Fleming’s 1958 novel Dr. No, starring Sean Connery as the MI6 agent who prefers his martini shaken, not stirred. Daniel Craig is the most recent actor to bring the character to life on the big screen, with his tenure kicking off in 2006 with Casino Royale, and marking the franchise’s first official reboot period. Craig subsequently starred in Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, Spectre, and No Time to Die (which ended with Bond dying).

It was reported in mid-May that Broadway actor Tom Francis is the first actor to have auditioned to play the new James Bond, though other contenders are in the mix. Shortly thereafter, Knight shared that he'd been speaking to members of the Special Air Service (SAS) and individuals experienced in covert operations, as well as researching Fleming’s time in World War II, in order to make the Bond 26 script feel as authentic as possible.

While the wait continues to learn what is specifically in store for Bond 26, a different kind of James Bond project just recently came out. The video game 007 First Light puts a new spin on the character’s origins, with Patrick Gibson portraying this version of 007. The game can be played on PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S, and a Nintendo Switch 2 version is expected to be released later this year.