James Bond franchise gets major update as producers gear up for Bond 26

Daniel Craig’s 007 era is over, and James Bond 26 is definitely in the works – but it’s still very early in development, according to the producers.

Craig’s tenure as the world’s most famous secret agent may be the most significant in the franchise’s history; Sean Connery defined Bond, but his outward brutality and dry, wry humor gave the series a much-needed evolution after the nonsense that closed Pierce Brosnan’s time in the tux.

No Time To Die was an emphatic ending for Craig’s portrayal of the character, effectively wiping the slate clean for another reinvention. As ever, the speculation around the next Walther PPK-wielding actor has been steadily intense, with Aaron Taylor-Johnson the current overriding favorite.

However, it appears we should all cool our jets a little bit – Bond 26 is coming, but as far as the producers are concerned, they have all the time in the world.

007 producers warn of “big road ahead” for James Bond 26

Ahead of 007: Road to a Million, an official James Bond reality series coming to Prime Video next month, longtime franchise steward Barbara Broccoli spoke to The Guardian about the future of the series.

Not only is there a “big road ahead” before the character is “reinvented for the next chapter”, but they “haven’t even begun” attempting to modernize the franchise.

Christopher Nolan was rumored to be in talks to finally direct his own movie(s), but those reports indicated he’d be interested in taking Bond back to the past, while Broccoli is keen for the next era to reflect the world as it is.

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“I go back to GoldenEye when everyone was saying ‘the cold war is over, the wall is over, Bond is dead, no need for Bond, the whole world’s at peace and now there’s no villains’ – and boy was that wrong!” she added.

“Daniel gave us the ability to mine the emotional life of the character… and also the world was ready for it. I think these movies reflect the time they are in, and there’s a big, big road ahead reinventing it for the next chapter and we haven’t even begun with that.”

And don’t get too excited by Amazon’s acquisition of MGM – as far as Broccoli is concerned, Bond is a big-screen hero, with Road to a Million being the only exception. “Our focus is making the feature films. When we get going on a Bond movie it takes our full attention for three or four years so that’s our focus,” she explained.

“We make the Bond movies for the big theatrical screen and everything about the Bond movies is for audiences to see around the world on that format, so we’ve not wanted to do television.”

007: Road to a Million hits Prime Video on November 10. You can find out what we know about Bond 26 here, and check out the rest of our James Bond coverage here.