James Bond movies to stay in theaters despite Amazon deal, producers say

[May 27, 2021]  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The James Bond movies will stay in movie theaters despite the Amazon.com acquisition of the MGM studio which is home to the action adventure franchise, the film's producers said in a statement to Variety on Wednesday.

“We are committed to continuing to make James Bond films for the worldwide theatrical audience,” producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, who run London-headquartered Eon Productions, said in the statement obtained by Variety.

The James Bond franchise is widely considered the jewel in the crown for fabled movie studio MGM, which struck an $8.45 billion sale with Amazon on Wednesday, giving Amazon's TV and movie streaming platform rights to a huge library of films and television shows.

The Bond movies have earned nearly $7 billion at the box office globally, according to MGM.

The next James Bond film, "No Time to Die," is due to be released in movie theaters in September after multiple delays due to the coronavirus pandemic that shuttered movie theaters around the world.

It will be the fifth and last outing by Daniel Craig as the British secret agent. The new Bond actor has not yet been announced.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

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