The closing credits of 2021's No Time To Die, the most recent film in the 007 series, ended with a familiar message: "James Bond will return."

But for the last few years, fans haven't been so sure.

A year after the release of Daniel Craig's final film in the franchise, Amazon bought the series' parent company MGM. Since then, very little has happened.

That finally changed on Thursday, when Amazon announced a new joint venture that will see long-term Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson step back, and Jeff Bezos's company take full creative control.

In the intervening years, it's been widely reported that there was tension between Amazon, who understandably wanted a return on their investment, and Wilson and Broccoli, whose top priority remained protecting the Bond brand.

The news of the deal has been met with mixed reaction from 007 fans.

"I'm in two minds," says David Zaritsky, creator of The Bond Experience fan channel on YouTube and Instagram.

"The nostalgic part of my mind feels a little bit of sadness. Broccoli and Wilson have been the custodians for all these years, so it feels like a bit of royal blood in lineage has been severed.

"That being said, nobody likes inactivity. And there's been a lot of inactivity around the James Bond franchise for many years, and I know that Amazon as a company will not have patience for inactivity.

"So I'm very hopeful, and dare I say even a little bit excited, that they're going to do something with the franchise that will be interesting nonetheless."

Other franchises which have drastically expanded perhaps offer some clues about what we can expect from the forthcoming Amazon era of Bond.

Lancelot Narayan, a James Bond historian, journalist and filmmaker, told BBC Radio 5 Live a good comparison is George Lucas selling Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012, giving the company control of the Star Wars brand.

"They went off and made that sequel trilogy, and whether you like it or not, it got made rather quickly," he notes. "There wasn't a three-year wait between........

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