Cinema
November 9th, 2026
Author
nss staff

The choice of James Bond is the cheapest marketing for the franchise James Bond, Amazon and the "Marvel treatment"

The choice of James Bond is the cheapest marketing for the franchise James Bond, Amazon and the Marvel treatment
This weekend, Denis Villeneuve and artist Vija Celmins were celebrated at the LACMA Art + Film Gala in Los Angeles. The director, who in addition to wrapping up Dune: Part Three has just begun working on his first James Bond, was naturally besieged by reporters hunting for scoops on who will play cinema's most beloved spy. Last Friday, rumours about the 007 casting ignited after news broke that, in addition to the already well-known Nicholas Hoult, Callum Turner, Josh O'Connor and Jack Lowden, Robert Pattinson had also auditioned for the role. 
 
Social media has gone wild over the choice of the next Bond. On TikTok and Instagram, fans of one actor or another are competing by posting evocative edits depicting them in action scenes, to prove how well-suited each actor is for the role. Every hour, international media outlets churn out exclusives on the casting selection process, without ever adding any confirmation to what has been speculated so far. In recent days, for instance, the news that Pierce Brosnan, a former Bond, had expressed his preference for Callum Turner as the next 007 caused quite a stir. But the GoldenEye actor added: "I wouldn't choose anyone. My wife told me not to say anything and I've already said too much. Because as soon as I say something, the news spreads [everywhere] and I end up in trouble."
 
Five years on from the last 007 — Daniel Craig's No Time To Die — the excitement surrounding the new appointment is entirely understandable. Except that, between the sale of the franchise to Amazon and the new production (in the hands of Amy Pascal, known for Spider-Man, and David Heyman, known for Harry Potter), the progressive and relentless way in which every new piece of information about the next James Bond is being communicated is strongly reminiscent of the marketing strategy adopted by superhero studios a few years ago. Is James Bond getting the Marvel treatment?    

Do We Still Care About Spies? 

On the LACMA red carpet, Villeneuve chose not to answer reporters' persistent questions, but inside the gala he allowed himself a little fun: "For many years, LACMA has been a temple to me. Tonight I feel at home and I wish to express my gratitude. With the blessing of my new friends at Amazon, tonight I will reveal who the next James Bond will be," Villeneuve declared from the stage. "The actor who will play the next James Bond is…", the director continued. "And I'll stop there, because Amy Pascal is about to have a heart attack."
 
A great deal has changed since the last James Bond. No Time to Die was released in 2021, a year after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Audiences were eager to go back to the cinema and rediscover the pleasure of leaving the house and immersing themselves in fantastic stories: the film, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, earned $774 million at the box office, making it the fourth highest-grossing film of 2021 and the third highest-grossing James Bond film of all time. In February 2025, however, the complete sale of the franchise to Amazon was announced — news that deeply shook the 007 fanbase. 

The End of Action Movies as We Know Them 

Since 2021, not only has the ownership of James Bond changed, but so has the action film market. Marvel went through a dark period: in 2023, we wrote about how difficult it had become to take the entertainment giant's output seriously. The Marvels relied too heavily on special effects, Eternals introduced too many new characters all at once, and more recently The Fantastic Four failed to deliver the hoped-for success, while over in the rival DC universe, Supergirl performed very poorly at the box office.

They called it "superhero fatigue" — audience exhaustion with superheroes and the repetitiveness of the projects — see the post-credits scenes, whose success was as great as it was short-lived. Another example of the decline of action films at the cinema, alongside the latest Marvel entries, comes from the Mission Impossible blockbuster franchise, whose latest instalment, The Final Reckoning, ran at a loss, earning just under $600 million at the box office against a combined production and marketing budget exceeding $400 million.  

New Bond, New Marketing

At a time when action films seem to have lost their appeal, it is possible that the James Bond team (currently headed by legendary producers Pascal and Heyman, by Villeneuve, and also by screenwriter Steven Knight, famous for his work on Peaky Blinders) is hard at work reigniting audience interest. The film has yet to begin shooting and its release is expected in 2028, but there is no time like the present to start stoking fan enthusiasm. 

After all, James Bond was the king of film marketing long before Marvel or Mission Impossible. We are not just talking about a franchise that invented product placement, but about a universe that, across different eras, directors and productions, has managed to remain constantly at the forefront of popular culture.

The fact that the simple choice of the next lead actor is today being used to fuel debate around the 007 universe, while simultaneously drawing in a new generation of potential fans through names like Pattinson and O'Connor, demonstrates just how capable the British spy still is of capturing the public's attention. All that remains is to wait and find out who will step into the shoes of the next Bond on the big screen, while competitors, for their part, can do nothing but watch Amazon's strategies closely and take notes.

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