“Mr Bond, Wearside’s been expecting you.”
A £450m new film studio in the North East could become the surprise home for 007 after Amazon took creative control of the spy franchise.
Crown Works Studios in Sunderland, backed by James Corden and set to become one of the largest filmmaking spaces in Europe, has told Amazon it would make its facilities “the centre of the Bond universe” when production starts on new projects.
Amazon is expected to move quickly to kickstart the Bond franchise after announcing a new deal that would see long-term Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson step back, and Jeff Bezos’s company take full creative control.
It has been four years since Daniel Craig bowed out as 007 in No Time To Die and the hiatus is likely to extend to at least 2027, with no script, director or a new actor cast to play Bond.
Crown Works Studios will be built on the River Wear in Sunderland (image – 4D Studio architects)But after agreeing an estimated $1bn (£791m) deal with Broccoli and Wilson to take over the franchise, Amazon is expected to push ahead with plans to fully exploit the Bond brand with spin-off films, prequels, perhaps telling the back-story of much-loved characters like M, and TV series.
Reigniting Bond, guaranteeing work for the UK’s skilled production and special effects sector and filling the soundstages at the growing number of film and TV studios across Britain, would deliver a major boost to the creative economy.
Pinewood Studios, traditionally the home of Bond, has revealed plans to build more film stages. Its Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage was built in 1976 for The Spy Who Loved Me and the studio group has launched a public consultation over its proposals to expand in Buckinghamshire.
Amazon Prime Video has already signed a multimillion-pound deal with Pinewood’s Shepperton Studios to use 1.2m sq ft of new space including nine soundstages, workshops and offices.
Other studios are pitching to be part of the Bond boom with Crown Works, a joint venture between Cain International and Fulwell73, the company co-owned by Corden, behind the Gavin & Stacey Christmas finale, Sunderland Till I Die and The Kardashians, in the mix.
A “global hub for film production”, the 1.7m sq ft facility will include 20 film and high-end TV sound stages. Work is set to begin this year on the project, which is expected to boost the region’s economy by £336m a year and create around 8,450 jobs and is scheduled for completion in 2027.
James Corden, left, with Daniel Craig and Remi Malek on The Late Late Show with James Corden (photo – CBS archive)Leo Pearlman, Fulwell 73’s managing partner, told The i Paper: “We’d build Crown Works to Amazon’s spec to facilitate such a commitment. We’d make it the centre of the Bond universe.”
He added: “Sunderland on a sunny Summer’s day is a dead ringer for Ian Flemings original Jamaican inspiration.”
Sunderland-born singer Emeli Sandé could be in the frame to sing the next Bond theme – although it might be a stretch to imagine Corden himself slipping on 007’s black tuxedo.
There will be no shortage of new Bond production work, predicted Tom Harrington of media consultancy Enders Analysis. “Amazon will want to increase the volume of new content they currently get from the Intellectual Property,” he said.
“You would expect the sort of prequels, origin stories and series devoted to niche characters in the ‘universe’ that every other piece of big IP has spawned over the past decade.”
Amazon will also have to wrestle with accusations that Fleming’s Bond is a misogynistic, sexist relic of the Cold War.
“There necessarily will be more nuance and backstory brought to the character, and therefore greater opportunity to clash with existing fans who will be annoyed by change and ask why, given that the character is and remains very successful and popular,” Harrington said.
Amazon shouldn’t stray too far from the classic Bond template, advised Pearlman. “He’s iconic because he uniquely refuses to conform,” the producer said.
“The world would have us believe that the brave decision would be to modernise Bond to conform to a particular perception of a new enlightened man, or woman for that matter.
“True bravery would be to stick with what made Bond great, he’s a deeply flawed character, he’s uncompromising, he’s who many people wish they could be.”
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