The 3 Real Reasons Why the Next James Bond Is on Hold

When will there be a new James Bond movie? Who will play James Bond? What will the 007 franchise feel like post-Daniel Craig? All these questions and more have been debated across the internet and in conversations between Bond fans since No Time to Die hit theaters in 2021. And, considering we all knew No Time to Die was going to be the last Daniel Craig 007 movie back in 2019, these questions have been hanging around for even longer. 

As of right now, we're still facing a massive delay in any concrete news about the next official James Bond movie. This seems to be because of three major factors: Amazon's internal battle with EON, other blockbuster action franchises underperforming in recent years, and the lack of a new lead actor to play James Bond. 

Here's what's going on, and why the future of 007 will either be made clear very quickly or take a very long time. Plus, why, historically, there's actually a silver lining in this massive delay.

Blockbusters, like James Bond, Have Struggled Post-COVID

In a new in-depth piece published with The Times (UK), one major factor in the delay of a new 007 film project has been an overall sluggish trend with big tentpole movies in general. While 2019 saw big wins for massive movies like Avengers: Endgame, the post-pandemic world hasn't been as kind to action franchises. As Jonathan Dean points out in his new Bond article in The Times: "Adding to the delay is the struggling blockbuster business. Seemingly sure-fire hits such as the Star Wars, Mission: Impossible, and Indiana Jones sequels have all floundered at the box office. The last lost an estimated $143 million."

Dean also spoke to Bond expert Mark O’Connell, author of the book Catching Bullets, who echoed this analysis, saying "there is a real pause in confidence on big films."

Although Amazon's $6.5 billion purchase of MGM in 2021 led to the acquisition of the James Bond film franchise, the 2021 film No Time To Die only took in $774.2 million at the worldwide box office. That may sound like a lot, but in 2012 Skyfall did $1 billion, and in 2015, the generally less-loved Spectre did $880 million.To be clear, No Time to Die made money. Its budget was around $300 million, so its slight underperformance was not the end of the world. But, considering the film was originally supposed to be released in 2020, it took a hit in terms of buzz. It was also released into a post-COVID world where people proved more reluctant to go back to the theaters, an issue that has continued to dog the industry.

The failure of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny in 2023 proved to be a strange omen for James Bond. Back in the 1980s, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created Indiana Jones as a kind of successor to James Bond. In 1989 they cast made a former James Bond, Sean Connery, as Indiana Jones's father. So, if the son of Bond is struggling in the 21st century, what does that say about Bond himself?

There Is No New James Bond Actor

In fairness, what makes James Bond different than Indiana Jones is that he's constantly being reinvented, with has seen several different actors taking up the role. This also makes Bond somewhat different from the Mission: Impossible franchise, which largely relies on whether or not people like Tom Cruise. 

Related: Who Will Be the New James Bond After Daniel Craig?

Bond, on the other hand, relies on people loving the character moreso than the actor. Since 2021, there have been many names mentioned in the press, ranging from Henry Cavill to Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and very recently, Josh O'Connor. But, in an interview at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, O'Connor said, clearly, "If I am Bond, I don’t know about it.” This means that Bond producer Barbara Broccoli was clearly not reached out to the actor.

And despite media claims that Aaron Taylor-Johnson already had the role in the bag a long time ago, no official announcement has emerged. If there's not a new Bond actor, there can't be a new movie.

James Bond's Secret War With Amazon

The final reason we haven't seen any news about a new James Bond movie is slightly easier, and also, paradoxically, harder, to understand. Although Amazon has tons of money, and the legal ability to make new James Bond content, their contract also requires that the stewards of the Bond film franchise, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, retain creative control. And, as of 2024, a report emerged that family that has called the shots for over sixty years was not seeing eye-to-eye with Amazon. 

Broccoli has, allegedly, called a few Amazon studio heads "f--king morons," while Amazon's overall plans to expand the franchise have clashed with Broccoli's enough that there's been little to no progress made. If the fall of 2025 goes by without any news, it will have been four years since No Time To Die promised that "James Bond Will Return."

But, this isn't the longest wait in between Bond films. Back in 1995, when Pierce Brosnan took over as Agent 007 in GoldenEye, there hadn't been a new film in the franchise for six years. And, as of now, the gap between Licence to Kill (1989) and GoldeneEye (1995) is the biggest delay between Bonds, assuming we don't count the time between Spectre (2015) and No Time to Die (2021), which was also six years, though part of that was COVID's fault.

Related: Daniel Craig Does Care About the Next James Bond, Despite What He's Said

The delay between the Timothy Dalton era and the Pierce Brosnan era was also connected to behind-the-scenes legal complications. And, don't forget, there was a four-year gap between the final Pierce Bronsan's final film, Die Another Day in 2002, and Daniel Craig's first outing, the beloved 2006 film, Casino Royale.

In all of these Bond debacles, the gap was very much worth the wait. Each time Bond has been delayed, he's emerged, stronger, fresher, and with an entirely new vibe. If history repeats itself, the next time we see a James Bond movie, it won't feel like a sequel, but instead, a new beginning.