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By Kate Plummer
Senior US News Reporter
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Amazon has reportedly U-turned after reports it removed guns from James Bond promotional materials.
According to multiple reports, the streaming giant, which recently gained creative control over the long-running spy franchise, removed all firearms from images promoting the Bond films online and then—amid a backlash—replaced these altered images with movie stills.
Newsweek reached out to Amazon by email to comment on this story.
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Why It Matters
James Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson handed over creative control of the spy movie franchise to Amazon in February, sparking concerns about the future direction of the series.
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Before then, the Broccoli family had created 25 official films since 1962, bringing Ian Fleming's creation to movie theaters around the world.
The changes Amazon appears to have made to the movie pictures may raise further questions about the streaming giant's intentions for the franchise. Newsweek has contacted Broccoli' and Wilson's production company Eon Productions for comment.
What To Know
According to reports, original images on the Amazon website saw previous Bond stars like Piers Brosnan, Roger Moore and Sean Connery holding a firearm. But in newer posters, the spy was reportedly depicted without a weapon.
Variety magazine reported that a week after fans started questioning the apparent change, Amazon removed these posters completely and replaced them with stills from each movie, none of which show Bond with a gun. Newsweek saw these stills on the website but could not verify whether they had existed in different iterations prior to this.
Dr. Lisa Funnell, an author and consultant known as Dr. 007 for her expertise in the Bond franchise, told Newsweek: "You can’t reimagine a cinematic hero by editing an image. James Bond is a global icon defined by his license to kill—symbolized through the gun and, by extension, the gun barrel imagery that has become synonymous with the franchise.
"Removing guns from promotional stills doesn’t change the content of the films, but it does attempt to sanitize and downplay the role of violence in defining Bond’s identity. The result is a misstep: without the weapon, Bond appears awkward and coy rather than strong and heroic.
"Visual symbolism matters—and sometimes, what’s removed speaks just as loudly as what remains."
It comes after Amazon acquired MGM Studios for $6.5 billion in 2022, gaining access to a library of over 4,000 films and 17,000 TV shows. The purchase granted Amazon the distribution rights to all James Bond films and the company has since explored expanding the franchise beyond traditional films, potentially through streaming projects or spinoffs.
What People Are Saying
Finance social media profile Wall Street Mav, who has 1.6 million followers on X, wrote: "Amazon had digitally removed all of the guns from James Bond movie art. Next... they will probably eliminate any scenes from the movies with guns. Ridiculous."
Fantasy author John Douglas wrote on X: "They photoshopped all the guns out of the James Bond movie thumbnails. Just in case you still had hope for Amazon being in charge of the franchise."
Barbara Broccoli previously said: "My life has been dedicated to maintaining and building upon the extraordinary legacy that was handed to Michael and me by our father, producer Cubby Broccoli. I have had the honor of working closely with four of the tremendously talented actors who have played 007 and thousands of wonderful artists within the industry. With the conclusion of No Time To Die and Michael retiring from the films, I feel it is time to focus on my other projects."
What Happens Next
The next actor to star in the Bond films is yet to be announced.
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