Several reports suggest that all 25 official James Bond movies will arrive on Netflix in January 2026, along with the unofficial entry Never Say Never Again. At the moment, the entire series, apart from Never Say Never Again, is available for free viewing on Pluto TV with ads. This raises an obvious question: if Amazon acquired exclusive ownership of the Bond catalog through its purchase of MGM, why are we still seeing these extensive third-party licensing deals presented as part of “MGM” content? It feels as though we are stuck in a transitional period between legacy streaming contracts and the eventual moment when Amazon asserts complete, permanent exclusivity over the franchise. Until then, apparently the more distribution the better.
As a side note, I purchased the complete Bond collection on YouTube for a one-time price of $100 some years ago. I cannot help but wonder whether my access to those films will truly last forever…