James Bond's signature weapon erased by Amazon Studios in short-lived campaign, igniting backlash

08 Oct 2025 By foxnews

Amazon Studios removed all traces of guns from promotional material for the James Bond franchise and then quietly took the new artwork down after receiving fan backlash.

The gun-free thumbnails for "Dr. No," "GoldenEye," "A View to a Kill" and other titles were later replaced with movie stills, according to Variety. However, Amazon Studios UK selected images that did not feature guns to replace the controversial edited photos.

Fox News Digital reached out to Amazon Studios for comment.

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A social media user compiled all the new posters and shared them to X, writing, "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."

"They could have removed the shoulder holster strap from Craig as well," one user commented. "If they made that much of an effort."

"Without the gun in the photo, Sean Connery looks ridiculous," another added.

"They're going to absolutely ruin the bond brand," one user said.

Amazon Studios assumed full creative control of the franchise from the Broccoli family in February. Amazon originally acquired the distribution rights to the Bond films in 2022 after purchasing MGM. Director Denis Villeneuve has signed onto the next James Bond project, although many details remain unknown.

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Robert Davi, who played the villain Franz Sanchez in the 1989 James Bond film "License to Kill," said he hopes the franchise does not go "woke" now that Amazon has creative control, in an interview with Fox News Digital.

"I hope it doesn't," Davi said in February.

"You know, I was very close to 'Cubby' Broccoli and his wife, Dana, and the legacy... And they were, as far as I'm concerned, they were Ronald Reagan conservatives and wonderful people. And you know, I think if we succumb to every fad - especially one that's not based on total science - it's a little frightening."

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There has been speculation over who will be the next James Bond, but most are in agreement with one thing.

Helen Mirren insisted 007 "has to be a guy."

"I'm such a feminist, but James Bond has to be a guy," she told Saga magazine. "You can't have a woman. It just doesn't work. James Bond has to be James Bond, otherwise it becomes something else."