Hollywood shaken: Amazon shells out $8.5 billion to seize the 007 franchise and shocks the world by choosing Aaron Pierre – a Black actor – as the next James Bond! The world has never seen Bond like this before! And Henry Cavill? Could this be the former super spy’s unexpected comeback?

In a move that detonated across the industry at 3:17 a.m. Pacific Time, Amazon MGM Studios confirmed it has closed an $8.5 billion deal with Eon Productions and the Broccoli family to acquire full creative and distribution control of the James Bond franchise – the biggest single-IP purchase in Hollywood history.

Minutes later came the second bomb: the next James Bond, the 28th official 007, will be Aaron Pierre.

Yes, the 30-year-old British actor from Brixton – best known for Genius: MLK/X, Rebel Ridge, and Barry Jenkins’s upcoming Mufasa – has signed a five-picture deal to become the first Black actor to play Ian Fleming’s super-spy.

Sources inside Amazon say the decision was unanimous. “We screened every contender for six months,” an executive told Deadline. “Aaron walked in, ordered a martini, looked straight into camera and said, ‘The name’s Bond. James Bond.’ The room was silent. Then Barbara Broccoli started crying. We knew.”

Pierre himself broke the news on Instagram at dawn London time with a single black-and-white photo: him in a perfectly tailored midnight-blue tuxedo, gun barrel in foreground, caption simply: “Licence renewed. 007.”

Twitter immediately collapsed. #BlackBond trended in 147 countries within twenty minutes. Stock in Aston Martin jumped 11 % before breakfast.

But the biggest twist is still coming.

Insiders leak that Henry Cavill has secretly signed on – not as Bond, not as a villain, but as the new M.

Yes, the man who spent a decade as the internet’s favourite Bond-that-never-was will return to MI6 as the head of the service, effectively becoming Pierre’s boss. The dynamic is described as “a passing of the torch unlike anything the franchise has ever attempted.”

One source close to the production claims the first scene written for Bond 28 has Cavill’s M handing Pierre a Walther PPK with the line: “The world changed while you were away, 007. Try to keep up.”

The film, currently titled SHATTERHAND, will begin shooting in March 2026 under director Yann Demange (Top Boy, Blade) with a script co-written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge and John Logan.

Plot details remain locked tighter than Q Branch, but leaks suggest Bond is pulled out of forced retirement in Jamaica after a cyber-attack cripples the entire Five Eyes network. The villain? A tech billionaire who controls the global satellite grid and – in a delicious twist – is rumoured to be played by Dev Patel.

Amazon’s $8.5 billion buys more than just the next five films. It includes perpetual streaming rights, gaming, merchandise, and the right to develop spin-offs – including a rumoured Moneypenny series starring Lashana Lynch and a 1970s-set prequel about a young M during the Cold War, with Cavill in the lead.

Barbara Broccoli released a short statement: “James Bond has always reflected the time we live in. Aaron Pierre is the future. We are honoured to hand the keys to someone who understands both the weight and the joy of wearing that tuxedo.”

Pierre, speaking to BBC Radio 1 this morning, laughed off the pressure. “I grew up in a flat above a chicken shop in Brixton. My mum still calls Daniel Craig ‘the white Bond’. Now she’s got a new favourite. And yes, the martini will still be shaken. Some traditions are sacred.”

He also addressed the inevitable backlash with one sentence that instantly went viral: “If you think James Bond has to look a certain way to save the world, maybe the world needs saving from you.”

As for Cavill, he posted a single photo on Instagram: him in a navy three-piece suit, standing behind a desk with the iconic red telephone, caption: “Welcome to the firm, 007.”

The internet lost its mind for the second time in twelve hours.

Bond 28 is already projected to cross $1.4 billion worldwide before it even starts filming. Amazon Prime added 4.2 million subscribers in the first six hours after the announcement.

The world has never seen Bond like this before. And for the first time in 62 years, 007 looks exactly like the future.