Hey folks - Joe here.

Welcome to Edition #53 of The SEG3 Report. I’ve been away this week, but have called in the cavalry to contribute their smarts to this weeks instalment.

For today’s piece, Derick Tsai dives into Amazon’s acquisition of the Bond franchise, and the potential opportunities and pitfalls - with our very own Jay Stuart also delving into Mentos launching a custom rocket launcher in Fortnite & NBC Universal kicking off the sales for the 2026 Superbowl.

Enjoy!

Contents: Edition #53

• What will Amazon do with the James Bond Franchise?

• Mentos debuts a custom rocket launcher in Fortnite

• NBC Universal kick off sales for 2026 Superbowl

What will Amazon do with the James Bond Franchise?

Recently, longtime James Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli announced they were transferring creative control of the iconic franchise to Amazon MGM Studios. While Wilson and Broccoli will remain co-owners of the James Bond intellectual property, Amazon will now oversee future productions.

Why You Should Care

TL;DR: Amazon’s acquisition of James Bond presents a dilemma: expand the franchise for engagement or preserve its prestige. Unlike Star Wars or the MCU, Bond thrives on scarcity, making each film a global event.

The best approach? A prestige franchise model, keeping Bond films theatrical-first, limiting spin-offs to high-end storytelling, and leveraging luxury partnerships (e.g. Tom Ford suits, Aston Martin experiences, Omega watches etc). Instead of mass-market content, Bond should embrace exclusivity, with immersive experiences, spy training events and cinematic prestige.

Handled right, Bond can evolve without losing its mystique. Done wrong, he risks becoming just another overexposed IP.

In full: Amazon now holds the keys to one of cinema’s most enduring and prestigious franchises. With the recent appointment of David Heyman and Amy Pascal to help shepherd the next chapter of James Bond, Amazon is signalling its ambitions to elevate the brand. 

But Bond isn’t just a movie franchise, it’s an institution.

And unlike Star Wars or the MCU, which are built for constant content pipelines, Bond’s power comes from its scarcity. Each film is a global moment, commanding headlines, setting trends, and reaffirming the enduring appeal of spycraft, style and a cinematic spectacle.

The Big Idea: Bond Should Be the Rolex of Movie Franchises

Luxury brands like Rolex don’t flood the market. They don’t chase trends. They preserve their value through exclusivity, precision and cultural significance.

Bond should do the same.

The entertainment industry has already learned the lessons of over expansion, often the hard way with:

• Star Wars somewhat saturating the market with spin-offs.

• Marvel turned must-watch cinema into fatigue-inducing content (Secret Invasion, Ant-Man 3).

Bond’s strength lies in its event status. If Amazon turns it into an “always-on” machine, it risks turning a bespoke dining experience into a fast-food franchise.

Where I see Three Possible Futures for Bond

1. The Star Wars Model (High Engagement, High Risk)
   Amazon expands Bond into a sprawling ecosystem of streaming series, animation, and games. This expands the IP, but potentially risks over saturation and undercuts the cinematic core.
   

2. The Batman Model (Character-Driven, Limited Expansion)
   Bond films remain exclusive while spin-offs explore the world’s edges (think The Penguin), with stories of other 00 agents, MI6 history or iconic villains.
   

3. The James Bond Model (Something New—A Prestige Franchise Model)
   A hybrid strategy that maintains Bond as an elite cinematic event, while selectively expanding through luxury brand activations, high-end experiences and limited-run storytelling that deepens the lore.

Model 3 isn’t just the safest, it could be seen as the most innovative. A blueprint for how prestige IP can scale without sacrificing status if you will.

How to Expand Bond Without Diluting It

Theatrical Bond Films

• Keep them exclusive and theatrical-first. Bond films should never premiere on streaming.

• Treat teaser campaigns and casting reveals like cultural events.

• Long gaps between films aren’t flaws, they’re features (think Top Gun: Maverick, Avatar 2)

Prestige Limited Series

• No serialised Bond show—but instead have event-level series (think Chernobyl, True Detective etc) like a Cold War spy drama about M’s MI6 origins.

• Every expansion should elevate the core films, not compete with them.

Elevating Bond Through Brand Partnerships

Bond is more than a film series. It’s a luxury lifestyle fantasy. Brand expansions shouldn’t be about mass-market merchandising, they should lean towards aspirational immersion, for example:

• The Bond Suit Collection (Tom Ford): Limited tailoring experiences inspired by each era of Bond.
  

• 007 Driving Experience (Aston Martin): Drive a fleet of classic and modern Aston Martins across secret routes in the Alps.
  

• The Bond Watch Club (Omega): Collect limited-edition watches tied to each film. Includes behind-the-scenes content and Bond-themed events.

The Bond Experience: Making 007 a Destination

Forget theme parks. Bond belongs in the luxury travel and immersion space. The potential model? Think Soho House meets Secret Cinema. Tiers of membership, private screenings, behind-the-scenes set tours and:

• MI6 Spy Training: A rotating event in cities like London, Monaco, Tokyo, and Dubai. Participants take on espionage missions—codebreaking, combat training, heists—and culminate in a private Monte Carlo casino night.
  

• VIP Tier Includes:

  • Helicopter extractions over the Riviera

  • Yacht escapes in the Mediterranean

  • Aston Martin drives through Alpine roads

• Proven Demand

  • Spy Games UK: Realistic MI6-style training led by ex-intelligence officers

  • Secret Cinema: Casino Royale: A full-scale Bond experience

  • 007 Elements: A Bond cinematic installation in the Alps

  • St. Regis Midnight Supper: Exclusive, invitation-only immersive events

Amazon’s Opportunity: Redefining What Prestige IP Can Be

Amy Pascal and David Heyman have helped shape two of the most iconic, emotionally resonant blockbusters of the last two decades.

Into the Spider-Verse revolutionised superhero storytelling with bold visual language and emotional depth. Prisoner of Azkaban elevated Harry Potter from children’s fantasy to a coming-of-age myth, infusing the series with cinematic ambition and a darker, more mature tone.

In short, they know how to treat beloved IP with reverence while reinventing it. That’s the opportunity for Bond. 

The next move isn’t about making the franchise more available, it’s about making it more valuable. Elevating the experience. Preserving its mystique. Deepening its cultural footprint.

Handled right, Bond won’t just endure, he’ll thrive. But get it wrong, and he’ll be just another square in a bottomless grid of thumbnails.

The big question is: What’s the vision?

[by Derick Tsai - Founder, Magnus Rex: An IP Development Studio | Prev: Riot Games, Bungie]

We did say some big announcements were coming…

NFL, Volkswagen, Bel, Mattel, Baller League, Square Enix & more confirmed for SEG3 London this June 10-11.

You can check out all the speakers unveiled in Wave #1 here.

And remember, as a subscriber, you get 20% off your pass to attend with the code: TS3R20

Be part of the movement 👇

Mentos debuts a custom rocket launcher in Fortnite

Mentos has introduced the "Fizzooka," a virtual soda-spraying launcher, into Fortnite Creative, inspired by the well-known reaction between Mentos candies and cola. Over a two-week period, Fizzooka’s will appear in select Fortnite Creative maps.

Why you should care?

TL;DR: The Fizzooka is a playful, over-the-top way to make the Mentos brand feel fun and relevant, whilst letting players actually experience the Mentos chaos instead of just watching an ad talking about it.

To amplify it outside of the game, they doubled down with The Hacksmith, who built a real-life version that shoots soda like a firehose, making the campaign more rounded and reaching more eyeballs.

With this campaign launching across 20+ markets, this doesn’t feel like just a one-off stunt, but a global push that is a good example of how a brand can tap into gaming culture in a way that feels authentic and actually sticks.

In full: Mentos is making its mark in Fortnite Creative with the Fizzooka, the first branded tactical item in the game. Inspired by the viral Mentos-cola reaction, the Fizzooka turns a childhood experiment into an in-game destruction tool, appearing in high-traffic maps like Troll Bed Wars, Sky Wars, and Piece Control (1M+ daily players).

So, why does this matter?

For brands, gaming isn’t just a space for product placement anymore. It’s an opportunity to create experiences. Instead of slapping a logo on a map, Mentos is giving players something they’ll actually want to use, share and talk about.

And it’s not just in-game. Canadian YouTuber The Hacksmith built a real-life working version of the Fizzooka, while 3D-printed replicas are heading to influencers to amplify the campaign beyond gaming.

The Mentos-cola experiment first exploded (literally) into pop culture after appearing on The Late Show with David Letterman in 1999, but now, Mentos is reintroducing it to Gen Z/A in a way that feels fresh, interactive and native to how they consume content.

The bigger picture?

Brands that lean into gaming with playable, culturally relevant integrations rather than passive activations are the ones that will win. This campaign, brought to life by WPP’s Wavemaker & Metavision across 20+ markets, is a good example of how to turn nostalgia into engagement, and engagement into cultural relevance.

NBC Universal kick off sales for 2026 Superbowl

NBC Universal has launched advertising sales for the 2026 Super Bowl next February with an initial asking price of $7 million for a a 30-second spot in the NFL championship game. The Super Bowl achieves the highest prices for any television broadcast. The broadcaster is packaging ads with the 2026 Winter Olympics and the NBA All-Star Game.

Why you should care

TL;DR: Live sports remains the most powerful revenue driver for broadcasters with Comcast-owned NBC Universal setting an asking price of $7 million per spot for the 2026 Super Bowl. That is reportedly down from the 2025 high of the $8 million price tag. NBC Sports Peacock (which combines broadcast TV and streaming) appears eager to close its big sports advertising deals early with economic uncertainty looming.

In full: With almost a year to go, NBCU has launched advertising sales for the 2026 Super Bowl with an asking price of $7 million for a 30-second spot, according to industry reports.

The early push with flat or softening price from 2025 reflects concerns that economic uncertainty might pinch budgets later in the year, and with the NFL title game scheduled for February 9 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, NBCU is asking buyers to commit to also buying ads in the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics and the NBA All-Star Game on the same month.

Despite generally declining broadcast viewership, the Super Bowl scored a record audience earlier this year of 127.7 million viewers on the Fox network, Fox Deportes, Tubi, Telemundo and NFL digital outlets led by NFL+. The asking price for 2026 is up from a bit over $5 million a decade ago, so positive signals.

But although there’s eyeballs for advertisers, there’s also a hell of a lot of cost too. Fast Company magazine reports that just getting an agency to come up with the idea for a Super Bowl commercial can cost over $3 million, with production costs on top ranging from $3 million upwards, and we haven’t even started talking about the celebrities who might appear in the commercials yet…

So although we all know advertising during the Superbowl is clearly prime real estate, the rising production, advertising and talent costs may mean a number of brands are priced out, or will simply look to spend their advertising dollars through other media channels.

With that in mind it’ll be interesting to track how quickly NBCU’s inventory shifts over the remainder of the year!

In other news this week…

• Cosm to show ‘The Matrix’ in worlds first cinematic Shared Reality experience: read here.

• MLB launches Opening Day One Piece inspired anime content: read here.

• OpenAI’s GPT-4o model causes a stir with enhanced image generation: read here.

• Agora partners with VisualOn for AI-Powered Ultra-Low Latency Sports Streaming: read here.

• NBA to move forwards exploring European league: read here.

• Ralph Lauren launch ‘Polo Beach’ Roblox experience: see here.

• Ubisoft launches new subsidiary; Tencent invest £1 billion: read here.

• Fnatic appoints IMG as Global Commercial Agency: read here.

• Jagex launch Runscape: Dragonwilds: see here.

• LA Clippers & Globant’s tech integrated stadium experience: read here.

• Harry Kane invests in Seat Unique: read here.

• Pophouse closes debut fund with over €1.2 billion: read here.

• Whisper Group in talks over sale: read here.

• Adidas launches ‘Iconica Prime’ cosmetic set in Fortnite: read here.

• InStreamly release ‘Live Streaming Trends 2025’ Report: read here.

• Ear to the Ground release Fan Intelligence Index: read here.

• Footballco & MLS expand content partnership for 2025 season: read here.

Working on anything cool, or have a press release you would like us to cover? Send it in for the chance for it to be covered in next week’s edition!

That’s all for now folks - thanks again for reading the latest edition of The SEG3 Report and we’ll see you next Tuesday for more on the intersection of culture & emerging technology!