In December, the Wall Street Journal published a fascinating piece about why there’s been no move to cast a new James Bond. WSJ ended up going down the rabbit hole of the Bond franchise’s completely dysfunctional relationship with Amazon. For decades, “James Bond” was owned by MGM, with the Broccoli family acting as sole caretakers for everything 007. First it was Cubby Broccoli and now it’s Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli – all roads go through them, and Barbara is the one who gets final approval over casting, stories, production timeline, all of it. When MGM was sold to Amazon, Amazon dreamt of all they could do with the Bond property, but they kept running into a brick wall: Wilson and Broccoli, who refused to let them burn through the Bond property like Kathleen Kennedy did with Star Wars. Barbara openly called Amazon executives “f–king idiots” and continued to hold her ground. Well… no more. Broccoli and Wilson sold out, I think.
Amazon MGM Studios is set to take creative control of the James Bond franchise. The shock announcement, which will likely shake and, indeed, stir the industry, was made Thursday, alongside the news that long-time producers and custodians of 007, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, would be stepping back.
As per details of the arrangement, Amazon MGM Studios, Wilson and Broccoli have formed a new joint venture to house the James Bond intellectual property rights. The three parties will remain co-owners of the iconic franchise but Amazon MGM will have creative control.
“Since his theatrical introduction over 60 years ago, James Bond has been one of the most iconic characters in filmed entertainment,” said Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios. “We are grateful to the late Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman for bringing James Bond to movie theatres around the world, and to Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli for their unyielding dedication and their role in continuing the legacy of the franchise that is cherished by legions of fans worldwide. We are honoured to continue this treasured heritage, and look forward to ushering in the next phase of the legendary 007 for audiences around the world.”
Added Wilson: “With my 007 career spanning nearly 60 incredible years, I am stepping back from producing the James Bond films to focus on art and charitable projects. Therefore, Barbara and I agree, it is time for our trusted partner, Amazon MGM Studios, to lead James Bond into the future.”
“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 honour 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,” commented Broccoli.
Did Broccoli and Wilson sell out, or were they just tired of fighting with Amazon/MGM and they got worn down by all of the back-stabbing BS? I don’t know. If Wilson was truly ready to retire, I could see how Barbara would feel like the last one standing and wondering if she could keep up this fight on her own. But yeah, I imagine this cost A LOT. For MGM/Amazon to suddenly have full creative control over this franchise is a huge deal and I wonder how much it cost.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- 144288, Daniel Craig, Barbara Broccoli, Naomie Harris, Christoph Waltz seen during German premiere of ‘Spectre’ in Berlin. Berlin, Germany – Wednesday October 28, 2015. NORTH AMERICA, SPAIN, ITALY, CHINA, SWEDEN, PORTUGAL, SOUTH AMERICA, SOUTH AFRICA, BALTIC STATES, POLAND, CZECH REPUBLIC & GREECE ONLY,Image: 531990219, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: John Rasimus, PacificCoastNews/Avalon/Avalon
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- Producer Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson attends the Mayor of London’s Gala and UK Premiere for ‘Till’ at The 66th BFI London Film Festival at Southbank Centre, Royal Festival Hall, London, England, UK on Saturday 15 October, 2022.,Image: 730869498, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/Retna/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng/Avalon/Avalon
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- Barbara Broccoli at the Into Film Awards 2024 at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on June 25, 2024 in London, England.,Image: 885347666, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: celebrityphotos uk/Avalon/Avalon
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- 2024 Governors Awards at Dolby Ballroom on November 17, 2024 in Los Angeles, CA,Image: 936110272, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Barbara Broccoli, Credit line: Nicky Nelson/Wenn/Avalon
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- Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli arrive at the 15th Governors Awards in the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, November 17, 2024.,Image: 936310943, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Avalon Licensing Ltd. do not claim any Copyright of the attached image WORLD RIGHTS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red/Avalon/Avalon
Yikes. We’ll see how that goes for Bond and the characters of the James Bond franchise.
Wilson is in his 80s and Barbara is close to 65, so I wonder if there’s not a measure of estate planning going on here, especially if the next generation isn’t interested in taking over the “family business” of the Bond IP. They can make this arrangement now, retire from the grind of the business end of filmmaking, and set things up where some family and/or charitable trust will get money from Bond stuff in perpetuity.
Taking bets the new Bond takes a ride in a Blue Origins spaceship. Blech.
Agreed and perhaps villain will ride up in a Cyber truck.
This makes me sad but I’m not surprised. They’ve been butting heads with Amazon for awhile and it was likely this or nothing. Bond had its day. It will likely be diluted into a million substories and movies now. RIP James Bond.
A sad day
I had hoped she could steer it to a new start
Now it’s likely to be diluted by corporate greed
Yeah, she’s 64 but her brother is 83 so it makes sense that they’re just pretty much done done done fighting with Amazon.
Heck, at some point folks just want to take the money and enjoy the rest of life. Maybe Broccoli/Wilson figure they’ve done all they can do with the franchise–which makes more sense than dragging it out just because…
Meh. Bond was never a franchise I cared much about. Most of the stories nowadays were just about how they wanted to keep him a cis white dude. Anyways smart of her to get out at the end of a successful run.