James Bond will be reporting to a new “M” moving forward in the form of Amazon MGM Studios as Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli step back from the franchise and hand over creative control…
For those of you wondering exactly what this means, we’ll try to explain. The “Bond” film franchise was created by Albert “Cubby” Broccoli in 1962 with his daughter and stepson, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, taking over creative control following Cubby’s death in 1996. In 2023, Amazon acquired MGM Studios, which has the distribution rights to the Bond franchise, however, creative control – i.e. what films get made and who gets to play Bond – remained with the Broccoli’s company, Eon Productions.
Now it has been announced Wilson and Broccoli are “stepping back” from the franchise, and handing that creative control directly over to Amazon MGM Studios, although they are not completely out of the picture. Broccoli and Wilson will remain co-owners of the franchise through a new joint venture company with Amazon which will hold the Bond intellectual property rights. They just won’t be making any of the creative decisions.
What makes this move particularly surprising is that reports in the Wall Street Journal had talked of a big rift between Amazon and the Broccoli family, with Barbara allegedly referring to the company as “f****** idiots”… So something has clearly shifted in recent months.
“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,” said Wilson. “Therefore, Barbara and I agree, it is time for our trusted partner, Amazon MGM Studios, to lead James Bond into the future.”
From “idiots” to “trusted partner” is quite a turnaround! Barbara Broccoli adds “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.”
Since the release of ‘No Time to Die’ in 2021 and the exit of Daniel Craig in the role, Bond has been in something of a holding pattern. With Amazon now in full control, that frees them to move forward with a new film, and potentially, expand Bond out into spin-off TV shows and other media.
“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.”
As to what that “next phase” will be, we will have to wait and see. Whilst they had produced the game show ‘007: Road to a Million’, hosted by actor Brian Cox, they previously were not allowed to create any scripted drama using Bond, but that has now changed. The first order of business is likely to be the casting of a new actor in the title role for the movie franchise. James Norton, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Theo James, Jack Lowden, Callum Turner, and Richard Madden have been names floated by bookies over recent years, along with many more. This new deal would also allow Amazon to produce something like a ‘Young James Bond’ TV series, if they so wished.
So, it seems James Bond is (or will be imminently) back!
