Amazon Gains Creative Control over the James Bond Franchise
The deal, announced on Thursday morning, follows a standoff between Barbara Broccoli who inherited Bond’s control from her father and Amazon which acquired a significant stake in the franchise as part of the $8.5 billion Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer purchase in 2021. Ms. The Wall Street Journal reported that Broccoli, her brother Michael G. Wilson and another Bond producer had been unhappy with some of the ways Amazon wanted to capitalize on Bond. Amazon MGM Studios will “gain creative control” once the transaction closes in late this year. Ms. Broccoli and Mr. Wilson previously had ironclad creative control, deciding when to make a new Bond film, who should play the title role and whether remakes and television spinoffs got made.
The siblings, who live and work in London, also had final say over every line of dialogue, every casting decision, every stunt sequence, every marketing tie-in, as well as every TV ad, poster and billboard.
Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, thanked the siblings for their “unyielding dedication” to the franchise and said the company looked forward “to ushering in the next phase of the legendary 007 for audiences around the world.”
Mr. Mr. Wilson, who is 83 years old, announced that he would retire from producing. “Therefore,” said Wilson, “Barbara, and I agree, It is time for our trustworthy partner, Amazon MGM Studios to lead James Bond into future.” Ms. Broccoli said it was time to “focus on my other projects” after dedicating her life to “maintaining, and building” the franchise that was started by Cubby, her father Albert R. Broccoli. The latest movie, “No Time to Die,” with $774 million in worldwide revenue in 2021, marked an end to a five film series featuring Daniel Craig as the lead actor. No decisions have been made about a successor.
Bond is unlike any current Hollywood franchise. Box Office Mojo reports that the 25 Bond movies have grossed more than $6 billion in domestic box office revenue after inflation. The series, the first to target a global audience, has generated billions in ticket sales overseas, home entertainment revenue and television reruns. It also generated marketing partnerships with Omega watches, Aston Martin automobiles, Gillette razors, and video games. Broccoli, Mr. Wilson and others have also fought hard to keep Bond as a movie-only property. They believed that television spinoffs could diminish the character’s worth. It’s becoming harder to maintain this line, especially when a streaming service is a co-owner, eager to prove that its purchase MGM was well worth the cost. Broccoli has been in charge of the Bond franchise. She has stated that she believed James Bond was real until she was six or seven years old. She was a young toddler when she appeared on the set of Dr. No” in Jamaica in 1962. In 1967, while in Japan on the set of “You Only Live Twice,” she became ill and recuperated in Sean Connery’s suite, which was the best appointed.
Although she almost never speaks in public, Ms. Broccoli has a tough reputation in Hollywood.
“Barbara scares the hell out of people,” Mr. Wilson said in an interview with The New York Times in 2015. “Everyone is terrified to death of her.”
Good!” shouted Miss. Broccoli sat next to him. She laughed.
