TMC
02-21-2025, 12:09 AM
https://variety.com/2025/film/global/james-bond-amazon-mgm-gain-creative-control-1236313930/
In a shock announcement this morning, Barbara Broccoli and her half-brother Michael G. Wilson, who have long been custodians of the 007 movie franchise that their father/stepfather Albert R. Broccoli launched, have announced they are ceding creative control of the Bond franchise while remaining co-owners. Amazon MGM Studios is reportedly paying an extra $1 billion (https://deadline.com/2025/02/james-bond-amazon-mgm-studios-deal-1236296104/) for creative control, according to Deadline. Broccoli and Wilson have resisted burning out the Bond franchise as what some complain has happened with Disney's acquisition of Star Wars. (Though they did allow for the Brian Cox-hosted 2023 Prime Video reality show 007: Road to a Million.) A Bond franchise with Amazon MGM Studios' full control will likely lead to more movies and series. "For them, 007 is little more than intellectual property to spice up quarterly earnings reports," says the New York Post's Johnny Oleksinski. "They will plunder every possible aspect of the franchise. They will pump out as many films, TV shows and other peripheral nonsense as they can (https://nypost.com/2025/02/20/entertainment/amazons-takeover-of-james-bond-will-be-the-death-of-an-iconic-brand/). Think a Young Q spinoff series. Moneypenny, held back behind a desk for so long, will surely be granted the “license to kill” in her own movies. We’ll get 'Cruela'-style backstories of villains like Jaws and Blofeld. And, invariably, we’ll tune out all the incessant noise." Meanwhile, Eric Handler, senior media and entertainment analyst at Roth Capital Partners, can imagine the possibilities, telling Variety: "Now, Amazon can maybe stay on a linear track with the films, but maybe they create a streaming series about Moneypenny (https://variety.com/2025/film/news/amazon-james-bond-next-movie-limbo-1236314095/) or tell an origin story about Q. Do they have Ana de Armas’s character from No Time to Die appear in a separate movie? It’s all possible.” ALSO: Jeff Bezos reacts to the news by tweeting: "Who’d you pick as the next Bond?" (https://variety.com/2025/film/news/jeff-bezos-next-james-bond-actor-amazon-control-1236314184/)
In a shock announcement this morning, Barbara Broccoli and her half-brother Michael G. Wilson, who have long been custodians of the 007 movie franchise that their father/stepfather Albert R. Broccoli launched, have announced they are ceding creative control of the Bond franchise while remaining co-owners. Amazon MGM Studios is reportedly paying an extra $1 billion (https://deadline.com/2025/02/james-bond-amazon-mgm-studios-deal-1236296104/) for creative control, according to Deadline. Broccoli and Wilson have resisted burning out the Bond franchise as what some complain has happened with Disney's acquisition of Star Wars. (Though they did allow for the Brian Cox-hosted 2023 Prime Video reality show 007: Road to a Million.) A Bond franchise with Amazon MGM Studios' full control will likely lead to more movies and series. "For them, 007 is little more than intellectual property to spice up quarterly earnings reports," says the New York Post's Johnny Oleksinski. "They will plunder every possible aspect of the franchise. They will pump out as many films, TV shows and other peripheral nonsense as they can (https://nypost.com/2025/02/20/entertainment/amazons-takeover-of-james-bond-will-be-the-death-of-an-iconic-brand/). Think a Young Q spinoff series. Moneypenny, held back behind a desk for so long, will surely be granted the “license to kill” in her own movies. We’ll get 'Cruela'-style backstories of villains like Jaws and Blofeld. And, invariably, we’ll tune out all the incessant noise." Meanwhile, Eric Handler, senior media and entertainment analyst at Roth Capital Partners, can imagine the possibilities, telling Variety: "Now, Amazon can maybe stay on a linear track with the films, but maybe they create a streaming series about Moneypenny (https://variety.com/2025/film/news/amazon-james-bond-next-movie-limbo-1236314095/) or tell an origin story about Q. Do they have Ana de Armas’s character from No Time to Die appear in a separate movie? It’s all possible.” ALSO: Jeff Bezos reacts to the news by tweeting: "Who’d you pick as the next Bond?" (https://variety.com/2025/film/news/jeff-bezos-next-james-bond-actor-amazon-control-1236314184/)