Live and Let Buy
It has been a few hours since I heard the news and I honestly still can't believe it. Amazon is taking over full control – full creative control – of the James Bond franchise. To the casual observer, this may seem like no big deal. They did, after all, buy the studio associated with the franchise and thus, technically the rights to the franchise, for $8.5B a few years back. But this is a massive deal. As part of that pact was keeping intact the Michael G. Wilson/Barbara Broccoli near-absolute control over the franchise, as had been the case for decades. Just as Diamonds Are Forever, so too was the Wilson/Broccoli control of the Bond franchise.
Never Say Never Again, AGAIN, I guess.1 Here's Justin Kroll for Deadline with the appropriately titled, "James Bond Shocker!"
In news that will surely send shock waves through the industry, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli are longtime producers of the James Bond franchise are stepping back in the creative process and handing over control to Amazon MGM Studios. The new venture was announced by the studio along with Wilson, and Broccoli today that they have formed a new joint venture to house the James Bond intellectual property rights, and those parties will remain co-owners of the franchise. Under the terms of the new venture, Amazon MGM Studios will gain creative control of the James Bond franchise following closing of the transaction.
Everyone is well aware of the tension that seemed to be boiling over between the producers – and in particular, Broccoli – and Amazon. I wrote up some thoughts in December after an in-depth piece of reporting from The Wall Street Journal on the matter which cited no fewer than twenty – 20! – sources. The franchise was falling perilously behind schedule with tensions continuing to mount and so the entire situation was obviously untenable. As I wrote:
So yeah, it may be a while before we see Bond back on the big screen.
To that end, and given all the reporting here, it's sort of surprising that Broccoli (and fellow producer Michael Wilson – her step-brother who is much older and nearing retirement) gave their blessing on the MGM/Amazon deal in the first place. I mean, what did they think they were signing up for? Amazon does not make this deal without the Bond franchise and so any hopes that they'd be completely hands-off with the crown jewel were always going to be optimistic. All sides can say the right things to make a deal happen, of course. But they're paying $8.5B. To quote Don Draper, "that's what the money is for!"
Still, Broccoli and Wilson were in control thanks to their unique rights and they were clearly using them to force some kind of stand-off. But I think everyone assumed that the resolution would come in the form either of some massive (and probably expensive) olive branch from Andy Jassy or even Jeff Bezos to Broccoli to get things back on track. Or, maybe – just maybe – Amazon would offload the franchise to some other party to recoup some of the MGM costs. Does anyone doubt Apple would have been a buyer? Well, before they bungled their own film division, that is. Still, this could have resurrected it. Or any number of other players would love to own one of the, if not the, most iconic franchise in film. Even Disney, as they're no longer the prudish bunch they once were.
But again, I don't think anyone thought for a second that Barbara Broccoli is the one who would stand down! Every single piece and profile about her is all about her pure and utter devotion to the franchise that her father brought to the screen (with the help of author Ian Fleming, of course). Every angle was about how she viewed it as her mission in life to defend the franchise. From choosing the actor playing James Bond to the scripts to well, everything. She was undoubtedly a huge pain in the ass in this regard, but she has helped to maintain the integrity of the franchise over decades. I mean, yes, Michael G. Wilson too! But come on, everyone knows the real state of play here.
As Brooks Barnes relays in his story on the news today:
In particular, it has been the steely-eyed Ms. Broccoli running the Bond franchise. She has said that she thought James Bond was a real person until she was 6 or 7. She was a toddler 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.
This was literally her life's work. James Bond was her goddamn Santa Claus.
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 frightened to death of her.”
“Good!” shouted Ms. Broccoli, who was seated beside him. She laughed.
And yet somehow Amazon, the trillion dollar+ company you might sooner expect to be the villainous corporation in the next Bond film at Broccoli's direction, somehow won this battle. It's... astounding! Part of the answer seems to be right there in the press release – in particular, the statement from 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,” said Wilson.
Wilson is 83 and per above, it was well known that he was looking to take a step back. But doing so would perhaps have left Broccoli a bit more vulnerable. Amazon may have won by simply waiting them out. With Wilson gone, Broccoli could keep fighting against her Spectre or... take the money from the "trusted partner":
“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.
I can't wait to hear what the price tag was [see: update]. It's certainly notable that they're remaining "co-owners" of the franchise and IP via this new JV, but will they – and by that I mean Broccoli, of course – have any sort of veto rights? It sounds like "no" but perhaps that's just over the films? The question everyone will immediately want to know now: how long until we get the inevitable spin-off shows and rollercoasters? But I'm also willing to give a bit more benefit of the doubt here – as I was a few months ago:
Before the deal, the biggest worry was seemingly that Amazon would try to ship Bond straight to Prime Video. Such moves were obviously all the rage during the pandemic, but to their credit, Amazon signed on to the notion that Bond would always be a theatrical experience – a notion they've continued to champion for tentpole films, even as their contemporary "new" studios falter or hold fast to streaming (for now). Amazon seemingly has the right mentality here and so you'd think Broccoli could get along with someone like Jennifer Salke, who oversees the studio. But it seems less about the personalities and more about the overall aura around Amazon that bothers Broccoli, if you can read between all these (reported) quotes and thoughts. It's just not clear how you fix that beyond a sale.
Again, I just did not expect Broccoli to be the one selling! And look, for all the fear this news will cause, it's not like Bond has been fully above reproach.2 I mean, at points the films have become almost elongated watch adverts. And did anyone not love James Bond Jr. in the 90s? At least the theme song?
Speaking of that decade, anyone who was a kid growing up back then, as I was, will immediately think about one of the best videogames ever made when they hear "Goldeneye" and not the film which came out a couple years beforehand (also pretty good) which launched Pierce Brosnan into the Bond role and brought the franchise back after a short hiatus – I saw it on day one in theaters in 1995, 30 years ago!3
Anyway, I still cannot believe this news. And I'm honestly not sure what to expect. Amazon will say all of the right things right now, of course. But will they be able to behave themselves with such an iconic franchise? At the very least, you can be sure that Bond will be back on screen sooner rather than later now. I suspect we'll get a new James Bond actor announcement by the summer. Prime Day, perhaps?
One more thing: might there be an ultimate silver-lining in this news in the form of a Christopher Nolan-directed Bond? Everyone is well aware of his long-standing interest in the notion, but also that he would have undoubtedly needed complete creative control. You know, the kind Broccoli and Wilson just ceded to Amazon...
I'll just leave it with his quote to a podcast in July 2023:
“You wouldn’t want to take on a film not fully committed to what you bring to the table creatively. So as a writer, casting, everything, it’s a full package,” he said. “You’d have to be really needed, you’d have to be really wanted in terms of bringing the totality of what you bring to a character. Otherwise, I’m very happy to be first in line to see whatever they do.”
You'd have to be really needed, indeed. Get this man home safe from his Odyssey.
M.G. Siegler
M.G. Siegler
Update February 21, 2025: A follow-up report from Deadline puts the amount going towards Broccoli and Wilson to give up their control at around $1 billion. Yes, with a "B" — for Bond. Yes, that's on top of the $8.5B Amazon had already paid.
1 Another oddity in the total control element of the James Bond franchise, Warner Bros and not MGM was able to do what was effectively a remake of Thunderball, for a James Bond film that exists outside of the official cannon (as does the original Casino Royale but that was a spoof). They even convinced a 52-year-old Sean Connery, 12 years removed from his last Bond film, to return to his iconic role. The $3M, then a lot of money for an actor -- the entire budget for Goldfinger was $3M! -- helped. As did the profit points.
2 Obviously -- obviously -- there are already James Bond Lego sets. Might I interest you in an Aston Martin DB5, perhaps?
3 Clearly his best Bond work.