Last month, Hollywood was left reeling by the news that longtime James Bond franchise producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli had decided to relinquish creative control of the iconic property to Amazon.
The company acquired 007 when it purchased MGM for a whopping $8.5 billion, and while Amazon gained countless franchises in the deal, Bond was perhaps the biggest draw. The only problem for them was that Wilson and Broccoli weren't looking to launch an MCU-style slate of movies and TV shows and had the final say on the character's portrayal.
As The Hollywood Reporter explains, Wilson has stepped back from producing and Broccoli has seemingly grown tired of fighting. Offered $1 billion to walk away, they've left Bond in the hands of Amazon, news which has led to a lot of concerns among the character's fans.
In the trade's in-depth look at the deal, it's revealed that Amazon approached the producers with several ideas, none of which struck a chord with them.
"Broccoli and Wilson were said to be nervous about the sale of the nearly 100-year-old studio to the 21st century tech conglomerate, but they knew that even under new management they’d retain creative control. Amazon knew that too, but executives there — like Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video, and Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios — apparently believed they could sweet talk the Broccolis into expanding the brand beyond the single Bond film EON had been putting out every two or three years."
"Still, Amazon had ideas. Sources close to the franchise say the streamer approached the Broccolis with pitches for a TV series based on Moneypenny, the MI6 secretary who’s been batting eyes at Bond since Sean Connery’s days, as well as a show about Bond CIA buddy Felix Leiter, and maybe even something involving a female 007. Predictably, Broccoli and Wilson weren’t interested."
There's really not much call for a Moneypenny TV series or the other spin-offs mentioned. Amazon, however, believes expanding the property is the best way to make back its investment and the future of the franchise appears uncertain.
That's currently the case with the main film series, anyway, as the trade explains, "Zero progress had been made in getting 007 back onscreen. There’s no script for the next movie, no director and - most critically - no Bond. Sources say Amazon had suggested a few actors, but none the Broccolis would sign off on."
It seems this landmark deal goes back to last December when The Wall Street Journal published a story revealing that Broccoli had described Amazon executives as "f***ing idiots." That soon found its way to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and one insider reveals, "He read her quote in the Journal and got on the phone and said, 'I don’t care what it costs, get rid of her.'"
With that, Bond is now Amazon's and Bezos, considered a real-life James Bond villain by some, is now in full control of where 007 goes from here.