Amazon Pitched Bond Producers on Moneypenny & Female 007 Spinoffs Before Taking Creative Control

The shocking announcement that Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson sold the creative rights for James Bond to Amazon has upset fans with fears of the franchise being milked into oblivion. And it seems those fears might be warranted as Amazon pitched some controversial spinoffs to the producers.

As has been documented well by now, Wilson and Broccoli, who have shepherded the franchise since the ’90s when their father passed it onto them, were not getting along well with the new owners of MGM, Amazon. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the streamer wanted to turn Bond into “content,” but the pair simply wanted to keep the status quo. Reportedly, Amazon came to the two with multiple television show pitches, including one focusing on Moneypenny, M’s longtime assistant, and one focusing on Felix Leiter, Bond’s CIA agent friend. Both were rejected.

Another idea floated was evidently “something involving a female Bond.” It’s not quite clear from the report what exactly that something would be, but the very sentence would be sure to explode the Internet. It’s not an idea that the franchise hasn’t toyed with before, thanks to No Time to Die having a female 007 in it, but the prospect would definitely raise controversy, even if it was a red herring as in that film. Obviously, this idea didn’t fly with Broccoli and Wilson either as the franchise has sat stagnant for six years since the release of No Time to Die.

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That fact was evidently very much annoying Amazon owner Jeff Bezos and other executives at the company who didn’t buy MGM to have one of its greatest assets sit around and not make money. A Wall Street Journal Article in which Broccoli was quoted as calling Amazon execs “fu**ing idiots” was the last straw, according to one insider. Bezos himself got on the phone and made the call, saying, “I don’t care what it costs, get rid of her.” With Wilson deciding to retire, Broccoli finally gave in, reportedly selling creative control for a billion dollars.

That leaves Bond now in the full creative control of Amazon, which can move forward with its myriad of ideas that Broccoli and Wilson rejected out of hand. Who knows if any of them will actually come to fruition, but hopefully, Amazon has the smarts to get the film franchise in order before trying to milk the rest. The studio doesn’t have a director, screenplay, or even actor for the next Bond movie, and that’s definitely where it needs to start.