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Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and the Michael Scott of Lex Luthors, reportedly became fed up with longtime James Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, after they shot down one of Amazon’s terrible ideas for a spinoff. Earlier this month, it was reported that Amazon had gained full creative control of the James Bond franchise.
While Amazon acquired MGM, the studio that distributes James Bond, back in 2022, they did not have the creative rights to the franchise, which remained under the purview of producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson.
Broccoli and Wilson, who are half-siblings, have been stewarding the James Bond franchise for decades now and, unlike streaming services such as Prime Video, haven’t mind its resources to death in pursuit of a larger franchise or cinematic universe. Broccoli and Wilson took over Bond in the 90s with the release of Goldeneye, a major bounce-back for the character following the failures of 1987’s The Living Daylights and 1989’s License to Kill.
Speaking of larger franchise, one of Amazon’s reported ideas was a spin-off focusing on the Moneypenny character, who is essentially like the secretary/treasury/occasional workplace harassment victim at MI6, where James Bond works. In addition to a Moneypenny series, ideas Amazon were also kicking around were a Felix Leiter series (Bond’s CIA counterpart) and a female iteration of the character.
According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, the idea for a Moneypenny show prompted Broccoli to call the Amazon execs “f—— idiots,” thus leading Jeff Bezos to declare that money was no object in removing them: “I don’t care what it costs, get rid of her,” the frustrated billionaire reportedly said before reportedly shelling out close to a billion dollars to make it happen.
“The Wall Street Journal published a piece detailing the chilly state of affairs between Amazon and the Broccolis in which Barbara is quoted as telling friends that Amazon executives were ‘f—— idiots.’ Not surprisingly, those choice words did not go over well with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. He read her quote and got on the phone and said, ‘I don’t care what it costs, get rid of her,’ is how one insider describes what happened, confirming that what Bezos ended up paying for the franchise was close to a billion dollars.” [The Hollywood Reporter]
In the wake of Amazon’s acquisition of Bond, Bezos immediately displayed how different Bond will be under Amazon’s ownership as he took to social media to ask fans who should be cast as the next 007, proving that it’s only a matter of time before James Bond goes the down the same tragic path as Star Wars.
Who’d you pick as the next Bond? pic.twitter.com/u7nBaRROlf
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) February 20, 2025
Content shared from brobible.com.