In a move that will quite literally shake and stir the future of the James Bond franchise, Amazon MGM Studios has announced a new joint venture with Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. In doing so, Amazon MGM Studios will also gain creative control of the franchise following the closing of the transaction.
It’s a huge about-face for Broccoli, who, along with her half-brother Wilson, took over the Bond franchise from their father, Cubby Broccoli, in the 1990s. Just two months ago, Broccoli trashed Amazon MGM in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, saying she that stood opposed to the company’s push for a “Marvel-style” expansion of the franchise that would include multiple film and television show spinoffs.
Amazon closed its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM, the longtime home of the James Bond series, in March 2022. Even since then, Broccoli told the Wall Street Journal, she felt as though the franchise had been held “hostage.” She privately called Amazon executives “fucking idiots” and recalled a meeting where one described Bond as “content,” a term she saw as a “death knell.”
For those reasons, there hadn’t been much movement on a new Bond movie in the four years since 2021’s No Time to Die.
Now, though, Amazon MGM, Broccoli, and Wilson have come to terms on a new joint venture to house the James Bond intellectual property rights, under which all three parties will remain co-owners of the franchise. But the real headline here is that Amazon MGM will gain creative control of the James Bond once the transaction closes.
“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,” said Wilson. “Therefore, Barbara and I agree, it is time for our trusted partner, Amazon MGM Studios, to lead James Bond into the future.”
“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,” Barbara added in her own statement. “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.”