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AMAZON MGM STUDIOS has announced it is to take creative control of the Jame Bond franchise, which has until now been controlled by the Broccoli family since the first Bond movie in 1962.
James Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson have confirmed that they will “focus on other projects” after the pair produced the last nine Bond films together.
Those nine films incorporated the four helmed by Pierce Brosnan and the five by the most recent Bond actor, Daniel Craig.
Both had been involved alongside their father Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli prior to his retirement and death but assumed the mantle thereafter.
Cubby Broccoli had produced the Bond films in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
The involvement of Amazon in the Bond franchise stems from Amazon’s 2022 purchase of Hollywood studio MGM for $8.45 billion. This deal included the rights to distribute James Bond films.
MGM has long been the studio that made the Bond films, the last nine of which were made in conjunction with EON Productions, owned by Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson.
At present, no Bond movies are in production and the future of the franchise was thought to be in doubt with no director or lead actor attached to bring the character back to the big screen.
This latest development should clear the way for more Bond films to be made but they would be the first films not guided by the Broccoli family.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos revelled in the news today, asking social media followers: “Who’d you pick as the next Bond?”
Until now, the Broccoli family had maintained a tight grip on the direction of the franchise and it has been speculated that Amazon MGM would favour expanding the franchise to have more frequent films and perhaps spin-off films featuring other recurring characters.
Such a model is seen in other film franchises, such as is Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm to acquire the rights to Star Wars.
A statement today said the Broccoli family and Amazon MGM Studios “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,” the statement added.
Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, said:
“We are grateful to the late Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman for bringing James Bond to movie theatres around the world, and to Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli for their unyielding dedication and their role in continuing the legacy of the franchise that is cherished by legions of fans worldwide.
We are honoured to continue this treasured heritage, and look forward to ushering in the next phase of the legendary 007 for audiences around the world.
In her statement, Broccoli said that her “life has been dedicated to maintaining and building upon the extraordinary legacy that was handed to Michael and me by our father”.
“I have had the honor 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,” she added.
In his statement, Wilson described Amazon MGM as a “trusted partner” and said he wanted to “focus on art and charitable projects”.
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