Depending upon where , when and how you may have been raised into your appreciation for Hollywood and movies, yesterday was either merely a newsworthy day or a day of mourning, No less than three surviving Penske reporters (on a day when the leadership of INDIE WIRE was gutted, that’s also newsworthy)–Justin Kroll, Mike Fleming Jr and Jake Kanter– delivered this seismic story to inboxes just before dawn yesterday:
In news that will send shock waves through the industry, longtime James Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli are relinquishing control of the beloved spy franchise and handing the reins to Amazon MGM Studios.
As part of the arrangement revealed Thursday, Amazon and the Under terms of the new venture, Amazon MGM Studios will gain creative control of 007. Financial details were not disclosed, but there is already industry speculation that Broccoli and Wilson will have received a healthy payday from Amazon and will continue to have some shared economics going forward.producers have formed a new joint venture to house the Bond intellectual property rights, with Broccoli and Wilson remaining co-owners of the franchise.
Exactly how healthy a payday Broccoli and Wilson, the heirs to the legacy of blockbusters that took a series of Ian Fleming novels about a dapper and heroic MI6 agent and turned them and the man who brought him to life, Sean Connery, and made them the very definition of success and largesse in the 1960s, received is an open question. Many reports had that number at around $1 billion, which considering Amazon ponied up a mere $8.5 billion for the entire MGM studio in 2022 would be especially eye-opening. FWIW, the PUCK-ish Matthew Belloni swears on a stack of bibles (or at least storyboards) that’s not true, but apparently it was more than enough to get these nepomoguls–particularly Broccoli–to somehow adopt a different ‘tude than the ones they reportedly had mere months ago, as YAHOO! Entertainment’s Taryn Ryder reminded last night:
According to a 2022 report from Puck, Amazon wanted to amend the agreement as the company was not used to “the lack of control over a major asset” like Bond. The report said that Amazon was willing to write a big check to make it happen. (And it was reportedly very big.) In December 2024, the Wall Street Journal said tension was at an all-time high as there was no script, story or new Bond. In private, Broccoli reportedly gave friends some candid thoughts on Amazon: “These people are f***ing idiots.” Insiders close to the producers are reportedly stunned that Broccoli blinked first. “She’s a fighter,” said one source, “but she got tired of fighting.”
And Belloni, from behind his significant paywall, led a cadre of lamenters who took this news particularly hard, as yet another DEADLINEr, the especially clickbait-chasing Baz Bamigboye–noted in his piece:
Barbara Broccoli began making the calls Thursday, London time, to her most frequent and trusted collaborators to tell them news would soon ricochet around the world like a bullet fired from a Walter PPK, the only weapon used by every actor to play James Bond in the Eon film franchise. The message Broccoli relayed was that she and her producing partner Michael G. Wilson have relinquished creative control of all things 007. One recipient who received the Broccoli phone call likened it to receiving a call “about a death in the family.” Another told Deadline that Broccoli was “calm” and seemed “resigned” to what she and her partner and half-brother Wilson had signed away to Amazon MGM Studios. “You could tell she was upset though,” they said. “She sighed, said what she had to say about the impending announcement, and then we chatted about other stuff.”
The Bond franchise has pretty much been in limbo since Amazon acquired its rights; the last theatrical effort was the pandemic-delayed 2021 release of NO TIME TO DIE which was determined to be Daniel Craig’s swan song. Since then, as Ryder chronicled, Broccoli in particular has been as difficult to please as any selective uber-rich woman regardless of industry in finding someone who can fill the role.
The rumor mill was always buzzing about who would step into the role of Bond. In a November interview with the Associated Press, Broccoli wouldn’t comment on the most recent speculation that they had finally found their man in Taylor-Johnson. However, she teased it would be a man, likely in his 30s, and said it was not a given he’d be white.
And since she’s had a direct hand or at least privy to every such choice even dating back to Roger Moore, at least until yesterday Broccoli remained as a champion for those who see movie producing as a work of art first and foremost, and feel strongly about it being exhibited properly. As Bamigboue continued:
Ever since Craig bowed out of the franchise, Broccoli did meet with a few actors. However, one source dismissed that they were ever seriously in the running and explained that such meetings with the likes of Aaron Taylor-Johnson were “just as kind of an ongoing, keeping your eye out on who’s around, but keeping in touch. But I definitely don’t think that there was any frontrunner. They wanted to know what they wanted to do next before they thought of the right person for it.”
So now that decision will ultimately rest on the shoulders of Mike Hopkins, who during our shared tenure at Sony got to see first-hand and up-close their solution to Sony’s investment in SPIDER-MAN, which in many ways was one of the studio’s saving graces during the first two decades of this century. It was common knowledge that there were no less than 932 potential characters that could be developed into sub-franchises beyond the multiverse iterations which the franchise has leaned into of late. After numerous brainstorming and whiteboarding sessions, first out of the box was 
VENOM, which was a successful enough dive into the world of a fringe character in SPIDER-MAN 3 to spawn a 2018 box office hit and two less successful sequels. But one of the next choices was MORBIUS, a 2022 disaster exacerbated by the fact that the studio actually tried to re-release it theatrically a second time within several months, spmehow blaming the pandemic and weather for its initial failure rather than the awful reviews it received. The second wave of box office results were akin to those from a September art house release. 
And that’s perhaps the chief fear among traditionalists. Left in the hands of commoditizers like those running studios these days there’s strong potential for the James Bond franchise to be significantly diluted–perhaps not as much as was Sony’s experience, but ask any bean-counter at Disney or Warner Brothers Discovery about how the MCU and the DCU have been delivering on their promise of proliferation. The DEADLINE troika tried to put some positive spin on the likelihood that Hopkins will have access to some talents that might actually pass Broccoli’s muster:
(W)ith great filmmakers like Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino and Edward Berger all 007 acolytes who’ve expressed interest in taking the baton, today’s development might make it possible to enlist a filmmaker like Tarantino or Nolan, who insist on control of their projects. Internally, Amazon’s top film executive, Courtenay Valenti, is a seasoned pro who oversaw all kinds of big films at Warner Bros. Also under that umbrella is Scott Stuber, who after building the Netflix film output was brought in to revive United Artists. He might be a smart choice because he’s just getting underway, and 007 has a long history with the UA banner.
It also should be remembered that even UA and Broccoli were capable of missteps. There actually was a syndicated animated series called JAMES BOND, JR. produced by the cookie-cutting DIC Entertainment that was shopped around to broadcast TV stations in 1991, just as FOX was expanding its reach and control of the children’s TV market in that world and as full-service kids’ cable networks like Nickelodeon became much more significant destinations in those head-to-head situations. It came and went well below ratings expectations in one cycle. One would hope lessons were learned.
On the other hand, Hopkins ultimately answers into people with perhaps even less consideration for what might be a viable idea, and even though he’s technically not part of the actual corporate structure these days, that didn’t stop the source of those spare billions from already opening up the next steps process with arguably some of the flimsiest research ever applied to this question. As Ryder further shared:
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos got straight to the point on social media shortly after the shocking news broke. “Who’d you pick as the next Bond?” he asked his 4.3 million Instagram followers. Judging from the comments on Bezos’s Instagram post, Henry Cavill is a fan favorite. Tom Cruise, James McAvoy and Tom Hardy were also mentioned.
Maybe your eyes may not have been bleeding as much from this nugget as mine were. But if that’s what qualifies as a valid pulse on determining how and where the James Bond Universe morphs, then the worst fears of the likes of Belloni and Bamigboye, let alone those that saw Broccoli as a role model for loyalty and legacy, might yet be realized. USA TODAY’s Brendan Morrow dropped this chilling reminder of what may have earned Amazon the level of respect Broccoli offered up lasy year into his story:
Thursday’s deal could open the door for Amazon to expand Bond into new areas, such as spinoff films and streaming shows. The company previously released “007: Road to a Million,” a reality competition show based on the world of Bond, in 2023.
For a company that seems to think BEAST GAMES is a global success worthy of renewal, don’t think a reboot hasn’t already been under consideration. Maybe Bezos could drop a poll from his yacht to test those waters.
Besides, he might need to update the one he already conducted, since he clearly left off one particularly low-hanging fruit for those now apparently in the Bond derby. Hmmmm–a suave, super-rich dude with a smoking hot lady who apparently has a voracious appetite for broccoli? The possibilities are endless.
Until next time…