James Bond fans have dying for the next movie starring the super-spy to get off the ground, following Daniel Craig’s tenure in the tux ending back in 2021, but now they’re screaming “not like this! Not like this!” after a shocking development has left the 007 brand shaken and stirred.
As per Variety, Amazon MGM Studios has officially taken full creative control of the James Bond franchise. This is a huge deal because, although Amazon previously acquired the rights to both Bond’s back catalog and to make future movies in 2022, long-time series custodians Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson were careful to retain their power. Now, however, Broccoli and Wilson are “stepping back,” although they will remain joint co-owners of the IP with Amazon.
This marks the first time in the 63-year-old film franchise’s history in which it has been studio-controlled. Producers Harry Saltzman and Albert “Cubby” Broccoli originally steered the ship through the 1960s and 70s before Broccoli went it alone until 1989’s License to Kill. Ever since 1995’s GoldenEye, his daughter, Barbara, and step-son, Wilson, have ensured it remained a family business and the pair have always had key creative input (similar to Kevin Feige with Marvel Studios).
We first found out the Broccolis and Amazon were clashing when an eyebrow-raising exposé from the Wall Street Journal alleged that relations between the two parties had broken down, with Barbara Broccoli apparently telling her friends that Amazon execs were “f—ing idiots.” She was also noted to have been offended by their use of the word “content” to describe Bond films and one exec telling her that he didn’t think Bond was a hero.
Given that this WSJ piece, which now appears to have been proven entirely accurate, didn’t exactly cast Amazon as having the right approach to the franchise, the news that the studio now has full control over the character is leaving many fans more heartbroken than when they watched the final act of No Time to Die. With Jeff Bezos being among the closest real-life analogs to a Bond villain we have, to some this has the distinct whiff of James Bond going to work for SPECTRE.
“This is terrible news because Barbara was the only one who was keeping Amazon away from turning 007 into a cinematic universe,” one tweeter lamented. “Based on Amazon’s track record with property’s, absolutely no good will come of this,” another warned. “From 007 to just plain 000,” someone else quipped.
Others are at least slightly more open to the Amazon era of Bond, so long as they stick to what works. “They better still make movies for the cinema, James Bond should not be straight to streaming,” went one demand. Others are just glad it’s not Netflix: “I’m WAY more relieved that Bond is at Amazon. If it were Netflix THEN I’d worry.” Clearly this person hasn’t seen how Amazon has handled Lord of the Rings…
The one upside to all this? Amazon is extremely unlikely to waste this golden goose — or gun — for long so we could well have a new Bond by the end of the year. And if all fans want is more 007 “content” then we’re bound to have various spin-offs, TV shows, and the like coming out of Blofeld Bezos calling the shots. Will fans soon be convinced that nobody does it better? Or is this the sky about to fall on the franchise’s quality for good?
