Eleven days ago, Amazon MGM Studios [1] struck a deal with producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson [2-3] to assume total creative control of “the James Bond franchise” [4]. As covered by Variety, in “2022, Amazon bought MGM for $8.5 billion, acquiring a vast catalog with more than 4,000 films and 17,000 TV shows alongside the rights to distribute all of the James Bond films.
Further reporting indicates that Amazon “invested an additional $1 billion to secure complete control over the future direction and development of the 007 IP” [5].
Having myself rather studied the business side of James Bond movie-making for more than four decades now, I was not at all surprised by this news. It’s certainly no sea change for the sixty-four-year history.
I note that that books-to-films chronology marks its genesis with the June 28, 1961 agreement [6] among Albert R Broccoli, Ian Fleming, and Harry Saltzman. Barely over three years later, it survived the loss of its series creator [7], a few months before the premier of Goldfinger (1964).
Too, United Artists (UA) was the collaborating, trusted partner in this venture from the get-go [8]. That studio was quite involved in content management. Significantly, for example, it redirected casting of Agent 007 on Diamonds Are Forever (1971). “United Artist’s President, David Picker [9], … decided to get [Sean Connery] — at any cost [10-11].
The price UA paid to achieve this was steep enough to have Sean landed in Guiness Book of World Records. Connery received a large salary, a percentage of the gross rentals and a commitment from UA to finance two non-Bond films of his choice ….
Not long after, the second member of the 1961 triumvirate departed, following premier of The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), the ninth EON Productions release over a span of a dozen years, three different actors by then having played the role of Agent 007. That separation was a messy process. As recalled by Cubby Broccoli, Swiss bankers claimed that Harry Saltzman had pledged a hundred percent of the company to cover liabilities said to be close to $20 million [12].
With Harry Saltzman implacably opposed to selling his shares to Cubby, [United Artists} bought out the position …, including the copyright …. UA were the new partners, but Cubby was the sole producer. He had the artistic control. He chose the cast and whoever would play James Bond. He was effectively, … solely in charge ….
Timothy Dalton reinforced the historic importance of Mr Broccoli in recent comments on the future of James Bond under Amazon [13]. “‘He was a very powerful and strong anchor for the project. Nothing went on that he didn’t want and it’s sad that he’s not with us anymore ….
‘He was well in charge of the show and that’s not so anymore.’
‘… The movies have taken different courses over the years, but there is something very good about the original and I hope Amazon latch onto that and give us the kind of film that’s brought so much excitement and fun to so many people.’
Albert R Broccoli solely produced four movies, the last of which was Octopussy in 1983. By then in his mid-seventies, he “promoted” his stepson, Michael G Wilson, to the position of co-producer [14]. As historians John Cork and Bruce Scivally saw it in 2002, Mr Wilson “had proved his worth as part of the legal team that advised Cubby Broccoli during the split from Harry Saltzman.
He made significant contributions to the next four 007 films as an assistant to Broccoli on The Spy Who Loved Me, an executive producer on Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, and Octopussy, and co-writer of the scripts for For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy.
All told, the two co-produced A View to a Kill (1985), The Living Daylights (1987), and Licence to Kill (1989), and shepherded the transition from Roger Moore to Timothy Dalton in the lead role. Then came the casting of Pierce Brosnan, shortly after which, Mr Broccoli “underwent emergency coronary bypass surgery during the summer of 1994, from which he never fully recovered” [15].
Barbara, his daughter, then replaced him as co-producer on the 007 films, along side Michael G Wilson.
She [had been] an assistant director on Octopussy and A View To A Kill. She was associate producer, with Tom Pevsner, on The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill ….
Albert R Broccoli, the last surviving party to the 1961 books-to-films arrangement, passed away on June 27, 1996, during which time Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) was in pre-production.
Ms Broccoli and Mr Wilson have co-produced nine James Bond motion pictures during the twenty-nine years since the passing of Cubby Broccoli — starting with GoldenEye in 1995. They replaced Pierce Brosnan with Daniel Craig for Casino Royale (2006) and onward.
Many people, then. Many hand-offs.
Viewed holistically, this move in favor of Amazon is neither inherently good or bad [16]; only time will tell on that. Top of mind for me at this point is the fact that this series of James Bond movies achieved and has maintained sufficient loft [17-19] to weather quite grievous missteps over its six-plus decades then-to-now, and soldiered on.
Moreover, this has been true within some of its leadership periods as well [20-21]. So Amazon has some time to get things right at this point as well.
As for me, I’m content to take Michael G Wilson at his word on this deal, that “… it is time for our trusted partner, Amazon MGM Studios, to lead James Bond into the future.” And I look forward to seeing what comes next.
— Dell Deaton
off-site
References
- “Amazon MGM Studios announces new joint venture with Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli for James Bond franchise rights” / February 20, 2025 / Amazon (accessed February 26, 2025).
- “Amazon MGM Studios Announces New Joint Venture with Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli for James Bond Franchise Rights” / February 20, 2025 / EON Productions (accessed February 26, 2025).
- “Amazon MGM Studios Announces New Joint Venture with Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli” / February 26, 2025 / 007.com (accessed February 26, 2025).
- “James Bond Shocker: Amazon MGM Gains Creative Control of 007 Franchise as Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson Step Back” / February 20, 2025 / Alex Ritman / Variety (accessed February 26, 2025).
- “Amazon MGM Studios Spent $1 Billion to Get Full Creative Control Over James Bond” / February 21, 2025 / Abby Montanez / Robb Report (accessed February 26, 2025).
- “James Bond: How 007 Was Born Onscreen” / November 6, 2015 / Tim Gray / Variety (accessed March 31, 2024).
- When the Snow Melts: The Autobiography of Cubby Broccoli / 1998 / Albert R Broccoli, with Donald Zec (pages 159-166; Boxtree: London).
- Ibid (pages 150-152).
- “David Picker, Studio Chief Who Brought Bond, The Beatles and Steve Martin to the Movies, Dies at 87” / April 21, 2019 / Scott Feinberg / The Hollywood Reporter (accessed February 27, 2025).
- When the Snow Melts (pages 221-222).
- The Incredible World of 007: An Authorized Celebration of James Bond / 1992 / Philip Lisa and Lee Pfeiffer (page 62; Carol Publishing Group: Secaucus, New Jersey).
- When the Snow Melts (pages 235 and 241).
- “Timothy Dalton ‘shocked’ by James Bond producers’ exit, reveals his hopes for the Amazon era” / February 21, 2025 / Morgan Jeffery / Radio Times magazine (accessed March 1, 2025).
- James Bond: The Legacy / 2002 / John Cork and Bruce Scivally (page 207; Harry N Abrams: New York).
- Ibid (pages 244-245).
- “James Bond Will Return… | A New Era – Amazon take creative control of 007!” / February 21, 2025 / Really, 007! (via YouTube, accessed March 2, 2025).
- “Goldfinger | The Movie That Made James Bond” / April 29, 2024 / Pentax Productions (via YouTube, accessed March 3, 2025).
- “Why The Spy Who Loved Me is the Greatest Bond Movie | Video Essay.”
- “Why Timothy Dalton is the best 007 (A Unified Theory of the Timothy Dalton Era: Part 1)” / December 16, 2023 / Analyze This, Mister Bond (via YouTube, accessed March 4, 2025).
- “Quantum of Solace — What Happens when a Movie Isn’t Written | Anatomy Of A Failure” / October 6, 2021 / Filmento.
- “No Time to Die – 7 Reasons Why It Went Wrong” / October 29, 2024 / Dr Reel.