Amazon MGM’s deal to take creative control over the James Bond Franchise from Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson cost $1bn, a report suggests.
James Bond always did have a magpie’s eye for expensive things, so it’s only fitting that Amazon MGM’s recently-announced deal had a huge figure attached.
News broke yesterday that the mega-corporation has taken creative control over the 007 franchise from long-time producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson. If a source close to Deadline is correct, that deal cost Amazon MGM around $1bn.
That sum is in addition to the $8.5bn Amazon already paid for MGM – a package which also included EON Productions, the company which owns the rights to James Bond. When that deal went through in 2022, Broccoli and Wilson’s contract left them with creative sway over the Bond franchise – something that caused friction between EON and Amazon MGM according to insiders.
Although Amazon MGM, in its statement, has said that it and Broccoli and Wilson will “remain co-owners of the franchise,” it was evident from their own statements that the producers’ creative input in Bond is essentially at an end. Wilson has said he’s stepping back so he can concentrate on art and other interests; Broccoli also stated, “it is time for our trusted partner, Amazon MGM Studios, to lead James Bond into the future.”
Read more: No Prime To Die | What does the Amazon MGM deal mean for the future of James Bond?
A source quoted by Deadline appears to add weight to those earlier reports that Broccoli was at loggerheads with her Amazon partners over where the Bond franchise should head. “She’s a fighter,” said someone connected to her circle, “but she got tired of fighting.”
In a separate piece, journalist Baz Bamigboye suggested that Brocolli was “upset” when she began calling around to warn people of the impending announcement on Thursday. One described the tone of the call as being akin to “a death in the family.” Another likened it to handing “the family jewels to someone else.”
A further source suggested that the deal may never have happened had an obvious choice for a new James Bond emerged in the wake of Daniel Craig’s departure in 2021. Broccoli had reportedly spoken to other actors, including the long-rumoured Aaron Taylor-Johnson, but nobody had emerged as a frontrunner.
Whether that’s accurate or not, things are about to change considerably behind the scenes. Filming on Bond 26 is said to be at least a year away, with no actor or director attached or script written. But given how lucrative the series is, and the extra $1bn Amazon has now paid for it, there’ll surely be a renewed urgency to get something into production.
We took a look at what the Amazon MGM deal might mean for the future of James Bond in an earlier post.
