It was announced yesterday that Amazon MGM Studios gained creative control of the James Bond franchise. It’s the end of an era. Four years after the last Bond film, No Time To Die, it seems like one of the longest-running movie franchises is facing its own demise of sorts. For the last 60 years, the James Bond franchise has been a family business started by Albert R. (Cubby) Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, which then passed down to half-siblings Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson.
As a longtime Bond fan, I can’t help but feel a bit sad about this. I’ve been watching Bond movies since I was a wee girl with my two older brothers. I grew up with the more lighthearted Roger Moore’s Bond movies, but I’ve watched every single Bond movie since the Sean Connery era. For the longest time, Bond movies had been a family business and their relationship to the franchise transcends mere profit, it’s as much about legacy and their relationship to Ian Fleming’s intellectual property is a personal one. That’s not going to be the case anymore…
In 2022, Amazon scooped up MGM for a whopping $8.5 billion, gaining access to a massive library of over 4,000 movies and 17,000 TV shows, including the rights to all the James Bond films. However, according to Deadline, Amazon faced some hurdles in fully developing Bond because of Broccoli and Wilson’s involvement. To get around this, they ended up shelling out an extra $1 billion to secure creative control, allowing Amazon MGM Studios to take the reins on one of the world’s most iconic franchises.
This isn’t the first time the Bond franchise was embroiled in a lengthy legal battle. I’m still bitter about it as my favorite Bond actor, Timothy Dalton, was contracted to do three Bond films but his contract expired as the MGM/UA’s legal disputes took too long.
Dalton ended up leaving the project as apparently he only wanted to do one more Bond film, but the production company wanted him to sign for a 4-5 picture deal (per Screenrant). To this day, I’m still mourning the last Dalton Bond film that was not to be… I read in this 007.info site that ‘…Dalton’s third would-be Bond movie would have entailed the Bond series continuing to move in the notably realistic direction set out in Licence to Kill, but also brimming with ambitious hi-tech concepts.’ Oh man, that sounds amazing!!
I read that Dalton was handpicked by Cubby Broccoli himself, and I think the family has always been hands-on with the production, from casting to writing treatment/screenplay, etc. On top of producing duties, Wilson has written at least five Bond film scripts (including the two that Dalton starred in, The Living Daylights and Licence To Kill) and was involved in most of the film’s concepts. Now that Amazon has taken over, my fear is that the Bond franchise will be just another lucrative franchise the way Marvel and Star Wars are to Disney. Just look at what the Mouse House has done with those, squeezing every last bit out of them to make sure they rake in even more billions than they spent.
It’s inevitable that Amazon is going to milk the Bond franchise for all its worth… there’ll be a Bond series (just like what Amazon did with the Lord of the Rings: Rings of Fire) and there will likely be a Bond movie every year or every other year. In the past six decades, pretty much every Bond film release has been an ‘event movie’ that’s been heavily anticipated because there’s usually a few years or more between them.
Well, that quality-over-quantity approach might cease to exist if Amazon oversaturated the market with not just a Bond movie starring Agent 007 but various spin-offs of characters like Q, M, or Money Penny. Heck, with Disney making movies about its classic villains, Amazon might follow suit with movies about Ernst Blofeld, Hugo Drax, Le Chiffre, and even their goons-for-hire like Jaws or Bond girl/villainess like Onatopp (might as well just add an Ona-bottom too while they’re at it). The possibilities are endless for Jeff Bezos to capitalize on.
I was just thinking when the news broke… didn’t they already make a Bezos-like (or Mark Zuckerberg) Bond villain with media-mogul Elliot Carver (played by Jonathan Pryce)? It seems truth IS indeed stranger than fiction!
On the flip side though, the fact that Broccoli and Wilson have been super hands-on (read: micromanaging) the Bond films, perhaps this change means the franchise might be open to a new vision outside of the box. Even Sam Mendes (who directed Skyfall and Spectre) has said in the past that the producers want directors who are more ‘controllable’ which is one of the reasons he stepped away. So perhaps we can expect more creative storylines that might attract big-name directors, even auteurs like Denis Villeneuve or Christopher Nolan? It’s no secret that Nolan has always wanted to direct a Bond movie, but he certainly would want creative control (as he should!) A Nolan Bond movie would be something I’d watch in a heartbeat, but I’d also love to see female directors get a chance to direct this franchise. I mean seriously? I think it’s about darn time.
Apparently, Barbara Broccoli was one of the producers of the 2022 Till movie which was directed by a woman, Chinonye Chukwu. I’d think she of all people should be the one pushing for a female director to take the helm of a Bond film. Kathryn Bigelow seems like an obvious choice, but I’d love to see other talented female directors like Gina Prince-Bythewood or Sam Taylor-Johnson (whose husband Aaron Taylor-Johnson has been touted to be the next Bond) put their stamp on it, too!
In any case, I was going to do a Bond casting post, but I’ll do that at another time as things are so up in the air. But to piggyback on what I said about Dalton earlier, it would be a dream if the new Bond producers could make it up to Dalton and all his fans for missing out on his third Bond movie. How? Well, what about casting him as the new M (after all, he’s classically trained just like Dame Judi Dench!) Or perhaps cast Dalton as a Bond villain a la the elegant Hugo Drax? There’s a hint of danger in Dalton’s eyes even when he played Bond. One Dalton fan on Reddit described him perfectly… ‘I see him as a killer, but there’s this uncertainty in him too, and even though he’s conflicted, it won’t hold him back from getting the job done. As another film puts it, “It’s a hard heart that kills.” He embodies both the hunter and the hunted, and you can totally see that in his gaze.’ I’d say he’d make a fantastic Bond villain that would please the fans and win new ones!
It’ll be interesting to see where the bond franchise will go from here… I sure hope Amazon won’t run it to the ground.
Check out my appreciation post for Dalton and his two Bond films:
The Living Daylights and Licence To Kill.
FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
There was a story about some Austrian real estate guru wanting to buy the franchise but now that’s going to happen. I am worried about this. Disney did some good things with the Star Wars franchise but not everything is great. At least they’re not Jeff Bezos. That guy is a dick. He wasted $250 million on a piece of shit movie starring the Crock for fuck’s sake. Part of me now wishes that Kevin McClory had gotten control of the Bond series but that would’ve been a disaster since he never really did anything other than bring a few ideas to the Thunderball novel.
This is an end of an era as I hope there is a future 4K Blu-Ray box set of the official Bond films just to have as that is a franchise that I grew up on as a kid with Roger Moore. I would’ve loved a third Timothy Dalton film and your ideas about Dalton playing a Bond villain is awesome. I am worried about this.
Wow I hadn’t heard about the Austrian guy wanting to buy the franchise, he must have been a billionaire? Which $250 mil movie did Bezos waste on The Rock? I haven’t seen any of his action movies so I probably didn’t watch it, ahah.
Yeah I’m thinking of getting the Bluray box-set too as even the sillier Moore’s Bond movies were entertaining, can’t say I’d say the same about Brosnan’s movies, some of those are unwatchable, esp. Die Another Day (sooo dumb!!)
I just think Dalton’s still got the edge to play a supporting role like M or a Bond villain. I love the rapport between Bond and Sanchez, Robert Davi is one of my fave Bond villains, as he’s classy and charming but of course brutal. Remember Benicio Del Toro was his goon? I love Licence To Kill!
Red One with Chris Evans and J.K. Simmons that was originally $200 million and then it an additional $50 million because the Crock is an insecure bitch as he made things difficult on set. The idea of him in a Martin Scorsese film worries me.
Die Another Day is my least favorite Bond film ever. The fucking invisible car.
Yikes!! Red One cost $200 mil??!! It’s a travesty! I never saw it, probably never will but it looks absolutely awful even from the trailer. It’s just sad that terrible movies like that get made when there are thousands of indie filmmakers with good ideas who’d never get their films made, even though they’d likely cost a fraction of Red One’s catering budget 😦
Yeah, the invisible car is just the dumbest idea of an overall dumb movie! I mean, the Korean villain becomes a white dude!! What kind of surgery did he do? MWAHAHAHAHA!!
Yeah, Die Another Day was bad. Oh, did I mention the invisible car? Stupidest invention…. EVER!!!!
Yeah, and don’t forget the Madonna cameo!! 😂😂😂
And that shit song of hers. And the invisible car!
This is inevitable once Amazon bought MGM and rights to the Bond films. I remember I laughed when they said Barbara and Michael will have creative control. That obviously didn’t work out when news broke a few months ago that Amazon big wigs and Barbara and Michael had disagreements on the franchise’s direction. So they threw some more money at them both and here we are. Sadly, Amazon will milk the franchise till people gets tired of it. So, whoever takes over as 007, they’ll have to be ready to play Bond every other 2 year and make appearances in spinoff series and movies. Lol!
This isn’t something new though. Sony, Disney and Apple have tried to purchase this franchise for several years, Amazon was willing to spend the most and they got it. I don’t think top tier directors like Nolan will work with them though. Nolan wants his films to play in theaters for at least 3 months. Amazon will probably have a new Bond film play in theater for like 2 weeks and then it comes out on Prime. But like you said, it might open the doors for female and other minority directors who can bring new ideas to the franchise. Both Barbara and Michael had strict rules on who they hire to work on the Bond films.
There’s a show on Max called The Franchise, it’s cancelled. But it was created by Sam Mendes and it’s basically his version of what he went through during the production of Skyfall and Spectre. The show had good ideas but it misfired because the castings were terrible and it wasn’t funny at all.
Great points Ted! I think with Amazon as the owner, the Bond movies might have a shorter theatrical window now and go promptly to Amazon Prime. Yeah, Barbara and Michael were protective of the franchise but they focused on ‘less is more’ and quality over quantity, that’s not gonna be the case anymore now.
“whoever takes over as 007, they’ll have to be ready to play Bond every other 2 year and make appearances in spinoff series and movies” Yep, that’s why I very much doubt Henry Cavill would be willing to do it, I know that Bezos asked people who they’d cast as Bond and many answered Cavill.
Ooohhh now you got me interested in seeing The Franchise! Too bad they had bad casting… it’s so important to cast the right person in any project. I’ll be doing another Bond post and talk about who I want as Bond. I think they should go with a relative unknown or at least someone less famous than Cavill who’s been in a huge comic-book movie.
I didn’t think Cavill was ever going to be playing 007 when Barbara and Michael were in charge. Now, with Amazon in full control, they can throw tons of money at him since the “fans” wants him as Bond. It’s going to be hard for him to turn down generational money if/when they offer him the role. But like you, I prefer they cast an unknown or not that well known actor for the role.
The Franchise wanted to be like a behind scenes comedic version of The Office but the cast were totally wrong. None of them can do comedy and the humor didn’t work. I like the idea of showing how filmmakers deals with huge production of a big franchise film. They should’ve done a straight up drama or do like behind scenes documentary. By making into a comedy show, it missed the mark. But it has some humor moments, I’m sure Mendes wanted to show the world what he went through when made both of the Bond films.
Yeah I’m curious if Amazon would actually offer Cavill a dumptruck full of cash to play Bond. He’s a busy guy now though, unlike when he auditioned for the role years ago, so we’ll see if he’s still interested.
That’s too bad about The Franchise. I’ll give one episode a try, as I’m curious about the premise. I had no idea it was made by Mendes!
It was only a matter of time when Amazon acquired MGM, but I never thought Broccoli and Wilson would relinquish control this quickly. A sad day for Bond fans.
A sad day indeed. I guess Wilson is in his 80s so nearing retirement and Barbara wants to do other things, I just hope they’d still be involved in some capacity to ensure the films’ quality remains strong.
Great article. I have about four unfinished blog posts about Bond you have inspired me to revisit. Interestingly there are two things you mention that overlap with mine. Timothy Dalton not making a third movie. And , how much I would love to see Denis Villeneuve and Christopher Nolan make Bond movies.
One of my other blogs is a rehash of something I wrote ages ago, but would be perfect as a spin off. Not sure if you read the books, if not a brief summary: Jeffery Deaver’s novel Carte Blanche rebooted Bond as a modern day character unlike the other books that are continuations of Flemings books. There is a subplot: Bond believes his father, Andrew Bond, was a British spy and was killed because of this and not in a climbing accident. He investigates and discovers KGB a “clean-up operation” to killed their own double agents. They also killed a spy-hunter who about to discover their sleeper agents and moles. The spy hunter was Bond’s mother Monique Delacroix Bond. This would work as a TV show with a very slow revel and the possibility of Andrew Bond as a KGB Sleeper agent.
Hey Andy! You should definitely revisit those Bond posts! Let me know when you finish them and I’d check ’em out.
No I’m not familiar with Deaver’s novel but the idea of James Bond’s dad as a KGB Sleeper agent is intriguing. I guess I’m not opposed to seeing a Bond series so long as the story is good and it’s well-made. If the focus is still on James instead of a myriad of secondary or even tertiary Bond characters, a series or mini-series could work in tandem with the Bond films and offer a deeper narrative of the Bond universe if you will.
Pingback: The Minnesota Movie Digest: Issue No. 129 – The Minnesota Film Critics Association
I’m a big Bond fan. Honestly I read many of the books before I ever saw a movie. That’s because I’m usually disappointed with a movie after reading a book. Still am, by and large.
The 1 movie I can think of that lived up to the book is Gone With the Wind
My fave is Sean Connery, then Daniel Craig.
So sad to hear amazon bought the franchise. I have boycotted them for 11 years.
Looks like I wont be watching any new Bond movies!
Yikes!! I just revisited this old post and guess what, I had missed your comment 😲 So sorry!!
Well I’m about to post another Bond news… and the director on tap to direct the next Bond movie is Canadian!! I hear ya about boycotting Amazon, I can’t stand Bezos (whose name perfectly rhymes with bozos!!) but man I love the Bond franchise, been watching since I was a wee girl!!
Pingback: Oscars 2025 – Full Winners list, Highs + Lows of the 97th Academy Awards – FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG