James Bond is totally under Amazon's control now, after more than 60 decades of control under the Broccoli family and Eon Productions.
via: IndieWire
In a new report from The Hollywood Reporter, Amazon CEO Bezos was determined to take all creative control for the IP through Amazon MGM Studios — which was announced in February 2025 for a reported cost of $1 billion. Fueling that price tag? Sheer retaliation.
In December 2024, The Wall Street Journal published a piece in which Broccoli is quoted as telling her personal friends that Amazon executives were “fucking idiots” amid dealings with the Bond franchise.
As THR now stated, Bezos “read her quote in the Journal and got on the phone and said, ‘I don’t care what it costs, get rid of her,'” according to an unnamed insider. The outlet further included how Broccoli bristled when Amazon content chief Jennifer Salke referred to Bond films as “content,” and Broccoli’s half-brother Michael G. Wilson (who also steered the Bond franchise for decades) was iced out of meetings by Amazon executives.
Jeff Bezos wasted no time in buying out longtime James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli after an alleged slight.
In a new report from The Hollywood Reporter, Amazon CEO Bezos was determined to take all creative control for the IP through Amazon MGM Studios — which was announced in February 2025 for a reported cost of $1 billion. Fueling that price tag? Sheer retaliation.
In December 2024, The Wall Street Journal published a piece in which Broccoli is quoted as telling her personal friends that Amazon executives were “fucking idiots” amid dealings with the Bond franchise.
As THR now stated, Bezos “read her quote in the Journal and got on the phone and said, ‘I don’t care what it costs, get rid of her,'” according to an unnamed insider. The outlet further included how Broccoli bristled when Amazon content chief Jennifer Salke referred to Bond films as “content,” and Broccoli’s half-brother Michael G. Wilson (who also steered the Bond franchise for decades) was iced out of meetings by Amazon executives.
IndieWire has reached out to representatives for Amazon MGM Studios for comment.
The only Bond installment that has debuted since the MGM Amazon deal in 2022 has been reality show series “007: Road to a Million.” And it’s been four years since Daniel Craig last played the iconic 007 character on the big screen with his franchise exit in “No Time to Die.” As THR noted, there is no script, no director, and no actor yet cast as Bond for another film; reportedly, Broccoli would not approve of any of Amazon’s suggested stars. (Aaron Taylor-Johnson was rumored in 2024 to be the frontrunner for the franchise, but no announcement was made.)
And perhaps that honor will be crowdsourced instead: Upon Bezos buying out the Broccoli siblings, he asked his social media followers who should play Bond next.
Amazon is also looking to capitalize on the IP with spin-offs, like UK TV professional Aaron McGahon speculated in a Marvel Studios-esque move. Sources close to the franchise claimed to THR that Amazon approached the Broccolis with “pitches for a TV series based on Moneypenny, the MI6 secretary […] as well as a show about Bond CIA buddy Felix Leiter, and maybe even something involving a female 007.” Yet, “predictably, Broccoli and Wilson weren’t interested.”
Wilson previously said (via THR) after the MGM sale to Amazon that he and Broccoli were “very reluctant to delegate” use of the IP for for “10 or 20 hours of a TV show” in lieu of a feature film. Broccoli at the time added, “It’s not something we’ve ever wanted to do.”
Amazon may even have trouble finding one filmmaker to helm a franchise installment, let alone multiple. Osgood Perkins recently shut down the idea of directing a Bond film, simply saying on Reddit, “No, because fuck Jeff Bezos.”
Oscar winner Edward Berger, who directed both “Conclave” and “All Quiet on the Western Front,” was rumored to be in talks with Bond producers Broccoli and Wilson before Amazon took over creative control. Berger told Variety that he is no longer interested after the Amazon deal was announced (He also denied the talks with the Broccolis, despite being “100 percent” interested.)
“Barbara Broccoli is no longer doing it and she is at the heart of this project, so I think it’s something different,” Berger said. “I don’t know. Things have changed. We will certainly miss her very much. […] Now it’s a different equation. I don’t know what the future is going to look like. I am going to think about it if anyone calls me, but Barbara is at the heart of this. If she is no longer there it becomes a different thing.”
Comments