James Bond Films See Big Creative Shakeup (What Does It Mean for the Next 007?)

Creative control of the James Bond franchise is now fully under Amazon MGM Studios. When Amazon acquired MGM in 2021, that included the James Bond catalog of movies and the rights to distribute them. However, creative control of James Bond has always fallen under the purview of 007 producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. There have been rumblings that Wilson and Broccoli would relent some of their power over James Bond, but today’s news makes it official: Amazon MGM Studios now has creative control of James Bond. The James Bond intellectual property rights are now part of a new joint venture between Amazon MGM Studios, Wilson, and Broccoli, with Amazon holding creative control.

“Since his theatrical introduction over 60 years ago, James Bond has been one of the most iconic characters in filmed entertainment,” said Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios.

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“We are grateful to the late Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman for bringing James Bond to movie theatres around the world, and to Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli for their unyielding dedication and their role in continuing the legacy of the franchise that is cherished by legions of fans worldwide. We are honoured to continue this treasured heritage, and look forward to ushering in the next phase of the legendary 007 for audiences around the world.”

Added Wilson: “With my 007 career spanning nearly 60 incredible years, I am stepping back from producing the James Bond films to focus on art and charitable projects. Therefore, Barbara and I agree, it is time for our trusted partner, Amazon MGM Studios, to lead James Bond into the future.”

“My life has been dedicated to maintaining and building upon the extraordinary legacy that was handed to Michael and me by our father, producer Cubby Broccoli. I have had the honour of working closely with four of the tremendously talented actors who have played 007 and thousands of wonderful artists within the industry. With the conclusion of No Time to Die and Michael retiring from the films, I feel it is time to focus on my other projects,” commented Broccoli.

There have been rumblings that a James Bond television series could eventually be in the works. However, those plans have continuously been shot down by producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. They’ve wanted to keep James Bond as a film franchise, which means TV has previously been out of the question.

“Our focus is making the feature films. When we get going on a Bond movie it takes our full attention for three or four years so that’s our focus,” Broccoli told The Guardian in October 2023.

She continued, “We make the Bond movies for the big theatrical screen and everything about the Bond movies is for audiences to see around the world on that format, so we’ve not wanted to do television.”

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There’s also the matter of finding a new actor to replace Daniel Craig as James Bond. His last film as 007 was 2021’s No Time to Die, and since then there have been numerous actors tied to the role of James Bond, ranging from Aaron Taylor-Johnson to Idris Elba. However, Broccoli said they were nowhere close to finding a James Bond replacement and the character has to be “reinvented for the next chapter.”

Broccoli mused, “I go back to GoldenEye when everyone was saying ‘the cold war is over, the wall is over, Bond is dead, no need for Bond, the whole world’s at peace and now there’s no villains’ – and boy was that wrong!”

“Daniel gave us the ability to mine the emotional life of the character … and also the world was ready for it,” she added. “I think these movies reflect the time they are in, and there’s a big, big road ahead reinventing it for the next chapter and we haven’t even begun with that.”