James Bond (the movie franchise, not the spy) may be in deep danger

Movie icon and super spy James Bond seemed to be on a new rise to the top of the box office just a few years ago, but since then things have been about as quiet as a silenced Walther PPK shot. Daniel Craig took over the role in 2006. with Casino Royale and passed the baton to 2021 No time to die in one of the most heartbreaking endings in Bond cinematic history (you cried, just admit it).

The only sadder thing is the reason we haven’t seen a new Bond film since.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon and Barbara Broccoli, the producer who inherited the franchise from her father and film producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli when he died in 1996, are in the middle of an ugly battle that has halted production of the next Bond film. Apparently, Barbara doesn’t trust Amazon with her family’s famous movie franchise.

how bad is it Well, here’s a quote from Barbara to some of her friends explaining how she feels about the people who run the Amazon media empire: “These people are fucking idiots.” Man, that’s awkward with a capital “awkward.”

The stalemate began in 2021, when Amazon bought MGM for $8.5 billion and thereby acquired the rights to distribute Bond films, according to Diversity. The deal seemed like a big move for Amazon to make its way into Hollywood using one of its most famous and solid movie franchises.

Unfortunately for Amazon, the real power over the James Bond movies rests with Broccoli. She pitches the ideas for Bond’s big-screen adventures as and when they go into production, and Broccoli has no desire to work with Amazon anytime soon. WSJ spoke to 20 people familiar with the feud, who say Broccoli doesn’t think Amazon is the right place for a Bond film because its core business is retail and e-commerce.

When Amazon bought MGM, winning the rights to the Bond franchise was a key part of the value of the deal. Broccoli and co-producer Michael Wilson had some reservations, but were confident they would still retain creative control. The COVID lockdown was already making it difficult to jump into the next Bond film production. However, things seemed to smooth over between the two sides when Amazon also pushed for its next Bond film No time to die would get theatrical release.

But immediately after the deal closed, Amazon executives began thinking about ways to expand the Bond film franchise into other media such as a Moneypenny spinoff series for Prime Video or a standalone spy movie or TV show set in the Bond universe. Broccoli refused to allow any of these projects to proceed. She also took offense to Jennifer Salke, Amazon’s entertainment executive, using the word “content” to describe new James Bond projects, and any ideas Amazon had for Bond were labeled “TBD” in the memos. To date, the only Bond property that Amazon can get Broccoli to sign is a reality series 007: The Road to a Million which is entering its second season.

Broccoli and her family have been part of the Bond film franchise for almost as long as she’s been alive, so she’s fiercely protective of her father’s brand and cinematic legacy. She also began training Wilson’s son Greg to produce recent installments and possibly prepare him to take over the franchise someday. Even this led to disagreements over who should play Bond in the next film. That’s assuming we get one, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen anytime soon.

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