The surprise decision to sell creative control of James Bond to Amazon-MGM created shockwaves which are still rippling through Hollywood.
It was the great topic of conversation during Oscars week – and everyone had a take on the deal, which is confidently said to have netted Barbara Broccoli and her stepbrother Michael G Wilson ‘at least $1 billion’; and possibly more if the forthcoming films and other spin-offs are a success.
One confidante of Broccoli’s told me that she and Wilson ‘just ran out of ideas’ and ‘reached the end of the road, creatively’.
He added: ‘They didn’t know what to do with Bond and were struggling before No Time To Die.
‘Then they took the radical decision to have Daniel Craig die in No Time To Die – and simply couldn’t work out where to go from there.
‘They had made zero progress since the film wrapped in 2019.’
Barbara Broccoli (pictured, right, with Daniel Craig in 2019) is reported to have netted ‘at least $1 billion’ from selling creative control of the James Bond franchise
The surprise decision to sell Bond to Amazon-MGM created shockwaves which are still rippling through Hollywood (pictured: Jeff Bezos in on Sunday)
Despite pocketing an eyewatering sum for her creative rights, Broccoli was reportedly ‘almost heartbroken’ at giving them up
One factor which didn’t help was that Wilson, who is 83, ‘pretty much retired’ after No Time To Die finished filming. ‘Barbara had to do it all herself,’ I’m told.
Another source says that Broccoli was ‘almost heartbroken’ once negotiations concluded. ‘It’s her father’s (Cubby’s) legacy. There was a big emotional wrench once the decision was taken.’
Others, though, are less sympathetic. Some feel that the deal amounted to a ‘betrayal of the fans’.
One remarked bitterly: ‘She wasn’t smart enough to find a way out of the hole she dug.’
In the past 23 years, Broccoli and Wilson made only five films. Amazon/MGM are expected to move swiftly to hire a new Bond, produce the next film and probably greenlight some spin-offs.
Speaking last year, before he knew about the plans, director Sam Mendes who made Spectre and Skyfall said: ‘In a way, James Bond is an old-fashioned franchise, if such a thing exists.
One factor which didn’t help was that Wilson (pictured, in 2021), who is 83, ‘pretty much retired’ after No Time To Die finished filming
In the past 23 years, Broccoli and Wilson made only five films (including No Time To Die in 2021, pictured). Amazon/MGM are expected to move swiftly to hire a new Bond
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‘It was the first franchise. There are no spin-offs. There’s a movie only every three or four years.
‘There isn’t a universe; rather, just one person at the centre of a number of different stories.’
But those days have changed, Mendes noted. ‘We live in an era of content now where you’re going to have 15 hours of stuff from a multiverse every year.’
Some years ago, Naomie Harris was in the frame to play Miss Moneypenny in her own spin-off, but Barbara Broccoli declined to give the project the go-ahead.
