James Bond’s Future Is Being Shaken Up by Corporate Clashes

The world has been waiting on pins and needles to find out what’s happening with James Bond. Now that Daniel Craig’s 007 story has been put to rest, there’ve been some light rumblings on what’s next for the super-spy. But it appears there may be no time to plan, after all—or not while the Broccoli family is clashing with Amazon, at least.

A new report from the Wall Street Journal alleges the relationship between the Broccolis and Amazon has “collapsed” since the latter bought MGM back in 2022. The outlet claims longtime Bond producer Barbara Broccoli doesn’t trust the “algorithm-centric Amazon” with James Bond, so much she doesn’t even want to make a movie with the company. (According to the WSJ, she reportedly bluntly told her friends the tech company’s people are “fucking idiots.”) Things have basically hit a standstill with the new movie, and Broccoli allegedly said this past fall there was “no script, no story, and no new Bond.”

The Broccolis have a pretty tight grip on James Bond, and getting their approval to do anything with him can be tough. The WSJ report states Amazon executives were geeked to expand James Bond once it acquired MGM. Such ideas ranged from a Prime Video show to spinoffs for certain characters, or even a project headlined by a female 007. But the family (and Barbara in particular) maintain creative control over the franchise, and they’ve no desire to make Bond into mere “content,” so those dreams were shut down. There’s also reportedly been pushback against who should play Bond in the future: sources told the WSJ that people of color, women, or gay men should be considered, and between those three, Barbara was more open to people of color or a gay man. Her thinking? Bond should always be a British man.

You can read the full story here, which digs into Barbara Broccoli’s growth into the steward of James Bond and that strained relationship with Amazon. It’s unclear where things go from here, or which party may end up backing down just to make a movie happen—but you have to assume James Bond will return eventually.

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