Amazon MGM takes full creative control of James Bond franchise in deal with Broccoli family

Summary

Amazon MGM Studios Gains Full Creative Control of James Bond Franchise

Amazon MGM Studios has resolved a three-year standoff with the Broccoli family over the James Bond franchise, securing creative control in a new joint venture agreement announced Thursday. Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson, who have stewarded the franchise since its 1962 debut with Doctor No, will now cede authority over casting, scriptwriting, and production timelines to Amazon.

The deal breaks a multi-year impasse that has frozen the franchise. No Time to Die, the last installment, premiered in 2021—a gap that breaks the franchise's historical pattern of releasing films every one to two years. The Broccoli family had retained decision-making power after Amazon's $6.5 billion acquisition of MGM three years ago, citing concerns about entrusting the character to "data-minded" Amazon. That friction blocked any path forward on a new film.

The venture will house the franchise's intellectual property. Amazon now controls who plays the next Bond, who writes the script, and when production begins—the three decisions that had deadlocked the relationship.

Jeff Bezos leaned into the deal by asking followers on X who should play the next Bond. One proposal circulating favors Henry Cavill in a 1960s–70s period piece with practical effects and a grounded spy narrative—a pivot toward the satirical tone of early Bond films, which trafficked in over-the-top villains and self-aware humor before Austin Powers flipped the genre's sensibility toward grit and seriousness. Others note that casting an unknown actor historically served the franchise better: Daniel Craig was a Shakespeare actor and Layer Cake veteran before becoming Bond, which let audiences see him as the character rather than through the weight of prior roles.