- Amazon MGM Studios announced Thursday it’s gained creative control over the James Bond franchise. Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli remain co-owners of the franchise, which includes 25 movies released since 1962.
No, 007 fans. Amazon did not expect Mr. Bond to die. Amazon MGM Studios on Thursday announced a joint venture with James Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli for the rights to the franchise.
Under the terms of the deal, Amazon MGM Studios, the film and television production and distribution studio owned by the e-commerce company, will gain creative control of the 60-year-old franchise.
Amazon acquired MGM in 2022 for $8.5 billion, and has held the rights to distribute the James Bond films since then. The company also acquired more than 4,000 films and 17,000 television shows as part of the MGM acquisition. Now, the company will carry on the Bond legacy, even after Daniel Craig’s final appearance as the main character in No Time to Die, which premiered in 2021.
“Since his theatrical introduction over 60 years ago, James Bond has been one of the most iconic characters in filmed entertainment,” Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, said in a statement. “We are honored to continue this treasured heritage, and look forward to ushering in the next phase of the legendary 007 for audiences around the world.”
Amazon declined to provide further comment to Fortune on the deal and how much it was worth.
However, box office totals among the 25 Bond films alone are worth nearly $8 billion, making it one of the highest-grossing film franchises in history. The Bond empire began with Dr. No in 1962, and the franchise’s highest-grossing film was Skyfall in 2012 with more than $1.1 billion in worldwide box office sales.
James Bond fans have had mixed reactions to Amazon’s announcement, with some calling for the company to treat the franchise with care and to not “dilute that with a plethora of streaming spinoffs.” John Logan, a three-time Oscar nominee for screenplays and co-writer on the James Bond movies Skyfall and Spectre, feared this day would come—that Amazon would acquire more of a voice in the franchise.
“Bond isn’t just another franchise, not a Marvel or a DC; it is a family business that has been carefully nurtured and shepherded through the changing times by the Broccoli/Wilson family,” Logan wrote in a 2021 opinion article for The New York Times. “James Bond has survived the Cold War, Goldfinger, Jaws, disco and Ernst Stavro Blofeld, several times. And I can only hope that the powers that be at Amazon recognize the uniqueness of what they just acquired.”
Others have said they see it as a “silver lining” after Craig’s final performance as the iconic character, ushering in a new era of Bond.
Although Wilson and Broccoli will remain co-owners of the franchise, Amazon MGM has the chance to shake, not stir, the franchise’s future.
“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,” Broccoli said in a statement.
Wilson said he was stepping back from producing the Bond films to focus on art and charitable projects.
“Barbara and I agree it is time for our trusted partner, Amazon MGM Studios, to lead James Bond into the future,” Wilson said in a statement.
