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No Time To Die
GRTV News - Creative control of the James Bond franchise has been handed to Amazon MGM Studios
Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli are stepping away from the role.
Audio transcription
"Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of GRTV News. Today we're going to be talking a little bit about James Bond because yesterday a rather surprising and a little bit shocking news came out. Basically we've been waiting for pretty much, when you count when we were originally told that No Time To Die would be Daniel Craig's last movie as James Bond, we've been waiting for like almost 4 or 5 years now to hear about who the next James Bond is going to be and it's got to a point where it almost feels like we're not going to be told at all but clearly there was a reason for that because there's things that have been happening behind the scenes, things that have now come to the surface and basically the very, very, very long time producers and sort of stewards of the James Bond franchise, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, who I think if I'm not saying Barbara Broccoli originally took over from her father but the point is that these two individuals, these two parties have been stewarding and maintaining the James Bond franchise for like 60 years or something, pretty much ever since its inception. But that's not going to be the case going forward as they've both decided to basically step away from the limelight, step away from the role and instead let Amazon MGM Studios take over creative control. So let's have a look. So yes, Amazon MGM Studios is taking over the James Bond franchise, perhaps this is why it's taken so long to find a new 007. So we've been waiting frankly far too long to hear who will be taking over as the next 007 following Daniel Craig who exited the role after no time to die. We knew that film would be the last time Craig appeared as James Bond before it even premiered and it's well over 3 years since it made its arrival in cinemas and yet we're still in the dark with no clue or idea as to who will take over the role. But perhaps there is a very good reason for this. It has just been revealed that Amazon MGM Studios will be taking over creative control of the James Bond franchise going forward, claiming responsibilities that formerly belonged to Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. This is part of a deal that is regarded as a joint venture but it definitely seems more as though Amazon MGM Studios will be helming all things Bond going forward while the former stewards take a back seat. Speaking about this new plan, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, Mike Hopkins stated. We are grateful to the late Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman for bringing James Bond to movie theatres around the world and to Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli for their unyielding dedication and their role in continuing the legacy of the franchise that is cherished by legions of fans worldwide."
"We are honoured to continue this treasured heritage and look forward to ushering in the next phase of the legendary 007 for audiences around the world. So Amazon first gained rights to James Bond back in 2022 when it acquired and merged with MGM to form Amazon MGM Studios.
Since then we've seen the Bond franchise land on Prime Video and even the creation of a reality TV series. Former stewards Wilson and Broccoli also commented on this change and why it has come about. So Wilson began with, my career spanning nearly 60 incredible years I'm stepping back from producing the James Bond films to focus on art and charitable projects. Therefore Barbara and I agree it's time for our trusted partner Amazon MGM Studios to lead James Bond into the future. Broccoli then continued, my life has been dedicated to maintaining and building upon the extraordinary legacy that was handed to Michael and me by our father producer Cubby Broccoli. I have had the honour of working closely with four of the tremendously talented actors who have played 007 and thousands of wonderful artists within the industry. So 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. So there we have it, the end of an era after 27 films the new steward is tasked with respecting and truly delivering on one of the longest running franchises in entertainment is Amazon MGM Studios. Perhaps it means Craig's successor can be selected now. So do you think this is good for James Bond? So a couple of things here, Amazon MGM Studios overtaking the James Bond franchise means that it will probably be a less sort of exclusive brand right? Yes there's been 60 years of James Bond films, almost 30 Bond films that have come out over the years. But it's also a brand that feels almost reflecting of the way that James Bond acts himself. It's again, it's very refined, it's very exclusive, they take their time with it, they prioritise quality over quantities. It's very different to the way that a lot of production giants act. So Amazon MGM Studios taking over, you have to ask the question is whether that will be retained or whether they're going to start like really milking James Bond as a franchise. Because I think that if they do that, I'm not too sure whether it will land."
"I think that consumers are a little bit more savvy these days and they want quality. They wouldn't mind a film every five years in a franchise if it means that film came out and it was really high quality. So we'll have to see how that is handled and what will happen there. Again I would assume that this happening behind the scenes is the reason why there was not a Bond selected. Because if it was me, my sort of guess about it, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson would probably have been looking at a smaller name for James Bond because they always do that."
"They always pick people that have acting experience, they're not unknown stars, but generally less major sort of popular, A-list sort of household names. They normally go for smaller names that grow into the role. And Daniel Craig's a fine example of that because before James Bond he'd done various different acting gigs, but it was really James Bond that took him into the next sort of upper echelon. So my guess is that they were probably looking at someone like that, you know, these people that you probably don't think of as the next James Bond. And at Amazon MGM Studios, because they've obviously had sort of like a bit of control of it, but not the full creative control at the time, they were probably looking at a big name. So as much as I wouldn't be, as much as I would be personally a little bit wary of it, it wouldn't surprise me if we see the next James Bond as like a really big name now. Something like a Henry Cavill, like an Aaron Taylor Johnson, like these big sort of massive actors that everyone knows these days."
"Whether it's a good thing for the brand, I don't know. I know a lot of people have been fan casting Henry Cavill, but to me I don't think it's quite the right role. I don't think it's anything to do with his age, I think it's just that Henry's involved in a lot of different franchises, and Bond is an incredibly demanding franchise to take on, and usually you see that whoever takes on the Bond role commits themselves to Bond and Bond only. So I don't know whether Henry would necessarily have time to do Warhammer, and to do James Bond, and all of the other things that he wants to do in his career. So I'm not too sure that's the right cast in there, but there are some other interesting names that are worth looking at. You can actually go onto betting sites and have a look at what the odds are for the next Bond. I think Henry's probably at the top now, because obviously Jeff Bezos is even getting involved asking who fans would want as the next James Bond, so no doubt Henry is running away with it a little bit there. But at the end of the day, that's not a certain thing. I would hope that by the end of 2025, we'll have a good idea as to what's next for James Bond though, i.e. there'll be an actor in place, and we'll sort of have like a premiere date or something, a tentative premiere date locked in for what the next film will be. But yeah, big news all around. We'll have to see how this affects the brand, but the key thing is that the long-time stewards of James Bond are moving away from the scene, and Amazon MGM Studios is filling the void and taking over creative control of the franchise. But that's all the time that I have in today's episode of GRTV News. I'll be back now on Monday for the next one, so I hope you enjoy your Friday, enjoy your weekend, and I'll see you all on the next one."
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