James Bond Losing Producers Barbara Broccoli And Michael G Wilson, Amazon MGM Takes Creative Control

There’s a changing of the guards at MI6. Or at least, in James Bond HQ. And while this is very much inside industry news, it’s a major change: the 007 franchise, long overseen by producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, is facing a change in creative control. As such, Broccoli and Wilson are stepping away from the series they’ve shepherded for several decades, with the future of Bond now in the hands of Amazon MGM.

As Variety reports, a new joint venture will see Bond remain owned by Broccoli, Wilson and Amazon MGM, but that the latter will take over the creative future of bond. Amazon acquired the legendary MGM studio back in 2022, and while it has made brief use of the Bond license (in 2023’s adventure reality series 007: Road To A Million), it was widely assumed that the films would remain largely untouched by the new ownership. But this is a significant moment in Bond history; Wilson has been a part of Eon Productions since the early ‘70s, and has worked closely on Bond since 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me; Broccoli also started working on the franchise with that film, aged just 17, and took over from her father Cubby Broccoli as steward of the spy saga when he passed away.

“With my 007 career spanning nearly 60 incredible years, I am stepping back from producing the James Bond films to focus on art and charitable projects,” Wilson said in a statement. “Therefore, Barbara and I agree, it is time for our trusted partner, Amazon MGM Studios, to lead James Bond into the future.”

Broccoli says: “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. 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.”

The post-No Time To Die era was always going to be a big change for Bond, not just recasting the role for the first time since the mid-'00s, but finding a new start for the character after killing off Daniel Craig’s iteration in that film. And publicly, there has been no movement on the series in the four years since that film arrived (itself delayed from 2020 due to the pandemic, having shot in 2019). Now, this creative change is another seismic shift – one set to leave the 007 world both shaken and stirred.