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The next installment of the “James Bond” franchise is still in development due to a rift between the show’s executive producer and its new owners, Amazon.
IN report from The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), longtime Bond producer Barbara Broccoli and Amazon — which bought the MGM studio in 2021 — are in an “ugly stalemate” over decisions about the future of the franchise. These include decisions about whether to turn Bond into a streaming series or more philosophical ones, such as whether the title character is a hero at all.
“I have to be honest, I don’t think James Bond is a hero,” one Amazon executive said during a recent meeting about upcoming Bond content, the paper reported. The quote seems to indicate Broccoli’s fear that Amazon doesn’t understand the character she’s dedicated her career to.
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Amazon and top “Bond” producer Barbara Broccoli are reportedly in an “ugly stalemate” over the future of the “James Bond” franchise. (Getty Images)
Broccoli, who has had creative control over the “007” film franchise for more than three decades, “told friends she doesn’t trust an algorithm-centric Amazon with a character she helped mythologize through big-screen storytelling and instinct,” the WSJ reported.
According to the report, the relationship between Broccoli and Bond’s new owners is so strained that as recently as this fall, Broccoli “characterized the status of the new film in dire terms – no script, no story and no new Bond.” This lack of momentum in the franchise nearly three years after the last film, 2021.No time to die” is unprecedented for a series that has had a sequel almost every year or two since it began in the ’60s.
“These people are fucking idiots,” Broccoli told her friends about Amazon executives.
The WSJ spoke with 20 people familiar with the Amazon-Broccoli feud to understand the nature of the standoff, writing that it “boils down to a clash between 20th-century big-screen, big-change Hollywood and the new entertainment industry ruled by Silicon Valley companies that value data, algorithms and streaming subscriptions.”
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Actor Daniel Craig’s fifth and final role as James Bond was in the 2021 film No Time to Die. (Karwai Tang)
Broccoli “complained that Amazon wasn’t a good home for Bond, since the company’s core business is selling everything from toilet paper to vacuum cleaners,” according to the report, although it noted that she didn’t speak out against Amazon buying MGM because “I didn’t wanted to complicate what many in Hollywood considered a huge payout for MGM’s owners.”
As part of the deal, MGM executives ensured that Amazon would commit to bringing Bond to the big screen instead of transitioning the franchise to a streaming series. The outlet noted that when an eager Amazon executive floated the idea of various Bond TV spin-offs, including a potential “Moneypenny” spin-off or a female 007 spin-off, Broccoli shot the idea down.
– Have you read the contract? she allegedly replied.
For the past few years, Broccoli has defended himself against various ideas within the industry that Bond might take on a different identity in terms of gender or race in upcoming films. But as the paper reported, she believes the spy “should always be played by a man, and should always be played by a British man.”
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The WSJ also mentioned that Broccoli is shooting down ideas about electricity-inspired Bond villains real world numbers which some people see as evil.
“‘Elon Musk?’ she told a friend, ‘I did it back in 1997.'” Broccoli was referring to that year’s 007 franchise villain, “Tomorrow Never Dies.” The media described the villain as “a wealthy tycoon whose global media empire includes a satellite network.”
The liberal media and Democratic lawmakers have recently seized on new topics of conversation as the new administration prepares to enter the White House — Elon Musk is the “shadow” president taking over from President-elect Donald Trump.
The WSJ rounded off its report with the latest example of the strained relationship between Broccoli and Amazon. It was noted that she “didn’t mention Amazon” during her speech at the film industry awards in November.
Amazon did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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