Here’s more Bond news.
Over a week ago, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli transferred creative control of the James Bond franchise to Amazon/MGM. This deal was inked out and rumored to cost the studio a whopping $1 billion.
For decades, Broccoli and Wilson were the driving force behind the Bond franchise. They carefully micromanaged every detail of the creative process; hell, they even turned down Christopher Nolan. However, things changed once Amazon hopped onboard as co-bosses and started pushing for a new direction—including a TV spinoff about Moneypenny.
Yes, according to THR, a TV show about Moneypenny, MI6’s trusted secretary, was one of Amazon’s Marvel-style spinoff ideas. The other ideas they had included a series about CIA agent Felix Leiter and even a female 007 story. Suffice to say it, Broccoli and Wilson went bonkers when they heard these pitches.
The final straw came when The Wall Street Journal reported that Broccoli went on to call Amazon executives “fucking idiots” in private conversations. When Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos read the article, he was furious. According to insiders, Bezos immediately told his team, “I don’t care what it costs, get rid of her.”
What I find abominable about this whole situation are Amazon/MGM’s spin-off pitches. Who in their right mind would be interested in seeing a Moneypenny TV series? That is one of the oddest Bond-related ideas I’ve ever heard. No wonder Broccoli went apesh*t on Amazon.
Does Amazon fundamentally not understand that Bond is still relevant because it’s one of the last event franchises that hasn’t been milked to death? People get excited about them because we only get one movie every few years. That’s clearly going to change now.