James Bond Is Now Owned By Amazon – Here's Why That's So Shocking

So much for "No Time To Die" or "Die Another Day." That ominous day has finally arrived with as stunning an announcement that has ever rocked the James Bond franchise, and certainly since Amazon and MGM first merged back in 2021. After decades of keeping a careful and steady hand on the wheel, the ever-cautious Broccoli family has decided to take a decisive step back and cede creative control of the Bond movies — which are nothing short of the family's legacy since the property's very inception, with the Broccolis having jealously guarded every detail of what made it into these films — over to Amazon MGM Studios. 

The bombshell comes courtesy of a joint statement released by partners Amazon MGM Studios and producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli (via Variety). It's a shakeup that suddenly throws the entire future of the franchise up in the air. As the statement lays out:

Amazon MGM Studios, Michael G. Wilson, and Barbara Broccoli today announced that they have formed a new joint venture to house the James Bond intellectual property rights, and those parties will remain co-owners of the franchise. Under the terms of the new venture, Amazon MGM Studios will gain creative control of the James Bond franchise following closing of the transaction.

The writing may have been on the wall for quite some time now, however. This development comes after months and months of protracted rumors, delays regarding the official casting of our new James Bond, and finally reports that broke late last year revealing behind-the-scenes turmoil between Amazon and the Broccoli family. With this venture transforming all three parties into co-owners and handing Amazon creative control in addition to the distribution rights it already had, it's no exaggeration to say that Bond movies will never be the same.

Update: Deadline reports that Amazon paid an extra $1 billion to gain control of the Bond franchise from Wilson and Broccoli, and that's on top of the $8.5 billion it had already paid to acquire MGM.

As fans attempt to wrap their minds around what just went down between the Broccoli family and Amazon Studios, the reverberations of this announcement will continue to be felt in the James Bond franchise for, well, the rest of its existence. Diehard obsessives know that the Broccoli family have retained tight and unyielding control of the property almost since the moment it first arrived with "Dr. No" starring Sean Connery in 1962. Presided over at the time by the late Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli, the family patriarch essentially defined everything we know Bond movies to be. The immense popularity of the films meant that everyone wanted a piece of the creative pie and, with the sole exception of one brief moment when Broccoli stepped back from his duties as a result of creative differences, the Bond franchise has continued to remain under the purview of either himself or his daughter Barbara in the years since.

So, what does this mean moving forward? Well, consider that /Film recently reported that Barbara Broccoli's greatest fear when Amazon boarded the Bond franchise had to do with the conglomerate basically strip-mining the brand for parts, with money-grubbing executives calling for spinoffs, direct-to-streaming releases, and all sorts of modern-day business practices that feel entirely at odds with how unique and special (and, yes, old-fashioned) the Bond property has always been. For her money, Broccoli explained her decision to step down with the following statement:

"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."

Goodbye Broccoli family, hello to a strange new world of a Bond shared universe? In the short term, this changing of the guard may hasten the reveal of our new James Bond and an announcement for when the next reboot will finally enter production. In the long term, however, there's no telling how unfamiliar this franchise may turn out to be under Amazon's direct control. Stay tuned to /Film for much more.