EON Productions Hands Over Control of 007 to Amazon

EON Productions, the production company that’s guided every aspect of the James Bond franchise for decades, is handing creative control over to Amazon MGM Studios… for a price.

The Big Picture: Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, the heads of EON and the children of original Bond producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, have ruled Bond with an iron fist — which has kept the franchise a critical darling but stopped it from expanding beyond its marquee film franchise. With Amazon (hungry to milk the IP from its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM, which passively owned 50% of Bond) now leading the charge, 007 will have a new mission — infiltrate the entire studio flywheel. 

Behind the Scenes: Despite endless speculation over Wilson and Broccoli’s next 007, Daniel Craig is officially the last Bond of the EON era.

• Amazon MGM Studios and EON Productions have formed a joint venture to handle all things Bond, with both parties acting as co-owners (pending regulatory approval).
• EON will keep a financial stake in the franchise (and a rumored $1 billion buyout) but cede creative control to Amazon.
• Amazon will likely expand Bond across films, TV, and every other form of entertainment… something EON explored in the past but never pulled the trigger on.
• But first, Amazon will need to get the next installment of Bond up and running — that includes picking a new Bond (Bezos is polling for suggestions), finding a filmmaker (Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino are interested), and figuring out a story direction.

Closing Credits: The 007 news has sent shockwaves through Hollywood, but insiders noted that the relationship between Amazon and EON has been strained from the start, since the former wanted to exploit the IP quickly, and the latter historically took its time to get its movies right. One of the parties was going to have to give in eventually… and it turned out to be EON.

Amazon now has a lot of work ahead of it, starting with appointing the right exec to handle the franchise, akin to Marvel’s Kevin Feige or DC’s James Gunn and Peter Safran. Amazon already has some great options internally, so expect that to be the biggest turf war at the studio.