Reports suggest that the family that controls the James Bond movie franchise has turned down to give Amazon the go-ahead to make another film due to serious disagreements over the direction of the series — including one proposal for a TV spinoff centered on a female 007 via NY Post.
Barbara Broccoli, the 64-year-old daughter of the late Queens native Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, the film producer who acquired the rights to the famed spy, created by British novelist Ian Fleming — has been at odds with Amazon executives since the e-retail giant acquired Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio for $8.5 billion in March 2022, as per the Wall Street Journal.
She is dissatisfied with Amazon and has reached the point where she is willing to hold the film “hostage” and delay the release of a new Bond sequel, the Journal reported.
“These people are f–king idiots,” Broccoli reportedly told friends when describing executives at Amazon.
There hasn’t been a Bond film in three years, one of the longest dry spells since the franchise was launched with “Dr. No” in 1962.
Broccoli maintains an iron grip on 007, approving everything from scripts to who will be the next Bond after Daniel Craig hung up the famed tuxedo in the last film, “No Time to Die.”
Amazon executives have also proposed several ideas to cash in on the Bond brand for its Prime Video service, including a spinoff featuring Miss Moneypenny, the secretary of MI6 spy chief M.
There was even discussion of casting a female to play the next 007, as well as more diverse options that would include gay or black leading men. Broccoli snubbed the idea of a female Bond, though she’s not opposed to having a gay or nonwhite actor star in the role, according to the Journal.
She does insist that whoever fills his shoes is a Brit. Broccoli runs Eon Productions, the London-based shop that produces the Bond films, alongside her 82-year-old stepbrother Michael Wilson.
