Broccoli vs. Bezos – The ‘James Bond’ Spinoff That Ignited a Hollywood Feud

Over a week ago, the world learned that Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli are transferring creative control of the James Bond franchise to Amazon. As part of a new joint venture, Amazon MGM Studios, Wilson, and Broccoli will share ownership of the iconic series, but Amazon MGM will oversee its creative direction.

In 2022, Amazon bought MGM for $8.5 billion. This deal gave Amazon a huge catalog of over 4,000 films and 17,000 TV shows. It also gave them the rights to distribute all James Bond movies. But as was mentioned above Wilson and Broccoli kept the creative control, it was later shared with the media that Nolan at one point had an interest in directing a Bond movie but was refused by Broccoli since the final cut of the movie couldn’t be his.

For decades, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson were the driving force behind the James Bond franchise. They carefully controlled every aspect of the iconic spy series, ensuring that it stayed true to their vision. But everything changed when Amazon started pushing for a new direction—including a TV spinoff about Moneypenny.

After acquiring MGM for $8.5 billion, Amazon set its sights on expanding the Bond universe. The company wanted to turn the franchise into a multi-platform juggernaut, similar to Marvel or Star Wars. This meant spin-off shows, new characters, and potentially even a shared universe. But there was one major roadblock: Broccoli and Wilson.

The longtime Bond producers had always resisted expanding the franchise beyond the films. They believed in keeping the focus on quality over quantity, releasing one Bond movie every few years. A TV show about Moneypenny, MI6’s trusted secretary, was one of Amazon’s big ideas, but Broccoli and Wilson weren’t interested.

Amazon executives repeatedly pitched the Moneypenny show, along with other spin-off ideas. These included a series about CIA agent Felix Leiter and even a female 007 story. But Broccoli, in particular, dismissed the idea of turning Bond into a sprawling TV universe. She saw it as a cheapening of her father Cubby Broccoli’s legacy.

Things came to a boiling point when Amazon’s top content executive, Jennifer Salke, reportedly referred to Bond as mere “content” in a meeting. This deeply offended Broccoli, who had always treated the franchise as something special, not just another IP to be milked for profit. Relations between her and Amazon quickly soured.

The final straw came when Broccoli was quoted in The Wall Street Journal calling Amazon executives “fucking idiots” in private conversations. When Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos read the article, he was furious. According to insiders, he immediately ordered his team to “get rid of her” no matter the cost.

Negotiations followed, and Amazon eventually bought out Broccoli and Wilson’s creative control for nearly a billion dollars. With that, the Broccolis—who had overseen Bond for three decades—were out, leaving Amazon free to reshape the franchise however it wanted.

With Broccoli and Wilson gone, Amazon can now take Bond in any direction it chooses. This could mean more spin-offs, faster movie releases, and possibly even a reboot of the entire series. But Bond fans are divided—some worry that without the Broccolis, the franchise will lose its identity. Others believe a fresh approach could breathe new life into the character.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!