In December, the Wall Street Journal published a status report on the James Bond franchise, given Amazon’s purchase of MGM. MGM was the longtime home of the Bond franchise, although MGM didn’t have sole “ownership” of the 007 property. James Bond was owned by the Broccoli family, first Cubby Broccoli and then Barbara Broccoli and her stepbrother Michael Wilson. The WSJ basically exposed the behind-the-scenes drama at Amazon, between executives who want to get the ball rolling on over-leveraging 007 versus Broccoli and Wilson, who were always more cautious. Broccoli reportedly thought Amazon’s executives are “f–king idiots.” Then suddenly something happened last month: Amazon bought out Broccoli and Wilson so that Amazon could solely own and control the franchise. Broccoli and Wilson sold out, but what was their price? Well, the Playlist had some more information about what went down behind the scenes, with Jeff Bezos apparently taking a particular interest and giving specific orders.

It’s only been two weeks, but James Bond fans are still reeling from the news that longtime 007 producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson will no longer be involved with the franchise creatively. So goes the terms of a new joint venture between the pair and Amazon MGM Studios, which sees the studio pay Broccoli and Wilson an additional $1 billion to relinquish any creative control. What prompted this buyout, and why did Broccoli walk away from a franchise she spent the past three decades rebuilding?

THR reports that the updated joint venture came from the very top, as Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wasn’t happy with the Wall Street Journal’s long-form piece last December about frosty relations between Broccoli and Amazon executives. And one quote in particular especially irked Bezos: Broccoli reportedly telling friends that some Amazon higher-ups were “f*cking idiots.” One insider claims that prompted Bezos to find a way to buy out Broccoli altogether. “He read her quote in the Journal and got on the phone and said, ‘I don’t care what it costs, get rid of her,’” said the source.

The new deal between the studio, Broccoli, and Wilson pays the Bond producers an additional $1 billion after the $8.5 million deal from 2022 when Amazon first acquired MGM.

The updated joint venture via Bezos also caught Broccoli in a vulnerable position, as Wilson had recently decided to retire, leaving Broccoli to contend with Amazon MGM alone. And the friction between the studio and Broccoli is already well-documented. THR lists a number of pitches from Amazon execs that made Broccoli bristle: a spinoff streaming series centered on MI6 secretary Moneypenny; a Felix Leiter spinoff; even something with a female James Bond. Broccoli hated all of those ideas, and things took a turn for the worse after Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke called the Bond franchise “content” in a meeting. By the time WSJ published their piece late last year, tensions between Amazon MGM and Broccoli had hit a crisis point, effectively halting the franchise’s future. That’s when Bezos intervened.

With Broccoli out on the creative end, it’s unclear who Amazon MGM will tap to replace her. But Bezos has what he wants now: unchecked control on the property and the ability to do with it whatever he pleases.

[From The Playlist]

ONE BILLION? That’s what it cost for Barbara Broccoli to relinquish control? That’s insane. I mean, I would have sold out too, and I don’t blame her for just cutting her losses. She was fighting against more than Amazon executives – she was fighting against a movie industry which has fundamentally changed for the worse, and there’s no going back. I figured that the WSJ article was part of this too – Bezos did not appreciate the fact that Broccoli had zero patience for his bros. And it’s just a drop in the bucket for Bezos, especially now that Amazon has total control over everything. (Also: a Felix Leiter spinoff is not the worst idea, especially if they get Jeffrey Wright to come back to the role.)

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red.