In the wake of the news last week about Amazon obtaining full creative control of the James Bond franchise from longtime franchise producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson, more details are now coming out about the deal.
In an interesting post-mortem piece in Variety, one of the sources indicate that long-time James Bond fan Christopher Nolan had indeed expressed interest in directing a Bond movie.
Specifically the overture was made following the release of “Tenet” in 2020. However they indicate: “Broccoli made clear that no director would have final cut while Bond was under her purview”. Nolan passed and wound up making “Oppenheimer” which grossed nearly $1 billion at the global box office and won Best Picture.
Their source says “Broccoli was too cautious and exerted outsize control”, even as their limiting of the exposure of the brand has helped it avoid audience fatigue that currently plagues giants like Marvel and “Star Wars”.
The industry is said to be hoping Amazon delivers a high-quality Bond film rather than a TV series as the streamer’s track record on that front has been patchy. There have been successes like “The Boys” and “Fallout”, but “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” didn’t live up to the potential of its IP while their foray into the spy genre with “Citadel” was a massive $300 million flop.
It’s expected the next step will be for Amazon to attach a producer with a cohesive vision for the property, someone akin to long-term “Harry Potter” franchise producer David Heyman. However Amazon can’t move forward with hiring anyone on Bond until the Broccoli-Wilson deal is closed.
Garth Franklin
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