The day after she gave up control of the James Bond franchise to Amazon, Barbara Broccoli spent the night with Bond Girl.
On February 21st, Broccoli attended an accidental vacation driver film academy screening. Dressed in a maroon velvet pantsuit and sneakers, broccoli was joined by Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeau that night.
In the 1997 film Bond (played by Pierce Brosnan), he teams up with Wy Lin to harness his corporate empire to control the world, and is keen to join forces with big names Elliot Carver (Jonathan Price). I fought.
It may have been ahead of its time.
When Tomorrow dies, Amazon was an online bookstore, rival to Barnes & Noble. It’s enough to say that Jeff Bezos, the founder of the company, had greater ambitions. Bezos is currently one of the world’s largest tech companies, one of Prime Video’s largest streaming services, one of the world’s preeminent news organization The Washington Post, Rockets and Satellites in Satellites in It even rules the blue origins in the To orbit.
And as of February 20th, he also controls Bond and James Bond.
When a Hollywood reporter asked Broccoli at a screening of escape drivers about his decision to abandon control of the iconic franchise, she politely refused to talk about the deal, and the film she was there to support I preferred to focus on. “I’m happy you’re here to watch the film,” she said.
Daniel Craig, Barbara Broccoli and Michelle Yeau in 2022.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
The blockbuster that swept Hollywood will see Amazon MGM Studios secure control of the Bond franchise from Broccoli and her half-brother Michael G. Wilson. The terms of the contract have not been made clear, but in both Wilson and Broccoli’s statements, his retirement will be cited as a driving force behind the decision, retaining economic ownership of the franchise. “Barbara and I agree, it’s time for our trusted partner, Amazon MGM Studios, to bring James Bond into the future,” Wilson said.
One thing is clear, it’s not cheap. In addition to its control payments, the ongoing economic interests will undoubtedly provide “bond dividends” to families for the next few years. According to a UK company application, Eon Productions (the company of Broccoli and Wilson, which previously controlled bonds) received £235 million in 2021. Even in a year without films, it was a huge advantage. In 2023, EON had earned more than £22 million, but in 2022 it brought nearly £16 million.
The shock and adoration of this transaction highlights how rare, truly influential transactions on prominent intellectual property are truly. When Amazon paid $8.5 billion to MGM studios, Bezos himself explained that he had made a deal for MGM’s “a vast and deep catalogue of much-loved intellectual property.”
But while other franchises included, such as Rocky, Creed, Roadhouse and the Silence of the Lamb, Bond’s control remained elusive. However, if Amazon can run, the price could be worth it.
“Cement bonds can pay multiple successful transactions,” says Rich Greenfield, analyst at Lightshed. “Can they bond the next wonder? Do you know? Bond has always been very strictly controlled. There have never been a sporadic film, a TV series. Built around it There is no world of theme parks. How can you create a world of bonds?
Hollywood is still in an IP-driven era, and Bezos’ bond trading is perhaps the best example of the sudden price that companies pay to get what they want (or at least what consumers want).
As top entertainment executives tell THR, franchises have very few quality IPs, so even at the risk of overexposure, companies need to take full advantage of what they control. And they need to do their best to develop new IPs despite high costs, years of development and inherent risks.
Watch Warner Bros Discovery, looking to reboot the DC Comics movie franchise, home to characters like Batman and Wonder Woman. WBD is pouring cash into this year’s Superman movie. It aims to launch a new universe, the beginning of a multi-billion dollar bet on DC IP. The company’s goal is to create two live-action and two animation series a year, while creating two live-action and one animated film a year.
“This is almost 80 years of history of the world’s most iconic heroes and villains,” says James Gunn, co-CEO of DC Studios. “We want to keep it going. We don’t want these characters to die. We want to bring new stories and new lives. We introduce these characters to a new generation. I would like to do it.”
Gunn co-CEO Peter Safran says WBD CEO David Zaslav has committed to building in honor of the DC legacy. “But it’s also a promise to fans who know and love these characters,” he says. “But equally important is our promise to those who have yet to discover the magic and power of this epic canon. We will do everything with our power to fulfill that promise. is.”
Also, if a Blue Chip franchise becomes available, entertainment companies will need to do whatever it takes to get a portion of it.
Consider Bluey.
The animated Australian series has appeared in a truly global phenomenon, becoming the most popular kindergarten franchise on the planet, and last year, according to Nielsen, a coup for Disney+, the scale of Netflix, the most in the US It’s now a streamed show.
The only problem? Disney has the expertise of leveraging IP more than any other entertainment brand on the planet, but does not own Bludo, which Australian Ludo Studios and BBC Studios manages the franchise.
That’s where Disney became creative. Disney has secured global theater rights, cut deals on the first Bluey feature film, bringing blue characters to theme parks and cruise ships around the world.
Even if you can’t buy an IP, it’s better than nothing to get a part of it.
Similarly, Lighting and Comcast carried out their own coup. Lighting CEO Chris Meledandri, one of the few companies that have created valuable new IPs in recent years (minions are everywhere), has helped him compete for one of his studio’s last great, great expansion franchises. Ta. Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. And Lighting now has an entire world of animation for use in theaters (the sequel to Mario Bros. arrives in 2026), along with the physical world at Universal Theme Park To go.
And sometimes you can make creative transactions to buy IP completely. In 2021, Netflix poured over $500 million into a new entity founded by the family of author Roald Dahl with each UK filing. That cash gave IP’s global streaming giant control, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, James and Giant Peach, BFG, Fantastic Mr. Fox and other characters.
Though that deal is also a warning story. Apart from the 2023 short film “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” and this year’s animation project, The Twits, Netflix has yet to fully implement the promise of Dahl IP.
IP is a game of risk and rewards. When a franchise works, it turns into a permanent money machine, spitting cash over decades through the world of films, series, music, consumer products and theme parks. But if it disappears irrelevantly or is overly exposed to the point of consumer indifference, a sudden cost may not be worth it.
Dr., the first James Bond film theatrical poster of 1962. No.
For companies like Amazon that use large retail businesses to support everything else, James Bond plays not only IP play for movies and series, but also consumer products. After all, the Bond Action Figures and Items are free for 2 days by clicking.
For many traditional entertainment companies, it’s a difficult game to play, not to mention competitive.
Even Disney is not affected by risk. Star Wars, which Lucasfilm Chief Kathleen Kennedy is set to retire this year, is a rare franchise with hit shows like the Mandalorian and the popular Theme Parkland. However, there have been no feature films for six years. The company is struggling to restart new characters (except Mando).
And, without a doubt, the world’s most successful contemporary franchise play, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is experiencing its own unsettling moment. Once every movie was a smash, recent projects like Captain America: Brave New World and Marvel have been more hits or misses, but the franchise reboot with the Fantastic Four later this year is the MCU Flywheel I hope it will come back. action.
“We’re looking forward to seeing you in the process of exploring the world,” said Jeremy Goldman, an analyst at Emarketer. “It’s a small number of players who lose, and everyone else needs to understand how they get rif around and how they do their best with everything that goes through the crack.”
And there are lessons to learn from the competition as Amazon is about to roll out James Bond (and therefore the Bond World’s library of heroes and villains) across its platform.
“Hopefully they’ve seen mistakes other people have made, how fast they are, how much it takes,” says Greenfield. 3-10 years. ”
Of course, the dangers and promises of franchise IP have been known in Hollywood for decades to the point that it is a punchline for Bond movies.
At the end of tomorrow, the moment Bond sends Carver with a giant excavator, Mi6 agents grab the villain with their shirt collar and scream in their eyes. Give people what they want! ”
The table is currently spinning, and the bigwig has a secret agent in sight. For better or worse, Amazon and Bezos are trying to give people exactly what they want.
The story first appeared in the February 26th issue of Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, please subscribe by clicking here.
