Who owns 007

Eon is a family-run corporation that's currently run by Barbara Broccoli, the daughter of founder Albert R. Broccoli, and her half-brother Michael G. Amidst the film industry's constantly shifting landscape of rights and deals, Eon has remained steadfastly in control of the James Bond brand for more than half a century, and Broccoli and Wilson are fiercely protective of the character's image. Eon Productions is independent of MGM and therefore not included in Amazon's buyout, so anything James Bond-related that Amazon wanted to make would have to be approved by Eon.

In terms of control over this particular franchise, the deal is a far cry from Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox, which gave Disney full control over characters like the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. The end result will be more comparable to Disney's relationship with the Spider-Man franchise, where there's an agreement to allow the character to appear in Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, but ultimately Sony retains control. MGM may have part ownership of the movie rights, but Eon has final approval over creative choices and nothing Bond-related gets made without Broccoli and Wilson's approval.

In addition to adding the library of existing movies to Amazon Prime's current content collection, Amazon may also push to expand the franchise with spinoff TV shows or movies. Click here to learn more. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation.

Good Subscriber Account active since Shortcuts. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. It often indicates a user profile. Log out. US Markets Loading H M S In the news. Travis Clark. But producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson still have final say on the direction of the Bond franchise.

He went on to represent megastars like Lana Turner and Ava Gardner before eventually striking out as an independent producer. Financiers regularly shared profits evenly with producers. So, before entering the expensive New York and Chicago markets, the studio tested whether Americans would embrace a European hero by premiering it in small Oklahoma towns. Audiences in Muskogee, Ada, Ponca City, and beyond loved it.

Muskogee Times-Democrat via Newspapers. They structured their partnership in a way that maximized profits and, controversially, limited their British tax burden.

With Saltzman, he determined the settings, the director, the actors who played Bond, the product placements , and just about every detail that went into the movies. For the sequels, Broccoli and Saltzman pushed for increasing budgets , countering the Hollywood tendency at the time to be cheap and formulaic for the 2nd go-round. Audiences knew the films would be spectacles and hew to certain Bond rules while still evolving with the culture. Saltzman made a series of bad investments, particularly in Technicolor Inc.

The creditors came calling, and Danjaq was at risk of going into receivership until Saltzman sold his stake to UA. At 66, Broccoli became sole producer and pushed on through obstacles that could sink any business:.

Broccoli stayed laser-focused on Bond throughout the ordeals. He found it really stimulating and exciting. Broccoli died in In one of his last published notes, he emphasized that he and his wife, Dana Broccoli, who died in , always measured their success by something other than Bond.

They have followed a similar playbook to their father, controlling the most important creative details and insisting on keeping Bond as a bespoke, limited-edition product.

This clashes with the norm in an era when top Hollywood intellectual property — like Disney-owned Marvel and Star Wars — is packaged by massive studios into infinite spinoffs and streaming shows. But Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, who declined an interview request through their publicist, know how to fight for the franchise.

Privacy policy. Generic filters Hidden label. Hidden label. Since then, his family has made hundreds of millions from the franchise.

By: Mark Dent. But money may also be an issue. But for Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson, Bond is a legacy, and no one else can tell them how to keep it alive. At least not yet. Movies The James Bond film franchise is actually a family business.

Meet the Broccolis. This story originally published in print in February Joseph Communications uses cookies for personalization, to customize its online advertisements, and for other purposes. Learn more or change your cookie preferences.