On February 20, Amazon MGM Films, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli announced that they had formed a new joint venture to hold the James Bond intellectual property rights, and all parties will continue to be co-owners of the film series.
After more than 60 years of ups and downs, where did the spy war story come from and where will it go? This article will sort out the legends of the "007" series of movies both on and off the screen.
Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli are siblings. They served as co-producers on nine 007 films, starting with GoldenEye in 1995 and ending with No Time to Die in 2021.
In 2022, Amazon acquired MGM Studios, including a massive catalog of more than 4,000 films and 17,000 TV series. Since acquiring MGM, Amazon has held the rights to distribute all James Bond films. Under the terms of the new joint venture, Amazon MGM Studios will gain creative control over the 007 series after the transaction is completed.
“Since his theatrical debut more than 60 years ago, James Bond has remained one of the most iconic characters on the big screen,” said Mike Hopkins, head of Amazon Prime Video and Amazon MGM Films. “We are grateful to the late Albert R. Blockley (1909-1996) and Harry Saltzman (1915-1994) for bringing James Bond to cinemas around the world, and to Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Blockley for their tireless dedication and the role they have played in continuing the legacy of a franchise that is cherished by fans around the world. We are honored to continue this cherished legacy and look forward to opening the next chapter of the legendary 007 for audiences around the world.”
A group photo of the six James Bond actors. It is regrettable that the 007 official website chose this black and white photo to accompany the news.
“After a career as 007 that spans nearly six fascinating years, I will now step back from making James Bond films to focus on my artistic and philanthropic projects. As a result, Barbara and I have agreed that now is the right time for our trusted partner, Amazon MGM Studios, to lead James Bond into the future,” said Wilson.
"My life has been dedicated to preserving and developing the extraordinary legacy left to us by my father, producer Kirby Blockley. I had the privilege of working closely with four incredibly talented actors who played 007, along with thousands of other wonderful artists in the industry. With the conclusion of No Time to Die and Michael's retirement from the film industry, I feel it is time to focus on my other projects," Blockley commented.
At the end of 2019, the 25th 007 movie "No Time to Die" was completed and a group photo was taken. Affected by the epidemic, the release date of the film was postponed several times and it was not released until October 2021.
It has to be said that the comments from both sides were well worded and the atmosphere was friendly. It was obvious that neither side wanted this "big news" to cause uncontrollable controversy and chaos. But behind the refined official documents, an obvious fact is that the 007 series of movies, as a family business, has changed its course - the producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, who are the representatives of the family, are no longer the decision-makers, and Amazon MGM Pictures will fully control the future direction of this series of movies.
In 1990, Albert R. Blockley (front center) and his family left a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Behind him are Michael G. Wilson (head tilted) and Barbara Blockley.
Bet big, Everything or nothing
Let's go back to the origin of the production of 007 movies. In 1961, producers Albert R. Blockley (nicknamed "Kirby") and Harry Saltzman bought the film adaptation rights of the novel from Ian Fleming and founded Eon Film Production Company for this purpose. The name was taken from the catchphrase "Everything or nothing" on the poker table, which shows that both of them wanted to take a big gamble. When they started a business, they were full of ambition.
The subsequent story is an immortal legend that has lasted for 60 years on the big screen. Interested readers may click on the previous report of The Paper ( Daniel Craig: Killing 007, Reinventing James Bond ). What I want to say here is that in contrast to the treacherous spy war world on the big screen, the competition for who is the leader of the 007 series of movies in reality is equally exciting.
From 1962 to 1964, with the successful release of three films in a row, Dr. No, From Russia with Love, and Goldfinger, the 007 series of films undoubtedly got off to a good start. But when making the fourth film, Thunderball, Ian Fleming was not the only author of the novel of the same name, and the Irish filmmaker Kevin Macaulay, who participated in the creation, not only won the copyright lawsuit for the novel, but also won the global adaptation rights for the film. This meant that although Thunderball, which was released in 1965, was also produced by Eon, Kevin was not far behind as the producer of the film, and Kirby and Harry were executive producers.
1964 "Gold Finger" poster
1965 "Operation Thunderball" poster
Kirby and Harry did not want Kevin to continue to interfere in the production of future 007 movies. The aftermath of this "episode" continued until the early 1980s. After seeing the shadow of nuclear weapons as a hot topic in the presidential debate between Carter and Reagan, Kevin smelled a business opportunity again. He simply started a new business and adapted the novel "Thunderball" and invited Sean Connery to play Bond, making "Never Say Never Again". This "extra" and "Octopussy" produced by Eon were released in the same year of 1983. Although the former "reheated" did not gain any advantage at the box office, it did cause considerable confusion to movie fans.
In the early 1960s, Albert R. Blockley (left) and Harry Saltzman (right) were with Ian Fleming, the original author of the 007 novel. Behind the three is Sean Connery, the first actor to play 007.
In addition to "Cruising Missiles", another "extra" is "Casino Royale" released in 1967. Veteran movie star David Niven played Bond, and the fledgling Woody Allen, in addition to being the screenwriter, also played the villain in the film. Kirby and Harry had no choice but to let this nonsensical comedy version of 007 movie come out - Fleming's first 007 novel "Casino Royale" was published in 1953, and the film rights were sold in 1955. They were a step late. In 1961, they only bought the film adaptation rights of the novels that had been released at the time and would be released later. Therefore, there are actually 27 007 movies that have the rights to Fleming's novels, and only the 25 produced by Eon are "legitimate" in the eyes of movie fans.
How did Sean Connery get involved with Kevin during the filming of "The Missile"? Rather than valuing the latter's talent, it was more likely due to the old grudge against the two founding producers. This is another old-fashioned labor dispute story of "generals and ministers falling out": Sean, who came from humble beginnings, became a Hollywood A-list star by starring in 007, but the Scottish stubbornness and obsession with money made him increasingly uncontrollable. First, he had a disagreement with Harry, who was not good at communication and used to a patriarchal style, so that they ignored each other on the set of "Thunder Valley" in 1967. Kirby, who was good at networking, played the role of glue in the middle, but the two sides parted ways completely unhappily after Sean fulfilled his contract and completed "Diamonds Are Forever" in 1971.
Different attitudes towards Sean's "rebellion" also caused a rift between Kirby and Harry. This became public after Roger Moore became a candidate for Bond. Harry liked the suave actor, but Kirby disagreed. In Moore's first 007 film "Live and Let Die" released in 1973, there was a scene where Bond went alone into a crocodile pond. An adult alligator was nicknamed "Old Albert", which also brought out the actor's harmless comments on the two bosses.
To be fair, after co-founding Eon to produce 007 movies, Kirby undoubtedly focused more on it, while Harry, in addition to serving as a co-producer of 007 movies, never gave up shooting other types of movies. After the huge success of 007 movies, in order to show that he was more authoritative than Kirby, Harry also invested his wealth in real estate and other investments, which soon put him in financial difficulties. In 1975, at a press conference held at the Grand Hotel Beau-Rivage Palace in Lausanne, Switzerland, the two founding producers officially parted ways. After selling his 50% stake to United Artists (also a long-term partner of Eon, which has been responsible for the distribution of 007 movies. It was acquired by MGM in 1981, and the copyright of 007 movies was also transferred to MGM accordingly.), Harry withdrew from the production of 007 movies. So far, 007 movies have become the exclusive business of the Blockley family.
Eon, co-founded by Kirby and Harry, has also produced other films, but 007 movies have always been its absolute main business. They worked together to plan and formulate the most notable fine tradition of this series of films: the main actors and production teams will maintain a considerable time span of continuity. For example, director Terence Young directed three of the series in the early stages of the series; screenwriter Richard Maibaum participated in the writing and planning of thirteen 007 film scripts from the 1960s to the 1980s; composer John Barry, in addition to creating the iconic "Bond Overture" at the beginning of the film, has also been responsible for the soundtrack of eleven 007 films... Not to mention New Zealander Martin Campbell, as the director of the first film of the "License to Kill" taken over by two Bond actors Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig after the end of the Cold War, he successively directed the series-breaking "GoldenEye" (1995) and "Casino Royale" (2006).
1995 GoldenEye poster
In 2006, at the London premiere of "Casino Royale", producer Michael G. Wilson (center) introduced the new 007 actor Daniel Craig to the Queen.
Family production ends, don’t screw up the future
Human affairs are subject to change, and the past and present are connected. Since the 007 series of movies is a family business, it is inevitable that the issue of family inheritance will be involved. Albert R. Blockley was married three times in his life. In 1959, actress Dana Nuttall married into the wealthy family with her teenage adopted son Michael G. Wilson and became Kirby's third wife. The following year, she gave birth to another daughter, Barbara Blockley. Among the second generation, this brother and sister were the most trusted and favored by Kirby.
Michael was a top student at Stanford Law School. When he was in college, he played a soldier guarding the vault at Fort Knox in Goldfinger. This was his first encounter with the 007 movie and also showed his father's love for him. In 1972, Michael officially joined Eon as a full-time corporate lawyer. During this period, his greatest achievement was that as a lawyer, he helped his father win the greatest benefits in the "separation" from Harry. After that, he assisted his father in filming The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) as a production assistant, and was promoted to executive producer in Moonraker (1979).
1978 "The Undersea City" poster
1979 Moonraker poster
Michael, who looks elegant, has made cameo appearances in every 007 movie produced by Eon since 1977. These roles may only be passing passers-by, but they always become a hot topic for movie fans after watching the movie. In the 1980s, Michael also wrote the scripts for five 007 movies with screenwriter Richard Maibaum. In 1989, due to the strike of the Writers Guild of America, he had to complete the script of "License to Kill" alone, and the film effect can only be said to be unsatisfactory.
1989 "License to Kill" poster
At the age of 17, Barbara participated in the promotion of "The Spy Who Loved Me". After that, she served as an assistant director in "Octopussy" (1983) and was promoted to assistant producer in "The Living Daylights" (1987). It is not difficult to see from the above that her father Kirby's "successor" plan is orderly and steadily advancing. If Pierce Brosnan, the fifth 007, was the seed player who was finally decided when he was alive, then after entering the new century, the brother and sister chose Daniel Craig to play Bond, which fully reproduced the courage and insight of their father's "All in" when he started his business.
I guess even today, there are still fans who criticize Daniel Craig’s appearance. Indeed, in 2005, when he defeated Clive Owen, Jude Law, Ewan McGregor, Colin Farrell and more than 200 other candidates to appear in front of the public as the new 007, he was immediately drowned out by the media’s doubts and criticisms. The opening remarks of the two BBC anchors expressed the world’s thoughts: “Are we really ready for the first blond Bond?”
There is no need to elaborate on the story that followed. We can only say how sarcastic they were back then, and how embarrassed and humiliated they were when they were slapped in the face. In the documentary "BEING JAMES BOND", the producer brother and sister's remarks are worth marking: "I have seen many of his films, and no matter what role he plays, he can always catch your attention. I remember the moment when he made me feel that he was the only one. As early as several years before the official selection began, I saw him playing John Ballard in the movie "Elizabeth". The scene where he walked in the corridor, I thought, wow, this is the most charming person I have ever seen on the big screen. There is no doubt that he is a movie star and his acting skills are excellent." "It should be mentioned that the situation in the industry at that time was that Daniel was not considered to be the material for the leading actor in the circle. Everyone thought he was an excellent supporting actor, but in the eyes of Barbara and me, he had the potential to play the leading actor."
At the same time, the foresight and humility of this brother and sister in handling labor disputes should also be fully recognized. Daniel has been fully involved in the script creation since "Skyfall", and has become one of the co-producers of the series for the first time (which means that he not only gets paid for the film, but also gets a share of the box office after the film is released) - playing 007 is a double-edged sword. Although the actor can become famous with it, it will also limit his acting career. There will always be a day when people retire. Without sufficient guarantees and incentives, who would be willing to engage in this "high-risk" profession?
Stills from Skyfall in 2012. Daniel Craig has undoubtedly achieved great success as the sixth actor to play 007.
More than three years after the release of No Time to Die, people are eagerly waiting for the start of filming. Just last March, there was a rumor that Aaron Taylor-Johnson, a British actor born in 1990, was selected. The Sun even said on its front page that "a contract will be signed in the next few days", but nothing has happened so far. The producer brother and sister did not comment on this, but in an interview with the Associated Press, they reiterated the casting criteria for Bond: around 30 years old; race is not limited to white people; at least ten years of service. This is worth pondering, but in the eyes of the outside world, it can only mean that either the brother and sister themselves have not made up their minds, or the two of them and the executives of Amazon MGM Pictures still cannot reach a consensus.
"The breeze laughs, but it seems lonely, and the heroic spirit is left with a lap of sunset." Now they have a "consensus", but for movie fans, it can only be said that it is a mixture of joy and sorrow. The joy is who will star in the next 007 movie? And when will it start shooting? These news may have been on the verge of being released, and there will no longer be endless waiting. The worry and sadness is that when the dust settles, the family producer who is well versed in the essence of the series is out after all. How will the Hollywood upstarts with Internet background operate next? Will the 26th 007 movie be broadcast on streaming media...
In Skyfall, M's message to Bond is: "Good luck, 007. Don't cock it up."
