On March 27, the 007 official website released the news: Amazon MGM Studios announced that Amy Pascal, the producer famous for the "Spider-Man" series, and David Heyman, who produced all eight "Harry Potter" films, will participate in the production of the James Bond film.
Just over a month ago, family producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli handed over the creative decision-making power of the 007 series of films. "Now it is time for our trusted partner Amazon MGM Films to lead James Bond into the future."
The smooth transition between the old and the new not only shows the ease of "changing the cage for the new bird", but also indicates that after the release of "No Time to Die" in 2021, this most prestigious series of movies in history will enter the fast lane of research and development and production - although when the predecessor "retired", Amazon boss Bezos hurriedly posted a message to greet fans, "Who would you choose to play the next 007?" But people who are familiar with the historical evolution of 007 movies understand that who is at the helm is the key to preparing this feast. ( Observation | 007 no longer has a family color, who can be the king? )
Courtney Valenti, Head of Amazon MGM Studios Films, said: “Amy Pascal and David Heyman are among an elite handful of producers who have developed and managed franchises that have achieved box office success and widespread acclaim. They are some of the most accomplished, experienced and respected producers in the industry. We are honored to be working with them on the next chapter of the James Bond film saga and look forward to presenting stories that uphold the impeccable tradition of this beloved character to audiences around the world.”
Amy Pascal and David Heyman, new producers of the 007 series
A female producer who started out as a chick flick
Pascal, 67, is one of the highest-ranking female executives in Hollywood. She was born into a Jewish family in Los Angeles, USA, and her father is an economist at the famous think tank RAND Corporation. Her career began as a secretary at an independent production company, but since the mid-1980s, she has served as an executive in many well-known film companies. She is a frequent guest on the list of "The Hollywood Reporter's 100 Most Powerful Women in Entertainment" and "Forbes' 100 Most Powerful Women in the World".
The most brilliant and controversial page in Pascal's resume is her tenure as co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Not to mention the five Spider-Man movies starring Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, she was also behind the Oscar-nominated American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Zero Dark Thirty, Moneyball and The Social Network.
Pascal participated in the production and distribution of 007 movies such as Casino Royale
It is particularly worth mentioning that after Daniel Craig became the sixth Bond actor in 2005, Pascal participated in the production and distribution of Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall (the first Bond film to earn more than $1 billion at the global box office). During this period, she must have had a lot of dealings with producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, and must have been well aware of the production ideas and style of the siblings, and had a clear understanding of why 007 films have achieved greater success since the new century.
Pascal's "relationship" with the 007 series of films is quite dramatic, just like the situation in spy war blockbusters. At the end of 2014, Sony Pictures' internal network server was allegedly attacked by hackers, and a large amount of "top secret and top secret data" was stolen, and then put on the Internet for sale, including an early version of the script of the 24th 007 film "Spectre" which had just started shooting!
The incident even prompted the FBI to investigate. As the incident unfolded, several of Pascal's emails were exposed, including a joke between her and Scott Rudin about then-President Obama, in which she asked if she should ask the president if he liked three African-American-themed movies such as "Django Unchained." Although both parties apologized for the content of the email, civil rights organizations still believe that this is not "racial insensitivity" but naked "racism."
What is even more troubling for Sony Pictures executives and even the entire Hollywood decision-makers is the gender pay gap exposed by the stolen emails. Under Pascal's leadership, female employees at Sony Pictures are paid significantly less than male employees. This is certainly not an isolated case for one company, but it has put the parties involved in the eye of the storm of gender equality issues. Influenced by this, Pascal left the company in early 2015 and subsequently founded her own film company, PASCAL PICTURES. In the new company, she co-produced "Spider-Man: Homecoming" with Marvel Pictures and launched the punk-style animated version of the series, "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse", both of which received good responses.
Pascal was famous for supporting the production of "chick movies" (most of which are female-centered and men play supporting roles) in the early stages of her career, and the 2000 reboot of the "Charlie's Angels" series became a milestone in her career. She once said, "When the movie was not well received, people said that I only loved "chicks". Once the movie received a good market response, no one would say that." Because of this, she participated in the pre-production of the 2023 famous topic movie "Barbie" when she was at Sony Pictures, and David Heyman was one of the producers after the project was transferred to Warner Bros. Pictures. This is the most recent intersection of the two in their careers.
Stills from No Time to Die
British producer working in Hollywood
David Heyman, 63, was born in London, England, to parents who were both in the film industry. As an adult, he studied art history at Harvard University and was the best athlete in the United States on the school fencing team. In the 1980s, when British films declined, Heyman started his career in Hollywood and served as the creative director of Warner Bros. Pictures. In 1997, Blair was elected Prime Minister. During his tenure, he clearly proposed to develop the creative industry as a pillar industry to achieve a change in economic growth mode and enhance the country's core competitiveness. Among them were many initiatives in the name of "Cool Britain" to support local film production through tax cuts and increased lottery investment. It was also during this period that Heyman returned to his homeland and founded his own production company, Heyday Films.
As one of the many filmmakers who worked in Hollywood and then returned to the UK to start a business, Heyman is undoubtedly a leader among them. From 2001 to 2011, the eight Harry Potter films jointly produced by Heyday Films and Warner Bros. were not only the second highest-grossing film series in the world, but also the "best representative of British culture" on par with the 007 series of films.
As a producer, Heyman made great contributions. He fully supported the original novel author JK Rowling's claim that the director, casting and filming location must be "all British" when handing over the film adaptation rights. In fact, when Rowling negotiated with Warner, she was always worried that her work would become a "Harry Does Las Vegas" style spin-off. Several years later, JK Rowling said, "I need to publicly express how right I was to trust him, how much I owe him, how grateful I am to him, and that participating in these films is one of the best experiences of my life."
During his tenure at Heyday Films, Heyman also produced films with a distinct British style, such as Paddington Bear and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. This is undoubtedly the most convincing reason for Amazon MGM Films to choose him as the co-producer of the future 007 series of films. You know, although Daniel Craig has already obtained a US green card, if the 007 film itself loses its pure British tone, it will be the biggest betrayal of this series of films.
Continuing the 007 dual producer system of one man and one woman
It is believed that the future 007 series of films will be produced under the brands of PASCAL PICTURES and Heyday Films. Perhaps we should say that the team of Pascal and Heyman first continued the previous dual producer system of one man and one woman. The integration and balance of different gender perspectives will naturally help to avoid the "pitfalls" of gender issues when filming the next 007 film: Bond's playboy image and slightly frivolous behavior towards women in history have always been criticized by feminists. After entering the new century, "political correctness" has become popular in Hollywood and even the Western world. In the identification and selection of Bond actors, issues such as image, qualifications and even nationality, which are not problems at all, have become routine operations in mass media reports. If there is a slight difference in the actor's skin color, gender and even sexual orientation, it will inevitably set off an unexpected public opinion storm between the new and old forces.
Stills from Dr. No
At the same time, Pascal and Heyman are basically the same age as Barbara Broccoli, and were all born before the release of the first 007 movie "Dr. No" (1962) - don't underestimate the symbolic representation of age, this shows that they have also witnessed the glory and evolution of 007 movies, as well as the corresponding changes in the industry and the ups and downs of the world, and should also hold similar outlooks.
This shows that when Amazon MGM Studios plans the future of this film series, it tends to consolidate the foundation first between maintaining the orthodoxy and innovating. Therefore, when selecting the helmsman, it still takes stability as the top priority and seeks progress in stability. This naturally responds to the concerns of movie fans. For the fundamentalists of the 007 movie, as early as 2022, after Amazon acquired MGM Studios, they were suspicious of this Hollywood upstart with an Internet background: Will they put the series of movies on the shelf and do some "unorthodox" things such as TV series and biography first? Will the next 007 movie still be a theatrical movie, or will it be directly broadcast on streaming media for a fee?
Now, we can breathe a sigh of relief. No matter how Amazon MGM Films plans to squeeze the value of this agent who has been on the big screen for more than 60 years, at least they know that everything depends on the next 007 movie being a "movie" that can prove itself in terms of word of mouth and box office.
Amy Pascal and David Heyman said the same thing in a statement after taking over, "James Bond is one of the most iconic characters in film history. We are honored to follow in the footsteps of Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson, who have made so many extraordinary films. We are honored and excited to continue to keep Bond's spirit alive as he embarks on new adventures."
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