The James Bond franchise was kicked off by super producer Cubby Broccoli in 1962 and his daughter has kept a tight control on the creative direction since taking over (she’s worked with long running producer Michael Wilson.)

However, the studio which had a stake in releasing Bond was taken over by Amazon in 2022, so while Broccoli retained full creative control of Bond, it wouldn’t get made without the agreement and money of Amazon.

It’s long been rumoured the two parties don’t get on, hence the delay in rebooting the franchise… and the surprise news today is that Barbara (and Wilson) have handed full control to Amazon and headed off into the sunset.

Were they beaten with no way forward?

Jeff Bezos has already asked on social media for suggestions as to the next Bond…