It cost Amazon MGM Studios around $1 billion to get Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, longtime stewards of the James Bond franchise, to cede creative oversight of the franchise after more than six decades in their family, sources tell Deadline. Thursday's deal stunned the industry, but then again it was three years in the making. In 2022, MGM was absorbed by Amazon for $8.5 billion, with distribution rights to the Bond franchise one element cited as justification for the hefty acquisition cost. However, Amazon couldn’t fully freely develop Bond with Broccoli and Wilson still at the creative helm. Any spinoffs, series or reboots of Ian Fleming's storied superspy would have to run through them. Broccoli had resisted Amazon’s desire to expand the Bond franchise into its own universe akin to Marvel or Star Wars. Broccoli and Wilson, children of legendary 007 producer Albert R. Broccoli, always held the line on quality control when it came to the British spy, keeping the series as a stand-alone, big-screen-only brand. Amazon can now proceed in extending the life of Bond. That includes a slew of Bond villains and women in their own series or features. And the Bond deal follows news that the studio has started building out an international theatrical distribution arm, which would aim to maximize the revenue potential of the Bond-verse. The hard work in the immediate future involves choosing the right executive to steer Bond in Kevin Feige-like fashion at Amazon MGM Studios. Meanwhile, cynicism about the new chapter abounds around town. >>>New Bond For A New Generation Related: Barbara Broccoli’s Close-Knit Circle Says Hearing 007 Deal News Was “As If There Had Been A Death In The Family” Jeff Bezos Crowdsourcing Next James Bond? Amazon Chief Asks Fans Who Should Be 007 |
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'GoodFellas' Meets 'The Departed' In Hawaii - The hot package in town is a pitch for a Martin Scorsese-directed untitled drama that would star Dwayne Johnson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Emily Blunt. The thumbnail description: Imagine Robert De Niro’s Jimmy the Gent character from Goodfellas, but as a ruthless Hawaiian crime boss, based on a real figure. >>>Multiple Bids CBS Bubble Shows - CBS just delivered great news for some of its biggest scripted series, handing early renewals to all NCIS dramas and more. The news set off alarm bells for the series that didn’t make the early renewal list, a roster that includes dramas FBI: Most Wanted, FBI: International, The Equalizer and, yes, the twice-cancelled S.W.A.T. >>>The Odds For Each 'Bachelor' Layoffs - A large group of crew members have been let go from The Bachelor universe as a result of The Bachelorette’s recent postponement. Deadline understands that the majority of the crew members were informed last week that they would no longer be employed on the franchise. >>>Shockwaves Netflix Uncorks New Dramedy - Emily in Paris creator Darren Star and New Amsterdam creator David Schulner have teamed for Uncorked, a half-hour, single-camera dramedy that has landed at Netflix with a script-to-series commitment. The series is set in Napa Valley and, like many of Star’s series, has a female lead. >>>Multiple Suitors Family Affair - Two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali (Leave the World Behind) has signed on to star in Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, a new film written and to be directed for Amazon MGM Studios‘ Orion Pictures by Berlin prize-winner Bassam Tariq (Mogul Mowgli). >>>Reunion Of Sorts John Balson Inquest - John Balson, the British TV producer who tragically took his own life last May, told numerous health professionals he was having suicidal thoughts and flagged “work-related stress” on several occasions to them in the weeks leading up to his death, an inquest has heard. >>>Questions Raised Speech Investigated - The Berlin Film Festival is mired in fresh Israel-Gaza War controversy following a pro-Palestinian speech by Hong Kong filmmaker Jun Li over the weekend, which has prompted a police investigation and calls from one prominent politician for the festival to be defunded. >>>German Institutions Accused |
| Ghosts channeled its inner mafia mentality with Thursday night’s episode, in which Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) finds himself in some hot water after he gets a new recipe from his restaurant from Pete (Richie Moriarty). Series star Rose McIver took on a new role for this episode, directing for the first time, after years of aspirations to get behind the camera, in addition to her on-screen role as Sam, the ever-constant voice of reason. In this interview, she speaks with Deadline about her experience on the episode and teases what’s to come next week, when audiences will finally get to learn why Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones) holds such a grudge against Alexander Hamilton. >>> Read The Interview |
| Exclusive Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (Nickel Boys) has joined the cast of Lucky, a new limited drama from Apple TV+ starring and executive produced by Anya Taylor-Joy. Max Minghella has joined Season 4 of HBO’s Industry. He will play Whitney Halberstram, the CFO and Founder of Tender, a payment processor entering a growth phase. In related news, Harry Lawtey will not return for the show's upcoming fourth season. Exclusive Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Wonder Man) has closed a deal to star opposite Mark Wahlberg in the crime thriller By Any Means. |
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More News 🔥 Continuing its red-hot run, Chinese blockbuster Ne Zha 2 has become the highest-grossing animated film of all time worldwide, surpassing previous record holder Inside Out 2. It also now sits as the No. 8 movie overall on the global chart. 👨🚒 United Talent Agency has scrapped its annual pre-Oscar party and instead will make donations to numerous L.A. fire relief causes. 📺 9-1-1's Athena Grant (Angela Bassett) is embarking on another cruise. This time she’ll board The Odyssey and will meet up with the cruise ship’s Dr. Max Bankman (Joshua Jackson) in a special March 20 crossover episode of Ryan Murphy’s 9-1-1 and Doctor Odyssey. 🗣️ The 15 projects competing at this year’s Series Mania Co-Pro Pitching Sessions have been unveiled. Shows from the likes of Denmark’s Zentropa, Australia’s Wooden Horse and Israel’s Sipur will fight for a €50,000 ($53,000) development prize. M.K. Kennedy, Executive Managing Director of TV Series at Studiocanal in the UK, will lead the jury selecting the winner. |
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Obituaries 🕯️ David St. John, an executive producer on such popular reality TV series as America’s Next Top Model and I Am Jazz, died December 19 of pancreatic cancer at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle. He was 56. 🕯️ Celebrated Malian director Souleymane Cissé, who was the first sub-Saharan African director to win a major award at Cannes with 1987 Jury Prize winner Yeelen (Brightness ), died Wednesday at the age of 84. 🕯️ 2025 Deaths Photo Gallery: Hollywood & Media Obituaries |
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On the Radar Sun - SAG Awards; London TV Screenings begins Tues - AMC Entertainment earnings Wed - Paramount Global, TKO earnings Thu - Warner Bros. Discovery earnings |
| Well-Suited - At the Los Angeles premiere of Suits LA, Gabriel Macht told Deadline that his character, Harvey Specter, remains "very much a part of me." He said, even after time away from the part, he "can put on a suit and become him." |
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