Amazon MGM Studios. State of play: Amazon announced today that it had formed a new joint venture that gives it creative control of the James Bond fran

In a shocking move, the producers of the James Bond franchise are handing over creative control to Amazon MGM.

In a James Bond shakeup that stirred the film industry, Amazon MGM announced that the studio has taken the creative reins of the franchise after decades of family control.

Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson ceded their creative control of the franchise to Amazon MGM in a deal worth an additional $1 billion.

Longtime Bond custodians Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said they would be stepping back. Amazon MGM Studios, Wilson and Broccoli formed a new joint venture in which they will co-own James Bond intellectual property rights — but Amazon MGM will have creative control.

The James Bond franchise’s longtime casting director is quitting after a storied career working on 13 of the iconic films. Debbie McWilliams told ScreenDaily she was throwing in the towel just after the franchise rights were sold to Amazon—adding that the company’s filmmaking history “does not fill me with any great enthusiasm.

Amazon being what it is and the Bond franchise being what it is, there’s no way Amazon won’t milk this thing for what it’s worth, capitalizing on every last aspect of the spy series until we’re clamoring to get away from Young Bond or Bond: The Early Years or Bond X Reacher.

It's taking around $1 billion to have James Bond stewards Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson cede oversight to Amazon MGM Studios, sources say.

The man who most recently portrayed James Bond sounds neither shaken nor stirred by the latest news about the franchise.

In a huge shakeup for the James Bond series, Amazon will take creative control as longtime producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli step back.

Amazon in 2022 bought the studio MGM, which had the rights to the "James Bond" franchise. Now it's taking creative control.