You only pay twice? Amazon buys full creative control of Bond film franchise for $1bn
27 Feb 2025
Only a couple of weeks after the news broke that various James Bond trade marks are being challenged by a multi-millionaire property developer who is building a series of private islands representing Europe in the sea off Dubai (and no, he isn’t a fictional Bond villain), rather more important Bond-related IP news has broken – Amazon has just paid $1bn to effectively secure full creative and artistic rights to the Bond film franchise.
A statement on Amazon’s news portal, published February 20th, 2025, reads:
“Amazon MGM Studios, Michael G. Wilson, and Barbara Broccoli have announced that they have formed a new joint venture to house the James Bond intellectual property rights, and those parties will remain co-owners of the franchise. Under the terms of the new venture, Amazon MGM Studios will gain creative control of the James Bond franchise following closing of the transaction.”
Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson are the children of the late film producer Albert R ‘Cubby’ Broccoli, who was behind the 1962 film Dr No, the first Bond picture to star Sean Connery. The companies they co-run, Danjaq, which is the holding company for James Bond’s IP, and Eon Productions have been involved in almost every Bond film since.
“With my 007 career spanning nearly 60 incredible years, I am stepping back from producing the James Bond films to focus on art and charitable projects. Therefore, Barbara and I agree, it is time for our trusted partner, Amazon MGM Studios, to lead James Bond into the future,” said Wilson.
“My life has been dedicated to maintaining and building upon the extraordinary legacy that was handed to Michael and me by our father, producer Cubby Broccoli. I have had the honour of working closely with four of the tremendously talented actors who have played 007 and thousands of wonderful artists within the industry. With the conclusion of No Time to Die and Michael retiring from the films, I feel it is time to focus on my other projects,” commented Barbara Broccoli.
Amazon acquired MGM in 2022, paying $8.5bn for the studio – but media reports suggest that some experts put the value at between $3.4bn to $4bn. Amazon itself quoted the $3.4bn figure in a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 2022. It said in that that MGM’s assets “primarily consist of $3.4 billion of video content,” with the acquisition price including $4.9 billion of goodwill. However, a valuation of a company’s intangibles is not the same as a ‘whole company’ valuation.
Some film industry commentators suggested that Amazon may not have taken into account Danjaq’s continued ownership of the IP. It does seem highly unlikely, though, that Amazon would not be fully aware of the ownership of the Bond film rights and trade marks.
Whether such suggestions were correct or not, the new deal means, as the statement above makes clear, that Amazon now has creative control over the franchise, as well as a stake in the new joint venture which will own the Bond IP rights (although how ownership of the new company will be divided has not yet been announced).
The MGM acquisition did mean Amazon had the rights to distribute all of the James Bond films, in itself a potential goldmine.
It also got MGM’s catalogue comprising more than 4,000 film titles and 17,000 TV episodes, including other film franchises like Rocky, The Pink Panther, and Legally Blonde, and TV shows including The Handmaid’s Tale, Fargo, and Vikings.
On buying MGM, Amazon MGM quickly moved to set up Amazon MGM Studios, the production company referenced in the statement above which will now partner Danjaq, as well as streaming service, MGM+.
Crucially, what the Danjaq deal means is that Amazon will now be in a position to decide on who the next actor to portray Bond will be, and draft plots and titles for the next few films in the franchise.
Is it time for a remake of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service? Only, of course, the title would have to be changed to On His Majesty’s Secret Service.
Great idea – but Danjaq tried to register that as a trade mark in 2023, and was refused by the UK Intellectual Property Office. This may be because Ian Fleming Publications owns the copyright for existing James Bond books and related written material (such as e-books) – and one of the titles they publish is On His Majesty’s Secret Service.
Only a couple of weeks after the news broke that various James Bond trade marks are being challenged by a multi-millionaire property developer who is building a series of private islands representing Europe in the sea off Dubai (and no, he isn’t a fictional Bond villain), rather more important Bond-related IP news has broken – Amazon has just paid $1bn to effectively secure full creative and artistic rights to the Bond film franchise.
A statement on Amazon’s news portal, published February 20th, 2025, reads:
“Amazon MGM Studios, Michael G. Wilson, and Barbara Broccoli have announced that they have formed a new joint venture to house the James Bond intellectual property rights, and those parties will remain co-owners of the franchise. Under the terms of the new venture, Amazon MGM Studios will gain creative control of the James Bond franchise following closing of the transaction.”
Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson are the children of the late film producer Albert R ‘Cubby’ Broccoli, who was behind the 1962 film Dr No, the first Bond picture to star Sean Connery. The companies they co-run, Danjaq, which is the holding company for James Bond’s IP, and Eon Productions have been involved in almost every Bond film since.
“With my 007 career spanning nearly 60 incredible years, I am stepping back from producing the James Bond films to focus on art and charitable projects. Therefore, Barbara and I agree, it is time for our trusted partner, Amazon MGM Studios, to lead James Bond into the future,” said Wilson.
“My life has been dedicated to maintaining and building upon the extraordinary legacy that was handed to Michael and me by our father, producer Cubby Broccoli. I have had the honour of working closely with four of the tremendously talented actors who have played 007 and thousands of wonderful artists within the industry. With the conclusion of No Time to Die and Michael retiring from the films, I feel it is time to focus on my other projects,” commented Barbara Broccoli.
Amazon acquired MGM in 2022, paying $8.5bn for the studio – but media reports suggest that some experts put the value at between $3.4bn to $4bn. Amazon itself quoted the $3.4bn figure in a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 2022. It said in that that MGM’s assets “primarily consist of $3.4 billion of video content,” with the acquisition price including $4.9 billion of goodwill. However, a valuation of a company’s intangibles is not the same as a ‘whole company’ valuation.
Some film industry commentators suggested that Amazon may not have taken into account Danjaq’s continued ownership of the IP. It does seem highly unlikely, though, that Amazon would not be fully aware of the ownership of the Bond film rights and trade marks.
Whether such suggestions were correct or not, the new deal means, as the statement above makes clear, that Amazon now has creative control over the franchise, as well as a stake in the new joint venture which will own the Bond IP rights (although how ownership of the new company will be divided has not yet been announced).
The MGM acquisition did mean Amazon had the rights to distribute all of the James Bond films, in itself a potential goldmine.
It also got MGM’s catalogue comprising more than 4,000 film titles and 17,000 TV episodes, including other film franchises like Rocky, The Pink Panther, and Legally Blonde, and TV shows including The Handmaid’s Tale, Fargo, and Vikings.
On buying MGM, Amazon MGM quickly moved to set up Amazon MGM Studios, the production company referenced in the statement above which will now partner Danjaq, as well as streaming service, MGM+.
Crucially, what the Danjaq deal means is that Amazon will now be in a position to decide on who the next actor to portray Bond will be, and draft plots and titles for the next few films in the franchise.
Is it time for a remake of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service? Only, of course, the title would have to be changed to On His Majesty’s Secret Service.
Great idea – but Danjaq tried to register that as a trade mark in 2023, and was refused by the UK Intellectual Property Office. This may be because Ian Fleming Publications owns the copyright for existing James Bond books and related written material (such as e-books) – and one of the titles they publish is On His Majesty’s Secret Service.
Only a couple of weeks after the news broke that various James Bond trade marks are being challenged by a multi-millionaire property developer who is building a series of private islands representing Europe in the sea off Dubai (and no, he isn’t a fictional Bond villain), rather more important Bond-related IP news has broken – Amazon has just paid $1bn to effectively secure full creative and artistic rights to the Bond film franchise.
A statement on Amazon’s news portal, published February 20th, 2025, reads:
“Amazon MGM Studios, Michael G. Wilson, and Barbara Broccoli have announced that they have formed a new joint venture to house the James Bond intellectual property rights, and those parties will remain co-owners of the franchise. Under the terms of the new venture, Amazon MGM Studios will gain creative control of the James Bond franchise following closing of the transaction.”
Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson are the children of the late film producer Albert R ‘Cubby’ Broccoli, who was behind the 1962 film Dr No, the first Bond picture to star Sean Connery. The companies they co-run, Danjaq, which is the holding company for James Bond’s IP, and Eon Productions have been involved in almost every Bond film since.
“With my 007 career spanning nearly 60 incredible years, I am stepping back from producing the James Bond films to focus on art and charitable projects. Therefore, Barbara and I agree, it is time for our trusted partner, Amazon MGM Studios, to lead James Bond into the future,” said Wilson.
“My life has been dedicated to maintaining and building upon the extraordinary legacy that was handed to Michael and me by our father, producer Cubby Broccoli. I have had the honour of working closely with four of the tremendously talented actors who have played 007 and thousands of wonderful artists within the industry. With the conclusion of No Time to Die and Michael retiring from the films, I feel it is time to focus on my other projects,” commented Barbara Broccoli.
Amazon acquired MGM in 2022, paying $8.5bn for the studio – but media reports suggest that some experts put the value at between $3.4bn to $4bn. Amazon itself quoted the $3.4bn figure in a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 2022. It said in that that MGM’s assets “primarily consist of $3.4 billion of video content,” with the acquisition price including $4.9 billion of goodwill. However, a valuation of a company’s intangibles is not the same as a ‘whole company’ valuation.
Some film industry commentators suggested that Amazon may not have taken into account Danjaq’s continued ownership of the IP. It does seem highly unlikely, though, that Amazon would not be fully aware of the ownership of the Bond film rights and trade marks.
Whether such suggestions were correct or not, the new deal means, as the statement above makes clear, that Amazon now has creative control over the franchise, as well as a stake in the new joint venture which will own the Bond IP rights (although how ownership of the new company will be divided has not yet been announced).
The MGM acquisition did mean Amazon had the rights to distribute all of the James Bond films, in itself a potential goldmine.
It also got MGM’s catalogue comprising more than 4,000 film titles and 17,000 TV episodes, including other film franchises like Rocky, The Pink Panther, and Legally Blonde, and TV shows including The Handmaid’s Tale, Fargo, and Vikings.
On buying MGM, Amazon MGM quickly moved to set up Amazon MGM Studios, the production company referenced in the statement above which will now partner Danjaq, as well as streaming service, MGM+.
Crucially, what the Danjaq deal means is that Amazon will now be in a position to decide on who the next actor to portray Bond will be, and draft plots and titles for the next few films in the franchise.
Is it time for a remake of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service? Only, of course, the title would have to be changed to On His Majesty’s Secret Service.
Great idea – but Danjaq tried to register that as a trade mark in 2023, and was refused by the UK Intellectual Property Office. This may be because Ian Fleming Publications owns the copyright for existing James Bond books and related written material (such as e-books) – and one of the titles they publish is On His Majesty’s Secret Service.
Only a couple of weeks after the news broke that various James Bond trade marks are being challenged by a multi-millionaire property developer who is building a series of private islands representing Europe in the sea off Dubai (and no, he isn’t a fictional Bond villain), rather more important Bond-related IP news has broken – Amazon has just paid $1bn to effectively secure full creative and artistic rights to the Bond film franchise.
A statement on Amazon’s news portal, published February 20th, 2025, reads:
“Amazon MGM Studios, Michael G. Wilson, and Barbara Broccoli have announced that they have formed a new joint venture to house the James Bond intellectual property rights, and those parties will remain co-owners of the franchise. Under the terms of the new venture, Amazon MGM Studios will gain creative control of the James Bond franchise following closing of the transaction.”
Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson are the children of the late film producer Albert R ‘Cubby’ Broccoli, who was behind the 1962 film Dr No, the first Bond picture to star Sean Connery. The companies they co-run, Danjaq, which is the holding company for James Bond’s IP, and Eon Productions have been involved in almost every Bond film since.
“With my 007 career spanning nearly 60 incredible years, I am stepping back from producing the James Bond films to focus on art and charitable projects. Therefore, Barbara and I agree, it is time for our trusted partner, Amazon MGM Studios, to lead James Bond into the future,” said Wilson.
“My life has been dedicated to maintaining and building upon the extraordinary legacy that was handed to Michael and me by our father, producer Cubby Broccoli. I have had the honour of working closely with four of the tremendously talented actors who have played 007 and thousands of wonderful artists within the industry. With the conclusion of No Time to Die and Michael retiring from the films, I feel it is time to focus on my other projects,” commented Barbara Broccoli.
Amazon acquired MGM in 2022, paying $8.5bn for the studio – but media reports suggest that some experts put the value at between $3.4bn to $4bn. Amazon itself quoted the $3.4bn figure in a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 2022. It said in that that MGM’s assets “primarily consist of $3.4 billion of video content,” with the acquisition price including $4.9 billion of goodwill. However, a valuation of a company’s intangibles is not the same as a ‘whole company’ valuation.
Some film industry commentators suggested that Amazon may not have taken into account Danjaq’s continued ownership of the IP. It does seem highly unlikely, though, that Amazon would not be fully aware of the ownership of the Bond film rights and trade marks.
Whether such suggestions were correct or not, the new deal means, as the statement above makes clear, that Amazon now has creative control over the franchise, as well as a stake in the new joint venture which will own the Bond IP rights (although how ownership of the new company will be divided has not yet been announced).
The MGM acquisition did mean Amazon had the rights to distribute all of the James Bond films, in itself a potential goldmine.
It also got MGM’s catalogue comprising more than 4,000 film titles and 17,000 TV episodes, including other film franchises like Rocky, The Pink Panther, and Legally Blonde, and TV shows including The Handmaid’s Tale, Fargo, and Vikings.
On buying MGM, Amazon MGM quickly moved to set up Amazon MGM Studios, the production company referenced in the statement above which will now partner Danjaq, as well as streaming service, MGM+.
Crucially, what the Danjaq deal means is that Amazon will now be in a position to decide on who the next actor to portray Bond will be, and draft plots and titles for the next few films in the franchise.
Is it time for a remake of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service? Only, of course, the title would have to be changed to On His Majesty’s Secret Service.
Great idea – but Danjaq tried to register that as a trade mark in 2023, and was refused by the UK Intellectual Property Office. This may be because Ian Fleming Publications owns the copyright for existing James Bond books and related written material (such as e-books) – and one of the titles they publish is On His Majesty’s Secret Service.
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Accreditations
Copyright © Inngot Limited 2019-2025. All rights reserved.
Inngot's online platform identifies all your intangible assets and demonstrates their value to lenders, investors, acquirers, licensees and stakeholders
Accreditations
Copyright © Inngot Limited 2019-2025. All rights reserved.
Inngot's online platform identifies all your intangible assets and demonstrates their value to lenders, investors, acquirers, licensees and stakeholders
Accreditations
Copyright © Inngot Limited 2019-2025. All rights reserved.