There are a lot of real-life figures that would make for a perfect James Bond, but none reach the depths of despair quite like the owner of Amazon, Jeff Bezos. After the company paid $1 billion to take over complete creative control of the franchise from longtime producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, a scathing new report claims that the ambitious endeavor was born out of spite. Yes, you read right.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, prior to Amazon gaining full control over the franchise, the studio had tried to pitch Broccoli and Wilson TV spin-offs featuring various James Bond-related characters, including Moneypenny. They were keen on capitalizing on the iconic property, despite clear resistance by the producers, who were more than content with releasing a singular film every few years. However, things changed soon after. A piece was published that claimed Broccoli had called the Amazon heads “f****ng idiots,” apparently partially due to their desire to make numerous spin-offs on television. Per THR, Bezos read the report and did not hesitate to order his company to do something that would later cause a massive shift in the industry: “I don’t care what it costs, get rid of her.”
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming’s death in 1964: Kingsley Amis, Christopher Wood, John Gardner, Raymond Benson, Sebastian Faulks and Jeffery Deaver; a new novel, written by William Boyd, is planned for release in 2013. Additionally, Charlie Higson wrote a series on a young James Bond and Kate Westbrook wrote three novels based on the diaries of a recurring series character, Moneypenny.
The fictional British Secret Service agent has also been adapted for television, radio, comic strip and video game formats as well as being used in the longest running and the second-highest grossing film franchise to date, which started in 1962 with Dr. No, starring Sean Connery as Bond. As of 2012, there have been twenty two films in the Eon Productions series, with a twenty third, Skyfall, due for release on 26 October 2012. The film will star Daniel Craig in his third portrayal of Bond: he is the sixth actor to play Bond in the Eon series. There have also been two independent productions of Bond films, Casino Royale, a 1967 spoof, and Never Say Never Again, a 1983 remake of an earlier Eon-produced film, Thunderball.
The films are renowned for a number of features, including the musical accompaniment, with the theme songs to the films having picked up Academy Award nominations on several occasions. Other important elements which run through most of the films include Bond’s cars, his guns and the gadgets he is supplied with by Q Branch.
