Bezos ousts Bond producers over ‘idiots’ remark – media

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has taken full creative control of the James Bond franchise after longtime producer Barbara Broccoli reportedly called his executives “f**king idiots,” the Hollywood Reporter wrote on Friday.

According to insiders, Bezos reacted immediately, ordering her removal at any cost, which ultimately led to a $1 billion deal. As a result, Amazon now holds full control over the future of James Bond.

Amazon acquired MGM in 2022, gaining distribution rights to the films, but creative control remained with Eon Productions under Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. The duo resisted Amazon’s proposed spin-offs, including a Moneypenny series and a female-led 007 project, preferring to maintain James Bond’s traditional narrative.

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Tensions between Broccoli, Wilson, and Amazon executives escalated in late 2024. In December, the Wall Street Journal reported that Broccoli privately told friends she did not trust “algorithm-centric Amazon with a character she helped to mythologize through big-screen storytelling and gut instinct.” She also described the status of the next Bond film as dire, with no script, no story, and no actor chosen for the role. In the same conversation, referring to the company while among executives, she said, “These people are f**king idiots.”

The comment enraged Bezos, prompting him to take drastic action, the Hollywood Reporter stated. “He read her quote in the Journal and got on the phone and said, ‘I don’t care what it costs, get rid of her,’” an insider told the magazine. Soon afterwards, Amazon struck a deal worth nearly $1 billion to remove Broccoli and Wilson from creative control and bring the franchise under Amazon MGM Studios.

After the deal was finalized in February 2025, Bezos shared a headline on X that read, “James Bond’s long-serving producers give control to Amazon,” adding the caption, “Who’d you pick as the next Bond?”