A female 007 spin-off could be a future addition to the James Bond series since streaming behemoth Amazon has already presented the concept to producers.
Additional suggestions included a prequel based on MI6 secretary Miss Moneypenny and spin-offs centered on Bond’s CIA partner Felix Leiter.
These recommendations were turned down by long-time Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, but Amazon has since landed a deal that grants them creative power over the venerable British series.
Traditional 007 fans have reacted negatively to the proposal, believing spin-offs could weaken the brand and its reputation as a worldwide British icon.
The streamer approached the Broccolis with pitches for a TV series about Moneypenny, the MI6 secretary who has been batting eyes at Bond since Sean Connery’s time, a show about Bond’s CIA friend Felix Leiter, and possibly even something involving a female 007, according to industry magazine The Hollywood Reporter.
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An adaptation of novelist Kate Westbrook’s The Moneypenny Diaries, which examines Miss Moneypenny’s life before working with Bond, is apparently the front-runner, with actress Florence Pugh slated to play the lead.
Ms. Broccoli is reported to have referred to the firm as “f***ing idiots” and refused to sanction a new film under the California-based Amazon MGM Studios, despite Amazon’s 2022 acquisition of Bond’s parent studio, MGM.
Until two weeks ago, when they signed a new contract with Amazon, Wilson and Broccoli, the children of renowned Bond producer Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli, had been in charge of casting and directing choices for Bond films for decades.
Wilson and Broccoli will continue to be “co-owners of the franchise,” but James Bond is now under the “creative control” of Amazon MGM Studios according to an industry insider who is said to have told The Telegraph
Under the duo’s leadership, the franchise has developed while preserving its core values.
Broccoli’s dedication was commended by Pierce Brosnan, who played Bond in the 1990s and early 2000s, who said, “She will always fight for Bond.”
