0:00

The world of James Bond

0:02

has been shaken and

0:05

stirred. The famous spy

0:07

character has a new

0:09

owner. Hi there everyone,

0:12

it's Jeff and this

0:14

is Plain English episode

0:16

number 758 on Monday

0:19

March 17th 2025. Thanks

0:21

for starting your week

0:23

with us. Today is

0:26

St. Patrick's Day. Maybe

0:28

you were celebrating over

0:30

the weekend. I'm 50%

0:33

Irish, so I celebrated a

0:35

little bit. Well, I exaggerated

0:37

just a bit just now.

0:40

James Bond doesn't really have

0:42

a new owner. As you'll

0:45

learn today, it's not that

0:47

simple. But there has been

0:50

a big change in the

0:52

world of the famous British

0:54

spy character with a license

0:57

to kill. That's the topic

0:59

of today's story. How did

1:01

Amazon get control of one

1:04

of the most famous

1:06

characters in movie history?

1:08

As you know we talk about

1:10

current events and trending topics

1:13

here at Plain English and

1:15

we do that so you

1:18

can get exposure to new

1:20

words and new ideas in

1:22

your new language. But it's

1:25

not just the story. We

1:27

also have lots of related

1:30

practice activities at plain english.com

1:32

this is episode number seven

1:35

fifty eight so all the

1:37

additional resources are at

1:39

plain english.com/seven five

1:41

eight before we

1:43

start today's story i

1:46

just like to remind you

1:48

that the podcast is just

1:50

one part of how we

1:52

can help you upgrade your

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English skills At plain english.com

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Sound good. Go to

2:31

Plain english.com. to start

2:33

your free 14-day trial

2:36

today. Now let's jump

2:38

into today's story. Amazon

2:41

has achieved something the

2:43

character M never could.

2:45

It has control over

2:48

James Bond. To be

2:50

clear... the tech behemoth

2:52

has held the rights

2:55

to distribute existing bond

2:57

movies since 2022. But

2:59

now the company has

3:02

the right to produce

3:04

new movies with the

3:06

famed British spy character.

3:09

And it might further

3:11

expand into series, spin-offs,

3:13

crossover appearances with other

3:16

characters, and special events.

3:18

Here's the story of

3:20

how Amazon came to

3:23

control the Bond universe.

3:25

James Bond is a

3:27

character from spy novels

3:30

by the British writer

3:32

and journalist Ian Fleming.

3:34

The protagonist is James

3:37

Bond, a secret agent

3:39

with a code name,

3:41

double 07. The first

3:44

two zeros in his

3:46

code name, mean... that

3:48

he has a license

3:51

to kill. The first

3:53

Bond book was called

3:55

Casino Royale and it

3:58

came out in 19...

4:00

1953. Readers enjoyed a

4:02

new book in the

4:05

Bond series every year

4:07

until 1965. The last

4:09

two books were published

4:11

after the author's death.

4:13

In all, there were

4:15

12 novels and two

4:18

collections of short

4:20

stories written by

4:22

Ian Fleming. The

4:24

series proved popular

4:27

with readers with readers.

4:29

So in 1961, the

4:31

author collaborated with two

4:33

film producers to bring

4:35

James Bond to the

4:37

big screen. One of

4:39

the producers had a

4:42

memorable name. His name

4:44

was Albert Broccoli. The

4:46

original collaboration

4:48

had an unusual structure.

4:51

The film producers,

4:53

including Broccoli, would

4:56

have creative control over

4:58

James Bond, but a

5:00

movie studio, United

5:03

Artists, would finance the

5:05

films and distribute

5:08

them. This is different

5:10

from how movies are

5:12

typically made. Here's how

5:14

it normally works. A movie

5:16

studio finances and produces

5:19

a movie in-house. That

5:22

means the studio buys

5:24

a script, hires a script,

5:26

hires producers, and

5:29

makes creative decisions

5:31

about the movies that

5:33

the studio will pay for

5:35

and release. That makes

5:37

sense, right? If the studio

5:40

is going to pay to

5:42

produce and distribute a big

5:44

movie, they want control over

5:46

what goes into the movie.

5:49

But from the beginning,

5:51

the Bond movies were

5:53

different. The two independent producers...

5:55

had the right to

5:58

make creative decisions. That

6:00

means they decided

6:02

when to make a new

6:04

Bond movie, what the storyline

6:07

should be, who the

6:09

director should be, and,

6:11

importantly, which

6:14

actor should play the

6:16

famous James Bond. Then,

6:18

the movie studio would

6:21

make the movie, do all

6:23

the marketing, and

6:25

get it into theaters.

6:27

The two sides. would

6:30

split the profits from

6:32

the movie. And that

6:34

was more or less

6:37

the arrangement that endured

6:39

for decades, even

6:41

as the people and

6:44

the organizations involved

6:47

changed. United Artists

6:49

was bought by

6:52

MGM Studios. Then

6:54

in 2022, MGM. MGM.

6:57

was bought by Amazon.

6:59

So when Amazon obtained the

7:02

rights to James Bond

7:04

in this century, it

7:06

only got the rights

7:09

to show and distribute

7:12

existing movies. But it

7:14

didn't have the right to

7:16

make new movies or

7:18

make any creative

7:20

decisions about the

7:22

characters or the story.

7:25

What about the

7:27

nutritiously named Albert

7:30

Broccoli? He died in

7:32

1996 and left his rights

7:34

to his daughter Barbara

7:37

Broccoli. She managed the

7:39

creative decisions about

7:42

James Bond with

7:44

her stepbrother Michael

7:46

Wilson. The Broccoli

7:48

family saw themselves

7:51

as protective stewards.

7:53

of the Bond

7:55

franchise. They saw it

7:57

like a family heirloom.

8:00

something to be

8:02

protected and passed down

8:04

from generation to generation.

8:07

They feared that if a movie

8:09

studio had creative

8:12

control, the character

8:14

would be diluted. Think

8:16

of all the times a good

8:18

movie has come out, but

8:20

soon after the world

8:22

is drowning in content

8:25

and everyone is sick

8:27

of the character. Broccoli

8:30

didn't want that to

8:32

happen with James Bond.

8:35

With Bond, she followed

8:37

the golden rule of

8:39

show business. Keep

8:41

them wanting more. So

8:44

the family prioritized

8:46

quality over

8:48

quantity. They only allowed

8:50

a new Bond movie

8:53

every few years. They

8:55

didn't allow spin-offs.

8:57

There are no Bond

8:59

animations, no theme park

9:02

rides, no crossover specials,

9:05

no movies told

9:07

from the perspective of

9:10

a Bond villain. In

9:12

other words, James

9:14

Bond isn't like

9:16

the DC Comics,

9:19

Marvel, or Star

9:21

Wars franchises. You can

9:23

see where this is going.

9:25

Amazon. didn't get

9:28

to be one of the

9:30

world's biggest companies

9:32

by being cautious and

9:35

careful. Amazon, for

9:37

all its strengths,

9:39

is not a protective

9:41

steward of anything. It

9:44

bought MGM Studios thinking

9:46

it could make a

9:48

lot of money from

9:50

James Bond. So the

9:52

broccoli family and

9:55

Amazon... We're at an

9:57

impasse. Amazon made. no

10:00

secret of its desire

10:02

to bring James Bond

10:04

into a new century,

10:06

but it had no authority

10:08

to do so. And Broccoli

10:11

didn't trust Amazon. She

10:13

worried that a computer

10:16

algorithm would ruin

10:18

the storied character

10:20

that her family

10:22

had developed and

10:24

protected over decades.

10:26

You could even say

10:29

that Broccoli herself was

10:31

playing Dr. No for

10:33

a time slowing down

10:35

production of a new

10:37

bond project with Amazon.

10:40

And so the most recent

10:42

bond movie was no time

10:45

to die from 2021 and

10:47

there is no script, no

10:49

cast, and no plans for

10:52

a new movie. It wasn't

10:54

clear. if the world

10:56

would ever see another

10:58

Bond movie. Well that

11:00

brings us to early

11:03

2025. Barbara Broccoli was

11:06

64, her stepbrother

11:08

84. Barbara had been

11:10

involved in James Bond

11:13

since she was a girl.

11:15

And she and her

11:17

stepbrother finally reached

11:20

an agreement with

11:22

Amazon. The broccoli

11:24

family would step

11:26

aside and give

11:29

creative control to

11:31

Amazon. Now the future

11:33

of James Bond is

11:35

with just one company.

11:37

60 years of family control

11:40

has come to an

11:42

end and now James Bond

11:45

is in the hands of

11:47

a tech giant. What could

11:49

that mean? Amazon's

11:52

budget would allow it

11:54

to produce more bond

11:56

stories more quickly. It

11:58

might create a... Bond universe

12:01

with films about side

12:03

characters or villains. There

12:06

could be stories about

12:08

other double O agents,

12:10

prequils, or even stories

12:13

set in the future.

12:15

Amazon may also use

12:17

Bond to boost its

12:19

streaming business with streaming

12:21

exclusives in addition to

12:24

major releases on the

12:27

big screen. As

12:29

for the story, Amazon

12:31

might introduce modern themes

12:34

that appeal to a

12:36

new generation with more

12:38

diverse casting and

12:41

modern geopolitical themes.

12:43

Other ideas have been

12:45

posed, theme park attractions,

12:48

reality show competitions

12:50

based on bond, casino

12:53

games, virtual reality

12:56

experiences, and more.

12:58

But it's really

13:00

impossible to say. Amazon

13:02

knows the Bond

13:05

franchise is valuable.

13:07

They may modernize the

13:09

franchise without diluting

13:11

it. And Amazon's reach

13:14

may help new people

13:17

discover Ian Fleming's character

13:19

that he developed in

13:22

1953. I

13:28

would not be the first

13:30

person to point out that

13:32

Jeff Basos, the founder of

13:34

Amazon, really does look like

13:37

a bond villain. And almost

13:39

immediately after Amazon acquired

13:42

creative rights to bond,

13:44

Jeff Basos tweeted a

13:47

question, who do you

13:49

pick as the next bond? So

13:52

I guess this is how it's

13:54

going to go a super

13:56

rich celebrity tech mogul is

13:58

going to ask his adoring

14:00

fans in a social

14:02

media post who should play

14:04

the next James Bond.

14:06

This must be exactly

14:09

what Barbara Broccoli was

14:11

afraid of. I

14:13

am not optimistic. I don't

14:15

think Amazon will be

14:17

able to help itself. I

14:19

think they will dilute the

14:21

brand and the character.

14:23

It won't the same is

14:25

my personal prediction, but

14:28

that's okay. The original books are

14:30

still in print. You can still

14:32

watch the original movies. Maybe

14:38

I'm too conservative with these things.

14:40

I just like the originals, you

14:42

know. I would have

14:44

loved to play the Bond theme

14:46

music or a clip from

14:49

one of the movies here in

14:51

the podcast, but I don't

14:53

even want to think about the

14:55

trouble I would get into

14:57

if I did that. Think of

15:00

the torture scene in the

15:02

movie Casino Royale. That would be

15:04

nothing compared to what would

15:06

happen to me if I played

15:08

Bond music on a podcast.

15:10

So unfortunately no Bond music or

15:13

clips or even picture on

15:15

this article. Depressingly I

15:17

had to use a

15:19

generic picture from a

15:22

museum for this article

15:24

online. Anyway, that brings

15:26

us to the end

15:28

of this episode of

15:30

Plain English number 758

15:33

on Monday, March 17th,

15:35

2025. Happy St. Patrick's

15:37

Day. Check out episode

15:39

30 to learn about

15:42

St. Patrick's Day, plainenglish.com/three

15:44

zero. That was one of

15:46

the early ones. Remember our

15:48

theme for the month of

15:50

March is cars. We'll be

15:53

continuing that theme on Thursday

15:55

and then again on Monday.

15:57

The question we'll ask on

15:59

Thursday is what happened to

16:01

all the self-driving cars

16:04

we were promised. Don't

16:06

miss it. See you

16:08

then. Tell me if

16:10

this has happened to

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you. You're speaking or writing

16:15

in English and then

16:17

you just hit a wall. Like,

16:20

you know what you want to

16:22

say? You know what you want

16:24

to say? You know it shouldn't

16:27

be too hard. but

16:29

you just don't have the tools

16:31

to say it in English.

16:34

Sometimes that happens because

16:36

you don't know a

16:39

vocabulary word, but more

16:41

often it's because you don't

16:43

have the tools to connect

16:46

your thoughts and express

16:48

more complex ideas.

16:51

I'm talking about tools

16:53

like, ever since, barely

16:55

any, despite so, and many

16:57

more. And these are

17:00

pretty complicated tools. That's

17:02

why we've made step-by-step

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video workshops about each

17:07

of them. We call these

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workshops the toolkit. With

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Just go to plainenglish.com

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