007: Road to a Million is the rare big franchise spin-off with soul
When Amazon purchased James Bond, to say I was extremely nervous was an understatement. I’m a big fan of the Bond franchise, from Fleming’s original books to Albert R. Broccoli & Harry Saltzman’s cinematic adaptation and beyond. While I know it’s a franchise with baggage, I’ve got a lot of love for 007.
Part of that love has been carefully curated by the people in control of the franchise. Amazon purchased MGM, the Hollywood studio that backs Bond, but the film franchise has been a largely family affair since its inception some six decades ago. The elder ‘Cubby’ Broccoli, who nabbed the Bond movie rights from author Ian Fleming, was succeeded by his granddaughter Barbara and step-son Michael; the pair remain in control of Bond’s cinematic adventures to this day.
Thus my worry when MGM, which ultimately owns the rights to Bond, was acquired by the world’s foremost evil corporation. Sure, the creative element of the Bond franchise remains in the hands of Broccoli’s EON Productions – but now there’d be pressure from above. I figured a battle between executives wanting to ‘extract value’ from the Bond IP and its long-time stewards, who do care about money but have shown surprising restraint over the years, was inevitable.