Wilson, Michael G (1943- )

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    ‘Dune’ Director Denis Villeneuve to Take On Next James Bond Film

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    Amazon MGM Studios announced earlier this year that it had gained creative control over the Bond franchise after a family had held those duties for more than 60 years.Four months after Amazon MGM Studios announced that it had gained control over the James Bond franchise, the movie studio said on Wednesday that Denis Villeneuve, the director behind the current “Dune” series, will direct the next Bond film.“Some of my earliest moviegoing memories are connected to 007,” Villeneuve said in a statement. “I grew up watching James Bond films with my father, ever since ‘Dr. No’ with Sean Connery.”Villeneuve, who also directed the action thriller “Blade Runner 2049,” admitted that the fictional superspy who has spawned 25 movies and earned billions of dollars at the box office was “sacred territory.”“I intend to honor the tradition and open the path for many new missions to come,” he said. “This is a massive responsibility, but also incredibly exciting for me and a huge honor.”The next Bond film, for which no lead actor has been announced, will be executive produced by Tanya Lapointe. Amy Pascal and David Heyman will serve as producers.The announcement may not be a total surprise. Villeneuve said in an interview with The Playlist in 2017 that he had conversations about directing a Bond film but the timing was an issue.Villeneuve, who is from Quebec, has emerged as one of Hollywood’s leading directors, particularly with the critical and commercial success of the “Dune” series. “Dune: Part One,” released in 2021, earned six Academy Awards and Villeneuve was nominated for best adapted screenplay. Last year’s “Dune: Part Two,” which returned stars Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, won two Oscars and more than $700 million in worldwide box-office sales. The third installment in the series, also directed by Villeneuve, is set to be released in December 2026.Amazon’s director announcement marks an incremental, but crucial step to getting Bond back onscreen. “No Time to Die,” the last Bond film, was released in 2021. It marked the end of a five-film series with Daniel Craig in the lead role.In February, it was announced that the family that had cautiously steered the Bond franchise for more than 60 years had agreed to relinquish control to Amazon. And this spring, the studio announced that a new video game featuring Bond, 007 First Light, would be released next year.The deal came after a standoff between Barbara Broccoli, who inherited control of Bond from her father, and Amazon, which gained a significant ownership stake in the franchise in 2021 as part of its $8.5 billion purchase of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Before the deal, Broccoli and her brother, Michael G. Wilson, another Bond producer, had held a tight grip over creative control, including when new films would be made and other important casting decisions. More

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      Amazon Gains Creative Control Over the James Bond Franchise

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      The British family that has for decades held complete control over everything involving the globe-trotting superspy is relinquishing it to Amazon.The British family that has steered the James Bond franchise for more than 60 years, zealously protecting the superspy from the indignities of Hollywood strip mining, has agreed to relinquish control to Amazon.The deal, which was announced Thursday morning, comes after a behind-the-scenes standoff between Barbara Broccoli, who inherited control of Bond from her father, and Amazon, which gained a significant ownership stake in the franchise in 2021 as part of its $8.5 billion purchase of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Ms. Broccoli and her brother, Michael G. Wilson, another Bond producer, had chafed at some of the ways in which Amazon hoped to capitalize on the property, The Wall Street Journal reported in December.In a statement released by Amazon, the siblings and the tech giant said they had agreed to form a new joint venture to house Bond; the parties will remain co-owners. But Amazon MGM Studios “will gain creative control” after the transaction closes later this year. Ms. Broccoli and Mr. Wilson previously had ironclad creative control, deciding when to make a new Bond film, who should play the title role and whether remakes and television spinoffs got made.They also had final say over every line of dialogue, every casting decision, every stunt sequence, every marketing tie-in, and every TV ad, poster and billboard.Daniel Craig in “No Time to Die.” The movie marked the end of a five-film series with him in the lead role. No decisions have been made about a successor.Nicola Dove/Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures, via Associated PressMike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, thanked the siblings for their “unyielding dedication” to the franchise and said the company looked forward “to ushering in the next phase of the legendary 007 for audiences around the world.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Quincy Jones Receives Posthumous Oscar, and Daughter Gives His Speech

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      At the Governors Awards, Rashida Jones spoke on behalf of her father, who died earlier this month at the age of 91.Before his death two weeks ago, the musician and producer Quincy Jones wrote a speech he intended to deliver at the Governors Awards, where he would receive an honorary Oscar at the ceremony created by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.On Sunday night in Hollywood, his actress daughter Rashida Jones delivered that speech on his behalf before a rapt audience.“As a teenager growing up in Seattle, I would sit for hours in the theater and dream about composing for films,” she said while channeling her father, who was a Black trailblazer in Hollywood: “When I was a young film composer, you didn’t even see faces of color working in the studio commissaries.”Nominated seven times, Jones was given a different honorary Oscar — the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award — in 1995, back when these awards were still part of the televised Oscar broadcast. To shorten that show, the honorary awards were spun off into their own event in 2009.“He has so many friends in this room,” said Rashida Jones, center, of her father, Quincy Jones.Mario Anzuoni/ReutersThough the Governors Awards are not televised, they still attract an A-list crowd that rivals any major ceremony. An early stop on the awards-season circuit, the event offers plenty of unfettered face time with Oscar voters during its cocktail hour and post-dinner break and serves as the season’s starriest schmoozefest.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More