Eps 21: James Bond Just Invented Broccoli
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Terrance Vargas
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Broccoli headed up Eon Productions, a company that had been making Bond films since Sean Connery first took on the character in 1962s Dr. No Bond films, and was the daughter of AlbertCubby Broccoli, the producer who bought the screen rights to the Ian Fleming novel James Bond. Their fixation on what is best for James Bond was passed down to Barbara Broccoli, as was 50% movie rights for James Bond and all of his adventures . Such a sweet deal was surely the impetus for AlbertCubby Broccoli to stay for the franchises 17 films, but his daughter Barbara--who started working on the James Bond series in the 1970s and has been a prolific producer ever since--says that Cubby just felt at home. As eldest Broccolis health began to decline in the early 1990s, the teen Barbara Broccoli took over the role of producer in her own right at the critical inflection point of the James Bond franchises history, 1995s GoldenEye, the first chapter of the franchises run with Pierce Brosnan.
The elder Broccoli died in 1996. But not before handing over control to his two sons with 1995s GoldenEye, the movie that proved that sexist superspy, as imagined by novelist Ian Fleming in the 1950s, was still viable as a character in post-Cold War filmmaking. By the mid-1960s, Broccoli had put almost all of Broccolis energies behind the franchise. No other company would give as much freedom as United Artists did, and to AlbertCubby Broccolis credit, it is hard to believe that the franchise would have survived far past the first Bond film had Columbia Pictures taken UA up on its offer. Broccolis partnership with Saltzman ended in 1975, following The Man With The Golden Gun, when Saltzman sold his interests in James Bond to United Artists, with Broccoli becoming sole producer.
It was also at this time that Broccolis father and the other producer had a falling-out, which led to a lengthy series of courtroom battles, which were eventually settled in 1986. There were long-running legal disputes about rights and funding strains throughout these years, with Harry Saltzman selling the rights of Harry Saltzman to United Artists after seven films in the series. During filming, the directors retired from being directors, and Howard Hughes took over, setting up a working relationship between the son named Albert and Hughes that extended past WWII. A son named Albert and his associates produced a number of films during the early 1950s using the Eady Subsidy funds, including The Red Beret, Hell Below Zero, and Fire Down Below.
The primary producers of the James Bond films today are his daughter Barbara Broccoli and step-son, Michael G. Wilson. Michael G. Wilson, Dana Broccolis son from an earlier marriage, is an electrical engineer and a qualified attorney, and became an executive producer for Cubby in 1977, starring as Moonraker, now writes and co-produces with Michael G. Wilson in his own James Bond films. Michael Wilson was 17 years old when his wife Albert Cubby Broccoli married, and although the franchise has been a part of his life ever since, Wilson formally entered the fold in 1979, first as legal counsel, and later as a producer and co-writer on a few films. Wilson, who is now 77, is 18 years older than Broccolis oldest son , having another entrance into a franchise that forms the foundation of the familys wealth.
In acknowledgement of Broccolis insistence that each EON-produced James Bond movie should carry The Character Creators name, Ian Fleming, on its opening credits , it was decided by the Broccolis surviving family that all non-Bond films would have to carry Broccolis name). Broccoli made a single significant attempt at a non-Bond film, the 1968 adaptation of Ian Flemings Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and, because of legal disputes about rights to elements of the story, he relinquished producer credits for Thunderball to Kevin McClory.
In the early aughts, the elder Broccolis ambitions for a James Bond spin-off film centred around Jinkx, a secret agent played by Halle Berry inDie Another Day were dashed when MGM balked at the films $80 million budget. Broccolis father, 1950s bro, soon realized the movie potential of British author Ian Flemings espionage novels, which had been released with largely favourable reviews from critics, and were enjoying increasing commercial success during the decade. Broccolis read newspapers again, through the eyes of Bond; talked with his writer, step-son, and co-producer Michael G. Wilson, who had written or co-written thirteen Bond films; and picked the brains of others inside and outside of the Bond family, looking for the best ideas that might crystallise in a 17th James Bond movie.