Amazon boss reportedly said “I don’t care what it costs” to buy James Bond after they approached long-time producers with a Moneypenny spin-off

Apparently Amazon’s acquisition of the James Bond franchise didn’t exactly go smoothly.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, longtime Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson weren’t super happy with Amazon’s idea to do a spin-off series about Miss Moneypenny, secretary to M, and didn’t enjoy hearing the Bond movies being referred to as ‘content.’

Allegedly, after these grievances were published in The Wall Street Journal, Amazon boss Jeff Bezos said, “I don’t care what it costs, get rid of her.” The report then goes on to say that Bezos ended up paying “close to a billion dollars” for the franchise.

The acquisition came just days before the Oscars, where a seven-minute tribute to James Bond was performed by the likes of Doja Cat, Margaret Qualley, and Raye. Apparently, this was to celebrate Broccoli and Wilson’s honorary Oscar (and the Academy was unaware of the buyout at the time of planning).

Amazon now houses the intellectual property rights to the franchise with Wilson and Broccoli remaining co-owners – and allegedly wants to turn James Bond into a shared universe. The Moneypenny spin-off isn’t entirely out of left field given that she had her own series of standalone novels known The Moneypenny Diaries.

There is still no word as to who will play the new 007, though fans were quick to shout Henry Cavill and Tom Hardy when Bezos asked in a tweet.

For more, check out our lists of the best Prime Video shows and the best Prime Video movies.