COVER STORY: A rare in-depth interview with the family behind the Bond franchise. Barbara Broccoli and her brother Michael G. Wilson talk NoTimeToDie and the future of 007
It’s an arrangement that was first hammered out by Broccoli’s father, the producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, when John F. Kennedy was president and the Twist was all the rage. Miraculously, that pact has prevailed through the decades and generations, enduring everything from corporate mergers and bankruptcies to shifting consumer tastes and geopolitical upheavals. The elder Broccoli died in 1996.
“Barbara doesn’t take no for an answer,” says Craig. “It’s not in her wheelhouse. I had a nice long break, which I really needed. And then she was just persistent and came to me with some ideas, which we started formulating, and I got excited again.” If anything, Broccoli and Wilson’s experience with Craig has emboldened them to shake up the Bond formula. On paper, the choice was shocking. Craig, with his blond hair, boxer’s swagger, creased face and gruff volatility, didn’t fit the mold. He wasn’t conventionally handsome, he didn’t smack of fine living and chateaubriand and he lacked the black or brown locks that previous Bonds, from Sean Connery to Pierce Brosnan, had all rocked — though in Connery’s case that was courtesy of a toupee.
“To be honest, it took me a little while to see it,” admits Campbell. “Daniel’s acting was terrific, but he wasn’t a pretty-boy. Barbara was adamantly in favor of him.” Campbell won’t say who else was considered, but one insider says Craig beat out the likes of Sam Worthington and Gerard Butler for the part. Despite the pushback, Broccoli knew she made the right call.
Wilson, who at 77 is 18 years Broccoli’s senior , had a different entry to the franchise that formed the basis of the family fortune. During a break from law school, he worked as one of the extras in the climax of “Goldfinger,” playing a Fort Knox guard. When Cubby Broccoli began having tax problems, Wilson, who specialized in that issue, grew more involved.
Privately, those who have worked with the pair describe Wilson as “more cerebral” and more interested in exploring the inner workings of MI6. Broccoli is viewed as the “more visceral one,” more attuned to what’s going on in the industry. She’s also willing to go toe-to-toe with studio heads, making it clear that she’s outlasted previous regimes and will still be standing when one film czar is deposed for another.
They haven’t won every battle. In the early aughts, Broccoli’s ambitions to have a James Bond spinoff film focused on Jinx, the secret agent played by Halle Berry in “Die Another Day,” were foiled when MGM got cold feet about the film’s $80 million budget. That decision left Broccoli incensed. One of her main goals as steward of 007 has been to shake off some of the chauvinism that characterized Bond’s appearances in the novels and early films.
“No Time to Die” is expected to dominate the box office when it opens in April, but it faced significant setbacks on its road to the big screen. Danny Boyle, the Oscar-winning director of “Slumdog Millionaire,” was originally tapped to oversee the film, and had reportedly wanted to make a movie that dealt with tensions between the West and Russia. Instead, he left the project shortly before shooting was to start, with the official reason being “creative differences.
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