Bond 25 key decisions expected early 2018 says Barbara Broccoli

Barbara Broccoli speaks at length about working on the 007 films and Bond 25.

Bond co-boss Barbara Broccoli doesn’t often speak publicly so when she does it’s worth taking notice.

She’s just recently spoken at length to THR Podcast, in which she discusses her experiences working on the Bond films. She also talks about Daniel Craig returning in Bond 25 and the hardly unexpected news that some major decisions will be taken early next year.

I haven’t had a chance to listen yet, but for a summary of the main points and a link to the podcast follow the link below to The Spy Command.

Source: The Spy Command

Update: 17 December 2017

The segment in which host Scott Feinberg interviews Barbara Broccoli begins 40 mins and 40 seconds into THR Awards Chatter podcast.

The interview is around an hour long and starts by discussing how Broccoli’s father, Cubby, teamed up with Harry Saltzman to make the first Bond film.

It covers her experiences on the films working up through the ranks until she became co producer with her half brother, Michael G Wilson; her 31 year ambition to produce Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool; and, of course, Bond 25.

Broccoli talks about being taken on the set of Dr No as a toddler, something she was too young to remember and how she wanted to spend as much time as she could with her father. That resulted in her working on the Bond films, but because Cubby wanted her to get as much experience as possible her first job was as a runner. Over the years she worked in different departments, working her way up the ranks before eventually becoming co-producer.

At one point Feinberg mentions that she and Wilson and very different, which she agrees with, and that she dislikes being photographed or interviewed. She touches on the decision to drop Pierce Brosnan, saying it’s difficult whenever they move on to a new actor.

And asked about Daniel Craig’s knee injury during the filming of SPECTRE she advises not to be become a movie producer if you don’t like problems; that is what the job is all about. Broccoli also says Eon “apparently stands for everything or nothing”.

They finally move on to discussing Bond 25 at the 1hr 33 min 30 sec mark. Feinberg asks “do we know the title or director yet?”

Broccoli replies replaces, “no, or I don’t!” and goes on to say they are “still to be determined”. Later she adds that Purvis and Wade are “busy working away, trying to come up with something fantastic”.

Asked about how real world events influence the Bond universe and whether the sexual assault scandals in Hollywood that would influence the female characters, Broccoli replies:

“These films tend to reflect the times, so we always try to push the envelope a little bit. […] You can see how he’s evolved”.

They then move on to the search for a distribution partner now that the deal with Sony has expired. Broccoli is asked why they are looking for a one film deal.

She says, “No, I think we’re very open to the future and it’s exciting to be courted, there’s a lot of investing people out there. […] We’ll hopefully be making that decision sometimes early next year”.

Asked what she’d like to happen to Bond after she and Wilson are no longer involved she tells him “it’s a family business, it’d be nice to think that the family would continue but Bond belongs to everybody, he’ll survive whatever happens”.

Listen to the interview here.