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Who Inherits The Bond Franchise?
Producers are only human, as Cubby unfortunately proved. They come and they go. So to beg the question, whats there after BB joins Cubby?
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a) sell the rights to someone who really cared as much as they did (in which case it would go on for a while, provided the "Bond-quality" can be maintained), or
b) they could retire from making Bond movies (unlikely, as interest is still very high), or
c) they start grooming some young talent to join EON and continue making Bond movies for another 30 years.
In general, I think it could last for a long time as a special brand within the action-genre. All someone needs to take care of is that the Bond-quality is maintained (i.e. not a run-of-the-mill action flick, continuity in the Bond universe, maintaining certain traditions, real stunts-minimal CGI, keeping main actor around in the role of Bond for a few movies).
In the worst case, Bond films could be sold to the highest bidder with no interest in their history, in which case they could turn into the direction of Batman movies, King Kong movies, Superman movies etc., but we would still be able to watch yet another interpretation of James Bond, until the end of our days.
I hope you agree that this topic equals someone asking in 1960 (when Cubby was 51, like Barbara is now): what will happen with the Bond series once Cubby retires?
I think the deal breaker will come with the next Bond. DC was a lark, but I wonder if mass audiences will grow weary of the same-old come the next actor to play Bond if the producers can't come up with a different direction post-DC? If BondMach7 doesn't pan out. I could see the series ending there.
xxx
like others have said... even if it disappears for 10-15-20 years, he'll pop back up... because the character is not only culturally iconic - to not only the UK, but to the rest of the world.. he's borderline legendary at this point.... and i can't see audiences getting sick of the character, because he is constantly updated to the real world surroundings - thus he never gets dated.. he's constantly contemporary...
people had this same fear when Connery was leaving the role... that was in '67 (or '71 depending on how you view it... maybe even '83 for some)... this is 2011, and 2012 will mark 50 years of Bond on film - and still going..
MGW is 68, about the age Albert R. Broccoli was when The Spy Who Loved Me came out. On the other hand, MGW has been involved with the series longer than Cubby. You could make the case either way that he might retire or could continue on. Thirty-six years is a long time (starting that in 1975 when Wilson became involved with the Eon fight with Harry Saltzman).
BB is 51. Her father was 52 when he and Saltzman cut the deal with United Artists (that was in 1961, with filming on Dr. No starting filming the following January).
Wilson, as noted above has one son, David. I believe he has another son, Gregg, who had an "assistant producer" credit in Quantum of Solace (it was in the main titles). Gregg Wilson also has the "byline" in the magazine article about Gustav Graves that Bond was reading in Die Another Day.
Meanwhile, family-owned, or controlled businesses, are hard to maintain into a third generation. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen. But there are a lot of cases of family businesses selling the enterprise during the third generation as the number of heirs increases. This is not a prediction, this is not to say this will happen at Eon. Just some background.
Now the question remains: Will the franchise have interest in 10-15 years. A lot of the people who grew up with the movies in the 60s (no offense) might not be here any longer, and those who've come around recently also have to contend with Jason Bourne, and Johnny English (I would not be surprised if they continue making those movies, especially without Austin Powers to fight back), and any other "Bond-like" action films. From the 60s to the 90s, Bond had no competition, so he was the only spy everybody wanted to see on the screen. Now, though, competitors are coming up, and Bond might not have the steam to fight them for the theater.
I hate how nothing seems to have ever come of this.
It's all just more of the usual non-answer tease-riddled bull@#$% we always get around here. People claiming to be close to the production of the Bond films and in possession of important, privileged information yet all they supply is enigmatic responses that bring about more questions than clear-cut answers. I tired of it all long ago.
What was it supposed to even mean?
My guess is that it had something to do with David G Wilson's involvment in 007 Legends and Bloodstone and his work continuously work on Skyfall. It is most likely that David is groomed to take over Michaels position sometime down the line as the boss with Barbara.
Check out the credits for the last couple of films.
Oh, I see. You must mean MGW's (or is it your? ;) ) son Gregg Wilson who worked as a aassociate producer on QoS and SF!
So how is it being MGW, and how can I go about getting an autograph? ;)