(Los Angeles) The producers of the James Bond films will receive an honorary Oscar during a ceremony next November, the Academy announced Wednesday, for their career dedicated to the adventures of the spy 007, whose next incarnation will always keeps you waiting.
Half-brother and sister Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli have been at the helm of this spy saga since GoldenEye, a film released in 1995 after Ms. Broccoli’s father, Albert, handed over the reins to them.
They oversaw several of the franchise’s biggest films, including 2012’s billion-dollar Skyfall, which starred Daniel Craig as a suave Bond with a license to kill.
The award “is a testament to their success as producers of the popular Bond saga and their contributions to the industry’s cinematic landscape,” Academy President Janet Yang said in a statement.
A reward which comes while the character of 007 has still not found a new actor to don his costume.
His last face, Daniel Craig, has hung up his phone since 2021 and the release of No Time To Die. Despite intense speculation, no replacement has since been announced.
In the meantime, Amazon has bought MGM, the studio behind the James Bond saga. But the Broccoli family’s company, Eon, retains broad creative control over the franchise, based on the novels of British writer Ian Fleming.
And for the moment, it maintains the suspense over the future of the adventures of the most famous spy in the world.
Mr. Wilson and Ms. Broccoli will receive their honorary Oscars in November at the Governors Awards, an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ceremony that annually honors four beloved industry veterans, many of whom have not yet received an award at the regular Oscars.
Richard Curtis, British director best known for Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral and Bridget Jones’s Diary, will also receive an honorary Oscar.
Just like the African-American musician Quincy Jones, nominated seven times for the Oscars for his work on the soundtrack of films like The Color Purple or In Cold Blood, without ever having received a statuette.
Finally, distribution director Juliet Taylor, who notably worked on Taxi Driver and Schindler’s List, will also be rewarded.
The Governors Awards ceremony will take place on November 17.