In an unexpected move that’s causing quite a buzz in Hollywood, Jennifer Salke, the head of Amazon MGM Studios, has decided to part ways with the company. Mike Hopkins, an executive at Amazon, announced this change in a message sent to employees on Thursday afternoon. Hopkins stated that Salke will be starting her own production company, while still maintaining an “overall first-look deal” with Amazon. In her response, Salke expressed that she’s ready for a new beginning, referring to this as her “next chapter.
Despite the unexpected nature of her departure, it’s clear that dissatisfaction with Salke had been growing over time. Her resignation follows a series of Prime Video titles, some of which had high budgets but produced mixed results: During her leadership, every impressive ‘Fallout’ was followed by a lackluster ‘Citadel’ or ‘Red One’. As Puck reported, Salke’s decision to offer Phoebe Waller-Bridge a $20 million annual deal in 2019, following the success of ‘Fleabag’, hasn’t yielded any results since, and yet she continued to extend the contract. However, her management of the James Bond franchise attracted the most criticism and probably led to her resignation.
In 2022, Amazon acquired MGM for a substantial $8.5 billion, primarily to gain ownership of the popular franchise overseen by producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. Jennifer Salke was tasked with handling the relationship between these producers, as they were granted creative control over the character. However, it appears that Broccoli expressed dissatisfaction towards Amazon and Salke, with a reported comment about some Amazon executives being “foolish.” Recently, The Wall Street Journal reported that Salke’s use of the term “content” to describe the Bond IP in front of Broccoli was perceived as a significant blow to their relationship. Allegedly, Broccoli further expressed her displeasure by referring to some Amazon executives as “idiots.” (It’s said that Jeff Bezos is upset about this situation.)
The collapse occurred in February when it was disclosed that Broccoli and Wilson were prepared to surrender creative control of Bond to Amazon MGM Studios. Nevertheless, they will continue as co-owners. Amy Pascal and David Heyman have been appointed as the new Bond producers, although Deadline revealed that even these two requested to report to Courtenay Valenti rather than Salke before finalizing their deals. As things stand, there are no definite plans to replace her. Hopkins penned this, stating that Amazon MGM had chosen to streamline their leadership structure slightly in order to expedite decision-making. Valenti will continue as head of film at Amazon MGM Studios with the new Bond producers, a mandate for quicker decisions, and – hopefully – a well-structured strategy for the British secret agent moving forward. Salke, perhaps, might now work on that Tomb Raider project with Waller-Bridge? Possibly.
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2025-03-29 02:53