Barbara Dana Broccoli, CBE (born June 18, 1960 in Los Angeles) is a London-based American movie and stage producer.
Together with her half-brother Michael G. Wilson, she is the current owner and co-head of Eon Productions, the company behind the James Bond film franchise that her father Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli created with Harry Saltzman, since 1995. She has been assisting her father in it as far back as 1977. She is the daughter of Dana Natol Broccoli, the ex-wife of actor Lewis Wilson (Michael's father).
Perhaps Barbara's biggest impact on the franchise has been her decision to cast Daniel Craig as James Bond, a move that was divisively received upon announcement but ultimately paid off when Casino Royale was released to critical and audience acclaim across the board, with further films cementing him in the role.
She also produced several stage plays, some of them to great success such as the screen-to-stage adaptations of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Chariots of Fire.
Films she has produced:
- James Bond:
- GoldenEye (1995)
- Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
- The World Is Not Enough (1999)
- Die Another Day (2002)
- Casino Royale (2006)
- Quantum of Solace (2008)
- Skyfall (2012)
- Spectre (2015)
- No Time to Die (2021)
- Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool (2017)
- The Rhythm Section (2020)
- Till (2022)
Tropes applying to her works:
- Creator Cameo: Unlike her half-brother Michael G. Wilson who has showed up as extra in every Bond movie released since The Spy Who Loved Me, she doesn't seem to be fond of appearing in them. She did however appear as one of the opera patrons in The Living Daylights, when she was assistant producer to her father.
- Darkhorse Casting: One of the most famous examples in 21st century film history happened when she chose Daniel Craig, who was an up-and-coming actor that few would have believed to be a great fit for James Bond. The backlash was quite significant when he was announced, but it all died down when Casino Royale was released to critical acclaim, broke franchise box office records and made Craig a major movie star.
- Production Posse: While there's been a higher turnover rate of directors under her tenure than in her father's time for the Bond movies, screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade have written every Bond movie since 1999. She also wanted to keep Judi Dench as M and Daniel Craig as Bond as long as possible, even sponsoring stage plays of the latter to keep him in during the long Sequel Gaps of his films.
