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Doha Film Festival 2025 | 'James Bond' Producer Barbara Broccoli Warns That Film Financing Getting ‘Increasingly Difficult’
Barbara Broccoli, producer of the iconic James Bond films, urged the audience to watch movies in cinemas. 'You really need to support them'.
There’s no time to die—and, increasingly, no easy money to make films. Veteran producer Barbara Broccoli, who steered the James Bond franchise for three decades before the rights were sold to Amazon MGM, says the most challenging part of producing today is securing financing in an uncertain marketplace.
Speaking at a panel on the evolving role of the creative producer at the Doha Film Festival 2025, Broccoli didn’t hesitate when asked which aspect of producing she enjoys the least: financing.
“Getting the financing is becoming increasingly more difficult,” said the producer, who has also backed non-Bond titles like Till, The Rhythm Section, and Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, among others.
When quizzed if that’s because movies are becoming less profitable and the footfalls have dwindled, she added, “I think it's just that the people that are financing movies are unsure as to what they should be supporting. That's why it's so important for audiences to come to the movie theaters to see the movies and really support them. Because, you know, we make films for audiences. That's why we do it.”
Broccoli’s relationship with the Bond universe stretches back far earlier than her official producer credit on 1995’s GoldenEye. She grew up on Bond sets, watching her father, the legendary Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, build one of cinema’s most enduring franchises.
Those formative years, she said, continue to shape her instincts as a producer. Which is why, what she looks for most—whether in an intimate character drama or in the high-stakes world of 007—is “empathy and humanity.”
“When we came to recast the last time, we were going into a new century, and so in my head I kept thinking, what
does a 21st century hero look like? And to me, the sort of headline was humanity. So we tried to bring that more into the series, and that's why casting Daniel Craig was so key, because I felt he could really transform the character into someone who has more depth and more emotion,” she added.
Die Another Day (2002) marked Brosnan’s final outing as Bond before Craig stepped in with Casino Royale (2006), ushering in a grittier, emotionally layered era for the franchise. He went on to headline Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015) and No Time To Die (2021), the actor’s final turn as the British spy.