Los Angeles | The British family that has steered the James Bond franchise for more than 60 years, zealously protecting the super spy from the indignities of Hollywood strip mining, has agreed to relinquish control to Amazon.

The deal, announced on Thursday (Friday AEDT), comes after a behind-the-scenes standoff between Barbara Broccoli, who inherited control of Bond from her father, and Amazon, which gained a significant ownership stake in the franchise in 2021 as part of its $US8.5 billion purchase of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.