These Three Guys Are A “Safe Bet”

Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May are getting a lot of money for their new show, The Grand Tour, coming in the fall of 2016 on the Amazon Prime internet streaming service. Jeremy will be taking in £10 million while Richard and James are each taking in £7 million for their contract with the supplier of everything imaginable. For diehard fans, not only are they happy to see the trio back in tip top shape but they’ll also be happy to hear that no expenses are spared by Amazon to build a great motoring show.

Jay Marine, the European chief of Amazon Prime Video, who’s also one of the executives who played a pivotal role in signing the ex Top Gear trio and executive producer Andy Wilman mentioned:

We talk a lot at Amazon about making bold bets but I have to say I put this in the class of like a safe bet. This is on the safer side of bets I’ve made. We look at everything when we consider a new show and deal. The reality is these three guys have made a great show for a long time. They have a passionate following and yeah, sometimes they are controversial. But I can tell you people are excited to see them back on air.

Photo credit: The Telegraph

When asked whether Amazon will have stricter controls over the bad behaviors of the trio, primarily Jeremy Clarkson who has been in a multitude of controversies, Jay stated:

No, the worst thing we could go and do is tell Jeremy, James and Richard how to make a great car show. They are in control. Those guys have a big budget and creative freedom and we are here to support them. We find great creators. Then we get out of their way and let them make their show, make their vision without trying to put restrictions around them.

Have we paid a lot of money? For sure, but these guys are worth a lot of money. It’s very rare that you find something like this where a team come along who already have a built-in worldwide audience that I would argue is unique. This was one of the most sought-after and highly competitive situations we’ve seen in terms of signing them. We looked at the data every which way and we love this deal.

As to whether the show will be released in a weekly trickle or the House-Of-Cards bingeing style, Jay had this to say:

We usually binge-release, but we are open to experimenting on that. There is no doubt people have responded well to bingeing. But there is also something nice about a weekly cadence where people are all on the same episode and there is social discussion about what happened last night. Stay tuned, we haven’t made that decision.

We’re glad that the Amazon Prime’s corporate culture is conducive to Clarkson, Hammond, and May’s methodologies. With the proper support there’s no question that these guys will truly make some masterpiece shows. We’re totally excited to see The Grand Tour. How about you?

Source: The Guardian