One of the most endearing aspects of Eon Productions’ 25-film run of James Bond movies was the filmmakers’ refusal to do an official, in-film passing of the torch from one 007 to another. Though six actors portrayed the character over the movies’ 63-year history, there has only been one James Bond in Eon’s universe. It’s not a code name that can be conveyed from generation to generation; it’s just one guy who served his country from “Dr. No” to “No Time to Die.”
Will this change now that Amazon MGM Studios has purchased full creative control of the franchise from Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson? We’ll have to queasily wait and see what the masterminds who’ve spent hundreds of millions of dollars on “Citadel” — a Russo Brothers action-thriller series that most folk don’t seem to actually like yet has already managed to spawn multiple spinoffs — do with a character who’s every bit as appealing today as he was when he first graced movie theater screens in 1962. He’s theirs to muck about with as they so choose.
In the wake of the 007 handover, some deeply cynical fans voiced very real concerns over the possibility that Amazon might use AI to place past Bonds like Sean Connery and Roger Moore in new adventures. I don’t think there’s much appetite for this amongst fans, so I’m cautiously optimistic this will never come to pass. If, however, the folks at Amazon feel tempted to give this a try, they’d do well to seek out the counsel of director Sam Mendes, who once mercifully passed on the opportunity to bring Connery back into the 007 fold.
Sean Connery had a path to appearing in Skyfall
While chatting with The Huffington Post in 2012, Mendes revealed that, during the development of “Skyfall,” the film’s creative team considered casting Sean Connery as Kincade, the caretaker of the Bond family’s estate (who was ultimately played by Albert Finney, pictured above). According to Mendes:
“There was a definite discussion about [Connery playing Kincade] way, way early on. But I think that’s problematic. Because, to me, it becomes too … it would take you out of the movie. Connery is Bond, and he’s not going to come back as another character. It’s like, he’s been there. So, it was a very brief flirtation with that thought, but it was never going to happen, because I thought it would distract.”
Mendes’ instincts were spot-on. Connery popping up in the third act would’ve stopped the movie dead in its tracks, and it would’ve never recovered. It would’ve been even worse if the movie’s creatives had pursued the rumored approach of turning Skyfall into a retirement home for former James Bonds. Fortunately, Connery had been retired from live-action acting for close to a decade at the time, so he almost certainly would’ve turned the offer down had they attempted to go through with it.
So, let this be a lesson to you, Amazon: leave the past in the past. No one wants to see AI-generated dead movie stars. Frankly, I’m not sure what people want from James Bond four years after “No Time to Die,” which could render the company’s reported $1 billion investment in the franchise a dicey one.