Pierce Brosnan has urged Amazon to treat James Bond with ‘dignity’ and ‘respect’.
The 007 legend, who played Bond in GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough and Die Another Day between 1995 and 2002, has revealed his hopes after the studio’s bombshell billion-dollar deal with longtime producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson.
The arrangement gives Amazon creative control of the franchise, and the 71-year-old star has insisted he saw the move coming.
‘I thought it was coming for some time I guess, but I think it was the right decision for Barbara and Michael,’ he told the Telegraph.
‘It takes great courage for them to let go. They will still have a say in matters. I hope that [Amazon] handles the work and the character with dignity and imagination and respect.’
He admitted the takeover ‘does come with a certain lament’, despite his hopes for for the future.
Brosnan also insisted it’s a ‘given’ that the next Bond has to be British, amid fears from fans that Amazon’s control could lead to an American actor playing Ian Fleming’s iconic fictional spy.
Meanwhile, he remains ‘very proud’ to be part of Bond’s ‘legacy’, and for the films he ‘made with Barbara and Michael’.
‘History has been passed on’, he added, noting that during his time on the franchise they ‘moved the needle’ and ‘brought it back to life’.
‘It had been dormant [for] six years and GoldenEye was such a success that it continued and went from strength to strength,’ he said. ‘You know, everything changes, everything falls apart, and I wish them well.’
Brosnan’s latest comments come after he insisted while some ‘fresh blood’ is needed to lead the franchise into a new era, he would be ‘interested’ in returning as 007.
‘Of course, how could I not be interested? But it’s a delicate situation now. I think it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie, really. I think so,’ he told GQ, while confessing that it was ‘a rather romantic notion and idea’.
But while noting that ‘everything changes, everything falls apart’, the Black Adam star added: ‘I think that it’s best left to another man, really. Fresh blood.’
Under the control of half-siblings Broccoli and Wilson, children of legendary original 007 producer Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli, there were strong feelings that the next actor cast should be British – as well as male and in his 30s.
Meanwhile, directors were known to have had to concede final creative say on matters to Broccoli.
This could all change now, as Amazon MGM Studios looks to confirm the bosses who will herald James Bond into his next era.
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