Bond Actress Valerie Leon Fears Franchise Will No Longer Be British
For over six decades, James Bond has been as British as Aston Martin, Savile Row tailoring, and the Queen’s corgis. But according to former Bond actress Valerie Leon, those days may be numbered. With Amazon MGM Studios taking creative control of 007, she fears the franchise will lose its British identity, and possibly even its place on the big screen.
“The Bond franchise was very British and it won’t be anymore,” Leon told Good Morning Britain. “And obviously if they make films they won’t go into the cinema… everything is so changed now, it just won’t be the same and I’m very old-fashioned anyway.”
For fans who have spent the past three years waiting for a successor to Daniel Craig, this latest development only deepens the uncertainty surrounding Bond’s future.
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Bond – A Franchise in Transition
Amazon’s $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM in 2022 was always going to rattle the Bond faithful. It granted the tech giant distribution rights to the films and, crucially, control over the intellectual property. Now, a new joint venture between Amazon and Eon Productions cements that shift in power.
According to a statement, the deal ensures Amazon MGM Studios will “gain creative control of the James Bond franchise following closing of the transaction.”
The Broccoli family remains co-owners, but Michael G. Wilson, who has produced the last nine Bond films, is retiring to focus on “art and charitable projects.” Barbara Broccoli, too, is said to be moving on to “other projects.”
With Wilson stepping away and Broccoli potentially distancing herself, speculation is rife. What does Amazon’s vision for Bond look like? Will the franchise continue as a series of prestige cinematic blockbusters, or will Amazon go the dreaded route of spin-offs and TV shows?
A Spectre of Corporate Meddling?
There have already been reports of tensions between Amazon and Eon over the franchise’s creative direction. The Wall Street Journal previously claimed that Amazon executives wanted to develop Bond into a broader multimedia franchise, while Broccoli remained determined to maintain the character’s cinematic prestige, calling Amazon execs “f*cking idiots.”
Last year’s Prime Video reality show 007: Road to a Million, hosted by Succession star Brian Cox, was seen as an early experiment in brand expansion. The show performed well enough to earn a second series, but the idea of Bond as a piece of Amazon’s broader intellectual property stable—rather than a carefully guarded piece of British film history—has left some uneasy.
Craig, who redefined Bond across five films from Casino Royale to No Time to Die, offered his support to the outgoing producers, saying: “My respect, admiration and love for Barbara and Michael remain constant and undiminished. I wish Michael a long, relaxing (and well deserved) retirement and whatever ventures Barbara goes on to do, I know they will be spectacular and I hope I can be part of them.”
Meanwhile, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos wasted no time in stoking speculation over the next iteration of 007, tweeting: “Who’d you pick as the next Bond?”
The answer to that question may matter less than the one hovering over the entire franchise: what, exactly, will 007 be under Amazon’s control? A sleek, modernised cinematic event? A fragmented, cross-platform content machine? Or something else entirely?
If Valerie Leon is right, the future of Bond may be a little less British, and a lot less certain.
