This month Regal cinemas are re-running James Bond classics as the wait for a new 007 actor continues.
From Ian Fleming’s original novels to the EON-produced film franchise and Amazon’s creative oversight today, the world’s most famous secret agent has defeated many formidable foes: Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Dr. No. Le Chiffre, who made his glorious return in “Casino Royale.”
But Bond’s most enduring nemesis has nothing to do with Blofeld’s white cat. It is the unrelenting passage of time, with each decade testing Bond’s resilience in a rapidly evolving world.
There is historical precedent for a resilient Bond character proving his worth again. He successfully pivoted from a Cold War backdrop to the age of advanced AI in the 2020s. To quote Pierce Brosnan in “Die Another Day,” “Just surviving, Mr. Chang. Just surviving.”
Bond’s survival is being tested in new ways. Bombarded by franchise reboots and Netflix’s never-ending content churn, audiences young and old feel oversaturated. Traditional cinema struggles to break through when the monoculture is a moonshot. A two-hour break from TikTok is a hard sell.
Most Gen Zers haven’t read the Fleming novels. Many would demote Bond to “sexist, misogynist dinosaur,” quoting Dame Judi Dench in 1995’s “GoldenEye.”
Thankfully, the obsession over toxic masculinity remains a minority view. Sex appeal still sells, whether it is Sean Connery in 1962 or Daniel Craig in 2006. A man seducing a woman on-screen isn’t beyond the pale.
For all of its pre-wokeness, “GoldenEye” was a successful reboot at an uncertain time for the franchise. It didn’t deviate from the Bond formula; it updated the traditional formula with modern flourishes. An even stronger case study is “Casino Royale,” which rebooted the character again with a somewhat controversial casting and delivered a masterpiece of a spy film.
Two decades ago, “Casino Royale” leaned into basic truths that stand the test of time. Experiment only to an extent. Respect the hero’s journey. Go back to the original source material, applying the Fleming vision of grittiness and suaveness with just enough emotional complexity. Bet on a male lead who is aspirational and a female lead who is attractive — intellectually, emotionally, and physically. Allow charismatic actors to create compelling archetypes. Use the tuxedo and other tropes cleverly but sparingly.
Focus on quality over quantity, even if it means scarcity. For scarcity done right, see Rolex. For the opposite, see Disney’s “Star Wars.” Even in the age of audience segmentation and attention span loss, moviegoers paid money to watch the likes of “Barbie,” “Oppenheimer,” and “Top Gun: Maverick,” and none of those films carry as much global cultural cache as 007.
If auteur-director Denis Villeneuve could make “Dune” cool again, why can’t he make Bond even cooler? Villeneuve and screenwriter Steven Knight not only know Hollywood success, but they have the luxury of driving a popular Aston Martin that has not been dinged and dented like 21st-century Indiana Jones. Unlike Amazon’s “The Rings of Power,” Knight can still treat Fleming’s novels with reverence, trusting in decades of literary and cinematic tradition. With great power comes great responsibility.
There is a reason why at least a quarter of the world’s population has seen at least one Bond film. For a similar reason, Sydney Sweeney’s Novig campaign yielded tens of millions of views and a $2 billion valuation. Leave the rocket science to SpaceX.
Ignore the woke-scolds, when they probably won’t watch the movie anyway. Appeal to the actual audience: Millions of people who may grow to love Bond, if they don’t already. Good is good enough to reboot a great character in 2026.
Agent 007 will live to fight another day. Long may he survive.
Ladan is president and CEO of Zenica Public Relations.