Former James Bond Pierce Brosnan Breaks Silence on Amazon Taking Over 007

The World Is Not Enough for Amazon. Pierce Brosnan, the fifth James Bond actor who starred as 007 in four films between 1995 to 2002, is speaking out following news that longtime Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli formed a new joint venture giving Amazon MGM Studios creative control of the James Bond franchise. (The Jeff Bozos-founded conglomerate has held rights to distribute all of the Bond films since its acquisition of MGM in 2022, but Wilson and Broccoli had retained creative say-so over the 25-film franchise via their Eon Productions.)

“In this world that is moving so fast now, at the speed of light, [the takeover] does come with a certain lament,” Brosnan told The Telegraph of the $1 billion Bond deal announced on Feb. 20.

Brosnan first starred as Bond in 1995’s GoldenEye, also the first Bond film to be produced by Barbara Broccoli after her father, Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli, entrusted Eon and control of Bond to his children that same year. Brosnan went on to play the secret agent in 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies, 1999’s The World Is Not Enough, and 2002’s Die Another Day, the final film before the Daniel Craig-led reboot: 2006’s Die Another Day.

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“I thought it was coming for some time I guess, but I think it was the right decision for Barbara and Michael,” Brosnan said. “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.” Brosnan added that “no one really knows” what 007 might look like under Amazon’s control.

Wilson and Broccoli will remain co-owners of the franchise, although the duo will no longer produce the Bond films beyond 2021’s No Time to Die. Amazon’s Bond 26 will introduce the new James Bond actor, and it’s a “given” that Craig’s successor should be British, Brosnan added.

“History has been passed on and I’m very proud to have been part of the history and the legacy of Bond and the movies that I made with Barbara and Michael,” he said. “That we moved the needle, that we 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…You know, everything changes, everything falls apart, and I wish them well.”

Although Brosnan answered “I don’t care” when asked who should be the next Bond in a 2022 GQ interview, he later suggested Oscar-winning Oppenheimer actor Cillian Murphy in a 2024 interview with the BBC.

There have been many rumored contenders for the role following the end of Craig’s 15-year tenure, including former Superman Henry Cavill (Man of Steel), former Spider-Man actor Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spider-Man), James Norton (Happy Valley), and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kraven the Hunter).