A movie series has a built-in audience. Film studios, promoters, and financiers count on it. But when the actors playing a beloved and well-known character change within the series, there are expectations. And some characters a la the actors playing them, most likely, wouldn’t survive the change. Or can they? It depends.
Let’s look at James Bond, the most successful series employing different actors as Agent 007. To date, a total of eight actors have played the iconic figure If you factor in the television one played by Barry Nelson in 1954. Author Ian Fleming featured James Bond in twelve books, the first published in 1953, and two short-story collections. The Bond film series took off like a rocket with Sean Connery in the driver’s seat with Dr. No released in 1962, From Russia with Love in 1963, and Goldfinger in 1964. The three consecutive films certified Sean Connery as a bona fide incarnation of Fleming’s character. After Fleming’s death in 1964, eight other authors wrote Bond novels or novelization, the latest With a Mind to Kill published in May 2022 by Anthony Horowitz,
Recently, while traveling in Greece, I visited Meteora, a true marvel of breathtaking vistas! It’s actually so spectacular that even a mobile phone camera pic doesn’t diminish its splendor. And it’s also one of the locales for a 1981 James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only starring Roger Moore. I mentioned the movie trivia to my literary agent who simply replied, “I haven’t seen any James Bond movie since Sean Connery played him.” Yes, she’s a purist, and there’s no James Bond beyond the knighted actor who passed away in 2020. Of course, with seven films portraying Sir Sean Connery as the British agent, any fan could feel satisfied with that segmented series amongst devotees. Nevertheless, James Bond morphs from actor to actor without suffering a diminishing audience. Do I have a favorite? I guess I’d lean towards Sean Connery not only because of his suave yet self-effacing exterior, but because his films remain saturated by the 1960s culture, closer to when the novels hit bookshelves. And who can forget the painted lady in Goldfinger? I can’t recall many other images so shocking and indelible!
On the flipside, there are movie heroes like Indiana Jones made popular by Harrison Ford. And here’s the catch, at least from my observation. A character first made known by a novel series has more adaptability than one first introduced by a movie. Let’s look at Indian Jones a la The Raiders of the Lost Ark. The novel is actually based on the movie. The book, written by Campbell Black, came out in April of 1981, two months prior to the movie. But how many people bought the book before the movie became a hit? I’d venture to say the movie is what made Indiana Jones an iconic hero and Harrison Ford its favored imprint. The argument can be made that YES there are five actors who’ve played Indiana Jones. But the other characters played him at different ages up to but not including the mature or adult years. From that point on, it’s all about Harrison Ford and no one else. I saw the most recent movie, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny released in 2023. True, it wasn’t a summer blockbuster hit as anticipated, But, with AI advancements, I sat in wonder at how realistic the younger Harrison Ford looked on screen in the opening sequences. I thought to myself, “Wow they could’ve made the entire movie in the World War II era with a computerized version of Harrison Ford playing Indy! Time will tell, but I believe Indy will not live beyond Harrison Ford. It’s just a one and only character, very dissimilar to the recreations of James Bond that keeps movie goers wondering: Who will play 007 next??
The comic series characters can go either way. Many actors play these animated heroes because, well, to prove my point, they’d already been created via comic books! So it doesn’t really matter who plays Superman, Spider Man, Batman, or the villains that manifest evil so cinematically. fHow many Jokers have been successful? All of them in their many manifestations! But Hans Solo or Indiana Jones really belong to one actor: Harrison Ford. Yes, you can change the ages and show him as a child, adolescent, or young adult. But the prime years belong to Mr. Ford, until someone else proves otherwise!
Happy watching of your favorite movie series! And James Bond? Well, we all have our favorites!