AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
It's news that has shaken or perhaps stirred the entertainment industry. Amazon MGM Studios is taking creative control over a certain secret agent.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Mister...
ROGER MOORE: (As James Bond) Bond. James Bond.
RASCOE: For decades, the intellectual property rights to the 007 franchise belonged to a British American family. Now they're stepping back. It's big news for Bond fans across the pond, where Bond is actually from and where our correspondent Lauren Frayer reports.
LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: When news of Amazon's takeover of the Bond franchise hit the United Kingdom, the collective response sounded kind of like this.
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FRANCIS: I nearly dropped me coffee, and I thought, Amazon Prime spinoff TV series?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: No, no, no.
FRAYER: That's Francis from Norfolk, England, who called into a BBC talk radio program that did not include caller's surnames but did include their outrage. Another caller, Peter from Kent, England, said he fears this deal will lead to the Americanization of Bond. Imagine the horror.
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PETER: They're probably going to turn it into another "Bourne Identity"-type thing and use it to boost American patriotism.
FRAYER: A headline in The Daily Telegraph newspaper reads, Amazon's Bond takeover is an assault on Britishness. The article asks whether the next Bond might be played by Tom Cruise or even by Jeff Bezos. Maybe Bond will start calling his dinner jacket a tuxedo or even give up Martinis for Kentucky bourbon. That would be sacrilege, says Ajay Chowdhury, spokesperson for the James Bond International Fan Club, which is based in England, by the way.
AJAY CHOWDHURY: You know, James Bond, especially in the U.K., is part of our cultural heritage. It's a cultural heirloom.
FRAYER: After all, the creator of Bond was Ian Fleming, a Brit, though it was an American, Cubby Broccoli, who first brought Bond to the big screen in the 1960s. His British American heirs are the ones who are ceding creative control now to MGM Amazon. Chowdhury, the fan club spokesperson, compares the Broccoli family to one of the most beloved coaches in English football, and you will not hear him call it soccer.
CHOWDHURY: Have done an amazing job - they're like the Alex Ferguson of the "James Bond" team. They're fantastic. They've been a great management, but they can't last forever. They were never going to.
FRAYER: Speaking to the BBC, he then concluded with a joke. How many Bond fans does it take to change a light bulb? One, but 10 to complain about how much better the original was. Lauren Frayer, NPR News, London. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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