Bond rebooted: the transnational appeal of the Daniel Craig Bond films

Abstract

The four most recent Bond films starring Daniel Craig have been amongst the most globally successful films of the twenty-first century. We argue the transnational appeal of these films can only be partly explained by their textual attractions, such as the way they play out ideas of British identify. A large part of their success also depends on the business of Bond, from the ownership of rights to the distribution of the films. Indeed, our focus group interviews with audiences in continental Europe reveal an ambivalence about whether the Bond character and the Bond films are perceived as British or American – an ambivalence that actually extends the appeal of the films to different audiences. This chapter therefore provides new insights into Bond’s enduring transnational appeal.

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ORCID for Huw D. Jones: orcid.org/0000-0002-6446-9575

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