What was the public reaction to a new Bond actor?

When I started watching Bond movies, they were already into the Brosnan era. The switch between actors every couple of movies was already an established part of the franchise when I started watching. Seeing the change from Connery to Lazenby was no big deal, especially since I had already seen plenty of Moore and Brosnan movies already.

Im curious what the reaction back then was though, to a new actor playing Bond. That is a big step for any franchise. Is anyone here old enough to have been around when this movie came out? Im curious if there was a fairly negative response to the change, or if people were open to it.

OHMSS didn't do nearly as well as the previous Bond films at the box office because they were resistant to change. And it's completely understandable - Connery was perfect in the role - even when he was bored in YOLT, he still has his moments.

The marketing didn't help either since the first poster introducing the new Bond and film masked Lazenby's face.



Again, it's understandable that they did that, but it I think saturating the market with the new face would have acclimatised audiences into a familiarity. Still, hindsight is 20/20, though I'm not well versed in marketing. So I think it's safe to assume the reaction wasn't all that positive.

The next biggest shift in casting would be Craig's casting, but by then, as you say, it wasn't such a big deal since the face of Bond had already changed five times since then. But they did make a point of showing Craig's face in all promotional material for the film.

Its interesting that the poster you linked had Lazenby's name in big letters right below the picture, with a noticeable lack of Connery's. They want you to believe that nothings changed, but they also know that they cant fool anyone more than superficially.

The intro to OHMSS was very similar. They intentionally kept Lazenby's face hidden well into the action as a way to get the audience invested before making the switch.

Recasting the main character of a franchise is not a common thing, so i certainly don't blame them for not being sure how to handle it. This is the kind of thing that can completely kill a franchise if they dont handle it well.

That OHMSS poster wasn't subtle at all. Poor Laz.

OHMSS didn't make as much as its predecessors (an $82 mill return on a $7 mill budget). But YOLT took $30 million less than Thunderball at the box office, so it could be argued that OHMSS was part of a downward trend ... I have read before that there was a general feeling by the late Sixties that the 'spy boom' that Bond had kick-started was felt to have ran its course.

Bondgirl moment...are those in the poster actually in the movie? - I do recognise Jenny Hanley who certainly was but the others not so much?

I only just learned about the fact that Lazenby had to finance his own promo tour due to a conflict with Cubby Broccoli, about his insistence on doing the promo tour sporting a beard and long hair.

In the not-too-distant future, some tenured academic will claim Brosnan's Jesus scene in DAD is an oh-so-subtle nod to Lazenby.

Lazenby's petulance and arrogance is what both got him and lost him the role.

Cubby was right to take him down a peg though. Bloody hippy.