Oscars Pay Tribute to 60 Years of James Bond: 'A Game-Changer'

Kelly Slater, Tony Hawk and Shaun White took to the stage to honor six decades of the legendary spy films based on Ian Fleming's books

Cinematic history's most iconic franchise received a stirring tribute at the 94th annual Academy Awards on Sunday.

Six decades of James Bond movies — including the impressive slate of actors who played the role — were celebrated during this year's star-studded Oscars ceremony. (Sean Connery, who first embodied Bond on screen, died in 2020. Roger Moore, who played the character in seven feature films between 1973 and 1985, died in 2017. George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig have also stepped into 007's signature tuxedo.)

Famous athletes Kelly Slater, Tony Hawk and Shaun White introduced the tribute with a conversation about Bond's legacy. "While we tried our best to be game-changers in our respective sports, there's no question James Bond was a game-changer influencing our culture and the look and standards of films for over half a century," Slater said.

Added White, "And what we love best — he was and is never afraid to take things to the extreme."

Shawn White, Tony Hawk and Kelly Slater
Mike Coppola/Getty Images; ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty; Jordan Strauss/AP/Shutterstock

A video montage featuring some of the Bond film's most memorable moments included Craig's latest Bond in No Time to Die, as well as glimpses into the other Bond's work in front of the camera.

No Time to Die marked Craig's last outing as the spy and was the highest-grossing film of 2021. The action-thriller is nominated for three Oscars this year, including Best Original Song by Billie Eilish and brother Finneas O'Connell.

RELATED VIDEO: No Time to Die Cast on Bonding Behind the Scenes and Why Daniel Craig Was a 'Proper Joker' on Set

Several A-list stars have expressed interest in filling in the agent's shoes in the future, including Dwayne Johnson and Tom Holland.

Holland, 25, previously admitted he had pitched his idea for a Bond origin story to Sony. Though the idea didn't get bought, it did lead to connections that facilitated his role as Nathan Drake opposite Mark Wahlberg in the hit video game adaptation Uncharted.

"I had a meeting after or during Spider-Man 2 [Far From Home] with Sony to pitch this idea of a young Bond film that I'd come up with," Holland told Total Film in an interview. "It didn't really make sense. It didn't work. It was the dream of a young kid, and I don't think the Bond estate were particularly interested."

He continued, "The idea of a young Bond film sparked this idea, in turn, that you could do a Nathan Drake story as an origin story, rather than as an addition to the games. And that opened a conversation."

no time to die
Gavin Bond

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The 2022 Oscars are airing Sunday from Hollywood's Dolby Theatre on ABC.

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