Bond film #23, "Skyfall" (November 2012?)*

I did not think MGM situation was so desperate to stop 007

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8631245.stm

 

This probably means we won't get The Hobbit, either. sigh.

 

I am more confident about The Hobbit, more people and companies (New line, Warners and Fox) are involved.

The Bond franchise is basically in the hands of EON (Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli) and MGM

 

wow, didn't expect that.

 

I'm surprised that Danjaq (the Broccoli heirs) don't just finance their own damn Bond film and find a distributor to handle it. They've got the money, and they've proven they know how to make the films -- after almost 40 years. This is just stupid.

All it takes is cash.

 

Someone will step up with the cash. This is a publicity stunt to attract investors.

 

Always wondered that myself.

 

They're just waiting until 2012 to release the next movie during Bond's 50th anniversary on film. Makes sense right?

 

No. MGM is in serious financial trouble.

 

Boooooooooooooooo.

 

I can't say I'm disappointed. The Bond series has been mishandled for years. Daniel Craig is okay, but they need someone like JJ Abrams to straighten things out. They had the penultimate James Bond in Pierce Brosnan, and summarily dismissed him out of hand - not that they gave him any great scripts to work with.

I've always wished they would make "Icebreaker", one of the books written by John Gardner in the 80's into a film - it's a great story that surprises one with MANY twists and turns.

If they are going to wait a few years, they might as well reboot with a new actor.

 

I think MGM/UA co-owns the rights to Bond so they cannot do that.

 

This way, Daniel Craig would be the "new" Timothy Dalton; IIRC his days as Bond ended prematurely because of several issues too; hope this does not happen though..the 4 years gap between DAD and CR was too long.

Agreed on Brosnan, he was not helped by the scripts..I actually enjoyed for different reasons Goldeneye and Tomorrow never dies. I love the Bond movies but.. since Purvis & Wade were hired as "regular" scribes I've found the stories they penned somewhat less interesting, and with "Johnny English" they even managed to spoof their own material too.

 

Boooo-urns...

 

Please don't take offense, but the word penultimate means next to last (technically, Pierce Brosnan IS next to last given that the current Bond, Daniel Craig, is his successor, but I'm pretty sure that you meant something altogether different).

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/penultimate

Unfortunately, malapropisms are one of those things that I just can't seem to ignore, even though I'm sure that I make some noteworthy grammatical gaffs myself now and then. Did you mean "ultimate" James Bond?

Other than that, I would agree that Brosnan was one of the best Bonds, but his bowing out was probably a mutually agreed decision between the actor and Bond series producers.

Subjectively speaking, Pierce Brosnan seemed to be getting a bit too long of tooth to suspend disbelief as the suave action lead required for the Bond role with much conviction. This also happened to Sean Connery (IMHO, the best Bond) even though he reprised the role in one Bond film (Diamonds Are Forever) and one Bond knock-off film (Never Say Never Again) well past his prime with less than spectacular results.


Cat

 

Not so. Pierce Brosnan was widely interviewed at being thoroughly surprised and displeased after being dropped from the role for being "too old" when he turned 51. (Especially given that both Connery and Roger Moore had played Bond for about 7 years longer.) He felt he had at least two more good Bond films left in him, and I agree. I think Brosnan projected an intelligence and class that I don't think Daniel Craig has, though I think Craig has done a good job.

BTW: it's considered unkind and bad netiquette to criticize spelling and word usage in online forums.

 

Everyone has their own opinions on BOND and who was the best lead, the best film and the best theme song, which is completely understandable. Personally, after watching the BOND films since around, "Goldfinger", I think two major problems with the BOND brand, have happened. First, these movies were always "UNITED ARTISTS" movies and while I understand that United Artists was part of MGM, they did the same thing with United Artists, that POLYGRAM, then UNIVERSAL did with "A&M RECORDS" and that's to slowly kill the brand off. Seeing "Leo the lion" roaring at the beginning of a BOND film, just never sits right with me. At least throw a United Artists logo up there for a few seconds, to let us know that we're safe at home.

The other major problem with this series, in my opinion, was after Pierce (one of my favorite Bond leads), made "Goldeneye" (a really great Bond film) and then followed it up with three really lousy movies and scripts, that were aimed to the younger audience and featured far too much CGI effects. The last thing I want in a BOND film, is for it to look and act like, "The Matrix". When "Casino Royale" came out, I was disappointed that they fired Pierce, especially since they gave him so many bad BOND films to be in, but I really liked "Casino" and it brought back a renewed excitement for me and that series. It really is too bad that MGM is doing so poorly these days, but I agree with others here, that the Bond financial team already have the $$$'s to make this happen, they only need a good film distributer, when it's finished.

While I'm on the topic, how about bringing Shirley Bassey back for another stab at a theme song? Enough already with the crappy themes!

Chris C

 

I was saying Boooo-urns...

 

I was looking forward to seeing Dame Judi Dench in the role of "M" again. She is such a delight!

Watching Quantum Of Solace again the other night, I had to chuckle (just as I did the first time) when she said the line, "I don't give a sh%t about the Americans!" - in that style that only she could deliver it in. The Bond writers gave "M" more to do when she came on board & made her more a part of the story - much more than they did with Bernard Lee in the early days.

She's 75 now & a prolonged delay could rob us of an opportunity to see her in the role one more time.

Dexter

 

Pierce Brosnan was a great Bond? I'm shocked to see that....I thought he was much too pretty to be dangerous.

Craig is much, much better, imo, closer to the original stories, a killer.

Brosnan can't match Craig...or Connery for that matter...when it comes to looking mean. Well, maybe if someone messed his hair...

 

Well, as previously mentioned by me, we all have our little opinions. Actually, I thought that Pierce played his best BOND in the remake of, "A Thomas Crown Affair". "Too pretty", you say about Pierce as BOND, well, good luck telling my wife that. When Pierce was on board, she also wanted to see these BOND films, now with him gone, forget about it.

Chris C

 

Sounds like what happened to ITV and BBC due to financial problems.

From what I read there was only 1 bidder for MGM and it was way below what a consortium of investors paid for it back in the heady days of cheap financing and is now saddled with tons of debt.

Here's another story http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8631843.stm

 

He was fantastic in Thomas Crown Affair, but I didn't like him as Bond. He was an extension of the "cartoonish" Bond we got with Moore, although I like Moore doing it. I just thought it got tired, and that Dalton was a better Bond and the recasting, while appropriate after Moore when it could have happened, was ill-conceived after taking the films in a grittier direction with his predecessor. The juxtaposition between the too emphasizes all I began to dislike under Moore's final films. I know it was appropriate 'cause Brosnan finally got his wish, but it didn't serve the franchise well, imo. Craig will look better in the long run, if the scripts are decent. If they aren't, I still think he'll fare better with fans than Pierce does.

 

I hadn't read that Pierce Brosnan was upset by the decision, but I was aware that the producers wanted a more action oriented Bond to appeal to a younger demographic. Thanks for the info.

BTW, is "netiquette" actually a word?


Cat

 

Bond is a cash cow.... Someone will step in quickly....

Amazed at how many of the older Bond movies still get played.....