And the producers just released a statement today about the next Bond... James Bond producer says it'll be 'at least 2 years' before new film "Nobody's in the running," she told Deadline, addressing the rumors of who will take over the role after Daniel Craig's departure. "We're working out where to go with him. We're talking that through. There isn't a script, and we can't come up with one until we decide how we're going to approach the next film because, really, it's a reinvention of Bond," Broccoli said. "We're reinventing who he is, and that takes time. I'd say that filming is at least two years away."
Remember the days when we used to get a new film every two-three years? They're not making Ben-Hur or Gone with the Wind; it shouldn't take this long or be this difficult. The series really needs someone fresh in charge who's ready to keep the franchise up and running.
Sounds ominous. What she comes up with next will be worse than what she's done so far. "We're reinventing who he is" Barbara Broccoli says. Why bother? They deconstructed him out of existence in five films in a row and then obliterated him under a bomb after he begged for mercy. I despise what she's done to Bond under her tenure. Broccoli and stepbrother Wilson can't get out of their own way. They struggle with creative matters that talented people find easy. But she has to impose her agenda, and that takes time. Broccoli and Wilson are the problem. They need to get lost.
A woke Bond makes as much sense as a pot head Joe Friday. It might be funny, but its not what he fundamentally is.
To me, they need to let go of the "Let's make the next one even BIGGER and the stakes HIGHER!" mantra that's been in EON's heads since Goldfinger was a huge success and go to the simpler but incredibly complex films like From Russia With Love. To me, competing with the Bourne movies (which have stopped being a thing for years now) or the Mission: Impossible movies (which should be the simple but complex, basic espionage premise) would mean a return to the movies with intrigue, mystery and thrills that come from that. Barbara Broccoli always talks about getting things back to the "essence of James Bond" and that should be something that's held onto beyond one movie. Casino Royale did it beautifully, IMO. Make more like that and you'll be competing with the other movies that have used the Bond formula to death and be different by going to the original style that succeeded.
The Bond franchise certainly has more competition these days. I thought the Bourne movies were pretty good and so is some of the Mission Impossible movies despite Tom Cruise being in it (well that’s a different thread) and Reacher isn’t bad despite Tom Cruise being in it. John Wick gets better and better. How can Bond still be Bond without the horn dog and the tongue in cheek double entendres littered through out the dialog? No fun?
A part of me would like to see Bond reset in the period the Fleming novels were set, the 1950's. I never understood the "Oh, well, the Cold War isn't happening anymore, so it won't be as exciting." It's a movie. You can set it in any timeframe you want. Make him the badass spy in the world of maniacs that were brutal and ruthless more akin to the books and I think you'd have something people would like. Going against the grain of the tropes that everyone is expecting from every Bond movie and you can set your watch by would be something unexpected and could be well-received.
I think when Bond has to work with someone (who isn't trying to 'improve him') he's forced to assess things differently and becomes a bit more cerebral and interesting. I don't mean Felix showing up to fill in a plot hole. A real equal. That Ana de Armas scene in No Time to Die was by far the best, momentarily jolting awake that otherwise dire endeavor. Have Bond take on Artificial Intelligence (a real potential threat to humanity), or else go retro to late 60's. Please no more Billie Dyspeptic moaning but a real theme song.
I agree on both. I'm still annoyed that for Tomorrow Never Dies they went with the Sheryl Crow song (which I thought was half-hearted, and I'm a huge fan of Crow's!) instead of k.d. lang's torch style song that was instead used over the end credits. They need the bombastic, huge, wah-wah horns and strings to crescendo to an explosive chorus, sung by a throwback torch singer.
Very good friend of mine both wrote and recorded a song for Spectre. There were two songs in the running, and the other won out in the end. Shame, as it's exactly what I want from a Bond theme, the lyrics are relevant to the character, and the performance is second to none.
Good point. They need to just tell a good story that plays the James Bond concept. All this rot about making the next film bigger and the stakes higher has proved to be an unobtainable goal without resorting to self-parody and slapstick. Too, the preoccupation with making Bond a kinder gentler spy by exaggerating his (mis-perceived) faults and taking down his ego Neither Jason Bourne nor Ethan Hunt have to endure the indignities and relentless hammering that James Bond suffers at the hands EON Productions. Bond films used to be perfect models of the spy fantasy genre, but under Babs and her stepbrother they've become neurotic rants. Her personal agenda is the most important thing. The Mission: Impossible films are closer to what Bond films used to be and should be again. Ethan Hunt doesn't have M following him around on the mission scolding him at every step of the way. Casino Royale did it beautifully? Seriously? Apart from the foundation Ian Fleming provided, the 2006 Casino Royale epitomizes everything that is wrong with Bab's franchise.
I don’t mind them taking their time to figure out what direction the new Bond is going to take. Billions of dollars are at stake, I’d expect them to proceed carefully. What bothered me a little about most of the Craig films (“Casino Royale” was the closest to an exception) was that we never got a basic Bond movie where he simply went on an assignment. There always had to be some sort of going rogue element involved. And we went from a pair of films in which he’d just become a double-O, immediately into a film where he was supposed to be old and washed up. Just give us a film in which he goes on a mission and hijinks ensue. No need for additional subplots.