Paul Haggis Talks Bond 22

highhopes

Bond22 picks up two minutes after the end of CR, just as I've always thought it would.


Paul Haggis Talks Bond 22
Source: Steven Chupnick
August 25, 2007

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=36631

Oscar winner Paul Haggis is returning to the Bond series to write the 22nd adventure of Agent 007, starring Daniel Craig with Marc Forster taking the reigns as director. For the time being, the movie is being referred to merely as Bond 22.

During press for his latest film In the Valley of Elah, Haggis mentioned that writing Bond is very rewarding. "Bond is just pure imagination; you just get to have fun. It's escapism and it's fun, but I try to ground him as a human being."

But he does say that his version of James Bond is different than the others. "My Bond is an actual assassin; when he kills someone, he kills them with a knife, they're bloody and he pays a price. He denies that he pays a price, but he does. When he sees a woman who witnesses something horrific, and he sees her taking a shower, he doesn't just go in there and f*ck her, like the old Bond would have done. He sits there with her, and she says, 'I can't get this blood from my fingernails.' So he helps her get the blood from her fingernails; that's what he does, that's my Bond. So it's a different guy; it's a guy who's much more like these guys, these heroes (in 'Valley of Elah')."

As for the storyline, Mr. Haggis wasn't giving anything up including any possible shooting or setting locations, however he would say, "It picks up 2 minutes after the last one, and it's going to be fun."

He is sticking with the creation of Bond closer to the vision of author Ian Fleming, he said. "Yeah, I hope so because I really loved his books and his movies. That stuff was really close to his books, and most of them aren't."

He disproved the rumor about Carice van Houten, star of Paul Verhoeven's Black Book, being in Bond 22 as one of the vixens. "She's great, isn't she – but she's not going to be in this one."

He also added, "Everyone says they know what the ending is, and they're wrong. Everyone thinks they know about the Bond Girls, and they're wrong."

"Well, maybe not everyone," Mr. Haggis continued. "There is this guy who posts on Absolutely James Bond, a fan site. He's always right. It's uncanny. A kind of 007 idiot savant. Goes by the name 'Highhopes.' I don't understand why people don't just ask him these questions instead of me. In fact, even I never write a word without first asking myself: "Would Highhopes approve?'

"And he's really very handsome, I'm told," he added, without any prompting whatsoever.

Bond 22 is scheduled to hit theatres on November 7, 2008. In the Valley of Elah, which Haggis wrote and directed, opens in select cities September 14. Based on the true story of the investigation of a soldier's murder following his duty fighting in Iraq, it stars Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron and Susan Sarandon.

Loeffelholz

I think this is good news, especially about the "two minutes after" tidbit, and I certainly hope it bears out, as it will be historic...

Then, of course, we have the other chestnut of this monumental post:

highhopes wrote:

"Well, maybe not everyone," Mr. Haggis continued. "There is this guy who posts on Absolutely James Bond, a fan site. He's always right. It's uncanny. A kind of 007 idiot savant. Goes by the name 'Highhopes.' I don't understand why people don't just ask him these questions instead of me. In fact, even I never write a word without first asking myself: "Would Highhopes approve?'

"And he's really very handsome, I'm told," he added, without any prompting whatsoever.

Bravo, my liege B-)

Hardyboy

highhopes wrote:

"Well, maybe not everyone," Mr. Haggis continued. "There is this guy who posts on Absolutely James Bond, a fan site. He's always right. It's uncanny. A kind of 007 idiot savant. Goes by the name 'Highhopes.' I don't understand why people don't just ask him these questions instead of me. In fact, even I never write a word without first asking myself: "Would Highhopes approve?'

"And he's really very handsome, I'm told," he added, without any prompting whatsoever.

They'll print anything these days. . .

That bit of spoofery aside, an interesting article, HH. I'm glad Haggis is as keen on Bond 22 as he was on CR.

highhopes

Hardyboy wrote:

I'm glad Haggis is as keen on Bond 22 as he was on CR.

So am I. And I'm especially glad that the story really is going to build on CR's (while no doubt standing on its own as well, too). As often as I've defended the ambiguous aspects of CR's finale -- the two metal briefcases, the other guy with the bad eye, how Vesper fit into the plot, etc ... -- as part of an EON master plan, I'd be bummed if they just jumped into a new adventure with only a token nod to the earlier one. I'm really curious what they've come up with. Haggis sounds like a guy with something up his sleeve, and that's a good sign.

blueman

Great stuff, thanks high! {[]

Napoleon Plural

Well is highhopes is 'handsome', we should expect Carice van Houten to take a starring role in Bond 22, which starts up two years down the line from CR...

jboy

picking up at the end of CR is great news. That means it should require less story to get the audience up to speed and leave more room for new plot and dialogue...

Smoke_13

Wow! They actually said the HighHopes was handsome. Hmmmm, I guess Daniel Craig wasn't lying when he said there would be more humor in this Bond.

Nice article as always Double H.

Loeffelholz

Another bit of interesting---if cryptic---info here:

http://www.mi6.co.uk/news/index.php?itemid=5313

"...it's an original and it's not based on any book or short story or anything that Ian Fleming had done. Although it is based on Ian Fleming ideas."

Hmm :v

Perhaps they're cherry-picking previously unused elements from the entire canon...

jboy

again....fantastic news.

You can't go wrong when you have a Canadian at the reigns....

highhopes

It's interesting how Haggis talks about people thinking they know the ending, who the girls are, etc ... I wonder if he surfs the fan sites?

blueman

Sounds more like he sees entertainment headlines.

a rogue AI

I wonder if this will be the last part of a dilogy or the middle part of a trilogy. Personally I'd hope for the former.

'[...] closer to the vision of author Ian Fleming, he said. "Yeah, I hope so because I really loved his books and his movies. That stuff was really close to his books, and most of them aren't."'

What does he mean by his (Fleming's) movies? If not Fleming's, whose?

highhopes

a rogue AI wrote:

I wonder if this will be the last part of a dilogy or the middle part of a trilogy. Personally I'd hope for the former.

'[...] closer to the vision of author Ian Fleming, he said. "Yeah, I hope so because I really loved his books and his movies. That stuff was really close to his books, and most of them aren't."'

What does he mean by his (Fleming's) movies? If not Fleming's, whose?

I took that as an awkward way of referencing the first three or four Bond films, from DN to TB, say. Those were fairly close to the source. He may also be referring to films produced while Fleming was alive, although, of course he died in '64.

Luke

This might be a little like beating a dead dog, but are Purvis and Wade really so necessary at this point? It feels a bit like an appeal to sympathy to me.

But back to Haggis. This is good news. I say let live Bond's new golden age, and move it forward. This is what made all these years of hanging on doggedly worth it. Finally some good cinema again!

Dan Same

Luke wrote:

This might be a little like beating a dead dog, but are Purvis and Wade really so necessary at this point? It feels a bit like an appeal to sympathy to me.

I think they are necessary. I thought their script for TSWINE was terrific and I see no reason why, assuming that one loves the script for CR, that they should not stay on.

Regarding the PTS, I think that Loeff's idea regarding repeating the final scene of CR is not so bad at all, considering that the the scene wasn't particularly long. Alternatively I also like the idea of having a DAF-type PTS where Bond pursues several villains/ with ferocity and only informing them that he 'acquired' information from Mr White. No matter what happens, I very much hope that the gun barrel returns.

Number24

Perhaps the PTS should be done in the spirit of the "PTS" in Two towers - the same scene, but shot intirely diffrently?

Loeffelholz

And it just keeps coming, albeit at a trickle:

http://commanderbond.net/article/4498

When Stax raised the question about Vesper's French-Algerian boyfriend..."'Ohhhh, that'd be cool, wouldn't it?' When questioned if it was a denial, Haggis said, 'It's not a denial and it's not a statement...I'm not going to tell you anything!'"

I think we're close to some beans being spilled...

Hardyboy

Interesting that Haggis says he's combining Fleming and Le Carre. LeC is a notorious Bond-hater, so he's likely to scream bloody murder.

00-Agent

A Le Carre spy is the complete opposite of Bond. I hope the film doesn't get too gritty and real. Bond in a Le Carre story...hmm, hard to picture. I trust we are in good hands, he certainly did a good job on CR.

Loeffelholz

The 'Le Carre' comment is a curious one; his stuff isn't what I think of when I watch CR---it's Fleming's

Of course, I would imagine that CR could be argued as very 'Le Carre' if compared to the 'Dinner Theatre Bond' of eras gone by; it's all about frame of reference, naturally.

blueman

I always thought "The Night Manager" was Flemingesque a bit...I think there's overlap that could happen, just depends how and how well it's written.

Haggis sure seems to be geeking on it, reading his comments. What I saw of "his Bond" in CR does make me curious for more, wherever he's channeling it from. Beats the heck out of what we've been getting, so party on dude. {[]

Smoke_13

I will whole-heartedly confess to being ignorant of this Le Carre's work.

Can somebody give a small explanation of what a Le Carre spy novel is like and how it differs from a Fleming?

I'm about 2/3 of the way through Flemings books and I may want to look into them.

Hardyboy

Smoke_13 wrote:

Can somebody give a small explanation of what a Le Carre spy novel is like and how it differs from a Fleming?

Le Carre (his real name is David Cornwell) writes extremely realistic, often intricately plotted--at times, I think, incoherent--spy novels. His main characters tend to be ordinary and often unattractive people whose jobs are downright scummy and nasty, as opposed to the glamor and excitement of Bond's job. Also, in Le Carre's world, the West is usually as bad as the East--the government that controls the "heroic" spies is as likely to betray them and let them twist in the wind as it is to save them: it all depends on what is politically expedient. And speaking of politics, Cornwell/Le Carre is extremely liberal and suspicious of corporate capitalism, so his villains are likely to be Western corporations, such as "Big Pharma" in The Constant Gardener. Basically, Le Carre distrusts the idea of good governments sending heroic men out to do battle with evil governments, so his books are about as far from Fleming's as you can get.

Loeffelholz

Presumably Haggis was referring to the realism, plotting and character-driven nature of the Le Carre books, and not the politics---I hope and pray

Other films/franchises have the 'evil governments are everywhere, but none are more evil than our own' schtick down pat...

highhopes

Hardyboy wrote:

Smoke_13 wrote:

Can somebody give a small explanation of what a Le Carre spy novel is like and how it differs from a Fleming?

Le Carre (his real name is David Cornwell) writes extremely realistic, often intricately plotted--at times, I think, incoherent--spy novels. His main characters tend to be ordinary and often unattractive people whose jobs are downright scummy and nasty, as opposed to the glamor and excitement of Bond's job. Also, in Le Carre's world, the West is usually as bad as the East--the government that controls the "heroic" spies is as likely to betray them and let them twist in the wind as it is to save them: it all depends on what is politically expedient. And speaking of politics, Cornwell/Le Carre is extremely liberal and suspicious of corporate capitalism, so his villains are likely to be Western corporations, such as "Big Pharma" in The Constant Gardener. Basically, Le Carre distrusts the idea of good governments sending heroic men out to do battle with evil governments, so his books are about as far from Fleming's as you can get.

I would only add that if you're interested in a LeCarre primer, read The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, or watch the movie with Richard Burton. It's his first novel. It's short, and pretty much encapsulates his feelings about espionage. And I have no doubt the Cold War world of spying he portrays in that book is about as close to the real thing as it gets. But be prepared to be depressed. There are absolutely no tuxedos or hot babes, just plots and counterplots.

7289

I hoped Haggis was making reference to the plotting of the LeCarre stories, and not the charecters or the politics.

That would be consistant with LeChiffre telling Bond that even after killing Bond and Lynd, the British goverment would welcome him for the information he carried. You know, "The Big Picture"!

As for Haggis' other comments, I would sure like to see more of Jeffrey Wright as Leiter and would not be disappointed to see Mr. White and Mr. Mendel (this time with chocolates) make re-appearances.

Loeffelholz

In a magazine interview dated 11 September, Paul Haggis revealed that his original storyline for #22 was 'tossed out,' according to CBn:

http://commanderbond.net/article/4591

He also talks about this one being "tougher than Casino Royale, which wasn't a small amount of work."

highhopes

Loeffelholz wrote:

In a magazine interview dated 11 September, Paul Haggis revealed that his original storyline for #22 was 'tossed out,' according to CBn:

http://commanderbond.net/article/4591

He also talks about this one being "tougher than Casino Royale, which wasn't a small amount of work."

Interesting. I wonder what it might have been.I kind of liked the idea of it being a bit more LeCarre-esque, which I would understand to mean more ambiguous and cynical. Not to bring up an old concern, but I hope they didn't throw that out to make it "funnier."

John Drake

I wish I'd known this sooner, so I could have given people time to book tickets, but apparently Paul Haggis is being interviewed at the BFI Southbank tonight. They are also screening his new film In the Valley of Elah, which is apparently much better than the appalling Crash. Might be a good opportunity for any London-based Bond fans to get a scoop on Bond 22. Details here.

http://www.bfi.org.uk/whatson/node/1194

John Drake

Here's the transcript for the BFI interview with Haggis. Nothing too illimunating, except for his belief that the film will not be delayed.

http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,2223256,00.html