Oh for the days when at the end of Spy Who Loved Me half the cinema waited for the end of the credits to find out what the next movie would be. (That was our equivalent of Marvel's end of credit teaser)
It said. "James Bond will return in For Your Eyes Only" It did, you know.
Wait a minute.
2 years later we got Moonraker after Cubby saw the buckets of money Star Wars had made.
But at least we didn't have to wait 4 or 5 years!
Now that's what I call using creative differences.
Asp9mmOver the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,291MI6 Agent
Ridiculous article. Instead of making a valid argument, he attacks the people he doesn’t agree with. And not very well either. Typical juvenile Guardian article.
Ridiculous article. Instead of making a valid argument, he attacks the people he doesn’t agree with. And not very well either. Typical juvenile Guardian article.
Big Guardian fan , but definitely not their finest hour. Sloppy.
Of that of which we cannot speak we must pass over in silence- Ludwig Wittgenstein.
I can't understand why Barbara would want to kill Bond. I mean, she has been involved in the franchise her whole life so it's not like she is some radical newcomer wanting to shake things up.
There are three reasons I can think of:
1) Shock value. This will get people talking about the film, increase word of mouth, leading to higher grosses.
2) Acting. I can understand an actor wanting to do something new with a character they've been playing for 10 years but ultimately the franchise needs to be put first.
3) Broccoli selling up. I've seen internet rumours (by their very nature probably untrue) that she and Michael G. Wilson will sell EON when Craig leaves the franchise. A death will be a clean slate for the next company. But this doesn't make sense because of all the franchises out there, audience are most accepting of a Bond recast. It is part and parcel of the series. There is no need to kill the character to justify it.
All three reasons are not good enough to fundamentally change the franchise with what I think is a bad decision. It is very early days yet, but if she stuck to her guns to the point that Boyle left and threw the film into chaos, I wouldn't be surprised if Bond ends of being killed in the film.
BTW, I don't understand how Boyle could get so far into the production that they were in the casting process and yet a core point of the film's script was still a very contentious issue for him.
I think this is the most depressing thread I've ever read on here..
If it's true that BB and MGW do want to kill off Bond then it's obvious they've really lost interest and lost the plot and DC is on an ego trip. If they want to sell up, just leave it cleverly open, with the audience left to make up their own minds. Why actually kill him off?! ffs X-(
Can somebody please cheer me up..
Fleming killed Bond and brought him back. I'd be okay with Bond dying in the way he was killed in From Russia with Love. Ambiguous death is the way to go, and it gets people talking.
The average cinema goer who makes up a vast majority of the Bond audience don't care who the production company is and most probably don't even know what EON is. It doesn't have the brand recognition of Pixar, for example.
And if EON kills Bond, the company they sell to will end up buying a dead character and they will have the added unnecessary hassle of convincing audiences of another reboot. As I said before, this is in a series where there is already loads of goodwill from audiences regarding the necessity to recast Bond every 10 years or so. This isn't like convincing people of a new actor playing Tony Stark.
Aside from praise from some corners of doing something new, I don't see what any benefit to EON from killing Bond. And doing something new isn't what makes a good Bond movie anyway.
This Friday, August 24th, there will be an emergency meeting with the film crew in London.
At this meeting, it will be announced when the rehearsals will resume (scheduled for September the 3rd) or filming will resume (scheduled for December the 3rd).
Are there any fres sources for this theory that's a little more credible than the Sun?
I think the story that the working title is Shatterhand and the Facebook message from.... Owen.... you know, I have problems remembering that name. Well, I think those are worth discussing more.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 25,627Chief of Staff
In your opinion.
Care to tell us why it’s ‘stupid’ ?
Just my opinion. I'm not a fan of heroes being killed off. Whether it be Superman, Batman, James Bond. I personally wouldn't like to see a character I love killed off. And then brought 'back from the dead'. Also kind of been done recently too.
Bringing characters back from the dead is silly in any genre.
"Any of the opposition around..?"
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,932Quartermasters
I thinK Babs or MG must have been reading this comic:
(spoiler - he came back to life!)
It would be hilarious if Bond were to die at the end of Bond 25 and as the end credits are about to finish there is the text:
JAMES BOND WILL RETURN
Gala Brand wrote:
I see that the latest MI film is doing comparatively poorly at the box office. The reason is that Ethan Hunt is a complete cipher without even the thinnest layer of character development. Audiences today want more than seeing basically the same film with the same unchanging character.
You might have to factor in Cruise's age. He's 56 so he's not going to appeal to teens or 20 somethings. Arguably the only old action hero to get away with it was Ford in Indiana Jones 4. He was in his 60s.
Bond was fairly two dimensional up till Dalton's casting. Connery's Bond never evolved. Moore's didn't evolve. Lazenby's Bond got married but that was a one-off moment.
If some Bond fans want a return to a Connery/Moore type Bond - an impersonal Bond out on a mission (no backstory stuff) then we need Eon to sell up. New owners could revert back to the 1960s/1970s style of Bond but times have changed. It's a much more politically correct world and the old Bond style - less emotional, no backstory, Bond using women for sex and little else - might seem a bit old fashioned or in bad taste. I recall Matt Damon saying he disliked James Bond:
“I like Bourne better than Bond,” he said. “Bourne has today’s values; Bond has the values of the 1960s. Daniel [Craig]’s Bond has upgraded him and brought him more into the present, but, classically, that character is a misogynist who likes swilling martinis and killing people and not giving a sh*t.”
But that is what made Bond so popular and iconic! It's the non-PC traits that distinguished Bond from all other action heroes. Barbara Broccoli took over and started to dilute, lessen Bond's non-PC traits. I doubt we'll ever see a Connery/Moore type Bond. A Bond that has no personal issues. A Bond that does a mission, doesn't get emotionally involved. I say "forget the PC social justice warrior snowflakes - let Bond be Bond!"
^^ +1 {[]
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
My worry over the idea of killing Bond is if it comes once more from EON's irritating (imo) habit of bandwagon jumping which only works some of the time. As mentioned above, Moonraker was created as a reaction to Star Wars, flash forward 30 years and Eon reboots Bond with CR. Reacting to both Bourne and Batman. QoS doubled down on the Borne asthetic. Skyfall borrows from the Joker for the character of Silva. Spectre tried to jump on the overarching narrative conciet of the MCU. So has the death of bond been thought up because of the bucket loads of cash that Avengers: infinity war just made with it's downer ending, re-enforced by the public's readiness to accept Ben Affleck as Batman only a few years after the dark Knight rises own bait and switch death ending.
NB. I'm sure there are more examples of this that I can't currently call to mind but, to me at least, the Craig era seems to be the filmic equivalent of picking a fight with the biggest guy in prison on your first day inside. Making CR the successful sucker punch of this analogy and Spectre more punching an imovable object.
Good evening everyone, I'm a new member of the group. You'll apologize if my english is... shaken, but i'm not english.
I read the discussion and a couple of considerations came to my mind. I think Bond will die in... a fake death. It could the perfect closure of the Craig's era if they followed the story of OHMSS and YOLT novels. Who does remember the ending of YOLT novel? Maybe they want to make Bond disappear after the killing of the baddie (Blofeld, perhaps?) like Fleming wrote in YOLT... where Bond lost memory and appeared months later, after a brainwash. The story of YOLT novel has largely never been used in movies and it could be "new" material from which to take inspiration.
Now that they inadvertently spoiled the twist, they should just scrap it and rehire him. Otherwise Bond's death will come off as another "He's not Blofeld"
Maybe the 'kill off' idea is really the end of the novel YOLT? Something along those lines?
That said, it might make more sense to have had Blofeld come back in the last one, for just one film, if they were all going to sell up. Y'know, okay, we've got Blofeld, let's not spin Spectre out over several films, just shoehorn it in for Danny's last one...
Also explains the oddness of why it was a studio exec who vetoed the killing of Blofeld at the end of the movie, wanting to extend the character... While Mickey and Babs wanted to bow out and, perhaps like Broccoli in the FYEO pts, didn't mind bumping the character off almost as a two-fingered salute to anyone else taking over.
But how on earth Boyle got roped in to any of this, if true, is beyond me! Just spring it on the director eh? Of course, we don't really know what happened.
Good evening everyone, I'm a new member of the group. You'll apologize if my english is... shaken, but i'm not english.
I read the discussion and a couple of considerations came to my mind. I think Bond will die in... a fake death. It could the perfect closure of the Craig's era if they followed the story of OHMSS and YOLT novels. Who does remember the ending of YOLT novel? Maybe they want to make Bond disappear after the killing of the baddie (Blofeld, perhaps?) like Fleming wrote in YOLT... where Bond lost memory and appeared months later, after a brainwash. The story of YOLT novel has largely never been used in movies and it could be "new" material from which to take inspiration.
Great suggestion. I think that makes sense. Have Bond die an ambiguous death. No body found, no funeral. Kind of 'missing in action - presumed dead' ending. That way Craig and Eon get the death of Bond but is he dead? See, he may not be dead!
Yeah, I think that can work. I'm sure some fans will hate it but the average film goer won't be too bothered. Plus, the hype for Bond 26 will be huge. "How does Bond return? Is he really dead?"
Yeah, I think it has potential. Who knows, perhaps that was Boyle's idea? Bond dies in the story - (not really dead, just assumed to be dead) and the third act doesn't feature Bond? I know there was an item claiming Boyle hated the idea of Bond dying but perhaps the report was wrong. Perhaps Bond dying was Boyle/Hodge's great idea? Eon could use that idea but redo the rest of the story.
To me a lot of bond dying and how he does hinges on whether eon are selling up the franchise, I can well see eon properly killing off their bond, with DC giving his bond Oscar nomination performance in a long drawn out dramatic death scene. They then end Cubbys legacy and sell up leaving whoever buys the franchise to go their own direction with a new actor. After all if they do sell there won't be an "official" bond 26 as such. However if eon do make further Bond films then I would hope they would do a yolt type ending with bond not actually dying but being officially declared dead..... Even though they did that with skyfall and yolt.
Comments
It said. "James Bond will return in For Your Eyes Only" It did, you know.
Wait a minute.
2 years later we got Moonraker after Cubby saw the buckets of money Star Wars had made.
But at least we didn't have to wait 4 or 5 years!
Now that's what I call using creative differences.
Ridiculous article. Instead of making a valid argument, he attacks the people he doesn’t agree with. And not very well either. Typical juvenile Guardian article.
Big Guardian fan , but definitely not their finest hour. Sloppy.
There are three reasons I can think of:
1) Shock value. This will get people talking about the film, increase word of mouth, leading to higher grosses.
2) Acting. I can understand an actor wanting to do something new with a character they've been playing for 10 years but ultimately the franchise needs to be put first.
3) Broccoli selling up. I've seen internet rumours (by their very nature probably untrue) that she and Michael G. Wilson will sell EON when Craig leaves the franchise. A death will be a clean slate for the next company. But this doesn't make sense because of all the franchises out there, audience are most accepting of a Bond recast. It is part and parcel of the series. There is no need to kill the character to justify it.
All three reasons are not good enough to fundamentally change the franchise with what I think is a bad decision. It is very early days yet, but if she stuck to her guns to the point that Boyle left and threw the film into chaos, I wouldn't be surprised if Bond ends of being killed in the film.
BTW, I don't understand how Boyle could get so far into the production that they were in the casting process and yet a core point of the film's script was still a very contentious issue for him.
(Long time Bond fan, first time poster)
Welcome to the forum, John Barry :007)
If it's true that BB and MGW do want to kill off Bond then it's obvious they've really lost interest and lost the plot and DC is on an ego trip. If they want to sell up, just leave it cleverly open, with the audience left to make up their own minds. Why actually kill him off?! ffs X-(
Can somebody please cheer me up..
Because it neatly ties up Eon’s ownership.
Currently Head of Station C: Canada 🇨🇦
It is really that neat though?
The average cinema goer who makes up a vast majority of the Bond audience don't care who the production company is and most probably don't even know what EON is. It doesn't have the brand recognition of Pixar, for example.
And if EON kills Bond, the company they sell to will end up buying a dead character and they will have the added unnecessary hassle of convincing audiences of another reboot. As I said before, this is in a series where there is already loads of goodwill from audiences regarding the necessity to recast Bond every 10 years or so. This isn't like convincing people of a new actor playing Tony Stark.
Aside from praise from some corners of doing something new, I don't see what any benefit to EON from killing Bond. And doing something new isn't what makes a good Bond movie anyway.
Have we heard anything from this emergency meeting?
Yes.
Currently Head of Station C: Canada 🇨🇦
Having him walk off into the sunset or retiring would be neat. Actually killing him is just stupid.
I think the story that the working title is Shatterhand and the Facebook message from.... Owen.... you know, I have problems remembering that name. Well, I think those are worth discussing more.
It’s been done. Recently too.
In your opinion.
Care to tell us why it’s ‘stupid’ ?
Currently Head of Station C: Canada 🇨🇦
Just my opinion. I'm not a fan of heroes being killed off. Whether it be Superman, Batman, James Bond. I personally wouldn't like to see a character I love killed off. And then brought 'back from the dead'. Also kind of been done recently too.
Bringing characters back from the dead is silly in any genre.
^^ +1 {[]
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
NB. I'm sure there are more examples of this that I can't currently call to mind but, to me at least, the Craig era seems to be the filmic equivalent of picking a fight with the biggest guy in prison on your first day inside. Making CR the successful sucker punch of this analogy and Spectre more punching an imovable object.
I read the discussion and a couple of considerations came to my mind. I think Bond will die in... a fake death. It could the perfect closure of the Craig's era if they followed the story of OHMSS and YOLT novels. Who does remember the ending of YOLT novel? Maybe they want to make Bond disappear after the killing of the baddie (Blofeld, perhaps?) like Fleming wrote in YOLT... where Bond lost memory and appeared months later, after a brainwash. The story of YOLT novel has largely never been used in movies and it could be "new" material from which to take inspiration.
I wonder if this is what it looked like.
Didn't he do that already at the end of Spectre? Oh no I forget he came back
That said, it might make more sense to have had Blofeld come back in the last one, for just one film, if they were all going to sell up. Y'know, okay, we've got Blofeld, let's not spin Spectre out over several films, just shoehorn it in for Danny's last one...
Also explains the oddness of why it was a studio exec who vetoed the killing of Blofeld at the end of the movie, wanting to extend the character... While Mickey and Babs wanted to bow out and, perhaps like Broccoli in the FYEO pts, didn't mind bumping the character off almost as a two-fingered salute to anyone else taking over.
But how on earth Boyle got roped in to any of this, if true, is beyond me! Just spring it on the director eh? Of course, we don't really know what happened.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Great suggestion. I think that makes sense. Have Bond die an ambiguous death. No body found, no funeral. Kind of 'missing in action - presumed dead' ending. That way Craig and Eon get the death of Bond but is he dead? See, he may not be dead!
Yeah, I think that can work. I'm sure some fans will hate it but the average film goer won't be too bothered. Plus, the hype for Bond 26 will be huge. "How does Bond return? Is he really dead?"
Yeah, I think it has potential. Who knows, perhaps that was Boyle's idea? Bond dies in the story - (not really dead, just assumed to be dead) and the third act doesn't feature Bond? I know there was an item claiming Boyle hated the idea of Bond dying but perhaps the report was wrong. Perhaps Bond dying was Boyle/Hodge's great idea? Eon could use that idea but redo the rest of the story.