The world is so crazy right now I think they actually need to keep it simple, so a Russian private army gone rogue would be a way of keeping it simple.
I have been thinking of a billionaire who owns a large security companies as the main villain. Companies making surveilance tech such as cameras, offers security guards and bodyguards, surveilance satelites etc. And yes, a mercenary army. Both private companies, powerful people and governmets and even militaries use the billionaire's companies. He's only after his own enrichment andf power.
It's a Torygraph article, all based on a colleague overhearing an 'American film exec' (supposedly, although no mention of who he works for- I think they don't know) in a hotel on the continent saying this stuff. Diligent journalism it ain't.
Why paying attention to what a mysterious executive said in circumstances we know nothing about? Nowadays it's very easy to build this kind of article. The author knows he doesn't take a big chance writing such things considering the period.
The 'old British spy' expression is a classic. One could hear it in 1994, before Brosnan got the gig, and some people even claimed back then BB wanted to change Bond because of what he represented. I think the result was quite different from the 'betrayal' they expected.
Does one seriously think Knight would show such enthusiasm if he really didn't know where to go with the character? Just drop tabloids and focus on reliable sources.
There are several things to comment on here. The article claims villeneuve " needs a long break" after Dune 3: sources please? I haven't seen any indication of this. The article mentions the risk of high production cost and lower than expected box office. But isn't Amazon more capable than EON to carry that fr a while? It's also interesting that the American film executive talked about Bond as an actual person. That's the important thing to me, not that his feelings about Bond right now are negative.
Bear in mind this 'film exec' could work for Paramount, Sony or AMC Theatres for all we know; his thoughts are pretty meaningless. Meanwhile Knight/Villeneuve/Pascal/Heyman have been working on this for at least ten months or so, I do not believe for a second that they haven't come up with a plan or storyline yet. It may well still change, but they've had loads of ideas by now.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 30,889Chief of Staff
I understand the impulse to look at isolated movies Villeneuve has directed or Knight has written and begin to worry they lack the ability to succeed with Bond. But here’s the thing: movies are collective efforts. None of us has seen a movie that was written by Stephen Knight AND directed by Denis Villeneuve AND starring Calum Turner (or whoever it ends up being). Unless you’re talking about auteurs like Tarantino whose fingerprints are on everything, and whose opus gives us a decent idea what to expect, you can’t pretend to know what collaboration will produce.
That article reads like a greatest hits compilation of internet and tabloid negative Bond BS. "Amazon doesn't know what to do with Bond?" Well they got two incredibly successful producers (one responsible for the Harry Potter films and the other with previous Bond reboot experience) to run the show and a top tier director who just doesn't make great films but great films that make money and in genres that would relate well for Bond. They also have a well regarded writer on board who seems to be really relishing writing a Bond film and has apparently hit the ground running in moving toward finishing a script. Of course, they also had to throw in the obligatory: the public has moved on from Bond films and the character is passe' and past its' expiration date. Calling the "article" lazy journalism would be a complement as that would infer that it was actually "journalism". An acquaintance of mine who is a big Bond fan suggested that the "article" was actually written by Neil Purvis and Robert Wade under a pseudonym.....that's even a bit too snarky for me.
Wow. The casting director has a good background, she can clearly spot talent but, it is Bond. No pressure. I still think it's going to be an unknown. I'm not sure about Callum Turner. I wonder if they have announced it because they want to cast the net as wide as possible. Every British actor between 30 and 40 is going to be sending in their resume. While Variety uses the word auditions, which we know with EON has meant filming actual scenes from FRWL, for example, with wardrobe and sets and everything, the Amazon statement only says the search is underway. It seems quite early to start the process too, as there's no film until 2028. One imagines January to summer 2028 filming and November release.
I think they've likely announced it because Variety were going to report it, that's why the announcement says they won't be commenting. They wouldn't announce something just to say they won't be commenting on it for any other reason.
It's not really that early to start casting if shooting were to start in early '27 or so: January or Feb. Based on NTTD's schedule that could mean release in early '28. Late '27 doesn't even seem impossible, although probably optimistic- especially without a release date having been announced to reserve the screens. Regardless we should have a new 007 by August or so (probably at the latest given casting has been going on for a few weeks at least): whether he'll be announced then is another matter, but I doubt they'll want it to leak out.
If they're casting it means they have a concept for their Bond and know what they're looking for, which in turn means the script is in some kind of shape at the moment.
I'm not too sure to be honest: Cambell was announced in Feb 2005 but I think they'd been looking at and talking to Craig before that; he auditioned but then they sent him a fuller version of the script in mid-Sept and he was announced as Bond the next month, so it moved quickly towards the end. I feel like that was a bit more drawn out because they had him in mind and he needed to be convinced to take it; I wouldn't necessarily expect the same thing to happen again, especially as he's made it a bit more credible in some ways.
She cast Rey in Star Wars in three months starting with an open casting call, and I doubt Bond will be that unless the script is really something different, so you'd think she'd be able to manage something similar, and they've already been working on it for several weeks, we're told. I'm sure there will be lots of to-ing and fro-ing with the studio so it could well be longer.
You'd also think that to cast it they'd have some idea of when shooting starts, just to be able to book someone in, and casting five or six months before shooting seems not unusual. It doesn't seem usual that they cast someone and leave him hanging for a year: shooting early '27 feels possible to me with this.
I'm calling it: An announcement in August with filming to begin in September. Bond 26 release date next summer! The same schedule TLD had 40 years ago. That would be wonderful.
Debbie McWilliams confirmed they didn't have anyone in mind but Craig back then, and the only challenge for them was to convince him, which was not so easy according to what Broccoli and Craig himself say in the documentary 'Being James Bond'.
I think the producers and Villeneuve do have someone in mind, and one can expect the new Bond to be announced in 2026.
Well they started shooting in January, and as I remember the Bahamas stuff was early in the shoot. It's kind of unclear when he decided he wanted it (rather than when he officially took it, which seems to be early October or so) so he might have started really training for it earlier in the year, and he was already very fit but a bit slimmer. Otherwise, yes, it seems like three months or so, which seems crazy.
I have a theory that Amazon will put a lot of emphasis on the gun barrel, Bond theme etc. This is because the rights to make James Bond movies will enter the public domain in 2035, but the elements EON created are Amazons. If Amazon make sure the public, and especially the younger audience, strongly associate Bond with these elements it will be harder for other companies to make successful Bond movies. Don't expect any experimentation with the gun barrel like we saw in the Craig years. I don't mean Bond26 will play the Bond theme at the slightest encouragement, but they will try to give the copyrighted elements the highest possible impact. They will also put those elements front and center in the promotion. Do you agree?
I sincerely hope you're correct but if you want strict adherence to the formula and signature iconography, you don't hire Villeneuve. I'd be very surprised if we don't continue the Craig era's experimentation, and I'll eat my hat if the film opens with a traditional Binder gunbarrel. But... I hope you're right!
It still pains me how the classic Binder gunbarrel design was plastered all over the Skyfall marketing materials, yet in the film itself, like Quantum, we got the same flat, grey, boring gunbarrel that looked like someone had plucked a free PNG template off Google Images at the last minute.
Comments
The world is so crazy right now I think they actually need to keep it simple, so a Russian private army gone rogue would be a way of keeping it simple.
I have been thinking of a billionaire who owns a large security companies as the main villain. Companies making surveilance tech such as cameras, offers security guards and bodyguards, surveilance satelites etc. And yes, a mercenary army. Both private companies, powerful people and governmets and even militaries use the billionaire's companies. He's only after his own enrichment andf power.
Worrying article on MSN today:
‘Amazon don’t know what to do with it’: What’s going on with James Bond?
It doesn't bode well ☹️
Sounds like baseless tabloid drivel. Not to mention, disputing Knight's recent comments on how well the writing process is going.
It's a Torygraph article, all based on a colleague overhearing an 'American film exec' (supposedly, although no mention of who he works for- I think they don't know) in a hotel on the continent saying this stuff. Diligent journalism it ain't.
Ignore.
Why paying attention to what a mysterious executive said in circumstances we know nothing about? Nowadays it's very easy to build this kind of article. The author knows he doesn't take a big chance writing such things considering the period.
The 'old British spy' expression is a classic. One could hear it in 1994, before Brosnan got the gig, and some people even claimed back then BB wanted to change Bond because of what he represented. I think the result was quite different from the 'betrayal' they expected.
Does one seriously think Knight would show such enthusiasm if he really didn't know where to go with the character? Just drop tabloids and focus on reliable sources.
There are several things to comment on here. The article claims villeneuve " needs a long break" after Dune 3: sources please? I haven't seen any indication of this. The article mentions the risk of high production cost and lower than expected box office. But isn't Amazon more capable than EON to carry that fr a while? It's also interesting that the American film executive talked about Bond as an actual person. That's the important thing to me, not that his feelings about Bond right now are negative.
Bear in mind this 'film exec' could work for Paramount, Sony or AMC Theatres for all we know; his thoughts are pretty meaningless. Meanwhile Knight/Villeneuve/Pascal/Heyman have been working on this for at least ten months or so, I do not believe for a second that they haven't come up with a plan or storyline yet. It may well still change, but they've had loads of ideas by now.
And the box office take isn’t absolutely everything with Bond…these films make money for decades afterwards…
I've watched the following recently and been very disappointed with all of them:
Peaky Blinder: The Immortal Man. Managed to finish it but thought it was dreadful.
A Thousand Blows. Gave up after a couple of episodes.
The Veil. It started ok and I watched it to the end but was begging for it to finish.
I don't have high hopes for the new film.
We didn't care for PEAKY BLINDERS: TIM either.
It was fine…but it’s more a set up for the new series…
I understand the impulse to look at isolated movies Villeneuve has directed or Knight has written and begin to worry they lack the ability to succeed with Bond. But here’s the thing: movies are collective efforts. None of us has seen a movie that was written by Stephen Knight AND directed by Denis Villeneuve AND starring Calum Turner (or whoever it ends up being). Unless you’re talking about auteurs like Tarantino whose fingerprints are on everything, and whose opus gives us a decent idea what to expect, you can’t pretend to know what collaboration will produce.
Compared to Purvis and Wade's pre-Bond work Knight's is very impressive.
That article reads like a greatest hits compilation of internet and tabloid negative Bond BS. "Amazon doesn't know what to do with Bond?" Well they got two incredibly successful producers (one responsible for the Harry Potter films and the other with previous Bond reboot experience) to run the show and a top tier director who just doesn't make great films but great films that make money and in genres that would relate well for Bond. They also have a well regarded writer on board who seems to be really relishing writing a Bond film and has apparently hit the ground running in moving toward finishing a script. Of course, they also had to throw in the obligatory: the public has moved on from Bond films and the character is passe' and past its' expiration date. Calling the "article" lazy journalism would be a complement as that would infer that it was actually "journalism". An acquaintance of mine who is a big Bond fan suggested that the "article" was actually written by Neil Purvis and Robert Wade under a pseudonym.....that's even a bit too snarky for me.
Yeah it’s balls, but it’s from the Torygraph, it’s not really a real paper anymore.
Amazon MGM confirm that the search for the next James Bond 'is underway'.
Wow. The casting director has a good background, she can clearly spot talent but, it is Bond. No pressure. I still think it's going to be an unknown. I'm not sure about Callum Turner. I wonder if they have announced it because they want to cast the net as wide as possible. Every British actor between 30 and 40 is going to be sending in their resume. While Variety uses the word auditions, which we know with EON has meant filming actual scenes from FRWL, for example, with wardrobe and sets and everything, the Amazon statement only says the search is underway. It seems quite early to start the process too, as there's no film until 2028. One imagines January to summer 2028 filming and November release.
I think they've likely announced it because Variety were going to report it, that's why the announcement says they won't be commenting. They wouldn't announce something just to say they won't be commenting on it for any other reason.
It's not really that early to start casting if shooting were to start in early '27 or so: January or Feb. Based on NTTD's schedule that could mean release in early '28. Late '27 doesn't even seem impossible, although probably optimistic- especially without a release date having been announced to reserve the screens. Regardless we should have a new 007 by August or so (probably at the latest given casting has been going on for a few weeks at least): whether he'll be announced then is another matter, but I doubt they'll want it to leak out.
If they're casting it means they have a concept for their Bond and know what they're looking for, which in turn means the script is in some kind of shape at the moment.
A new 007 by August? That would be nice, but didn't the casting for Bond before CR take "forever"?
Great news, by the way!
I'm not too sure to be honest: Cambell was announced in Feb 2005 but I think they'd been looking at and talking to Craig before that; he auditioned but then they sent him a fuller version of the script in mid-Sept and he was announced as Bond the next month, so it moved quickly towards the end. I feel like that was a bit more drawn out because they had him in mind and he needed to be convinced to take it; I wouldn't necessarily expect the same thing to happen again, especially as he's made it a bit more credible in some ways.
She cast Rey in Star Wars in three months starting with an open casting call, and I doubt Bond will be that unless the script is really something different, so you'd think she'd be able to manage something similar, and they've already been working on it for several weeks, we're told. I'm sure there will be lots of to-ing and fro-ing with the studio so it could well be longer.
You'd also think that to cast it they'd have some idea of when shooting starts, just to be able to book someone in, and casting five or six months before shooting seems not unusual. It doesn't seem usual that they cast someone and leave him hanging for a year: shooting early '27 feels possible to me with this.
I'm calling it: An announcement in August with filming to begin in September. Bond 26 release date next summer! The same schedule TLD had 40 years ago. That would be wonderful.
Debbie McWilliams confirmed they didn't have anyone in mind but Craig back then, and the only challenge for them was to convince him, which was not so easy according to what Broccoli and Craig himself say in the documentary 'Being James Bond'.
I think the producers and Villeneuve do have someone in mind, and one can expect the new Bond to be announced in 2026.
How long did it take from Craig being cast to him getting hugely buff?
Well they started shooting in January, and as I remember the Bahamas stuff was early in the shoot. It's kind of unclear when he decided he wanted it (rather than when he officially took it, which seems to be early October or so) so he might have started really training for it earlier in the year, and he was already very fit but a bit slimmer. Otherwise, yes, it seems like three months or so, which seems crazy.
I have a theory that Amazon will put a lot of emphasis on the gun barrel, Bond theme etc. This is because the rights to make James Bond movies will enter the public domain in 2035, but the elements EON created are Amazons. If Amazon make sure the public, and especially the younger audience, strongly associate Bond with these elements it will be harder for other companies to make successful Bond movies. Don't expect any experimentation with the gun barrel like we saw in the Craig years. I don't mean Bond26 will play the Bond theme at the slightest encouragement, but they will try to give the copyrighted elements the highest possible impact. They will also put those elements front and center in the promotion. Do you agree?
I sincerely hope you're correct but if you want strict adherence to the formula and signature iconography, you don't hire Villeneuve. I'd be very surprised if we don't continue the Craig era's experimentation, and I'll eat my hat if the film opens with a traditional Binder gunbarrel. But... I hope you're right!
Maybe, but you can't give the gunbarrel much more prominence than...
It still pains me how the classic Binder gunbarrel design was plastered all over the Skyfall marketing materials, yet in the film itself, like Quantum, we got the same flat, grey, boring gunbarrel that looked like someone had plucked a free PNG template off Google Images at the last minute.
I love the NTTD one, I think that looks great.