News Daniel Craig signs up for Bond 25, Christopher Nolan in talks to direct

[MakeshiftPython]

Bump! Not directly connected to NTTD but Amazon have bought MGM. I’m not sure if this means they now own future Bond films as well as the back catalogue (I don’t know Eon’s exact relationship to MGM). But I’d say the odds of seeing a Bond film premiere by streaming have shortened a little.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/26/amazon-to-buy-mgm-studios-for-8point45-billion.html

At least since 1986, Danjaq/EON has had total creative control over Bond while MGM has exclusive distribution rights. Now with Amazon’s backing, that’ll at least assure Bond films will have a reliable distribution.

Also EON made it clear Bond will remain a theatrical franchise. And honestly, why would Amazon settle for streaming when they finally have a property that could gross a billion dollars?

https://variety.com/2021/film/global/james-bond-amazon-mgm-barbara-broccoli-1234982158/

 

[LaxScrutiny]

I can definitely imagine Amazon wanting to look at a Bond tv show or some sort of expanded universe. I know I harp on about this, but I think a streaming platform would be ideal for doing risky, offbeat takes on Bond, such as period-set ones, more character-driven stories, etc.

I could really get into a Q streaming-mini-series. Feel free to forward my support to Amazon, I know they really care about my opinions.

 

[Saul]

Does this mean amazon gets James Bond Jr?

 

[cardinal biggles]

Does this mean amazon gets James Bond Jr?

The show was a co-production of MGM TV and Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, so I guess they do?

 

[HugeLobes]

I think a streaming platform would be ideal for doing risky, offbeat takes on Bond, such as period-set ones, more character-driven stories, etc.

I could see them releasing quick one-off episodes in the lead up to new movies, but I doubt it will go further than that if whoever is currently in charge of Bond remains in charge. Bond really needs to be the sort of thing that only happens every few years.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

In other news, the fourth NuTrek movie will reveal a previously unknown brilliant, scheming temporal villain who was actually behind the scenes the whole time, plotting, masterminding and orchestrating the operations carried out by Nero, Khan, and Krall in a centuries-long scheme to undermine and erode the Federation out of personal resentment because he was secretly Kirk's long-lost adopted brother in the prime reality who got some bad breaks in life.

Not really, but that's what SPECTRE kind of felt like.

Kor

The villain of Star Trek is Michael Burnham (hiding in plain sight) or was it Grudge?

 

[Captaindemotion]

I could see them releasing quick one-off episodes in the lead up to new movies, but I doubt it will go further than that if whoever is currently in charge of Bond remains in charge. Bond really needs to be the sort of thing that only happens every few years.

That certainly seems to be the view of Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson but, not to sound morbid, they won’t be around forever. Of course, if the franchise remains within the family as it’s done for the last 60 years, that vision may not change. But I could definitely imagine another producer or pair of producers taking the view that more should be made of 007.

 

[HugeLobes]

But I could definitely imagine another producer or pair of producers taking the view that more should be made of 007.

Same, I just really hope it won't happen.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Same, I just really hope it won't happen.

I can understand the view that Bond should be special. However, on the other hand we used to get film every other year, whereas it’s been 6 years since Spectre, albeit that obviously Covid accounts for a year of that. I just wouldn’t mind a bit more 007, though still keeping the cinematic films more of an event.

 

[HugeLobes]

I just wouldn’t mind a bit more 007, though still keeping the cinematic films more of an event.

Never sure where I land on this tbh. I'm a much bigger fan of the books than the movies, so on the face of it it sounds cool to get a little more Bond that's closer to those. But I don't think getting more would work, especially right now. Seems like every other franchise does that and then loses momentum. Bond plays slow and steady and remains relevant.

EDIT: I also doubt the public would take to a different version of Bond. There's a reason Dalton isn't remembered so fondly outside the fandom.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Watching Skyfall they did an homage to old fashioned Bond with the Aston Martin. It had the onboard guns. I wonder why there was an aversion to tricked out cars.

 

[cardinal biggles]

EDIT: I also doubt the public would take to a different version of Bond. There's a reason Dalton isn't remembered so fondly outside the fandom.

Dalton was the right actor at the wrong time. His Bond was more in line with Craig's portrayal, but 20 years before folks were ready for it.

 

[Captaindemotion]

EDIT: I also doubt the public would take to a different version of Bond. There's a reason Dalton isn't remembered so fondly outside the fandom.

But how do you define “different”? The Brosnan version was hugely successful at the box office but the very different, darker, grittier Craig version has been even more so. Besides, my suggestion is for streaming-type, lower budget versions that wouldn’t need to have as broad an appeal as the films.

 

[Paul Weaver]

Watching Skyfall they did an homage to old fashioned Bond with the Aston Martin. It had the onboard guns. I wonder why there was an aversion to tricked out cars.

Skyfall started getting back to when I love about Bond - Q, trick cars, exotic travel

Die Another Day killed the "Bond Car" for a long time with its invisible car.

 

[valkyrie013]

Keep James Bond as a movie series, however, any type of spinoff, 006, Q, etc. Would be okay.

Maybe an analyst series that is more in line of the jack ryan books than the Amazon series.

Maybe a Darth Vader type of series as in a good guy that falls to a villian.

Plenty of ideas, but with a bond esthetic that can be done. Maybe like the MCU with in between the movies series

 

[HugeLobes]

Dalton was the right actor at the wrong time. His Bond was more in line with Craig's portrayal, but 20 years before folks were ready for it.

Yeaaaaah, I hear this a lot but do not agree. Dalton's Bond was world's apart from Craig's, and I've always felt he's the only one that doesn't feel quite like a version of Fleming's Bond. Sacrilege, I know, but I don't think there ever would have been a good time for Dalton to be Bond.

But how do you define “different”? The Brosnan version was hugely successful at the box office but the very different, darker, grittier Craig version has been even more so. Besides, my suggestion is for streaming-type, lower budget versions that wouldn’t need to have as broad an appeal as the films.

Sorry, I meant Bond movie rather than Bond character, although I'd say the Brosnan and Craig versions are closer than most people seem to think. What you suggest is exactly what I mean by different.

 

[Captaindemotion]

See, I tend to think that the “audiences didn’t take to Dalton” thing is overstated. TLD did pretty well at the box office and the consensus from audiences and critics at the time was that it was a welcome change from Roger’s last few creaky outings.

Unfortunately LTK, like other releases that summer (eg Ghostbusters 2) came up against the juggernaut that was Batman and got flattened at the American box office. Like OHMSS, it’s not really fair to call it a flop - both underperformed but performed reasonably well in non-American markets.

Even more unfortunately, legal disputes tied up the series for some years and during that time Dalton appeared in the box office underperformer that was The Rocketeer and the disastrous miniseries Scarlett, the sequel to Gone With the Wind. A tabloid claimed that he was due to be fired because of LTK’s box-office take and though he sued them for libel, I think the stink of loser began to unfairly attach to his Bond. So it wasn’t all that surprising that Eon (for their first film without Cubby, who had apparently been a big fan of Dalton) went for a new broom for the series’ return with Goldeneye.

@HugeLobes a few years (or even months) ago I would have agreed with you about audiences not wanting something different. But now I’m looking at the fact that the likes of eg WandaVision can do something different with the MCU; that both Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton are going to play Batman in the same film (belonging to a character who also appears in his own, separate tv show) while Robert Pattinson will soon appear as a totally different version in his own film. That’s in addition to the likes of Batwoman on tv, Teen Titans Go to the Cinema, Titans on Netflix, etc. Not to mention different takes on Star Wars, Star Trek, Sherlock Holmes, etc. Obviously one can’t prove a hypothetical argument but I honestly thing audiences are willing to take a few more risks and be a little more broad-minded than studios sometimes give us credit for.

 

[HugeLobes]

See, I tend to think that the “audiences didn’t take to Dalton” thing is overstated. TLD did pretty well at the box office and the consensus from audiences and critics at the time was that it was a welcome change from Roger’s last few creaky outings.

I agree, but I also think the whole 'Dalton is massively underrated' thing is overstated. You've also got to account for the novelty factor of having a new Bond. He certainly doesn't seem to be fondly remembered among general moviegoers. If I went down the pub and asked the guys there if they liked Dalton, I'm fairly sure the answer would be 'he was naff'. This has always been my experience with ... well, with people who don't frequent online forums to talk about James Bond.

@HugeLobes a few years (or even months) ago I would have agreed with you about audiences not wanting something different. But now I’m looking at the fact that the likes of eg WandaVision can do something different with the MCU; that both Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton are going to play Batman in the same film (belonging to a character who also appears in his own, separate tv show) while Robert Pattinson will soon appear as a totally different version in his own film. That’s in addition to the likes of Batwoman on tv, Teen Titans Go to the Cinema, Titans on Netflix, etc. Not to mention different takes on Star Wars, Star Trek, Sherlock Holmes, etc.

I think the problem with that is that only Marvel has really managed to get the formula right, which makes sense. Those comics have been going for decades. They've got so many interesting characters and scenarios from which to draw, and even though individual projects can be quite different there's a very clear tone that's shared by all of them.

Star Wars has obviously made a lot of money, but it also feels like it's run out of steam fairly fast. Star Trek goes through boom and bust, and like Sherlock no longer has one definitive version.

None of this really applies to Bond.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Yeaaaaah, I hear this a lot but do not agree. Dalton's Bond was world's apart from Craig's, and I've always felt he's the only one that doesn't feel quite like a version of Fleming's Bond. .

Huh?

Dalton is the only one remotely close to Fleming's Bond.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Skyfall started getting back to when I love about Bond - Q, trick cars, exotic travel

Die Another Day killed the "Bond Car" for a long time with its invisible car.

Well the latest Bond movie has kind of returned to some gadgets which I like. The Die Another Day car went a little too far but at the time people were actually thinking of devices like that in research.