Unused Script Ideas
PDJamesBond
Posts: 180MI6 Agent
I recently got the chance to read Michael France's first draft of GoldenEye. It's not terribly Bondian, and is certainly more an action movie than a 007 movie, but it's still quite entertaining.
What I was struck by was France's uncanny ability to come up with original and fun action sequences. I found it interesting that, while 95% of the script didn't make it to the final draft, EON has since reused several setpieces in later films. For instance, the helicopters with the giant tree-cutting devices from TWINE are on display here, along with much of the warhead sequence from TWINE. The climax on the satellite dish in France's draft also involves Bond and Trevalyan swinging around on cables attached to pulleys, both grabbing for their guns, and it is VERY similar to the QoS cable/pulley scene with Mitchell. The plane dogfight from QoS is also in this draft (though the scripted version is much more extensive and, IMO, even cooler).
Is this something that the EON folks do often? Do writers who work on Bond scripts sign some clause that states that their ideas and scenes may be used in any other Bond film, even if they don't end up in the film they wrote? This does not bother me, for the record; indeed, I think it's smart to pilfer any unused sequences they can.
Does anyone know of any other first drafts for Bond films that have similarly unused setpieces?
What I was struck by was France's uncanny ability to come up with original and fun action sequences. I found it interesting that, while 95% of the script didn't make it to the final draft, EON has since reused several setpieces in later films. For instance, the helicopters with the giant tree-cutting devices from TWINE are on display here, along with much of the warhead sequence from TWINE. The climax on the satellite dish in France's draft also involves Bond and Trevalyan swinging around on cables attached to pulleys, both grabbing for their guns, and it is VERY similar to the QoS cable/pulley scene with Mitchell. The plane dogfight from QoS is also in this draft (though the scripted version is much more extensive and, IMO, even cooler).
Is this something that the EON folks do often? Do writers who work on Bond scripts sign some clause that states that their ideas and scenes may be used in any other Bond film, even if they don't end up in the film they wrote? This does not bother me, for the record; indeed, I think it's smart to pilfer any unused sequences they can.
Does anyone know of any other first drafts for Bond films that have similarly unused setpieces?
Comments
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Really? That's very interesting! As Loeffelholz said, it makes sense to dip into the archives and mine any material that hasn't been used.