AJB's Recommended "New James Bond 'To Do' List" for #25

HowardB

What appeals to me is that there is an opportunity to use a plethora of Fleming material without resorting to a remake. The fact that the YOLT film differed so much from the novel can be used to an advantage....but Craig's unlikely return would make it all work IMO.

Loeffelholz

The Death Collector edges out The Garden of Death for me...but to be honest I'd just be thrilled to have them use that material ;% ...and would be happy with either.

HowardB

Loeffelholz wrote:

The Death Collector edges out The Garden of Death for me...but to be honest I'd just be thrilled to have them use that material ;% ...and would be happy with either.

How about this for wishful thinking: Craig returns for two more: #25 "The Death Collector" and #26 "The Garden of Death" or vice versa.
I also want Felix Leiter back and another Bond liaison with Lucia/Monica Bellucci. And if there is to be another car chase, put Bond behind the wheel of an everyman's car like a Mini or a Fiat 500 and have him use his skill, nerve and guile to get out of trouble.

Colonel Shatner

Have a soft reset with a potential new Bond while keeping the MI6 support crew of Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw and Naomie Harris on with a new actor cast as Bond who'll roll with more self-contained instalments that are a bit lighter in tone (but don't undermine themselves like Die Another Day did and have sci-fi/gadget elements no worse than in SPECTRE or GoldenEye).

Have a director and production crew that understand the concept of less being more with their locations, sets and action scenes, keeping the budget under 150 million (ie. have maybe one vehicle chase sequence but make it engaging and very memorable in some way, make the rank and file mooks more of a hazard like in Skyfall's finale, keep developing strange main henchmen past the semi-decent attempt with Hinx, take more time in blowing up a villain's stronghold, etc).

HowardB

I'd like to keep the MI6 support crew of Fiennes, Whishaw and Harris with a new Bond also. I also want the new Bond to maintain the harder edge of the Craig films, just lose the overt, plot driving references to Bond's past. That being said, examining the duality of Bond's life as a bit of a charming rogue and cold blooded assassin might be worth delving into a bit. I would like the new Bond to be just as violent and deadly as Craig but be a bit more of a dimensional character with some outside interests (like womanizing, gambling, etc).

Napoleon Plural

So... to reawaken and old thread, how many of these on the Wish List got through?

NB @Loeffelholz has one of his bingo numbers come up!

Barbel

That's an easy question to answer: not enough.

Loeffelholz

https://www.ajb007.co.uk/discussion/comment/1027202#Comment_1027202

I was certainly gratified to see it...but feel it was criminally underused. But, as a consolation, I apparently enjoyed the film quite a lot more than you did. Cheers, old friend!

Loeffelholz

https://www.ajb007.co.uk/discussion/comment/1027211#Comment_1027211

You are correct, sir.

writingsonthewall

My two pence:

• Stand alone missions, one for the PTS and other for the main story. May be related, don't actually need to.
• No Scoobies. The characters can be there but there's no reason for them to be all over the place. You can innovate without making them co-leads.
• Lose part of the flamboyancy. Why not bring back the Sinclair suits? You can break the bank with the Omegas and the Astons.
• Bring back the funny names, the subtle humor in an appropriate place. No need for Bond to break the fourth wall.
• Put Bond in a naval uniform for once. Last time we saw him in one was TND, wasn't it?
• As for storyline, I would love an adaptation of some of the modern comics, like Vargr, for instance. The drugs angle combined with the UK's recent isolationism could bring some interesting dynamics with other secret services. Would be nice to have some reflections on the UK's current position in the international theatre.

Loeffelholz

I've recently said this on another thread...but - aware, as I am, of Fleming's contractual dictate that the TSWLM novel should never be adapted as a film - I would hope that a renegotiation might occur, in which it might be used as a PTS for Bond 26...where the new Bond is first seen as a stranger at a motel who rescues a beautiful woman from a dangerous situation. It would be grounded, fresh...and Fleming.

Aside from perhaps getting Tom Hiddleston as the lead, this is my primary wish for the debut of the Next Era.

writingsonthewall

Failing that, one could take Craig’s Bond tenure as one providing the bookends to the character’s career (as the Dark Knight Returns comic told the “legend” of an old Batman ending his superheroics) with the “missing years” between QoS and Skyfall being the natural placement of all “standard” adventures (such as the classic 20 movies). Mutatis mutandis, of course.

Loeffelholz

https://www.ajb007.co.uk/discussion/comment/1027412#Comment_1027412

Knowing Bond fandom as I do, I'm quite sure that many of those who feel a need to contextualize them will do that. To others, 26 will simply take place after the events of DAD, not acknowledging the Craig Era at all (I know fans who will certainly do this anyway, haha).

writingsonthewall

Without going too deep into the problematics on any enduring character or IP, the “sliding timeline” used with many of them is an useful resource to take advantage of. Superhero characters created in the 60’s but still being published in the 00’s passed from being Korea veterans to Desert Storm ones. Homer and Marge Simpson met in the 80’s watching Empire Strikes Back, and then in the 90’s with Homer being in the grunge scene, et cetera.

That being said, one also needs to be mindful of the “alternate versions” trope: literary Fleming Bond is different from literary Deaver Bond, which is different from classic cinematic Bond, which… and they’re all Bond. We’ll see what B26 brings, but I’ll be very interested nonetheless.