Dolph Lundgren, Alexander Skarsgård and the Rock are about that tall, so it isn't a huge prob .... I mean tall order ......... you know what I mean. John Wayne was only marginally shorter.
The US market accepted Margot Robbie, the Hemsworths, Nicole Kidman and many others. I don't think Elordi's height and nationality will be problematic if he is cast.
The US box office is not 50% of the gross. For NTTD the worldwide box office was $774M with the US being $160M of that. I also doubt very much that the Rock is about 6’ 6” 😃
I admit "some of the numbers may not've been checked by the best scientists", but there are/have been very tall movie stars. It's also worth mentioning that Jacob Elordi has many scenes with Sydney Sweeney in Euphoria, and she is considerably smaller.
I would say the US box office is of diminishing importance to the franchise. Whatever choice they make with the next actor, one side or the other of the culture war will co-opt it and Bond will become highly divisive in the US. But I’m guessing EON and their new American overlords will still try to cater to the US market anyhow. It’s a losing battle, and as icaice points out, it’s only a fraction of the audience.
OK not 50% (I thought it had been in the past) but as Miles says, its overlords are American, a nation known for its parochial outlook. BTW $160m of $774m is about 20%, and this is just one of the 100+ nations Bond movies would be distributed to so I'd say that gives it a market a significance others do not.
Sorry Number24, but you can't compare the acceptance of Australian actors with a choice for Bond. And your examples of The Rock and Dolph 'Drago' Lundgren actually prove my point. The Rock is absolutely the definition of a demi-god character.
Screenrant speculated yesterday that early 2024 is when EON will make the 007th Bond actor announcement, assuming a 2025 Bond26 release.
I seem to remember that Craig was the subject of speculation for months, if not up to a year, before he was announced so we could have strong indications of who it is in 2023, even with Screenrant's timeline.
Screenrant carries about as much weight as anyone on these forums, and certainly less insight. The only journalists or bloggers I'd heed in this department is Baz and actual trades like THR or Variety.
"To best understand exactly when the next James Bond actor is likely to be announced, it's important to consider the history of the role and the comments made by Barbara Broccoli. Her inclination is that shooting on Bond 26 won't start until the summer of 2024, hinting that she believes casting the role will likely take roughly until then. Though actors are surely being eyed for the role, until a script is written and production is almost ready to begin, it's unlikely that any definitive announcements will be forthcoming. The most likely time frame for the announcement of the next James Bond will therefore be sometime in early 2024 if Broccoli's comments are anything to go by."
There are a suprising number of famous actors at Elordi's height. James Arness was two meters tall back in the day. Arnie Hammer, Christopher Lee, Vince Vaughn, Randy Quaid, Tim Robbins and Jeff Goldblum are/were Jacob Elordi's height. I don't think the avarage cinemagoer thinks of most of them as problematically tall.
Liam Neeson, James Moa, Steven Segal and David Hasselhoff are just three centimeters shorter. I suspect Segal sees himself as a demi-god 😁, but they rarely play demi-god like characters.
There are of course factors that are much more important than height. But there's a limit to how tall or short an actor can be to play Bond even though that line is more flexible than it was. It's possible to "cheat" the height of an actor, but I imagine it takes time and money and it influences who can be cast as co-stars.
I thought it was fine. One fun thing about it was that the building which played the part of Kenneth's Branagh's evil Moscow HQ is directly opposite the building which was seen in Skyfall as the Shanghai tower block 😊
You can also see that building in Hitman's Bodyguard at the beginning, where Reynolds saves Richard E Grant's character.
American didn't care that William Wallace was Australian but they care about Bond being Australian? Would most of the fans even know that? Also, maybe this is a generation thing, but Sean Connery having board shoulders and has a punch you in the face look? Are you sure you not talking about Vin Diesel?
A few years ago I heard it said that Daniel Craig was Australian, I'm not kidding, from a guy from a big US corporation and he thought it undermined the character. Someone explained to this guy that Craig was British. Quite a funny moment. So, I have first hand experience of people in the US thinking a Bond actor is Australian and not being positive about it. As for William Wallace, Mel Gibson was a huge international star at the time and at that point people are going to see Mel Gibson and are not that bothered about historical accuracy.
Although weirdly I think technically NTTD was the first time an American had played Bond in the movies, as Craig had reportedly gained citizenship between films.
I totally agree. Just seen him in "The Capture". Very, very promising. Right age, right height, good acting skills, right career path. IMO, he's like a cross between Brosnan and Craig. He even played Brosnan's son in "The Only Living Boy in New York". He should definitely be added to the poll. He's got my vote.
I actually thought of Turner a bit as a potential Bond when I saw him in the 3rd Fantastic Beasts film but ultimately he just might be a bit too baby faced even at 32.
I find it interesting that Jacob Elordi has been cast as Elvis in the film Sofia Coppola is making of Priscilla Presley's book, Elvis and Me.
I guess Elvis bios are the new big thing.
Personally, I keep going back to Aaron-Taylor Johnson. He can do the action, has the prerequisite ripped physique that action stars need these days, is the right age, ruggedly handsome (but much less "craggy" looking as DC was), the right age, is convincing portraying soldiers, has done a great job doing both heroes and ruthless villains and probably as important as anything, has the "serious actor" tag that EON / Barbara value these days.
About "portraying soldiers", you should check out Callum Turner in "The Capture", season 1 if you haven't. Given that Broccoli has said whomever is chosen should be Bond for a very long run, that he's young looking might be exactly what they're after. Call it a hunch, but I think he's a very serious contender.
He certainly is a good age and he's done plenty of film and TV but not prominently, but I just don't see Bond in him. I don't think he has the look needed.
Maybe Babs and Michael are trying to confuse things, but their most recent comments don't quite match with what was reported before. Admittedly the former comments were from a UK TV, LA based, entertainment reporter - though one with a credible record of Bond involvement - and his comments suggested they were going for a young 30s Bond. Now, with Babs and Mike saying in the Variety.com story
"...when we cast Bond, it’s a 10, 12-year commitment. Not everybody wants to do that. It was hard enough getting [Daniel Craig to do it].” Wilson interjects: 'And he was in his early 30s at the time!'"... Most young actors, say Broccoli and Wilson, think they want to do Bond, but don’t fully fathom the commitment of carrying a franchise across many years. “A lot of people think, ‘Oh yeah, it’d be fun to do one,” Broccoli laughs out loud. “Well. That ain’t gonna work.”
that doesn't seem right.
Although a small part of the article, it makes me now think they are thinking of someone closer to 40. While Wilson says Craig was in his early 30s, he was actually 37 years old when he was announced as Bond in 2005 - I'd call that late 30s!
I'm sure some people will start thinking, Cavill has a chance! But I still think the principles of some TV, some films, no big parts, demonstrated good acting ability, etc, are more important, and obviously they must be able to pass the audition.
I think this means James Norton is a possible. I think Tom Cullen is another good prospect.
Funny that you should say that. I didn't even know how he looked like a couple of weeks ago. I saw a few pictures of him, and watched "The Capture" and "The last letter from your lover", and I think he is spot on, The very description of James Bond by Ian Fleming (in my mind's eye, that is). Even the resemblance to Hoagy Carmichael. Same height, hair, eyes colour, slim appearance...I really think he'll be a serious contender.
I think for Bond purists I can understand the desire for something as close to Fleming's vision as possible. I think Bond was Fleming's imaginary self and he picked Hoagy Carmichael as he has a long face like Fleming. Fleming probably felt that he was the sort of person he would like to play Bond. I think however that Connery and Craig's success with Bond shows that with an assassin spy, while Fleming wanted him seen as an educated gentleman, audiences prefer a brute. You need to look like you can kill to convince audiences, to allow them to suspend their disbelief. I don't think that means EON should be looking for Craig and Connery lookalikes, but there needs to be a hard edge to the next actor's look. As much as I like Dalton's portrayal, the closest to the books for me, I can understand why people didn't take to him. You could point to Brosnan's appeal and dispute my theory but I think Brosnan had built up a public following from successful TV series and movies. The same can be said for Moore.
Comments
Dolph Lundgren, Alexander Skarsgård and the Rock are about that tall, so it isn't a huge prob .... I mean tall order ......... you know what I mean. John Wayne was only marginally shorter.
The US market accepted Margot Robbie, the Hemsworths, Nicole Kidman and many others. I don't think Elordi's height and nationality will be problematic if he is cast.
The US box office is not 50% of the gross. For NTTD the worldwide box office was $774M with the US being $160M of that. I also doubt very much that the Rock is about 6’ 6” 😃
I admit "some of the numbers may not've been checked by the best scientists", but there are/have been very tall movie stars. It's also worth mentioning that Jacob Elordi has many scenes with Sydney Sweeney in Euphoria, and she is considerably smaller.
His co-star Sydney Sweeney is 5'3'' according to the sometimes reliable internet.
I would say the US box office is of diminishing importance to the franchise. Whatever choice they make with the next actor, one side or the other of the culture war will co-opt it and Bond will become highly divisive in the US. But I’m guessing EON and their new American overlords will still try to cater to the US market anyhow. It’s a losing battle, and as icaice points out, it’s only a fraction of the audience.
OK not 50% (I thought it had been in the past) but as Miles says, its overlords are American, a nation known for its parochial outlook. BTW $160m of $774m is about 20%, and this is just one of the 100+ nations Bond movies would be distributed to so I'd say that gives it a market a significance others do not.
Sorry Number24, but you can't compare the acceptance of Australian actors with a choice for Bond. And your examples of The Rock and Dolph 'Drago' Lundgren actually prove my point. The Rock is absolutely the definition of a demi-god character.
Screenrant speculated yesterday that early 2024 is when EON will make the 007th Bond actor announcement, assuming a 2025 Bond26 release.
I seem to remember that Craig was the subject of speculation for months, if not up to a year, before he was announced so we could have strong indications of who it is in 2023, even with Screenrant's timeline.
Screenrant carries about as much weight as anyone on these forums, and certainly less insight. The only journalists or bloggers I'd heed in this department is Baz and actual trades like THR or Variety.
Screenrant, many many paragraphs down the piece:
"To best understand exactly when the next James Bond actor is likely to be announced, it's important to consider the history of the role and the comments made by Barbara Broccoli. Her inclination is that shooting on Bond 26 won't start until the summer of 2024, hinting that she believes casting the role will likely take roughly until then. Though actors are surely being eyed for the role, until a script is written and production is almost ready to begin, it's unlikely that any definitive announcements will be forthcoming. The most likely time frame for the announcement of the next James Bond will therefore be sometime in early 2024 if Broccoli's comments are anything to go by."
This is just word salad.
There are a suprising number of famous actors at Elordi's height. James Arness was two meters tall back in the day. Arnie Hammer, Christopher Lee, Vince Vaughn, Randy Quaid, Tim Robbins and Jeff Goldblum are/were Jacob Elordi's height. I don't think the avarage cinemagoer thinks of most of them as problematically tall.
Liam Neeson, James Moa, Steven Segal and David Hasselhoff are just three centimeters shorter. I suspect Segal sees himself as a demi-god 😁, but they rarely play demi-god like characters.
There are of course factors that are much more important than height. But there's a limit to how tall or short an actor can be to play Bond even though that line is more flexible than it was. It's possible to "cheat" the height of an actor, but I imagine it takes time and money and it influences who can be cast as co-stars.
Pine has played Jack Ryan, a Bond-like character. Have you seen "Jack Ryan:Shadow Recruit"?
Opinions differ ....
I thought it was fine. One fun thing about it was that the building which played the part of Kenneth's Branagh's evil Moscow HQ is directly opposite the building which was seen in Skyfall as the Shanghai tower block 😊
You can also see that building in Hitman's Bodyguard at the beginning, where Reynolds saves Richard E Grant's character.
Here you are in Moscow. Just whirl around and you'll be in Shanghai 😁
That's what the newspapers say: Russia and China are getting closer! 😁
Twitter brought this possible Bond candidate to my attention.
Sean Connery-esque Scots actor, Thomas Doherty.
Mostly TV, couple of films, he's the right height. His recent film The Invitation has a high critics score on Rottentomatoes.com.
American didn't care that William Wallace was Australian but they care about Bond being Australian? Would most of the fans even know that? Also, maybe this is a generation thing, but Sean Connery having board shoulders and has a punch you in the face look? Are you sure you not talking about Vin Diesel?
Chris Pine is too casual for me. I don't see him projecting the masculine presence or the gravitas for Bond.
A few years ago I heard it said that Daniel Craig was Australian, I'm not kidding, from a guy from a big US corporation and he thought it undermined the character. Someone explained to this guy that Craig was British. Quite a funny moment. So, I have first hand experience of people in the US thinking a Bond actor is Australian and not being positive about it. As for William Wallace, Mel Gibson was a huge international star at the time and at that point people are going to see Mel Gibson and are not that bothered about historical accuracy.
Although weirdly I think technically NTTD was the first time an American had played Bond in the movies, as Craig had reportedly gained citizenship between films.
I know a lot of ladies who would disagree with you about Pine's masculine presence.
But no, he's not a candidate for the next Bond.
Yes that is true, he is a US citizen. The second American, if you accept CBS' 'Casino Royale' teleplay with 'Jimmy Bond'.
https://www.mi6-hq.com/news/daniel-craig-becomes-first-american-citizen-to-play-james-bond-officially-191127
I totally agree. Just seen him in "The Capture". Very, very promising. Right age, right height, good acting skills, right career path. IMO, he's like a cross between Brosnan and Craig. He even played Brosnan's son in "The Only Living Boy in New York". He should definitely be added to the poll. He's got my vote.
Turner. Callum Turner.
I actually thought of Turner a bit as a potential Bond when I saw him in the 3rd Fantastic Beasts film but ultimately he just might be a bit too baby faced even at 32.
I find it interesting that Jacob Elordi has been cast as Elvis in the film Sofia Coppola is making of Priscilla Presley's book, Elvis and Me.
I guess Elvis bios are the new big thing.
Personally, I keep going back to Aaron-Taylor Johnson. He can do the action, has the prerequisite ripped physique that action stars need these days, is the right age, ruggedly handsome (but much less "craggy" looking as DC was), the right age, is convincing portraying soldiers, has done a great job doing both heroes and ruthless villains and probably as important as anything, has the "serious actor" tag that EON / Barbara value these days.
About "portraying soldiers", you should check out Callum Turner in "The Capture", season 1 if you haven't. Given that Broccoli has said whomever is chosen should be Bond for a very long run, that he's young looking might be exactly what they're after. Call it a hunch, but I think he's a very serious contender.
He certainly is a good age and he's done plenty of film and TV but not prominently, but I just don't see Bond in him. I don't think he has the look needed.
Maybe Babs and Michael are trying to confuse things, but their most recent comments don't quite match with what was reported before. Admittedly the former comments were from a UK TV, LA based, entertainment reporter - though one with a credible record of Bond involvement - and his comments suggested they were going for a young 30s Bond. Now, with Babs and Mike saying in the Variety.com story
https://variety.com/2022/film/global/james-bond-007-barbara-broccoli-michael-g-wilson-1235378239/
"...when we cast Bond, it’s a 10, 12-year commitment. Not everybody wants to do that. It was hard enough getting [Daniel Craig to do it].” Wilson interjects: 'And he was in his early 30s at the time!'"... Most young actors, say Broccoli and Wilson, think they want to do Bond, but don’t fully fathom the commitment of carrying a franchise across many years. “A lot of people think, ‘Oh yeah, it’d be fun to do one,” Broccoli laughs out loud. “Well. That ain’t gonna work.”
that doesn't seem right.
Although a small part of the article, it makes me now think they are thinking of someone closer to 40. While Wilson says Craig was in his early 30s, he was actually 37 years old when he was announced as Bond in 2005 - I'd call that late 30s!
I'm sure some people will start thinking, Cavill has a chance! But I still think the principles of some TV, some films, no big parts, demonstrated good acting ability, etc, are more important, and obviously they must be able to pass the audition.
I think this means James Norton is a possible. I think Tom Cullen is another good prospect.
Funny that you should say that. I didn't even know how he looked like a couple of weeks ago. I saw a few pictures of him, and watched "The Capture" and "The last letter from your lover", and I think he is spot on, The very description of James Bond by Ian Fleming (in my mind's eye, that is). Even the resemblance to Hoagy Carmichael. Same height, hair, eyes colour, slim appearance...I really think he'll be a serious contender.
It is.
I think for Bond purists I can understand the desire for something as close to Fleming's vision as possible. I think Bond was Fleming's imaginary self and he picked Hoagy Carmichael as he has a long face like Fleming. Fleming probably felt that he was the sort of person he would like to play Bond. I think however that Connery and Craig's success with Bond shows that with an assassin spy, while Fleming wanted him seen as an educated gentleman, audiences prefer a brute. You need to look like you can kill to convince audiences, to allow them to suspend their disbelief. I don't think that means EON should be looking for Craig and Connery lookalikes, but there needs to be a hard edge to the next actor's look. As much as I like Dalton's portrayal, the closest to the books for me, I can understand why people didn't take to him. You could point to Brosnan's appeal and dispute my theory but I think Brosnan had built up a public following from successful TV series and movies. The same can be said for Moore.