EON have become quite adept at keeping things very quiet and controlling what information gets out since the mess with the Sony / Amy Pascal emails during the production of Skyfall. It would not surprise me if there was at least a partially completed first draft of a script and a very short list of actors for the role of Bond.
With regards to Gymkata's comment, is that based on anything you have heard, read, et or just your gut feeling? Nothing wrong with either, just curious.
I just think it beggars belief that Eon has been motionless since NTTD came out in 2021. There has always been a good case for getting some distance from Craig's Bond, especially given how the last one ended. But the property doesn't de facto grow more valuable with time. The appetites of audiences continue to change, often based on what else is grabbing their attention. For example, there's some accumulating evidence the MCU is beginning to stumble (Cocaine Bear beat Ant-Man 3 in the US on Friday!). The stakes for Bond 26 were always high, but they grow higher the longer the character is off the world stage. James Bond will return, but there's no guarantee the world will care in 2025.
There are obviously a lot of fine actors who could do a great job portraying James Bond but I seriously doubt that Dev Patel would ever be considered because he's of Indian extraction, and therefore doesn't look like any Bond purist's idea of what the agent looks or should look like. I'm sure that Barbara Broccoli will choose someone who's clearly white British.
There's also the fact that the actor eventually chosen to play James Bond often hasn't been on anyone's radar, so arguably there's little point in guessing who'll be chosen - fun though it is to speculate.
That said; Tom Hiddleston would be my personal choice to play James Bond - although at 42 he may already be too old. I imagine that the new actor will probably, and I think probably should be, someone who's in his mid thirties.
In the end I think that the actor chosen to be the the new James Bond will, for the vast majority of people, probably come right out of left field.
I think the more pressing question is whether, in the next film the apparent death of James Bond at the end of 'No Time To Die.' will prove to have been one big ruse, and he didn't actually die. Although if that IS the case then the character Felix Leiter will still be dead and therefore can never be used in future Bond films - which I think would be a great shame.
Either that or all five of the Daniel Craig Bond films will have to be considered as having existed in their own separate universe, and the next film will represent a complete reset of the Bond universe. One in which Felix Leiter can exist all over again, with a different actor playing him.
Barbera Broccoli has said the next James Bond will be British, "but British can mean a lot of things these days". I think you can take for granted that some of the actors screentested won't be white. They may cast someone who isn't white too.
There's a lot of things that aren't completely certain about Bond26, but I'm you 100% sure you won't see Bond surviving NTTD.
I think Dev Patel as a good candidate, but he's said casting him would be "stunt casting" so he doesn't want the job.
Screen-testing an actor who isn't white is a long way from casting an actor who isn't white. Barbara Broccoli can say whatever she wants about that issue in order to protect herself from attacks from the Woke Army.
I would love to know what those differences are. That would be a heck of a topic for discussion. I could see Amazon wanting to milk Bond for all it's worth. Amazon is always looking for content, especially content that is exclusive to only them. Nothing would surprise me. The great irony is, I am guessing the differences are not over finances. I could see Amazon wanting Bond to be a high budget Amazon series but there's no way EON would be willing to commit to that given how long they take between films, I just can't imagine EON being willing to produce 6 to 8 episodes of a Bond series each year or even every other year. Also, it's pretty clear that EON still values the prestige of Bond being a tentpole theatrical event release. Keep up the detective work with your source.😎
I hesitate slightly as it feels a little outside of their usual style to audition before having a director (for one they would direct the audition!) or script. Doesn't mean it's impossible of course, just not how they did it last time.
In my opinion taking a chance like you did is better than not posting in this situation. Most members understand your info can't be written in stone at this point.
And the "Amazon Original" Sound 0f 007 concert is, as of now, no longer available on Amazon.
And a bunch of the Bond catalog just turned up on HBO Max in Feb. Skyfall is still sitting on Netflix.
Cracking job, Amazon.
Here's to them getting out of the way and letting Eon do their job. I know a lot of folks on here think that Eon is holding things up or "lazy" (??) or "uninterested" in their own franchise, but I submit that of all the things that "make Bond Bond," the "mom and pop" (or bro and sis, as it were) of it all is what keeps the franchise unique among an increasingly corporate landscape. You don't want the billionaire corporation running it.
Sidebar: A black friend recently remarked that "woke" has lost any meaning besides "diet n* * * * * for white people to feel safe using" and now that's all I can hear when I see it flung around in these conversations.
The news that ATJ is going to be n the Nosferatu remake does make my inner film geek more interested in him as a candidate. It's those type of projects that make him more credible than generic fare like Kraven the Hunter. I was wondering @Gymkata has your source heard much about the film's director?
Also, I just wanted to use this moment to pitch Jacob Elordi
I think Christopher Nolan is looking more likely than ever before. The Bond series has more money than it has had in a long time because of Amazon, so they can afford a high-profile director like Nolan. He is a big fan, but Nolan has said he will only direct if he can shape the character from scratch (I'm just writing from memory). That's the situation now, for the third time in the history of the series. The only project Nolan has in the coming years is post-production of Oppenheimer (according to IMDB). When was the last time Nolan had so few plans for the future? After NTTD the Bond movies need to return with a bang, and few if any director can do that like Christopher Nolan. Personally I wouldn't be surprised if he is the next Bond director, possibly even a trilogy. I know Tenent was a disappointment, but I still think he can make at least one great Bond film.
That's unfortunately true. But most of Nolan's movies have been very good, and since many Bond-fans are willing to forgive Martin Campbell's non-Bond clunkers I think Tenent can be forgiven too.
I must admit I don't care for most of his movies, and I don't think he's ever shown any of the lightness of touch or wit which I enjoy from a Bond adventure: his veer towards pomposity more. Even films like Casino Royale have quite a few good jokes in them.
It's not entirely clear who you're thinking of in that post, but I belive it's Nolan. Christopher Nolan has rarely employed humor or light touches in his movies, but it has happened. After the CraigBond tenure (that probably was inspired by Nolan's Batman) many hope for a lighter Bond. I'd say a Nolan Bond movie would probably be great, but not lighthearted. On the other hand Bond26 is the perfect opportunity to involve Nolan, one of the most high-profile and talented directors working today.
Nolan directing Bond would be good business for everyone involved. Personally, I’m not a fan of his work beyond Memento and the Dark Knight (although I credit Ledger with making the latter a special film). For war films give me 1917 over Dunkirk any day of the week. But Nolan is the quintessential auteur. I can’t imagine Michael and Babbs ceding the creative control he would demand.
True about Mendes. But I think Nolan is uniquely focused on high concepts from story to script. What if you could enter another person’s dreams? What if you could manipulate time? Etc. It’s not to say he couldn’t adapt himself to Bond, as Mendes did to a degree, but Nolan strikes me as a control freak.
I agree with you about the coldness and will go a little further: of the major directors at work today Nolan makes the least sexy films. Bond films need to be risqué. That is the character. Nolan seems uninterested in sex as an artist.
True about Mendes. But I think Nolan is uniquely focused on high concepts from story to script. What if you could enter another person’s dreams? What if you could manipulate time? Etc. It’s not to say he couldn’t adapt himself to Bond, as Mendes did to a degree, but Nolan strikes me as a control freak.
But then he did do three Batman films, which would seem more 'studio' than Mendes; although I agree with what you're saying: he did them very much on his own terms. Plus The Prestige was a book adaptation (I didn't like it! 😊 )
I agree with you about the coldness and will go a little further: of the major directors at work today Nolan makes the least sexy films. Bond films need to be risqué. That is the character. Nolan seems uninterested in sex as an artist.
Yeah I think that's a very good point; he really doesn't do sexy. And the films do need to have a bit of that in them, even if they're just celebrating the sexiness of Bond himself, which I'd say the Connery and Craig films do in spades. With no sexiness or laughs, is it still Bond?
Admittedly these kind of images are rare in Nolan's movies. One can also ask how much those images are due to Anne Hathaway, Scarlett Johansen and their costume designers. But we know Nolan can shoot these scenes.
Comments
EON have become quite adept at keeping things very quiet and controlling what information gets out since the mess with the Sony / Amy Pascal emails during the production of Skyfall. It would not surprise me if there was at least a partially completed first draft of a script and a very short list of actors for the role of Bond.
With regards to Gymkata's comment, is that based on anything you have heard, read, et or just your gut feeling? Nothing wrong with either, just curious.
I just think it beggars belief that Eon has been motionless since NTTD came out in 2021. There has always been a good case for getting some distance from Craig's Bond, especially given how the last one ended. But the property doesn't de facto grow more valuable with time. The appetites of audiences continue to change, often based on what else is grabbing their attention. For example, there's some accumulating evidence the MCU is beginning to stumble (Cocaine Bear beat Ant-Man 3 in the US on Friday!). The stakes for Bond 26 were always high, but they grow higher the longer the character is off the world stage. James Bond will return, but there's no guarantee the world will care in 2025.
There are obviously a lot of fine actors who could do a great job portraying James Bond but I seriously doubt that Dev Patel would ever be considered because he's of Indian extraction, and therefore doesn't look like any Bond purist's idea of what the agent looks or should look like. I'm sure that Barbara Broccoli will choose someone who's clearly white British.
There's also the fact that the actor eventually chosen to play James Bond often hasn't been on anyone's radar, so arguably there's little point in guessing who'll be chosen - fun though it is to speculate.
That said; Tom Hiddleston would be my personal choice to play James Bond - although at 42 he may already be too old. I imagine that the new actor will probably, and I think probably should be, someone who's in his mid thirties.
In the end I think that the actor chosen to be the the new James Bond will, for the vast majority of people, probably come right out of left field.
I think the more pressing question is whether, in the next film the apparent death of James Bond at the end of 'No Time To Die.' will prove to have been one big ruse, and he didn't actually die. Although if that IS the case then the character Felix Leiter will still be dead and therefore can never be used in future Bond films - which I think would be a great shame.
Either that or all five of the Daniel Craig Bond films will have to be considered as having existed in their own separate universe, and the next film will represent a complete reset of the Bond universe. One in which Felix Leiter can exist all over again, with a different actor playing him.
Either way I can't wait to see how it's handled!
Barbera Broccoli has said the next James Bond will be British, "but British can mean a lot of things these days". I think you can take for granted that some of the actors screentested won't be white. They may cast someone who isn't white too.
There's a lot of things that aren't completely certain about Bond26, but I'm you 100% sure you won't see Bond surviving NTTD.
I think Dev Patel as a good candidate, but he's said casting him would be "stunt casting" so he doesn't want the job.
Screen-testing an actor who isn't white is a long way from casting an actor who isn't white. Barbara Broccoli can say whatever she wants about that issue in order to protect herself from attacks from the Woke Army.
Perhaps. and of course she has to protect herself from the Anti-Liberal Army too.
I would love to know what those differences are. That would be a heck of a topic for discussion. I could see Amazon wanting to milk Bond for all it's worth. Amazon is always looking for content, especially content that is exclusive to only them. Nothing would surprise me. The great irony is, I am guessing the differences are not over finances. I could see Amazon wanting Bond to be a high budget Amazon series but there's no way EON would be willing to commit to that given how long they take between films, I just can't imagine EON being willing to produce 6 to 8 episodes of a Bond series each year or even every other year. Also, it's pretty clear that EON still values the prestige of Bond being a tentpole theatrical event release. Keep up the detective work with your source.😎
I hesitate slightly as it feels a little outside of their usual style to audition before having a director (for one they would direct the audition!) or script. Doesn't mean it's impossible of course, just not how they did it last time.
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. I think sooner rather than later we’ll find out if your source was right!
Thanks for posting, Gymkata. Let's hope EON and Amazon finds the right mix, and they find it soon.
In my opinion taking a chance like you did is better than not posting in this situation. Most members understand your info can't be written in stone at this point.
I'm happy to hear any information, speculation, general chit-chat, so please keep posting @Gymkata. No one should hold anything against you.
And the "Amazon Original" Sound 0f 007 concert is, as of now, no longer available on Amazon.
And a bunch of the Bond catalog just turned up on HBO Max in Feb. Skyfall is still sitting on Netflix.
Cracking job, Amazon.
Here's to them getting out of the way and letting Eon do their job. I know a lot of folks on here think that Eon is holding things up or "lazy" (??) or "uninterested" in their own franchise, but I submit that of all the things that "make Bond Bond," the "mom and pop" (or bro and sis, as it were) of it all is what keeps the franchise unique among an increasingly corporate landscape. You don't want the billionaire corporation running it.
Sidebar: A black friend recently remarked that "woke" has lost any meaning besides "diet n* * * * * for white people to feel safe using" and now that's all I can hear when I see it flung around in these conversations.
Amazon/MGM have now appointed a head of film, so I would guess this would change the situation from here.
Strong Everton: "I think the've already got someone [to play James Bond], and it's not me".
At best Agerton was one of the finalists in the casting prosess, then the calls from EON stopped. Most likely he doesn't have inside info.
The news that ATJ is going to be n the Nosferatu remake does make my inner film geek more interested in him as a candidate. It's those type of projects that make him more credible than generic fare like Kraven the Hunter. I was wondering @Gymkata has your source heard much about the film's director?
Also, I just wanted to use this moment to pitch Jacob Elordi
I think Christopher Nolan is looking more likely than ever before. The Bond series has more money than it has had in a long time because of Amazon, so they can afford a high-profile director like Nolan. He is a big fan, but Nolan has said he will only direct if he can shape the character from scratch (I'm just writing from memory). That's the situation now, for the third time in the history of the series. The only project Nolan has in the coming years is post-production of Oppenheimer (according to IMDB). When was the last time Nolan had so few plans for the future? After NTTD the Bond movies need to return with a bang, and few if any director can do that like Christopher Nolan. Personally I wouldn't be surprised if he is the next Bond director, possibly even a trilogy. I know Tenent was a disappointment, but I still think he can make at least one great Bond film.
Tenet was very Bond too, only… pretty boring.
That's unfortunately true. But most of Nolan's movies have been very good, and since many Bond-fans are willing to forgive Martin Campbell's non-Bond clunkers I think Tenent can be forgiven too.
I must admit I don't care for most of his movies, and I don't think he's ever shown any of the lightness of touch or wit which I enjoy from a Bond adventure: his veer towards pomposity more. Even films like Casino Royale have quite a few good jokes in them.
It's not entirely clear who you're thinking of in that post, but I belive it's Nolan. Christopher Nolan has rarely employed humor or light touches in his movies, but it has happened. After the CraigBond tenure (that probably was inspired by Nolan's Batman) many hope for a lighter Bond. I'd say a Nolan Bond movie would probably be great, but not lighthearted. On the other hand Bond26 is the perfect opportunity to involve Nolan, one of the most high-profile and talented directors working today.
Nolan, yes. I've not seen him display a Bond sensibility in his films, and I on the whole, don't enjoy them.
It's a matter of different tastes, and we're both entitled to our views. (Even though I'm right, of course 😉)
Nolan directing Bond would be good business for everyone involved. Personally, I’m not a fan of his work beyond Memento and the Dark Knight (although I credit Ledger with making the latter a special film). For war films give me 1917 over Dunkirk any day of the week. But Nolan is the quintessential auteur. I can’t imagine Michael and Babbs ceding the creative control he would demand.
Wouldn’t we have said the same of Mendes beforehand though? He’s not exactly known for his big studio movies.
I agree with you though: 1917 for me. He does impressive stuff, but it’s cold. I don’t seeing him doing Bond well.
True about Mendes. But I think Nolan is uniquely focused on high concepts from story to script. What if you could enter another person’s dreams? What if you could manipulate time? Etc. It’s not to say he couldn’t adapt himself to Bond, as Mendes did to a degree, but Nolan strikes me as a control freak.
I agree with you about the coldness and will go a little further: of the major directors at work today Nolan makes the least sexy films. Bond films need to be risqué. That is the character. Nolan seems uninterested in sex as an artist.
True about Mendes. But I think Nolan is uniquely focused on high concepts from story to script. What if you could enter another person’s dreams? What if you could manipulate time? Etc. It’s not to say he couldn’t adapt himself to Bond, as Mendes did to a degree, but Nolan strikes me as a control freak.
But then he did do three Batman films, which would seem more 'studio' than Mendes; although I agree with what you're saying: he did them very much on his own terms. Plus The Prestige was a book adaptation (I didn't like it! 😊 )
I agree with you about the coldness and will go a little further: of the major directors at work today Nolan makes the least sexy films. Bond films need to be risqué. That is the character. Nolan seems uninterested in sex as an artist.
Yeah I think that's a very good point; he really doesn't do sexy. And the films do need to have a bit of that in them, even if they're just celebrating the sexiness of Bond himself, which I'd say the Connery and Craig films do in spades. With no sexiness or laughs, is it still Bond?
I agree with Emtiem completely regarding the tone of Nolan’s films. It’s not what I’m hoping for from the next installment(s).
Nolan doesn't do sexy?
Admittedly these kind of images are rare in Nolan's movies. One can also ask how much those images are due to Anne Hathaway, Scarlett Johansen and their costume designers. But we know Nolan can shoot these scenes.