Who will be the director of Bond26?
One of the most important decisions for the next Bond movie is finding the right director. Here in this thread we can post wishes, hopes, rumours and real news concerning the next director.
I'll go first. Thunderfinger over at MI6Community says BB has said Cary Fukunaga has the job if he wants it. I don't know what his source is. Fukunaga said in a Variety Zoom interview that he'd love to get back to the franchise even though he's tired from NTTD. Aparently Fukunaga has a pitch too. If anyone can confirm or deny any of this it would be great. Personally I think he did a great job on NTTD and I'd welcome him back.
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Christopher Nolan has been linked numerous times and has expressed his sincere interest in being able to direct at some point. With Tom Hardy in the mix to potentially play Bond, I am still hopeful that the duo will link up again and make Bond 26. Nolans schedule is also pretty wide open if you look at IMDB so it's definitely a possibility.
I like Cary, but I am still salty over the NTTD ending. I am mostly pissed at Babs and MGW for giving DCraig way too much control over the creative direction. Too much power for one actor to have and I kind of think it was a bit of an f-you spite play to the character for being dragged back in for the finale.
Lastly, I'd LOVE to see Quentin T to come in. I know some of you will roll your eyes, but the dialogue would be masterful and his creative direction would slow the film down a bit to focus more on the story-line and espionage. I also think the tongue cheek of bond quips would be showcased at it's very best. I believe I read that he was also interested in the opportunity, but wanted to do a Bond film that was set in the 60's/70's.
Back in the early 2000's Tarantino very much wanted to make a version of CR straight from the book.
Cary talking about his pitch:
https://thewestnews.com/cary-joji-fukunaga-presents-a-new-james-bond-film-idea-to-producers-barbara-broccoli-and-michael-g-wilson/51107
https://www.koimoi.com/hollywood-news/cary-joji-fukunaga-pitches-idea-for-a-new-james-bond-movie-to-producers-barbara-broccoli-michael-g-wilson/
Barbara: "We'd love to work with him again"
https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/james-bond-cary-joji-fukunaga-return-newsupdate/
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/barbara-broccoli-profile-james-bond-1235058174/
I'd like to see him return. He did a fantastic job on the film, and you can bet we would see another long take as well as bonsai!
DblOJoe said:
I like Cary, but I am still salty over the NTTD ending. I am mostly pissed at Babs and MGW for giving DCraig way too much control over the creative direction. Too much power for one actor to have and I kind of think it was a bit of an f-you spite play to the character for being dragged back in for the finale.
we learnt for certain in this Variety interview that the ending of No Time to Die was Craig's idea, and was something Fukunaga was required to work around whatever else he did with the film. Any director they hired would have had to include that ending.
I'd be happy with Fukunaga coming back. There were a lot of elements done well in this film that had been missing or done poorly in recent films: an exciting car chase, exotic scenery, and an extended finale exploring the villain's headquarters. And he's not such a bigshot auteur as some of the other possibilites, I think its important a BondDirector knows he is being paid to do a job.
Tarantino would definitely bring some of the qualities mentioned, I would like a return to good dialog, and just imagine some of that Mexican StandOff content in a BondFilm! plus starting with Kill Bill he proved he could direct action scenes, not just talk about them. But theres an interview round here somewhere (circa 1997) were he talks about his ideas for his version of Casino Royale, and despite his big talk he's got the ending mixed up with a Mickey Spillane novel, not a good sign,
EDIT: heres that Tarantino interview, sorry I cant embed it. He begins discussing Casino Royale at 13:00
Apart from the Scooby gang, I don't want anything back from NTTD. Not the same writers, director, cinematographer, nothing. I want us to leave it well and truly behind. Even the slightest hint of it in the next film would sour me.
I agree mostly with this feedback. I love Ralph as M, Naomi as MP though. I'd be down for Gary Oldman or Idris to take over as M. Even Anthony Hopkins, but he might be a tad old now. Lanshana needs to be erased completely. No gripe over her being the interim 007 or anything to do with that plot line, but I think she is an absolute dreadful actress. When I was watching her in NTTD I just kept thinking of a shitty Law & Order episdoe with a catty Detective. There are points in the Jamaica scene at Bonds house where she reminded me of Hermione Granger in Sorcerers Stone when she is being an annoying know it all haha (LEVIOHHH-SAHHhhhHHH) haha.
Thanks, Quentin.
I have to disagree. Imagine a Bond 26 where Bond says hi to the same Moneypenny that was in his wake in the previous movie, Bond is sent into the office of the same M who read a poem in Bond's wake who sends Bond to the same Q who drank to his memory in NTTD. It just doesn't work and it's a gift with a big bow on to anyone who belives in that silly code name theory.
I don't mind if the same director, cinematographer, editor etc. returns, because I think the technical side of NTTD was great. No need or reason to change that. What needs to be changed are the people in front of the camera, including the Scooby Gang. I also wouldn't mind it of Purvis and Wade wasn't involved since I think the series needs fresh eyes on the story aspect of Bond.
I think that apart from the bike jump, there wasn't really anything Bondy about NTTD though. No big, crowd-pleasing I-can't-believe-he's-doing-that thing. Even Spectre managed that, in a few places. NTTD just fails to understand the fun, entertaining element to Bond.
I think there were a lot of Bondian and fun moments in NTTD, even though the ending wasn't particularely fun. But it did lack big, spectacular stunts like the crane jumps in CR.
if big, spectacular stunts are the defining element to a good Bond film, what were the big, spectacular stunts in the 60s films? that jetpack in Thunderball maybe? what else?
I think the big spectacular stunts was something that came in the 70's. They don't think it's what defines Bond movies, but I think many expect them.
Edgar Wright would be a shout, completely different to anything he’s done before (but same for SamMendes before skyfall) he’s also a bond fan and would inject a bit of humour and wit into the scripts. The most obvious choice is Martin Campbell, did a brilliant job introducing the previous bond actors.
A good case can be made for this.
gymkata said:
seems like the first 'big, spectacular stunt' was the boat chase in LALD.
I would say the crocodile jump that immediately precedes the boatchase, initiates it in fact, that was very dangerous. Though maybe not so visually impressive at first glance. There was also the doubledecker bus driving under a low bridge a few scenes earlier. All of which is to say Moore's first film is a lot more stunt heavy than any films that preceded it.
The jetpack in Thunderball has never impressed me even if it is a real thing, but I think its meant to have the same impact as the ski jump that begins The Spy Who Love Me. The scene later in the same film where Connery is pushed in the shark tank however is real and very dangerous, they didn't even use a stuntman for that one, Connery was pissed about how that was handled.
I think the last section of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, starting with Bond's escape from the machine room, is full of spectacular stuntwork but maybe because its a sustained sequence rather than a singular action its not the same thing.
The carflip in the alley in Diamonds are Forever is a stunt but not so spectacular.
But then starting with the stunts already mentioned in Live and Let Die, we get the corkscrew bridge jump in the Man with Golden Gun, then the skip jump in ...Spy... and then from that point almost every precredits sequence has to climax with something even more impressive, giving us such great Bond moments as Bond's ability to fly in Goldeneye. I would say this growing reliance on stunts coincides with the abandonment of Fleming. Its a matter of taste whether one considers spectacular stunts, adherence to Fleming, or other, as the definitive feature of a good BondFilm.
to get back on-topic, If folks believe stuntwork is the most important element, is there a particular director who specialises in such things?
I'd rather have a return to suspense and the cliff hanger/thriller aspect than big spectacular stunts. While the early Bonds may not have had "big spectacular stunts" they did have great action scenes and some great moments of suspense. For example, the tarantula scene in DN and Bond waiting for Dent and then executing him; FRWL had the battle at the Gypsy camp and the boat chase; GF, Bond and the laser, the car chase w/ the Aston, the battle at Fort Knox and the bomb countdown and I could go on and on (can't forget Lazenby's escape from Piz Gloria and all the ski scenes). I miss Bond being in those impossible situations where it looks like he just may not survive and somehow he figures a way out at the last possible second using guile, toughness and wit.
I'd like to see both suspenseful scenes and spectacular stunts. They don't exclude each other, in fact both types of scenes have a long history in Bond movies.
What were the Bondy moments would you say? Bits where he does something audatious or cool that makes you clap- I'm not even just talking stunts: stuff like the car park valet Range Rover bit in CR qualify. Or even him walking across the rooftops in Spectre. I'd say there was the bike stunt and the bit where he just dumps the bike at the hotel (nice bit of Craig swagger) but after that I can't think of anything which screamed 'Bond'. Even Spectre managed it more.
Probably the most Bondy bit of action thinking in it is when Paloma drives the car into the scaffolding to retrieve Valdo- but that's not Bond doing it!
It's been a while since I saw the movie, so this is just from the top of my head:
When he opened the shield of the missile silo faster than the instructions were given to him. Meeting Leiter and Bond's life in Jamaica. The squence in the forrest, especially when he uses the wire to flip the car. Bond meeting Safin. Safin's lair. The switchblade plane. All the scenes in Cuba. Seriously, how can anyone not find that sequence bondian?
No I don’t think you’re quite getting what I’m saying: I mean the moments that make the audience want to clap and remember why they love the character: him doing something outrageously cool or swaggery. Just living in Jamaica in a shack doesn’t do that.
In the 4x4 chase all he does is bash into the other cars: there’s no inventive action or lateral thinking like he usually does in those situations and which the audience love. The winch used as a trip wire is the closest we get.
Think of how the Bond theme gets pretty much no outings: basically because there aren’t any moments which ask for it.
I would have loved to say the moment in the PTS when he jumps off the bridge is spectacular. However, having visited Matera, I knew there was no bridge along the gorge and the whole thing must have been digitally imprinted. Imagine my surprise when I discovered they filmed it on another bridge in another town. For me, that completely took the edge off a very inventive and Bondian escape. In the old days, they really performed stunts like this and in the places they set them. I get the impression they probably digitalised the jump anyway (although I've not done the research.)
Going forward, I'd give Edgar Wright a go too @mynameisbond007 a director interested in people and character would be a shift back to Mendes' style, which worked partway. If he could speed things up a bit too - and his movies are relatively short - he'd hit nails on heads.
When Bond frisbees the serving tray at Valdo then drinks the martini is a fun Bondian moment. That got a few laughs in the cinema.
I don't agree with this. Can we get away from Campbell? He is 78 years old and already directed 2 Bond films. I don't get the idea of recycling crews over and over again. I don't mind CJF returning, but honestly I would prefer someone who has not directed a Bond film before so it is a complete fresh start. Nolan, Villeneuve, McQuarrie, Evans, Ritchie, Mangold...there are so many directors who can do a fresh take on the character.
Yes that’s true. Needed more of those.
emtiem said
What were the Bondy moments would you say? Bits where he does something audacious or cool that makes you clap- I'm not even just talking stunts: stuff like the car park valet Range Rover bit in CR qualify. Or even him walking across the rooftops in Spectre. I'd say there was the bike stunt and the bit where he just dumps the bike at the hotel (nice bit of Craig swagger) but after that I can't think of anything which screamed 'Bond'. Even Spectre managed it more.
yes these are good moments, I see what you mean there. CraigBond's attitude is not quite the same as his predecessors, and its a thing unto itself, but its also usually the funniest part of his otherwise way-too-serious films. The parking valet moment is the funniest scene in the first film.
One way to look at the lack of such moments in No Time to Die is he's been retired for five years, the character may have changed in that time, and be less amused by what he can get away with while doing his job. In real life if I meet a friend I haven't seen in five years, they're not the same person I once knew, cuz life happens in between.
I'd say large parts of the Cuba sequence is in that cathegory, so is Bond opening the silo and the switchblade plane.
As mentioned the Cuba bit has the frisbee, but then that's it. After that it's just punching or shooting guns. I've honestly never got the praise for the Cuba bit.
The other two bits you mention.. not sure what you mean, really. Yeah, the plane is a Bondy gadget, but it's not a Bond moment. It's not him doing something audacious or funny or inventive or swaggery: he's just sitting there. It feels like something from a Bond film, sure, but it's not a Bond moment. The bike sequence at the opening has a few- I love the shot of him barreling into Primo on the bike without even hesitating. But after that it starts to feel less and less Bond.
I was really looking forward to the switchblade plane. I thought it looked brilliant in the previews but actually find it to be quite a let down in the film. They get in the plane. They fly the plane. The sail the plane. They get out of the plane. It's a nice plane, but disappointingly under-used.
well see that makes sense. @Number24 likes seeing the military hardware because he's Number24, and therefor he sees that as a Bondian element. We're each going to find our own Bondian elements depending on who we are and what we get out of these silly films. I already named three Bondian elements upthread I thought were done better in this film than in any Bondfilm in years.
I think @emtiem you like the "stealing the grape" type moments, and I agree such moment are generally missing from this latest film, but theres other aspects that are there that satisfy me just as much.
Yeah I was definitely going to mention the stealing the grape! 😁 But I do like the big stunts too, and even though it didn't quite work, Spectre has the plane chasing a car down a ski slope scene, Bond using the demolition netting to escape the exploding MI6 ruin... stuff like that. None of the action in NTTD is inventive at all once you're past the bridge jump (maybe the winch trip line thing). He shoots people, he punches people, he bangs his car into bad cars.
There just aren't any points where you'd play the Bond theme.