At the rate things are moving, Elordi may be in his thirties when Bond 26 comes out!
I can't help but find it hard to believe that Eon has gone dormant for years, making no plans for life beyond Craig while, at the same time, having conversations with their new partner/overlord about business plans. The last thing Amazon wants is for the franchise to atrophy while the culture moves on. Some here think Bond is finished which is absurd. And a calculated break to allow the Craig era to fade is obviously good business. But after the 60th anniversary things wind down, time will not be on Eon's side.
I think they're playing games with their choice of words. As I've said, I know of at least one partner brand who has done a deal for a 2024 release so that part of the marketing budget is being locked in. And the 2024 date has been repeated by media outlets.
It's only recently they've talked about the reinvention with the future tense, all their past comments have stated it is happening now. And now we hear Purvis & Wade are onboard. They aren't going to lift their pens unless they are paid. The reinvention must already be going forward.
Remember Daniel Craig was officially announced in October 2005 with CR filming starting in January 2006.
If we assume a filming schedule like most previous Bonds then for a November 2024 release it will be a December 2023 start of filming and a late summer 7th 007 actor announcement I'd imagine. But Craig's name was in the ring about a year before he was officially named so I am guessing that by next Spring we'll all know a lot more.
As for the world settling down. The Ukraine war will go on for years yet. If you listen to the experts, Ukraine won't be advancing significantly into the occupied regions and Crimea until well into next year. This winter will freeze the frontlines, literally and figuratively. As for Prime Minister Liz Truss....
The Tweet quotes an article that is looking at MGM. "Starting next year, the Broccolis will map out a plan, according to multiple sources. They’ll commission a script, decide on a filmmaker, and start meeting with actors..."
Looking back on 'normal' filming timelines, pre-Skyfall, this seems perfectly normal to me and while the article claims they "aren't even close to a new film," the script is usually produced in a few months, they talk to directors about the script and can be having Bond auditions in parallel.
Purvis & Wade might be producing what's called a "treatment". Ten pages at minimum, maybe as much as 30, it's a story outline, sometimes including some dialogue. Babs and Mike have said they're looking at the villain. Villain's have motivations and that's normally the core of any Bond film. Maybe the reinvention will 'materialise' as a treatment. The Studio, Universal, then signs off on the treatment before the full script is written.
The article does make the mistake of saying Daniel Craig was 34. Maybe that is a typo. Craig was 37 when he was announced and 38 when CR came out, so younger than Craig would still hit the mid-30s mark that BB and MGW seem to be suggesting.
I'm glad they start with the villan's story as of tradition. I get the Craig movies started with Bond:s "arch" and the villan's plan was sometimes more of an afterthought.
I think the little we've heard so far about Bond25 gives me reason to be positive. Bond will always be male and British. He will be an experienced agent in his thirties and the story will have the villan's plan at its core. On the other hand: twenty years ago all of this would be seen as obvious.
They caught lightning in a bottle casting Mads as Le Chiffre. Until his last scene, he's never physically violent and yet he's more menacing in CR than nearly any Bond villain I can think of off hand (Red Grant is at the top of my list).
Having a look for Bond26 news I've been struck at how often the word trajectory is latched on to by some news outlets. Babs Broccoli used it in her interview with Empire magazine.
I'm wondering if more should be made of this, especially in light of BB and MGW's comments about the villain being a focus of theirs.
Of course Sean had, maybe not an arc, but his films were linked, with Spectre in the background. Thinking about Roger and Tim and Pierce, they never had that and we didn't really return to that until Daniel's era and as people have said on this forum, that was a bit of a mess, in part, IMHO, due to Craig's ambivalence about his involvement, the acquisition of the complete rights to Blofeld etc, and Quantum's reception.
Thinking about the continuation novels, The Union was the criminal organisation for that trilogy and could we see the continuation novels mined for plot ideas etc for the next Bond era? Probably a no, as we haven't seen that so far and maybe there are rights issues which EON just simply wants to avoid due to the past.
While EON shirks the MCU approach to movies and characters, I wonder if a lesson they, and MGM/Amazon, have learnt from those super hero movies is you can lock in an audience and grow it with a multi-film storyline.
I wouldn't be surprised if the reason the villain is a focus for EON is because they are also reinventing Blofeld, but I don't mean call the character Blofeld, I mean a completely new villain but of that stature, with an international criminal organisation, or maybe a Wagner Group style private military contractor outfit? Certainly a Wagner style outfit would reflect the chaotic world we live in today.
People on forums like this used to argue with me when I'd say that Craigs Bond was in no way conon with the Connery to Brosnan Bond but I've noticed that has stopped completely since NTTD.
It might not be a bad idea to create a new arch nemesis. I've mentioned before that many series' have a number of reoccurring villains. I'm not saying Bond should have this, as I think it's good that the villain meets an inventive satisfying demise at the end of each film, but it might be useful for them to have a new strong arch enemy (as well as Blofeld) to bring in every now and then. A powerful, cunning female baddie would be great.
I too like the idea of the villan being the head of some sort of security firm. One branch of the company would be a Wagner style military mercenary unit with helicopters, armored vehicles and ex-SF employees. Other branches of the firm could supply bodyguards to VIPs. A third branch would be a security outfit with surveillance cameras and guards walking around with keys and codes to every door. The company could have both government and business customers.
I’ve been thinking about this and the idea of Bond’s new, continuing nemesis being a military contractor really intrigues me. What these modern security firms do is so much more (and more nefarious) than the arms dealers and mercenaries of yore. Unlike Blofeld, the new arch villain could operate in plain sight, meeting with world leaders, etc., presenting as essentially a massively successful businessman and being untouchable as a consequence.
Regarding the villain being some sort of private military contractor type; I personally don't have a problem with that but it's not exactly a new/unique idea these days as there a tons of films and series where the bad guy(s) fit that description.
I would be fine with the main villain just not having any previous, personal or familial connection to Bond.
Finding a plan or background for a villan that's new and unused is very hard these days. I completely agree that the villains shouldn't have a previous connection to Bond. At least not for many years from now.
If the villain is going to play a major role in the reinvention then they certainly have plenty of directions to choose from. I guess the challenge is creating a villain, and henchmen possibly, that will be able to span several films. Henchmen, like Jaws, could be in more than one film, maybe being killed in the second or third movie, but the main villain, if they are going to last the four to five films the 7th Bond may last for, or even last beyond, its going to be a tall order creating that character.
Bond has had, a scientist (Dr No), many industrialists (Goldfinger, TSWLM, Moonraker, Octopussy, AVTAK, TND ,TWINE), rogue agents (GE, DAD, Skyfall), a criminal organisation of some kind, Spectre, Quantum etc (FRWL, TB, YOLT, OHMSS, CR, QOS, DAF, FYEO, NTTD), drug lords (LALD, LTK), an arms dealer (TLD) and an assassin (TMWTGG).
You can argue there are combinations with primary and second villains. Scaramanga had his Chinese industrialist. We had SMERSH being manipulated by Spectre in FRWL. The Russians were also behind Janus and involved with Whittaker in TLD. DAF saw an industrialist kidnapped by Spectre.
What's occurred to me is that a villain could be sustained over several films if their arc was their rise to power. With each film Bond kills the leader of that film's criminal organisation, and with every death this villain who starts off as a henchmen or woman goes up a level in the organisation and thug henchmen like Dario or Boris Grishenko appear across the films, because they are part of that organisation(s). Bond might even be useful to this organisation by destroying a competing organisation, unaware that he has helped the villain who will be his arch foe.
I think the nature of that criminal organisation needs to reflect our times and that could be a Wagner Group like outfit or a violent version of Cambridge Analytica, or one of these private intelligence companies,
The MI6-hq.com podcast James Bond & Friends have reported that Purvis & Wade are working on Bond26 in the latest podcast. The website was able to send someone to a media event and got to interview Michael Wilson himself.
MGW confirmed, as has Babs Broccoli, that Purvis & Wade are working for them on Bond26. We have heard before that they are involved in the reinvention and my guess is that they are working on it right now after repeated comments about them being involved.
If I was looking for something positive I might suggest this reinforces the notion that they work very well with strong source material...even if they do seem increasingly to struggle with realising entirely original ideas.
P&W have said that other writers have always come in and work on the scripts with a fresh perspective.
For those who think P&W are bad, just remember John Logan's troubled process with Spectre where he had Blofeld as an African warlord and/or a woman and a whole host of other ideas, Bond and Q imprisoned in a hot box together for example, which were rejected. P&W came in and did what they could with Spectre but I think that that film's flaws are due to Logan's inability to get to grips with a story. He had been given Spectre and Blofeld, a return to the franchise after 41 years (excl the sort of Blofeld appearance in FYEO), the film should have written itself. Pfff.
Comments
At the rate things are moving, Elordi may be in his thirties when Bond 26 comes out!
I can't help but find it hard to believe that Eon has gone dormant for years, making no plans for life beyond Craig while, at the same time, having conversations with their new partner/overlord about business plans. The last thing Amazon wants is for the franchise to atrophy while the culture moves on. Some here think Bond is finished which is absurd. And a calculated break to allow the Craig era to fade is obviously good business. But after the 60th anniversary things wind down, time will not be on Eon's side.
Yeah I think rather than being obvious, that's very unlikely to be honest. Films are continuing to be made.
I think they're playing games with their choice of words. As I've said, I know of at least one partner brand who has done a deal for a 2024 release so that part of the marketing budget is being locked in. And the 2024 date has been repeated by media outlets.
It's only recently they've talked about the reinvention with the future tense, all their past comments have stated it is happening now. And now we hear Purvis & Wade are onboard. They aren't going to lift their pens unless they are paid. The reinvention must already be going forward.
Remember Daniel Craig was officially announced in October 2005 with CR filming starting in January 2006.
If we assume a filming schedule like most previous Bonds then for a November 2024 release it will be a December 2023 start of filming and a late summer 7th 007 actor announcement I'd imagine. But Craig's name was in the ring about a year before he was officially named so I am guessing that by next Spring we'll all know a lot more.
As for the world settling down. The Ukraine war will go on for years yet. If you listen to the experts, Ukraine won't be advancing significantly into the occupied regions and Crimea until well into next year. This winter will freeze the frontlines, literally and figuratively. As for Prime Minister Liz Truss....
I just saw this Tweet:
The Tweet quotes an article that is looking at MGM. "Starting next year, the Broccolis will map out a plan, according to multiple sources. They’ll commission a script, decide on a filmmaker, and start meeting with actors..."
Looking back on 'normal' filming timelines, pre-Skyfall, this seems perfectly normal to me and while the article claims they "aren't even close to a new film," the script is usually produced in a few months, they talk to directors about the script and can be having Bond auditions in parallel.
Purvis & Wade might be producing what's called a "treatment". Ten pages at minimum, maybe as much as 30, it's a story outline, sometimes including some dialogue. Babs and Mike have said they're looking at the villain. Villain's have motivations and that's normally the core of any Bond film. Maybe the reinvention will 'materialise' as a treatment. The Studio, Universal, then signs off on the treatment before the full script is written.
The article does make the mistake of saying Daniel Craig was 34. Maybe that is a typo. Craig was 37 when he was announced and 38 when CR came out, so younger than Craig would still hit the mid-30s mark that BB and MGW seem to be suggesting.
I'm glad they start with the villan's story as of tradition. I get the Craig movies started with Bond:s "arch" and the villan's plan was sometimes more of an afterthought.
I hope this means the villain will finally be a strong one again…
IG: @thebondarchives
Check it out, you won’t be disappointed
I think Le Chiffre and Silva were very good villans, but I like the approach they're taking.
I think the little we've heard so far about Bond25 gives me reason to be positive. Bond will always be male and British. He will be an experienced agent in his thirties and the story will have the villan's plan at its core. On the other hand: twenty years ago all of this would be seen as obvious.
They caught lightning in a bottle casting Mads as Le Chiffre. Until his last scene, he's never physically violent and yet he's more menacing in CR than nearly any Bond villain I can think of off hand (Red Grant is at the top of my list).
Having a look for Bond26 news I've been struck at how often the word trajectory is latched on to by some news outlets. Babs Broccoli used it in her interview with Empire magazine.
I'm wondering if more should be made of this, especially in light of BB and MGW's comments about the villain being a focus of theirs.
Of course Sean had, maybe not an arc, but his films were linked, with Spectre in the background. Thinking about Roger and Tim and Pierce, they never had that and we didn't really return to that until Daniel's era and as people have said on this forum, that was a bit of a mess, in part, IMHO, due to Craig's ambivalence about his involvement, the acquisition of the complete rights to Blofeld etc, and Quantum's reception.
Thinking about the continuation novels, The Union was the criminal organisation for that trilogy and could we see the continuation novels mined for plot ideas etc for the next Bond era? Probably a no, as we haven't seen that so far and maybe there are rights issues which EON just simply wants to avoid due to the past.
While EON shirks the MCU approach to movies and characters, I wonder if a lesson they, and MGM/Amazon, have learnt from those super hero movies is you can lock in an audience and grow it with a multi-film storyline.
I wouldn't be surprised if the reason the villain is a focus for EON is because they are also reinventing Blofeld, but I don't mean call the character Blofeld, I mean a completely new villain but of that stature, with an international criminal organisation, or maybe a Wagner Group style private military contractor outfit? Certainly a Wagner style outfit would reflect the chaotic world we live in today.
People on forums like this used to argue with me when I'd say that Craigs Bond was in no way conon with the Connery to Brosnan Bond but I've noticed that has stopped completely since NTTD.
It might not be a bad idea to create a new arch nemesis. I've mentioned before that many series' have a number of reoccurring villains. I'm not saying Bond should have this, as I think it's good that the villain meets an inventive satisfying demise at the end of each film, but it might be useful for them to have a new strong arch enemy (as well as Blofeld) to bring in every now and then. A powerful, cunning female baddie would be great.
I too like the idea of the villan being the head of some sort of security firm. One branch of the company would be a Wagner style military mercenary unit with helicopters, armored vehicles and ex-SF employees. Other branches of the firm could supply bodyguards to VIPs. A third branch would be a security outfit with surveillance cameras and guards walking around with keys and codes to every door. The company could have both government and business customers.
I’ve been thinking about this and the idea of Bond’s new, continuing nemesis being a military contractor really intrigues me. What these modern security firms do is so much more (and more nefarious) than the arms dealers and mercenaries of yore. Unlike Blofeld, the new arch villain could operate in plain sight, meeting with world leaders, etc., presenting as essentially a massively successful businessman and being untouchable as a consequence.
Are you reading this thread, Purvis and Wade?
We can only hope they are. 😊
Regarding the villain being some sort of private military contractor type; I personally don't have a problem with that but it's not exactly a new/unique idea these days as there a tons of films and series where the bad guy(s) fit that description.
I would be fine with the main villain just not having any previous, personal or familial connection to Bond.
Finding a plan or background for a villan that's new and unused is very hard these days. I completely agree that the villains shouldn't have a previous connection to Bond. At least not for many years from now.
Yep, lets hope we don't see Blofeld secret sister seeking revenge, anytime soon..
The words I don't want to see in the plot summary of Bond26: ".....from James Bond's past". 😒
If the villain is going to play a major role in the reinvention then they certainly have plenty of directions to choose from. I guess the challenge is creating a villain, and henchmen possibly, that will be able to span several films. Henchmen, like Jaws, could be in more than one film, maybe being killed in the second or third movie, but the main villain, if they are going to last the four to five films the 7th Bond may last for, or even last beyond, its going to be a tall order creating that character.
Bond has had, a scientist (Dr No), many industrialists (Goldfinger, TSWLM, Moonraker, Octopussy, AVTAK, TND ,TWINE), rogue agents (GE, DAD, Skyfall), a criminal organisation of some kind, Spectre, Quantum etc (FRWL, TB, YOLT, OHMSS, CR, QOS, DAF, FYEO, NTTD), drug lords (LALD, LTK), an arms dealer (TLD) and an assassin (TMWTGG).
You can argue there are combinations with primary and second villains. Scaramanga had his Chinese industrialist. We had SMERSH being manipulated by Spectre in FRWL. The Russians were also behind Janus and involved with Whittaker in TLD. DAF saw an industrialist kidnapped by Spectre.
What's occurred to me is that a villain could be sustained over several films if their arc was their rise to power. With each film Bond kills the leader of that film's criminal organisation, and with every death this villain who starts off as a henchmen or woman goes up a level in the organisation and thug henchmen like Dario or Boris Grishenko appear across the films, because they are part of that organisation(s). Bond might even be useful to this organisation by destroying a competing organisation, unaware that he has helped the villain who will be his arch foe.
I think the nature of that criminal organisation needs to reflect our times and that could be a Wagner Group like outfit or a violent version of Cambridge Analytica, or one of these private intelligence companies,
https://www.voanews.com/a/london-spy-industry-private-sector/3718445.html
The MI6-hq.com podcast James Bond & Friends have reported that Purvis & Wade are working on Bond26 in the latest podcast. The website was able to send someone to a media event and got to interview Michael Wilson himself.
MGW confirmed, as has Babs Broccoli, that Purvis & Wade are working for them on Bond26. We have heard before that they are involved in the reinvention and my guess is that they are working on it right now after repeated comments about them being involved.
I have mixed feelings about this. P & W worked on CR, but they also wrote DAD.
If I was looking for something positive I might suggest this reinforces the notion that they work very well with strong source material...even if they do seem increasingly to struggle with realising entirely original ideas.
I'd say DC's tenure was full of original ideas. If they did it well is a matter of opinion.
so theyre not reinventing the writing team that produced the last seven films.
though famously not as many as people think...😁
I hope and expect they re-invent by bringing in new people in addition to P & W.
Oh, dear, the reinventors must now become the re-reinventors ? Isn't it time for a bit of reinvention ?
I don't know what to re-ply.
Good one. LOL
P&W have said that other writers have always come in and work on the scripts with a fresh perspective.
For those who think P&W are bad, just remember John Logan's troubled process with Spectre where he had Blofeld as an African warlord and/or a woman and a whole host of other ideas, Bond and Q imprisoned in a hot box together for example, which were rejected. P&W came in and did what they could with Spectre but I think that that film's flaws are due to Logan's inability to get to grips with a story. He had been given Spectre and Blofeld, a return to the franchise after 41 years (excl the sort of Blofeld appearance in FYEO), the film should have written itself. Pfff.