THIS TIME IT COULDN’T BE MORE PERSONAL…!!!
If they do this, it means it’s going to be a grim, moody film surely? Does that mean Christopher Nolan would be more interested?
Would there be room for another Bond girl with this scenario?
That’s what it sounds like Le Chiffre. What would be even worse is if Bond marries Madeleine and she gets killed right after the wedding…On Her Majesty’s Secret Service: Part 2.
If Madeleine is going to die it would be much better if she and Bond aren’t married.
People complained about Felix Leiter being fed to a shark for the second time in the novelization Licence To Kill. What’s different about this?
How can the same bad stuff keep happening to the same good people?
It’s clear EON will go for another ‘this time it’s personal’ story. It’s Craig’s last Bond film, so it will be very personal. It’s also clear that Spectre was supposed to be the last film, and now they’re in a position in which they’ll probably have to retcon some things that happened in that movie. That’s never a good thing.
If they’re going for a QoS revenge story, I hope they at least embrace it, acknowledge the similarities and show us a Bond that has matured and takes different decisions this time around. But still, I can’t see this ending on a high note if it’s another simple revenge story. What’s Bond going to do when he finally gets his hands on Blofeld? Not kill him… again? Like the Batman-Joker relationship? Or just kill him this time, proving he made the wrong decision on Westminster Bridge? And then what? Quit his job, remarry and settle down… again? Neither approach seems very satisfying.
If I’m honest, I hope Bond dies. Or even better, commits suicide. It would be the only thing that could really set this movie apart and make it a classic. If the Logan rumours are true, EON’s probably thinking the same thing. To me, it would make perfect sense for Craig’s Bond. He realises he’s trapped in a vicious cycle of revenge. Blofeld takes revenge for losing the love of his father, Vesper dies and Bond takes revenge on Dominic Greene, in Bond 25 it’s Irma who takes revenge for the capturing of Blofeld by killing Swann. The only way Bond can get real peace is by shutting this cycle down and kill himself after he kills Blofeld and gets his final revenge.
Maybe we get a little Camille cameo, showing us she never got a quantum of solace, and is now leading a violent life as an assassin for hire, proving to Bond that revenge only leads to more revenge. The whole suicide concept can easily be introduced in Japan if they go the YOLT route. And they don’t have to actually show us the suicide, they could just heavily imply it, so that people who don’t like the idea of Bond dying can still deny it. A bit like the spinning top in Inception. Show his character arriving at a place of happiness, and let the viewer decide if it’s the real world or heaven.
Or don’t make it a literal suicide. Let Bond take on a different identity. It would make perfect sense, he already destroyed his past/childhood home in SF, now he can destroy his name, job, nationality, … As 007 he can’t find peace, but maybe he can as Taro Todoroki or someone else. The only problem I have with a different identity is that it sounds too much like the Bourne franchise, even if the YOLT novel did it first. Especially if they use memory loss to explain everything. And pretending to be dead, is also exactly what Bruce Wayne did in TDKR. But then again, it’s not like those movies invented those story elements. If they execute it well, the viewer won’t mind or notice.
I’m not a big fan of the Shatterhand concept, because by now everybody knows it’s a cover for Blofeld. That’s a twist that’s going to be very hard to pull of, unless they re-cast Blofeld and explain his different appearance with plastic surgery (we all know it’s one of Blofeld’s hobbies). That way it could be a subtle way of foreshadowing Bond’s own transformation/metaforical suicide.
Of course, I don´t want Bond to die, commit suicide, get amnesia or quit the Service again at the end of BOND 25.
The toughest ending for CraigBond, IMHO, would be if he finally acknowledges that there is just no other life and no other place on earth for him than being in the Service, being the blunt instrument who has to stay lonely to have those he cares about survive.
What a shocker that would be: CraigBond really becomes James Bond 007.
And it only took him 5 movies and 12 years to get to where Connery was at the start of DN.
Yeah, that sounds about right.
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Interesting news from one of the trades:
Could be that went faster than expected…
Wow, you really hit the nail on the head!
If this weren´t THR I would even say they stole your idea - but this reporting is solid.
And it really makes sense for EON to move its big library of Bond films to that kind of entity.
Funny, I did not know or forget that Paramound indeed tried to get Bond in 2011 but shied away when MGM offered too little.
Amazon and Apple are heavyweights with plenty of cash stowed away, Netflix probably isn’t all that far behind. And all that cash doesn’t do much good right now, while content is in demand and will continue to be. The logical thing for them to have their sights on what potential is available. Even if Warner is - according to THR at least - in the pole position, sooner or later the traditional studios, too, will have to concern themselves with that challenge.
Well, we’ll see.
My question is - is this for Craig’s Bond 25 or the longer future? Also does this relate to the one film pitches from a few months ago?
This certainly isn’t just about BOND 25; both Amazon and Apple likely look at a deal for decades. And it’s perfectly possible they offer far more than any studio could currently put on the table off the cuff.
But they will also want more for it.
Amazon seems an oddly perfect choice, given how they, like Bond, started with books.
There is also one other major shift looming up ahead; streaming services want the period between theatrical premiere and streaming/VOD/blue ray valorisation to be cut down to their own demands. They think about prime tickets for around $ 100 - 200 to offer their customers at-home access to big productions right from premiere night. This kind of thing is coming anyway, but it will be much easier for them to push if they’re producers too.
Brilliant work Gobi! 
I will be stealing that. Perfect response to all the buzz today. Well, can’t say it’s a shock. The real issue isn’t about the who as much as it’s about the deal. Distribution partnership or the keys to the DB5 and the kingdom?
Regardless of sources, if THR printed it that’s pretty solid info. If Variety does their take on it, then it’s all but fact beyond official word from those involved.
Steal away. It’s what Spectre would do.
Well it certainly does look like a good call from @Dustin regarding the streaming services/distribution! I can foresee April '18 Apple Event making some dramatic reveal already…
Well, in all fairness I was taking a shot at Netflix and the streaming services in general; though I knew Apple was looking for content it didn’t occur to me they might enter the industry in this league.
Just goes to show how fast and fundamentally things can change in the right set of circumstances; also in our own corner of fandom. A mere decade ago all suggestions of a studio takeover - let alone a takeover by Silicon Valley or the Internet giants - would have been met with a furious backlash by a large part of the fanbase.
Today, after several long gaps, shaky reception of some productions and an actor most likely at the end of his tenure with 007, the talk about possible major changes in the franchise seems to be welcome enough with many fans, even those of my generation.
Speaking of that, I am probably too old to embrace the idea of marketing the “Bond universe” to a broader extent.
I´m all okay with all the Bond films being available through streaming platforms yada yada yada, and I am all for a major cash resolve funding Bond films with budgets that make the films… well… more independent from those moneycrunchers who for example nixed the original idea of the big (and potentially fantastic) SPECTRE finale.
But do I really want to see an expanded universe of Bond characters interacting in other films and TV?
I want more Bond films, that´s all. Like… every two years.
But does anybody listen to me? Naw, didn´t think so.
I don’t think it would necessarily mean a shared or expanded Bond-verse if a studio took over. Warner, supposedly still the frontrunner, is just all but admitting they don’t know how to do it and rather pursue the more traditional approach with their DC branch. And Netflix’s recent Defenders series apparently shows it’s damn tricky and may as such appeal more to the hardcore fans than the casual ones.
But what I could see happening might be that period adaptation miniseries many fans hope for. This is something which would have potential beyond hardcore fans since the pitch would be to show “the real Bond as imagined by Fleming” ™ ©. Not the entire run, just LALD for a start, then maybe MOONRAKER.