News on NO TIME TO DIE (no spoilers)

I like the notion of production starting in late summer/early fall '18 to lighten the post production stress. As to announcements of director and distribution studio, I’d expect something after the first of the year and then the inevitable title reveal and cast press conference just prior to production.

EXCLUSIVE: Here is the news: http://bit.ly/2gxZoE1

Ben Cooke in Bond 25. No Gary Powell.

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Ben Cooke seemed an obvious one given Daniel Craig’s return, his physical resemblance deemed so good that all of Bonds in game movements in Bloodstone were done by him, though I notice he didn’t do SPECTRE, presumably because of his work as a stunt co-ordinatior taking off. Perhaps his return and Powell’s abscence are connected - Eon wanting Cooke back following the difficulties they had when Craig broke his leg, but didn’t think he’d accept anything less than co-ordinatior job now - though this is PURE speculation on my part.

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It would be really interesting to know if it’s because Powell is busy or Cooke really “stole” (I’m looking for a better word…) the job. I think it’s highly unlikely that he’ll be the stunt double too, but he seems like the obvious replacement if Powell lost EON’s goodwill.

'Earned’, perhaps!?

BREAKING: Christoph Waltz won’t return https://www.facebook.com/talkymovie/videos/490859154629767/

(Is this like the “I’m just playing Oberhauser” thing…?)

I really hope so. Was hoping Waltz might get a second chance to nail the definitive Blofeld.

It’s a question - Is this a stand alone finale or is he bluffing? Oddly, either way I’d want this answer, much rather Blofeld be a surprise if he turns up.

Great find! So Waltz is out…

Couldn’t understand exactly what he said.

Was he saying that it’s a the tradition to have a new Bond villain, or to have a new actor play Blofeld?

The latter makes the most sense, since the same actor has never played Blofeld twice. Whilst the character has obviously appeared in many bond films. Or perhaps Waltz simply doesn’t know his Bond lore very well.

Well, he denied things before - but I can imagine that EON will not want to continue the Blofeld-story… so, yeah. No more Waltz in BOND 25. Fine with me.

I wouldn’t necessarily rule out a return by Blofeld yet. They’ve flat out lied about much less obvious things (Harris isn’t playing Moneypennny comes to mind among others), so I could see the identity of the next villain, and the fact that it’s Blofeld, remaining a somewhat central part of the story, especially if they decided to attempt to adapt YOLT.

Harris denied she was playing Moneypenny…

Waltz said he was only playing a businessman named Oberhauser…

Craig said he hadn’t made up his mind on playing Bond the same day he went on Colbert…

I’m not putting a cent of stock in this news either way.

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I understand he is talking about the tradititon of a new villain…

Welcome, Irma Bunt. We were expecting you…

I take his comments with a grain of salt. Besides what was the point of spending decades trying to get the rights back to Blofeld and Spectre only to use them for one film? If they don’t use Blofeld and double down on that storyline it will be a major blunder on par with abandoning the post OHMSS storyline.

If Jesper Christensen ended up returning after badmouthing EON quite publicly, anything is possible.

My secret hope: Waltz is telling the truth because they are bringing him back for Bond 26 with Craig.

Unlikely, but a guy can dream…

I would find it strange for BOND 25 to be a stand-alone adventure, after all the tieing together of the first four films.

But maybe it will also be refreshing to get rid of the Blofeld legacy which , at least IMHO, sometimes was a drag in the early films because it was so predictable that Bond would not capture or kill Blofeld.

Maybe it´s the right way to do away with Blofeld and Spectre and focus on the future, instead of trying to get this “Blofeld & Spectre”-storyline right this time.

Very strange indeed. But then again, I think most of us expected, after CR and QoS the trilogy to be concluded in Skyfall (the story arc we were forced to believe in SPECTRE wasn’t obvious back then so it doesn’t count).
Nevertheless, very strange decision. If what Waltz is saying is true, of course.

If indeed they are going down the Shatterhand route, there is no chance Waltz will mention his involvement. He seems to pause at the “new name” point, as if he’s not sure exactly what to say.

Well, after building up Quantum as such a big deal, they basically dropped it in Skyfall, so it wouldn’t be unprecedented. EON doesn’t generally seem to work from any kind of master plan.

One of my major criticisms of the series, especially of late. EON always seems to be very reactionary with the series which was fine when the films were standalone adventures, but you really can’t do that with an overall story arch without it becoming a bit of a mess.

I’m fine if EON does go back to stand alone films starting with the next actor but with the Craig films they’ve already committed to making them one big story, so they should try to wrap it up. There’s more than enough loose ends from his films for a final movie.

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