News on NO TIME TO DIE (no spoilers)

Yes I think this was such a shame. They should have stuck with Quantum as the sinister organisation for Craig’s run and kept SPECTRE and Blofeld on ice for his successor. One of the big reasons Blofeld is iconic was the build up in the previous films. I would love to have Blofeld back as just a pair of hands on a cat before he is properly introduced.

All very intriguing. The Waltz stuff could be a ploy. Not uncommon for a major villain to orchestrate plots and schemes while incarcerated. Especially Blofeld even from some remote MI6 black op cell. Another option is if Bellucci returns. I’ve always suspected there was more to her character and involvement than a five minutes of screen time cameo.

I always believe there’s a game plan with Eon, but being able to bring Spectre back into the scene and wanting to wrap a full story arc around it has snowballed on them and, as stated by a few here, they’ve painted themselves into a corner, but, with Craig’s last bit, there’s a way to complete this mural without it looking like a Pollack piece gone wrong. At least I hope so.

MGW once stated that, as far as Bond’s background went, it was simply highly ranked BSS agent, former Navy Commander, orphaned and simply a “man from nowhere who gets the job done”. Hopefully, we can get back to that with Bond #7 in Bond 26.

I believe Waltz will be back but will there have to be another villain to sell the film?

Perhaps They’ll do a FYEO type Blofeld scene.

EON may have painted themselves into a corner but with four years between Spectre and Bond 25 they’ve had plenty of time for the paint to dry.

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It would be great if we could somehow go back to the days of mystery with the filmmaking process. Sure, it would be annoying for fans scrambling to know details, but in the long run, it’d be worth it. We don’t have to watch them, but I think there are too many trailers these days. We have trailers advertising trailers. Too much is shown or already known before we sit down. After the majority SPECTRE’s plot was leaked, it’d be nice if they managed to create Bond 25 with as much secrecy as you can in the age of the internet.

Ah yes, the good old days when we fans gleaned only what was printed in magazines like Starlog, Empire, Prevue and Cinema and the occasional behind the scenes segment on morning national TV shows, or speculation at comic/genre conventions when maybe…MAYBE…someone had a few pages of a shooting script. Good times… Which have passed.

Maybe that should be the way it’s done now. Cold war tactics. Disinformation and subterfuge. Decoys and double cross countermeasures. But, that just ain’t the world anymore. I recently re-watched the documentary on the Dark Knight trilogy and dug the extremes Nolan and crew went to by going low tech.

C’mon Eon… Surprise us.

Of course they could always go the GoldenEye route and put the big twist in the trailers.

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Or Dr No which has one trailer on the DVD the shows every beat of the film - it’s basically the whole film in less than 3 minutes.

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I would not be surprised if Waltz was completely taken by surprise by that question and fumbled his way around it, the way he did before when he avoided saying he´s Blofeld and insisted that his character was named Franz Oberhauser.

Didn’t you know a sound bite grabbed whilst shouting to be heard on a red carpet for a different movie is both gospel AND legally binding?

:sunglasses:

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He didn’t badmouth EON. He merely criticized QoS.

Sources are unclear whether Bond 25 will be included in this deal.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/mgm-returns-to-film-distribution-with-annapurna-partnership/2017/10/31/2e1a00e0-be61-11e7-9294-705f80164f6e_story.html?utm_term=.ad94a230191e

I can’t imagine Bond NOT being part of the deal. Who wants MGM without Bond?

So, after all the rumours which made me think that a distributor had already been found and therefore another reason caused the release in 2019 - this seems to be it.

MGM again.

They want to distribute again. And it all had to be sorted out because, let´s face it, MGM has been in shambles for many years, and BOND is their only real ticket to success. So, naturally, Bond was saddled with all this drama.

If this deal works out I wonder how the distribution will be handled.

Warner Bros and MGM are teaming up to distribute Creed 2 and Tomb Raider next year. I saw some speculation that Annapurna will distribute MGM’s indie films and dramas while studios like Warner Bros will release MGM’s blockbusters. Bond would fall under the later.

Personally I wish one of the larger studios would just but MGM outright and be done with it. MGM is the zombie of films studios. It’s basically dead yet some how stumbles along year after year.

Until MGM can get their act together, the Bond series will continue to suffer with these constant delays and the like.

As much as many fans want to blame EON and / or Craig for the irregular releases of the Craig era, the fact remains that much of it was caused by MGM in some form or another.

A return to a consistent (ideally two-year) release schedule will not happen with Bond #7, unless MGM either sells their share or gets their act together.

It is really interesting the wording. I think Waltz may have been told my EON that it’s a tradition for Blofeld to have different actors playing him. It makes sense when you look at actor availability. Or if they felt, like Waltz himself did, that he didn’t quite get the character right?

I initially read Waltz’s words this way too. My only reservation is that the continuity and ‘realism’ they’ve striven for with Craig suggests that they’d keep Waltz if the Blofeld story was to continue with Craig. Having 25 pick up after 24, but with a different Blofeld would be mighty odd in the Craig-verse.

I suspect now that they’re cutting their losses and going for a self contained story to send Craig out with a bang, rather than risking another tepid reception by continuing with something they so royally cocked up in that final act.

Also, a new director may not want to be burdened with Mendes’ baggage.

It’s a shame as Spectre sets up an OHMSS pre-titles followed by YOLT/Shatterhand rather well. Guess that’s looking to risky for Eon to push for - especially if they’re trying to sell the movie to a new studio.

So, if she can´t say anything she will be in it? I would LOVE that.

I won’t get my hopes up, but yes, it would be fantastic if she returned. She may just have been playful with her comment. Who knows?