News on NO TIME TO DIE (no spoilers)

That would be great!

It’s not unpresidented in the Bond canon that she could a different character (eg. Maud Adams), though I hope we’re past the days of such discombobulating recycling of actors.

If she does star with Craig as the mafia widow they’ll be continuity with Spectre and if she’s Bond’s main squeeze they’ll need to write Swann out of it, perhaps a death or a low separation exposited by M, as Fleming would sometimes do.

And if not the return of Blofeld, then perhaps Largo!? Unless they recast Blofeld but that would be odd in the Craig era… unless they employ a hokey plastic surgery line to explain his total change in appearance.

It would definitely rectify one of Mendes´ mistakes: underusing actresses who are not Judi Dench.

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:smile: Indeed.

Although i found the seduction scene with Bellucci cringeworthy, thanks to the too on the nose dialogue, i thought the lead up to that, in which Bond silently shoots the 2 assassins before walking into focus beside her, all to the strains of Vivaldi’s Nisi Dominus to be the highlight of the movie.

With a lessor presence than Bellucci i doubt the scene would’ve played out quite so powerfully. Give me that for the whole duration and i’ll be a very happy fellow.

I would love her to return. It just felt like there should have been more there, as though her character’s story was barely getting started. She deserves a stronger presence in another film.

Absolutely - the way Mendes frames and stages the shooting of the assassins is brilliant.

But I also like the way he directs Craig in the seduction scene. The “impeccable instincts”-line is wonderfully delivered.

Bellucci, however, is not given the same quality of dialogue. And Mendes does not know what to do with her, except letting her be forced against the mirror or later positioning her on the bed as a trophy. A stellar actress like Bellucci would have deserved a different way to be seduced and to react after the seduction.

I sincerely hope there was a bigger idea behind all this: Bellucci only playing the damsel in distress, manipulating Bond and turning up to be, yes, Irma Bunt in BOND 25, the real force behind Spectre who let “little Blofeld” act out his brother-complex while she was guiding a much bigger scheme.

I would love it if Bellucci had a scene with Bond in which she went from her heavily accented English to perfect posh British English, switching to American English and other accents, just to show Bond how much he had underestimated her.

(By the way: I do enjoy the funeral scene between Craig and Bellucci as well, a real highlight of the film - “Can´t you see I´m grieving?” - “No.”)

I would love this version, as I was okay with Bonds surrogate brother as a villain, and with a villain masterminding all we’d seen, but them being one and the same is where I had issue - though as they never used the brother thing to move the plot along I let it slide, as he did still have to work the investigation, not just happen to know something about Oberhausen that took us to the next act.

Here’s where they could use the ‘code name theory’: whoever is in command of SPECTRE automatically goes by the name of E.S. Blofeld. Remember when Nick Fury would knock off SHIELD’s nemesis, only for him to be replaced by 'the Imperial Hydra ’ or ‘the Supreme Hydra’, etc?

I agree, that short 5 minutes leading up to the killing of the two assassins was the absolute highlight of the film (beyond the pre-title sequence). Only wish the rest of the film would have taken the same path.

There seems to be some reoccurring rumors around Belucci, a mother with a son, Felix Leiter returning and so on. Given the Craig era’s focus on continuity, there may be some credibility to Belucci returning, with a child (Bond’s?), with Felix in tow (he did indeed tell Belucci to get in contact with him). If so one must suspect that SPECTRE are still in the picture, perhaps trying to track her down due to her knowledge of something or someone. Blofeld may not be the main villain or an active participant in the film, but SPECTRE could still play a major role just with another villain. EON and Craig have also played homage to the Connery (and to some extent Moore) films. Craig has always said his films are almost like a prequel to the Connery movies, introducing a backstory to characters and so on. So the film could end with Blofeld escaping (perhaps in exchange for saving Belucci and her child), or a backstory for another character (we know they toyed around with introducing Irma Bunt into SPECTRE, why not now?), maybe even a direct link to Doctor No.

And there´ s this: https://screenrant.com/bond-25-director-denis-villeneuve/

100% right, Bellucci is wasted.

It felt like stunt casting to me - getting the big name Bellucci in Bond, without a inkling of just how really great she’d be with Craig.

I also love the funeral scene and you’re right, the ‘grieving’ line is the film’s best.

I’m sure Eon and Mendes et al are now equally bemused that they didn’t do more with Bellucci, hence talk of her reappearing. Personally i think they missed the boat, really and i wouldn’t be that keen on retrofitting her character into Bunt, but they could do a lot worse.

I suspect she’ll either be the messenger that informs Bond that he’s top of Spectre’s hit list, or more likely after the killing of Swann, Bond turns to Bellucci to garner info on Spectre.

Blofeld was his Oberhausen’s mother’s maiden name.

So it’s down to Mackenzie and Demange! Think i’d prefer Mackenzie; Hell or High Water was very good, but it’s Starred Up that really showcases his talents imo.

I find it interesting that both of these directors have made movies starring the excellent young actor Jack O’Connell (Starred Up and '71).

If it wasn’t for his 5 and half feet height i’d say he was a shoe in for Bond, should he want it. But if Mackenzie or Demange do a second Bond after Craig, i’d imagine they’d insist on at least an audition for O’Connell. And being such a gifted actor that may be all he needs to convince Babs the extra few inches aren’t necessary.

Anyhow, back to Viilinueve - i wouldn’t be surprised if Craig hung on for Bond 26 if it meant working with Villinueve and Deakins.

A lot of misplaced faith in the producers/scriptwriters here, I think. Bringing Bellucci back would be brilliant, especially if it turned out she was a SPECTRE heavy-hitter or Bunt, but this won’t happen. Too clever a move by far. The Oberhauser-Blofeld reveal was ham-fisted, I doubt they’ll proceed down this path.

And now that Villeneuve is out of the running- a poor move since Dune is going to flop, just like 2049 did at the box office- which ‘prestige’ directors do we have left we can turn to? Nolan is an unlikely candidate for Bond 25. Mackenzie and Demenge aren’t ‘big’ enough for my liking, despite liking Starred Up. Haven’t seen HOHW.

I really hope the director announcement blows our minds. I think they have a surprise up their sleeves in this department. The 25th James Bond film and Craig’s final one? It has to be someone of the highest calibre.

Demange has his first crime thriller on the way, White Boy Rick, about an FBI informant with a great cast.

It’s out in January, so perhaps the delay in announcing a director is down to this release date. It makes sense that Eon would want to see this movie first and how well it’s received before making a decision.

As a NFoSI (No Fan of Spectre, I) I’m beyond underwhelmed at the idea of Bellucci returning. I don’t feel strongly either way about her as an actress, but more to the point, there’s nothing compelling about her character that somehow warrants her return (unless it’s a Sylvia Trench homage). And because I’m NFoSI, I’d rather Bond 25 has absolutely nothing to do with that film other than the fact that 007 and whatever is necessary from MI6 are in it.

The one thing that DC’s era of (forced) sequels has been inconsistent about at best, has been the recurrence of characters/actors. Jeffrey Wright’s Felix (who to be fair I would like to see return) underwritten in QoS; Renee Mathis’ death in the same film upset a great majority on these boards (not me per se), Mr White in SP and the photocopied return of Silva all emblematic of a film out of original ideas (again, I’m NFoSI).

Clean page, clean house, that’s my position. CR works (and this is an unfair comparison to be sure) because we’re told up front that the series is clearing the baggage. Why on earth we feel the need five films later to be bringing it along is beyond me.

Great to have some real news. Once the distributor is announced, I’m sure everything else will come shortly, hopefully starting with director.

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Very exciting hopefully we get official news by the end of the week.

Yep, this will get the ball rolling. We’ll finally have something substantial to talk about.

Bummer to hear that MGM is trying to continue marching forward on its own again. I guess we can expect another massive hiatus in the middle of the next Bond’s tenure, if not one right before it as well.

The day that MGM finally closes its doors, or sells of their stake in the franchise, will be the best thing to happen to the franchise since the Connery era.