Must admit I wasn’t up to speed on Rhythm Section and its woes. That and the MGM woes does sound to make rather a pickle.
Good luck to them.
For my part, I wouldn’t be expecting any news before the summer. Plenty of time.
Seriously can’t wait until Bond is in completely different hands than it is in at the moment. A different studio and a different production house could really do wonders for the property at this point.
Nice work on going to the source. Curious about that response. Not so much the content, but the phrasing. As to TRS, they probably were expecting to be wrapping production by now but…
I like to think that the ducks are in a row for distribution and a director and they’re just waiting or had planned to make an announcement, but the delay on TRS has them more focused on maintaining the project. Also, as speculated here, there’s certainly a first draft that’s getting it’s second pass. Ideally I’d like some news sooner, but, as April will mark the 65th anniversary of the publication of CR, maybe that will be when we hear something. Just a notion.
The difference here: a successor to CR was an inevitable and pre-publicized project.
BOND 25 is not a necessary CraigBond film, only an entity that would bring cash flow to MGM.
At this point I wonder if mass audiences actually are yearning for another Bond film. Sure, they would go and see it. But the excitement seems to be gone and divided up between all the other big franchises who regularly capture the audiences´ fancy.
I do suspect that BOND 25 will proceed, and the PR machinery will gear up and the big opening weekend with good repeat business might happen. But I doubt that audiences will latch on to this film with the eagerness the series needs for the future.
Granted, the longer a main actor stays in the role the less excitement the films generated. It all becomes a been there, done that - the bus that can be missed because another one will come anyway.
But can this relaxed point of view still be applied to today’s overcrowded market?
I must admit: unless EON pulls off BOND 25 most effectively I also would welcome a big change behind the scenes, putting someone in charge who really wants to do these films. Regularly. Not distracted by other projects.
Mind you, the state of things as they are, with the lamentable extended gap yet again, is also the result of a long running streak of bad luck and unexpected turnouts: they went into SPECTRE no doubt believing Craig would stay; by the time production wrapped up it looked as if it was Craig’s last. They expected SPECTRE to outdo SKYFALL critically and financially; then it struggled to get close and wasn’t the hit with critics. They expected MGM to sign a distribution deal within months; years later it’s still not finalised, not for golden goose Bond at least. They had a favourite director in mind, maybe also an idea how to include BOND 25 into that director’s schedule; then a major production disappointed and financiers will be weary to hand over the BOND 25 budget. They flexed their production muscles with a modest genre production to branch out and expand their portfolio; then their star injures herself and suddenly there’s a gap of several months in the schedule of that production.
If any single one of these events had turned out differently I have no doubt BOND 25 would have been tackled sooner. They - Eon - didn’t plan to have things the way they got them on their plate now. They simply have to deal with it.
True. I’m playing Devil´s Advocate a lot recently.
Still, I believe that EON gave Craig and Mendes too much power.
Of course, SKYFALL´s mega success facilitated that. But Mendes did say after SKYFALL that he would not want to return. Instead of courting him and waiting too long, they should have gone for the next A-lister and get the machine running again. And when Craig soured after SPECTRE they should have said: okay, it was great while it lasted.
This stop-and-go with Craig will also have complicated the distribution deal because, of course, there is only one more CraigBond guaranteed and then a new actor has to be found anyway. So, why did they wait for Craig?
I give EON a lot of credit for everything they have done. But with all the branching out and doing other films it seems to me EON´s heart is no longer in Bond the way Cubby´s heart was. And that’s what troubles me.
I’m sure they’re still well aware of Bonds enourmous tent pole value.
The radio silence is more likely about not getting the director they wanted.
And with TRS issues there’s little for them to announce all round.
I’m pretty amazed there was a response given at all! That’s cool. In any event, we’ll get there in the end. At least we have MI Fallout to satiate our need for a spy fix.
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"There is no substitute."
GoldenEye teaser poster, 1995
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Yeah, that’s the best mindset to have. The doom and gloom vibe gets tiresome after a while.
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Oh god, i’ve created a monster…
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Well done, Sir.
A definitive answer at last. Nolan NOT directing Bond 25
Edit - beaten to it.
Looks like we can rule Nolan out of contention…
Good find! So, on to the next one.
I’m at something of a loss for words. So who on earth HAVE they got lined up?? I can’t think of any big name director for the gig now.