When did we start being pessimistic?
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My neighborâs dog could have told us that. Well done.
Interesting to see that apparently, the lack of substantial progress didnât have to do only with Eonâs reluctance or their alleged disinterest in Bond.
Amazon:
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I really did not mean my comment to be pessimistic. Just realistic.
To be fair - this is the way studios operate, even more so now than in earlier times.
And as Stromberg said: the chase to meet a release date, with all the âlay down the tracks while the train is already runningâ-chaos that EON was criticized for again and again, will now suck in Amazon in exactly the same way.
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Fair questions both.
For me this goes two ways, overlapping in a Venn diagram with BOND 26 in the middle. On the one hand thereâs the entertainment industry with its various risks and tectonic shifts it faces, big money, oligarchs trying to get into a pole position for a market nobody can say for sure what it may look like in five, 10 or 15 years. Amazon picking up MGM, then buying out Broccoli is only one move in a much bigger picture. Shocking but not truly unexpected because only one player can keep control of that ship in the coming age (thatâs not going to be one for careful balance, we likely all can see).
Then thereâs BOND 26 specifically. Had SPECTRE been the last film it would already have been a hard task. With NO TIME TO DIE though the stakes have been upped several notches and at least for EON House there was no obvious clear path to follow. Otherwise BOND 26 might already be history now, even with significant differences between production partners. Eon has done that kind of juggling act time and again over the years. With varying artistic results, but always commercially successful, in spite of fan accusations of flogging a dead horse.
With Amazon taking over many of us hope for renewed inspiration and badly needed fresh creativity. We all want to see a successful Bond film, even those of us that declared the series dead numerous times already. And Amazon wants to deliver a smashing big success that puts Bond back on the map. They just seem to find out that wanting isnât enough and the creative work takes more effort over longer distances. Itâs not as easy as many seem to expect.
The difficulty here is how to actually judge whatâs going on. With the Eon era we had a particular way of doing things and knew what to expect when and in what sequence. Currently we have two guardedly optimistic personal decisions with Pascal and Heyman and one possible bummer if reports are true that Cuaron isnât going to be involved. Other than that, we know nothing.
This little ânewsâ item is neither fish nor fowl since it doesnât tell us anything one couldnât already guess. And it gets Flemingâs birth date wrong. So itâs not easy to see what we ought to be optimistic about in these lines, that they have a release date before literally anything else a production would need - or the fact that itâs likely all cooked up nonsense by the intern too lazy to google Ian Fleming?
I remain generally optimistic about BOND 26 as I think itâs a chance for a different vision. Not doing everything differently, but certainly some things. And that may hold up, may attract new fans and bring back old ones. Fingers crossed for that. Actual news to be optimistic about would be very welcome.
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And that seems to be something the euphoria surrounding a new studio taking over made many disregard: the reality that old problems carried over. Otherwise a new star, a new director a new script and a clear plan forward would have been here already.
Indeed. And I hope there will be those soon.
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There has been news to be optimistic about. Weâre going to get a fresh creative approach for the first time in thirty years. That could end up being worse than before, but until that actually happens, I think itâs something to be optimistic about. Theyâve also put two producers in charge of this thing that are very capable, one of which was instrumental in delivering audiences Daniel Craig and Casino Royale back in the day. Thatâs worth being optimistic about, as we have someone on board to work on this film that does have experience bringing a hit Bond film, and a terrific Bond actor, to audiences. Until Amazon actually does something thatâs detrimental to the Bond brand, Iâm going to choose to be optimistic about what theyâre doing because, so far, Iâm on board with everything that has actually been announced.
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A lot of it will come down to the casting of Bond. Heâs the centre of everything.
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I was going to point that out. Itâs actually May 28, so the supposed release date for Bond 26 is actually eight days before Ian Flemingâs 119th birthday. Doesnât quite have the same ring to it that a 120th birthday does. Oh well. Why let facts get in the way of a good story?
Regardless, May 20, 2027, seems like a solid release date, and I hope that turns out to be the case for Bond 26.
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Problem is: end of May will be very competitive with blockbusters.
The choice to put Bond into late fall was made because of that.
And there is still the unanswered question of the time an Amazon Bond film can remain in theaters before becoming part of the streaming portfolio.
I guarantee you: if they stick to May, they wonât be able to hold on to the choice theatres overcrowded with other and bigger IP films. The same goes for IMAX.
And if the film is not a juggernaut from the start it will be dropped into smaller theatres and then quickly disappear onto streaming.
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Although, the film slate nowadays is not what it was six years ago, and the quality of films are not as good as they used to be eitherâcertainly not the amount of them.
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It has always been mostly decided by the bigger studio and the bigger movie.
Remember Tarantino getting into a fight with Disney because they wanted to book Star Wars: The Force Awakens into L.A.âs Cinerama, breaking that theatreâs contract with the Tarantino crew, threatening the theatre even with otherwise never again giving them their films.
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Stick to the Fall. It was a good move in '95 and has done well minus the summer onslaught with a crowded marketplace.
My birthday is late November and Bondâs always been a welcome present. 
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Iâd prefer they stick to the end of the year, but Iâm aware my reason is all the Bond films in my lifetime have been around November.
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I actually discovered Bond as THE summer blockbuster entertainment - but then Bond was the big thing in cinemas - 1977, 1979 - and the films were running well until autumn.
Today itâs probably vitally important to have a slot booked (relatively) exclusively and generate the best possible opening. One assumes thatâs simply more likely in the chillier months. Might be a good idea for Amazon to play it safe with BOND 26 and save the stunts with the release for when theyâve established their Bond.
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Slightly calling bull, but theres 3 i wouldnât say no to. Nolan the younger would be good, his work doesnât exactly hide his love for Bond - and he made the filming schedule for Westworld season 3 entirely so Jeffery Wright could reprise Felix.
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I would choose Wright (Edgar), simply because he has a bigger sense of humour, is a fanboy, knows how to balance action with character and would make a great mix of old and new Bond.
Brother Nolan has, judging from his output, no sense of humour but goes heavy on the portentous.
Villeneuve is quite similar, although his visual sense is magnificent.
Berger - yes, after âConclaveâ I am a fan.
The others, I donât know.
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Nolan, Wright, and Berger were the ones who jumped out at me.
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I saw this article earlier and couldnât find any source , Iâm pretty sure this will have to be taken with a grain of salt
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Here is apparently where it originated, though there is a firewall. I am unfamiliar with Puck as a news source.
https://puck.news/the-mail-room-bond-movie-directors-blumhouses-saw-deal-apples-post-f1-strategy/
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I will say Nolan does already have a working relationship with Amazon, both his last two series being there.
Person of Intrest rather than anything hes done since would suggest he could be a good fit.
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