This.
A (highly unlikely) return of Campbell would mean more of the same old same old and further dwelling in the past. Hardly a signal for a fresh approach and a start into a bright future.
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coughMerzcoughā¦
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Well there is ONE guy who realy Ćs that fit, Mick Jagger and he is 81, but unfortunately he isnāt a director.
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Well, doing it for a few hours per show is definitely less stressful than a year of nervewrecking 20 hour workdaysā¦
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But itās not completely normal either, right? I mean, as an 81 year old, jumping, dancing and running for more than two hours while singing around twenty songs in a row?
I donāt think I can just keep that up and Iām 56.
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I remember German weekly Der Spiegel having suspicions about Jaggerās & the Stonesā general fitness and badmouthing sideways from their culture section about possible lip-syncing/acting at their Voodoo Lounge Tour - that was back in 1994ā¦
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Iām getting drowsy just from reading about it.
There are ageing rock stars who still perform vigorously, like Springsteen at 75.
Of course, these guys have their nutritionists, personal trainers, therapists etc to keep them in perfect shape.
Jagger, with his heart operation and his history of um, consumption, is definitely a miracle. Richards even more soā¦
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They sued them ofcourse.
And I can testify after listening to many bootlegs I have from that tour that no concert sounded the same and there are also too many mistakes and completely botched guitar intros that it could have been pre-recorded.
Still I love them to death.
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I do place both his Bond movies highly - Casino Royale would be my favourite Bond movie - and I do adore The Mask Of Zorro, but I agree that this is the point that needs new blood. Craigās run was brilliant but the series needs to change from that if it wants Bond 7 to succeed.
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May 25th 1990, the night before the Rolling Stones concert in Frankfurt (Steel Wheels / Urban Jungle). Got my ticket weeks ago and meet a schoolmate at a party. He had two tickets and couldnāt go. I urged two other friends to buy them (for the hefty sum of 59 Marks ā about 30 Euros). I said: guys, these are old men, who knows if we ever get the chance to see them again. 
We still laugh about it today, but they never had any regrets.
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Supposedly, around the time Jagger and Carla Bruni were an item - also roughly 30 years in the past by now - Jagger at least was already living significantly slower and cleaner. Having tea and taking pics of old churches for a hobby instead of clubbing. 
That was a STEAL! 
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You canāt even buy a Stones T-shirt at a concert for 30 euro anymore.
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Iām not saying Iām for Martin Campbell but if a then 85 year old Ridley Scott can film Napoleon and Gladiator II in an 18 month period I certainly wouldnāt count him out by age.
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Iād say Scott does what he wants and how he wants it. Pretty different from a blockbuster by committee, with the expectations riding on Bond.
I think Martin Campbell wants to go out on a truly high note. Not many repeated Bond alumni get to do that. In my opinion, the fresher the faces, both in front and behind the camera, the better.
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Sidenote speaking of the Stones and Jagger: that Slow Horses tune proves what a shame it is the Stones never did a Bond song.
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Nobodyās going to check out from a bad Bond.
And what happens when an āex-fanā gets wind of good reviews on a new Bond? Stay away?
Iām not worried.
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While I made the same observation, Iām undecided how much of this is due to the natural inherent ebb and flow of the series - any series? - perhaps magnified by the changing customs and attitudes our media environment brought with it over the past two decades. As opposed to the specific quality or perceived lack thereof.
What I mean is, that first generation of fans from the couple of early films oftentimes felt alienated by the direction after THUNDERBALL. Some of them gave up on the series even before Connery dropped out - and at times didnāt come back. Theyāve been replaced by others who didnāt mind the change, welcomed it even.
Thatās been a more or less constant development over 60 years, at times reinforced by the change of actors. And those few fans who have been on board for the entire duration no doubt had to have a certain tolerance for the pendulumās deflection. From a certain point onwards itās no longer the same series one fell in love with in oneās youth.
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I suspect fandom too went through a transformation. With the vast majority of the fans now falling into the ācasualā bracket not taking it overly seriously; also being in some form or other fan of numerous different, overlapping franchises. These folks mainly interact on social media on various levels and often just with likes or few comments. When so many things demand attention time and effort spent on a specific topic become sparse.
The more invested fraction of fans often became content creators themselves, with channels on YouTube or TikTok. There can still be some interaction, but the mainline objective is to create clicks and comments. The nature of these responses neednāt be positive to make it worth the while.
The latter is an environment - a business actually - that hasnāt been possible in this way 20 years ago. In between are the fans whose interest is going beyond the superficial and whose intent is focused somewhere between learning and sharing, discussing various facets of Bond that arenāt explored in this depth elsewhere.
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When thereās a new film people always come back.
But the hard core is, I agree, also getting smaller.
And from my highly representative questioning of young relatives (most grew up with Brosnan on DVD and Craig in the cinema) Bond is something they like but do not prefer to other āaction heroesā (yes, thatās the lot they group him with). They āprobablyā stream a new film or go to the cinema āif itās really goodā (friends or rotten tomatoes have to say so). But they do not consider Bondā¦ umā¦ relevant anymore.
Thanks BB, for questioning your brandās relevance for the last two decades. It worked. Can we do the same for right wing extremists now?
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