Isn’t Turner too old? He’s 36, which would normally be ideal, but I believe they’re skewing younger this time, late 20’s to early 30’s.
A dwarf and two women was probably the most revolutionaty choice.
You are no stranger to big IP. But when it comes to taking on something like James Bond, what are you most looking forward to as a producer, and what are you most nervous about?
I’m most afraid of fucking it up, because it’s really easy to do. It’s been done pretty damn well for many, many, many decades. I think you work really hard. That’s how you do it. You really get into the weeds of something and study it to understand what makes it great, and what Ian Fleming meant it to be. And try to learn from Barbara [Broccoli], who I watched produce a lot of Bond movies, and was lucky enough to be there for some of them.
Where are you all in the process right now? Is there a script?
We are really early on.
At least she seems have the right mind and spirit for it and want to make it realy good. That ís something, right?
The problem lies there…you should not try and learn from Barbara but from Cubby and Harry
She’s just showing respect to a woman she worked with. Odds of her doing the same are nil.
The basic PR-lines will all be the same drivel „respect what has come before so much“, „work so hard“, „Fleming Fleming Fleming“…
What else should they say anyway?
I think it hits a bit different when it’s coming from someone who actually was a part of what had come before and had a hand in a quite successful era of Bond films that started out by going back to Fleming’s original work.
As i see alot of angry typing online against NTTD claiming it was the worst Bond film EVAR (despite the fact it got very good reviews and made more money than a film released just out of covid lockdown should have)
I do get BB and MGW jumping ship.
“We are far too old for the age of weaponised nostalgia”
I suppose once one accepts the fact the Craig run constitutes its own mini-Bond-verse - as most fans did, certainly by the time of SKYFALL but actually right from CASINO ROYALE‘s first few frames - it’s inevitable they were going to wrap it up in some way. SPECTRE did it with ambiguity, NO TIME TO DIE provided closure with the (empty) coffin lid. But in all fairness, it was clear from the start that would be the most controversial decision they ever made.
Perhaps another way to look at it is to accept they were doing what they felt was right for their character, whether we agree with it or not. They don’t set out to make a bad Bond film no more than any of us would. And no matter how ecstatic we wax about one film, there’s always a chance the next one will not agree with us at all. Such is life; only complaining about it with the same non-argument helps. It’s a fact, that’s why people do it for thousands of times.
The WORST EVAR crowd, a.k.a. IT SUCKS DONKEY B###S crowd, is loud and, well, limited in their taste and ability to express it.
Sign of the times.
Why is NTTD now the scapegoat for their frustrations? Uh, Bond is a father! And he dies! Harharhar!
While I would have preferred him to live (and do so in a less complicated story), WORST or even INCOMPETENT are two words which just cannot be applied to this film.
As a film - as opposed to specifically a Bond film - NO TIME TO DIE is remarkably entertaining considering its runtime. It could probably profit from shedding 30 to 40 minutes on the cutting room floor, but it moves a lot slicker than a number of shorter films. And it feels considerably more rounded and seamless than SPECTRE. Of course, having Bond living out his days on an island as fisherman with a wife and a kid but minus his memory would be more in line with the source. But that would have meant entirely a different story.
How good is NTTD? Well, everybody can have his own opinion. But I don´t understand the a..ehole move and kill Bond at the end…it still says Ian Fleming´s James Bond on the title, and this guy lives out his days as a fisherman…on an island…with no memory…it´s like Babs and DC wanted to destroy the toy before they gave it to someone else
But actually the toy is still there, still unharmed. Hardly scratched even, which is remarkable in light of its use over time. If it was damaged Amazon wouldn’t have bothered buying it, no? And if Amazon should actually fail to produce a successful Bond film in the future I don’t think we can pin that to Eon for ‘killing’ Bond. That was just a stunt within the Craig-verse and has no relevance outside that context.
It’s even been pitched on our and various other platforms long before. Nobody ever seriously thought they’d go for it - but if they did it was clear Bond wouldn’t stay dead because there’s still money to be made with him. That’d be the only thing that could end the franchise, if there’s no more to earn with a new film.
Don’t let them get you down. I have faith, but Bond 26 has its work cut out casting a Bond as good as Craig and making a film as good as NTTD. It’s holding up well for me.
Production-wise, sure No Time To Die was made pretty well. The cinematography is pretty good, although I find there are parts that are pretty dark that make it hard to see sometimes. Also, the first half through Cuba is entertaining, particularly those with Ana De Armas, but as soon as we leave Cuba, it’s all downhill from there. And, as a result, (IMO) it makes NTTD the worst film of the series–and it’s not even close.
I find NTTD is the most un-Bondian film of the series. Bond allows himself to die rather than fighting and trying to overcome his situation, which is a core element of his character. And he (and everyone else) just takes Q’s word for it that the nanobot virus is incurable. And even if that is the situation at that moment, who’s to say that with more research it might not be in the near future. On top of that, Daniel Craig acts more like Daniel Craig than he does James Bond after the Cuba scenes. Then, of course, they have to keep up that ridiculous foster brother angle. And to top it all off Lyutsifer Safin is hands down, easily the worst villain in the series, and he basically gets the credit out of ALL the other better, cooler, and more dangerous henchman and villains to kill Bond? It’s beyond ridiculous.
Why EON decided to go the (as Dustin called it “stunt”) route of killing off their beloved hero particularly in the way they did, knowing they would likely piss off half their audience is unfathomable to me. They clearly wanted Craig back, and we now know this was the only way to get him. They were obviously creatively burned out (which is proven by their lack of movement post-NTTD and their eventual sale to Amazon) so they went to the well one last time to work with Craig and kill Bond off rather than sell at that time. I imagine it probably was a bit cathartic for Barbara Broccoli (not sure about Michael G. Wilson) to kill off (and then sell) Bond which allowed her to move on to other projects she desired to do. All fine and well and good for her, but not for the many of us fans who strongly supported the series over the years and feel betrayed for how NTTD wound up. Obviously, those that liked the movie don’t have that problem or those feelings, but for those of us who do, it’s a very bitter pill to swallow.
So yes, NTTD is the worst film in the series for me. In fact, it’s the ONLY one I do not like. Interestingly, when NTTD got released on DVD, I showed my parents the movie without telling them anything about it, and they wound up HATING it even more than I did.
I accepted the Craig era as it’s own timeline from the beginning, and was willing to roll with most everything (except the foster brother angle–at the VERY LEAST they didn’t make them actual brothers) but to kill off Bond in the way they did, it can’t help but harm his tenure both in his portrayal (his negative Bond comments don’t help there either) and his films for me. I’ve lost a lot of enjoyment from his run (outside Casino Royale) and I don’t know if I’ll ever get it back. Before NTTD, he was a strong Bond–#4 in my rankings–clearly ahead of the bottom two. Now, after NTTD, he’s #6 and four of his films are in my bottom 10. His run is easily my least favorite.
I look forward to a return to the spirit of the first five 007s. Hopefully, Amazon can give us that–and a great new James Bond #7. ![]()
Returning to the thread‘s title: who do I actually want for Bond 7?
I have to admit, for the first time during a recasting phase I have no idea or wish at all.
Those actors young enough to take over for at least a decade do not strike me as Bond material.
And those actors who do are not young enough anymore.
As for Jacob Elordi, he is a terrific actor. But even when they try to hide his size, as I recently saw in Paul Schrader‘s very interesting „Oh, Canada“, there will come a shot in which it is impossible. And even with him crouching forward leaning against a door you see how tall he is.
That is not a problem in other roles. But you can’t have Bond towering over his opponents, and casting tall people all around him will be very difficult.
Nothing wrong with hating it - we don’t have to love everything they throw at us - and the reasons you gave are at least comprehensively argued. The question is, are we willing to let a finale we don’t agree with sully the rest of the Craig run? If that’s what it does for you then there’s your answer already.
In a wider context, is a Bond that behaves like an ordinary human character - in spite of all the superhuman traits on display - still Bond? Is a Bond film that lets the hero sacrifice himself not perhaps already too far gone into drama territory? Each viewer has to find their own answer to this, maybe repeatedly even.
I’m likewise clueless who I’d prefer. Evidently a lot depends on what direction they will take but at the moment I only feel Callum Turner might be the most likely choice. More from a business perspective than anything else I could point at in his performance.
It won’t be Cavill, who also seems to rule himself out now due to age. I’ve never really been swept up in the hype of him being Bond, with his general acting style, Superman baggage and body type. I don’t think it would be this great missed opportunity. A younger unknown is more likely and would be the better option.
I never actually had a problem with Cavill’s built in his roles as Superman and Geralt - until that restroom fight in MI: FALLOUT made him look weirdly beefy. Compare to that the similar fight in CASINO ROYALE, even with Craig bulked up to the rafters. It will always take some careful handling to make Cavill look like Bond instead of like a heavy. I think even Guy Ritchie struggled somewhat with framing him properly.