Brosnan as an older Bond and Timothy as “M”? Could that be a dream cast?
Lesley-Ann Down as an older Bond girl and Hopkins as the main villain.
Sounds good. Old man Bond being subjected to ice cold water and flashing back to his parents and their climbing accident would be…pretty cool.
Well, quite.
Not sure Amazon have spent all this money to cling onto the past. Suspect they would want to avoid the mockery that would see any such venture labelled as OldenEye, Tomorrow Might Be Tuesday But I Lose Track (Why Have I Come Upstairs?), The Pension’s Not Enough or Die Another Day (Perhaps, Although That Cough’s Getting Worse).
What actual story is to be told about Old Bond that hasn’t already been told? Old Bond is Told Bond.
Time to get on with the future.
Brosnan pointed that out when asked…
I do like The November Man. He would have loved to make more, but the box office put a stop to that.
I cannot say how serious Amis truly was about it. But even if Glidrose had given its okay and Holmes infringement not been an issue (fair use plus share of the spoils?) it was always going to be pure fan service, at best a footnote in the feuilleton pages and likely forgotten by the next summer.
From the idea of a Bond in his 70s I suppose it may have been put forward in the 1980s when Gardner didn’t thrill Amis and possibly also meant as a jibe against him. Probably also not more than a vignette, a brief satirical skit.
This. We’ve had numerous old-ish/older heroes these last ten years, mainly because we boomers are getting there and feeling it. Bond doing this now too, after already having been brought to the inevitable with Craig, wouldn’t very likely fly with the audience Bond - and we - need: young people.
The excitement and potential of actors coming back to roles is sometimes too hard to resist. I have been swept up in the idea of a Brosnan miniseries. But truth be told nearly every time it’s happened I haven’t been satisfied, and I end up thinking it wasn’t worth it.
Michael Keaton reprising Batman and Beetlejuice are recent examples. They’re okay, but it’s just not the same. There’s power in keeping something as a treasured memory that stands alone. Everything is of its era and cannot be replicated.
It’s better to remember them as they were, because for better or worse their original run came to an end. You’re competing with nostalgic memories that have since become folklore.
Old means, unfortunately, diminished.
So, do we want to see an old Bond? Mostly fans just want to see a fantasy version which still can keep up with the young.
I didn’t know about this Amis idea in the ‘80s. Would someone like to explain about it all? Was he trying to interrupt Gardner’s run with his own (second) book?
I think he talked to Raymond Benson about it, possibly for Bondage magazine. Would have been 80s then. Somewhere on the net there ought to be more about it…
I was super excited about November Man before I saw it.
But I felt the first half was better than the second, which just devolved into an extended interrogation scene and what seemed like a hastily put together third act in which Devereaux - who had earlier decreed that no agent should have relationships or family ties - has a daughter.
The scene, too, in which he stabs Mason’s girlfriend (who we never see again) made him seem like a psychopath (with friends like these and all that).
Despite Pierce announcing a sequel on an American chat show - presumably in an effort to make the film sound successful and therefore good enough to be worth seeing - nothing else ever came of it. There was no UK release either, aside from maybe one contractually obligated showing somewhere.
Had it been better, and successful, I think he could have made a few straight to DVD sequels in the manner of those straight to DVDs actioners that Nic Cage, Wesley Snipes etc always seem to be doing.
In the future timeline of NSNA I imagine Bond being a local legend who plays golf, visits the casino regularly and goes swimming.
Living a lifestyle similar to his creator, Ian Fleming. For a while he’s experienced enough to hold his own if need be. If he’s fortunate enough to reach a riper age he’s relying almost exclusively on guns.
NTTD gives us three possible endings, but finally settles on one. The first has him living alone in Jamaica. The second could have been retirement with Madeleine and his daughter. The third is dying on the field of battle.
He does what an agent needs to do. He‘s no James Bond here.
We may end up seeing the most extreme example of this to date. There are growing rumblings of William Shatner returning as James T Kirk. At age 93.
The point of the scene was to prove to Mason what a liability a girlfriend can be - yet he was the one that put the woman in hospital, not some enemy agent.
I’m not utterly against the scene in principle, but there’s a rather warped logic behind it.
To me, it felt like a scene that was included because Pierce wanted to show the darker side of the character even at the expense of anything else. There’s a lot of build up to it as Mason meets the woman at a club so much time is spent on something which is quickly abandoned and even contradicted when his daughter appears.
I disagree but that’s cool.
Don’t get me wrong, I would really like to like the film more, and I’ve seen it about three or four times to try and make that happen. I’m not giving up just yet
None of the above, a limited series would offer the chance to see what someone like perhaps, Gabriel Byrne could have done with the role.
I suppose if something is seriously considered - film, limited series, cup of tea whatever - there ought to be movement of one sort or another by summer. The coverage of the deal and possible behind-the-scenes reasoning for it pointed out how, had there been an obvious candidate, Broccoli would have moved on with it long ago (perhaps even before NO TIME TO DIE?) - which she didn’t.
Whereas Amazon was supposedly already pitching various spinoffs and candidates. If that is true they surely will not waste much time now. Sooner than later, one muses.
I suspect once the deal is finalised the ball will start rolling a lot faster.