The future of James Bond

loyatemu · 15-12-2022 9:23am

Cavill is 15 years younger than Craig, one of the reasons he didn't get the gig in 2006 was because he was too young. Having said that, if they want someone mid-30s, his chance may have passed.

techman1 · 15-12-2022 9:44am

Haven't watched any of the modern bond movies, the whole genre lacked credibility since the end of the cold war. Probably moving Bond to the middle east dealing with isis etc would at least have made it more credible over the last 2 decades. Obviously Bond could not be prancing around the ME with a martini and a bikini clad girl so probably the reason they not go with that. Bond shooting at bad guys in the ME be problematic too.

However Putin has given the Bond franchise a new lease of life with his war in Ukraine, now Bond can go back to his old haunts , hang out with beautiful girls and crucially the bad guys will be all white again, Phew

silverharp · 15-12-2022 10:05am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119998870#Comment_119998870

the villains went downhill too right in the newer films?

BruteStock · 15-12-2022 12:00pm

Cavil is too old and too well known. They won't cast a guy who played Superman and The Witcher to play Bond.

0% chance he'll be Bond. Johnson is perfect for the 10+ year vision they have for the franchise. He will age well over time like Craig did.

saabsaab · 15-12-2022 1:25pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119998951#Comment_119998951

Yep. Where's the likes of Odd Job or Red Grant that were a match for him physically.

nigeldaniel · 15-12-2022 8:45pm

A proper Bond Villian[s]... role in Brendan and Domhall Gleeson. They could easily play a father-and-son combination of dastardly villains.

They would work great opposite Luke Evans

salmocab · 15-12-2022 9:08pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120001377#Comment_120001377

I wouldn’t think they’ll be keen to go down the dr and Scott evil route.

Big Gerry · 15-12-2022 9:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119998870#Comment_119998870

Its hard to take Bond seriously as a "spy" when he drives around in London in a vintage Aston Martin which would make him stand out like a sore thumb.

A real spy would try to be invisible and not stand out.

Big Gerry · 15-12-2022 9:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119999399#Comment_119999399

How is he too old ? Roger Moore was 45/46 when he first played Bond.

Strumms · 15-12-2022 9:38pm

Idris Elba has had his odds with the bookies lengthened significantly. Probably right, he’s 50 now.. for continuity and the brand they’d want say 5 films from him. One on average every 3 years and he’s hanging around at 65/66 ?

Roger Moore was the oldest bond at 57…. I think the lead character James Bond is supposed to have a desirability, virility and sex appeal… but a dude 60 plus, a physical role too..

the whole ethnicity thing has been done to death… but there is no getting away from the fact that casting a black actor to play the role of an individual who for 68 years has been known to audiences as a British, white male…

Even looking at Elba, he looks his age if not a year or two more.

FunLover18 · 15-12-2022 11:15pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120001487#Comment_120001487

And he was too old

eagle eye · 16-12-2022 12:02am

Imo Roger Moore was the second best Bond after Connery.

And they don't go for young actors either. Brosnan was 42, Dalton 39, Craig was 38.

Connery was by far the youngest at 32 unless you consider the one film wonder George Lazenby who was 30.

Anyways if we are staying with a white guy then I think Alex Pettyfer is the guy that should get it.

Personally I think it's time for somebody of at least mixed race to get it.

Big Gerry · 16-12-2022 2:29am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120001843#Comment_120001843

In Live and Let Die Moore looked younger than Connery did in his last 2 Bond flims.

Tony EH · 16-12-2022 7:23am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120001458#Comment_120001458

"a feckin laser"

19-12-2022 9:01pm

They would want to hurry up and make up their feckin' minds imo on the "next bond" to create a little interest because the longer it goes on fewer and fewer will actually give a toss.

All these "next bond" media pieces that appear all the time end up definitely having an element of "the boy who cried wolf" effect imo

lumphammer2 · 20-12-2022 2:29am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119888351#Comment_119888351

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119888342#Comment_119888342

This is a franchise not known for its realism ... Bond survived cardiac arrest/sudden heart failure (yes prognosis is good for this often now but you would not be fighting thugs within minutes of recovery as we see Bond do in Brosnan's last and Craig's first), being contaminated by radioactivity, being onboard countless crashing planes, etc. ... Indiana Jones then survived a nuclear explosion in a fridge !! .. So anything is possible in films ... we did not actually see a dead Bond body ... just Bond saying goodbye as bombs rain down ... in the real world he'd be vapourised for sure but this is not the real world !! Bond's 'death' can be cancelled like an offside World Cup goal ... or it can stand and he can be reinvented ... as a giant bluebottle angry at how negatively humans treat flies .... !!!

The Dallas Bobby Ewing dream/shower scene was the conclusion to a Dallas season that was ironically heavily inspired by Bond and Indiana Jones ... Patrick Duffy wanted out of the series then changed his mind ... insisted on being Bobby ... so the dream was considered a good idea at the time ... it lost the series all credibility even though the post dream season was more back to basics ...

They wouldn't dare use it again for Bond? Would they?? ...

FunLover18 · 20-12-2022 6:07am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120016742#Comment_120016742

He's passed on! This Bond is no more! He has ceased to be! He's expired and gone to meet his maker! He's a stiff! Bereft of life, he rests in peace! His metabolic processes are now history! He's off the twig! He's kicked the bucket, he's shuffled off his mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!! THIS IS AN EX-BOND!!

saabsaab · 20-12-2022 6:08pm

Maybe he'll be cloned?

From Clones Monaghan..

ArmaniJeanss · 21-12-2022 11:28am

James Bond is dead. M, Q and Moneypenny seen at unmarked gravestone in wilds of Scotland.

But for 'reasons' the Secret Service don't want the worldwide bad guys to know of his demise. So the best new agent Trevor will be given his identity and back story and use it to infiltrate this new dangerous criminal organisation.

....... film continues, explosions, bad guys killed, women loved, mission accomplished ......

End scene. "Thank you Trevor". "Just call me James".

*****

I think it gets around some of the continuity issues, and allows them to keep Fiennes, Harris etc and not have to recast the whole thing.

FunLover18 · 21-12-2022 12:37pm

I just don't think Fiennes and Harris were so good in to roles as to warrant that. Reboot is the easiest option.

salmocab · 21-12-2022 1:06pm

There was a stage were two actors were playing the Bond roll, I don’t think anyone needs to overthink the storylines.

Muller1991 · 21-12-2022 2:10pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120021320#Comment_120021320

Nah I can't see that happening at all. It will just be a new Bond with his own timeline.

saabsaab · 21-12-2022 2:14pm

When you look back there were a few that could have been Bond. The likes of Anthony Hopkins, Patrick Macnee, Cary Grant, Richard Burton and Clive Owen. Most turned it down..

Agent Coulson · 21-12-2022 2:19pm

They could go Irish again and go with someone like Aidan Turner

saabsaab · 21-12-2022 8:04pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120021990#Comment_120021990

True, cleaned up he'd certainly look the part.

lumphammer2 · 22-12-2022 5:05am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120016782#Comment_120016782

Bond 'dies' usually after every movie ... this was the norm during the pre-Craig era other than a few mentions here and there ... we do not see him get killed or we do not see anything to say the next film's Bond is a different version .. but not a mention of what went before .... You could watch Licence to Kill, A View to a Kill, Octopussy and For Your Eyes Only in that order for example and it would make no difference. The reverse order is the way they appeared ... The Living Daylights is between the first and second mentioned but has a part that does make sequence matter ...

I do not think they ever cared much about what went before ... especially when they were launching a new style or a new actor ... and if the previous film was considered one of the poorer entries that was esp true ... that version of Bond was killed ...

Craig's Bond is ex Bond I agree .. fans can make up what happened to him ... he's dead .. he survived .. it's all a dream .. but Bond will be back officially with a completely different story and actor ...

lumphammer2 · 22-12-2022 5:10am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120021958#Comment_120021958

Plus they did not have any problem keeping Judi Dench as M after Brosnan .... despite Craig being reboot ...

FunLover18 · 22-12-2022 7:54am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120024219#Comment_120024219

Both Moore and Dalton's movies contain references to Tracey. If you want to believe every new actor was a soft reboot that's, in fact it kind of makes sense. Bond died at the end of NTTD, literally everyone involved in the movie has said he dies. I don't know why people would twist themselves in knots to say he was still alive. He's dead we are getting a hard reboot just as we did with CR. Craig's movies contained easter eggs and nods to previous movies but at no point were we expected to believe his Bond was the same Bond, there was never a hint of continuity with those previous films such as a reference to Tracey. I'd imagine the same will be the case for the new Bond.

24-12-2022 1:16am

in terms of the actors in the frame and who would take it it sort of boils down to a couple of relevant dynamics imo

the sort of actor type that is well established but doesn't think that he will ever fly "AA-List high" at the Cruise type level (if that is a thing anymore - see point number two). I would put Craig (and Brosnan) in this bracket in terms of a previous bonds - both never gong to be a mega Hollywood A-Lister types per se so the stereo-typing effect of bond was less "restricting" / damaging on their careers. In fact, post bond it opened/ opens up doors in the modern world for both of them. In current terms you might put Hardy here even tho he has more gravitas than Craig or Brosnan did when they took the role - he looks young enough for his age also.
the fact that A-List/ AA-List doesn't exist quite the same way as being A-List was 20 years ago except in terms of the legacy guys still around -e.g. Cruise (who has his OWN franchise), Pitt. Now you have big film actors doing tv shows and there is a blurring of the lines between film-streaming-cable-network more than ever before. For that reason the bond-stereotype effect is lessened - things are more fluid. So young actors are likely to be less averse to fear being pigeon-holed as once may have been the case.

pixelburp · 24-12-2022 8:08am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120024316#Comment_120024316

The attempt to frame Craig's Bond as still alive is especially doomed logic given by all accounts, Craig has been quite vocal about how done he is with the role. If I recall he has wanted Bond to die as far back as Casino Royale but maybe I misread the headline lol.

Big Gerry · 26-12-2022 9:50pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120015984#Comment_120015984

I wish we could go back to the old days of them releasing a new bond film every 2 years.

Bond films shouldn't be hard to make they just have to stick to the formula that has worked for the last 60 years.

lumphammer2 · 29-12-2022 1:53am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120030741#Comment_120030741

I have never tried to frame Craig's Bond as being still alive ... but did suggest anything is possible in a series like this when it comes to character survival ... one thing is for sure is Craig himself won't be back in the role whatever they decide to do with the character ...

Craig wanted Bond to die I know ... Danny Boyle then would not direct because of this or something is another rumour ... I get the impression that Bond will just come back with no mention about anything gone before ... ultimately it is up to the fans to decide how Bond and all the other characters in the Craig Bond world fared after ... Ralph Fiennes and others will return but with no link to Craig similar to Judi Dench going from Brosnan to Craig era ...

lumphammer2 · 29-12-2022 2:04am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120024316#Comment_120024316

I believe in the early days it was intended that Bond films followed closely on what went before ... over Christmas I've been watching them to refresh ... Dr No gets a mention in From Russia With Love ... SPECTRE are the link in almost all them early Connery and Lazenby films ... Tracy gets mentioned in 3 Moore films and in Dalton's 2nd film ... so the link was there ...

Each Bond film made from Live and Let Die until Die another Day could apart from some minor issues be watched in any order ... no need to know what went before ... Because of the Tracy references and a couple more things the Connery/Lazenby/Moore/Dalton films were intended to be the same character ... no mention is made of Bond's age or the year the film was set (apart from 1969 being noted as the year Tracy died in For Your Eyes Only) ... so they could all have taken place during the relatively short timespan ...

Brosnan's films were certainly a soft reboot ... link to or not to the former films was neither confirmed or denied other than a brief mention of a predecessor to Judi Dench's M ...

Craig's Bond was definitely different to the one from before him ... that is made very obvious ... I think the next Bond likewise will be an obvious reboot .. but not an origin story ... cannot see them going down repeating Casino Royale again ... it will have an established Bond akin to how he is introduced in Dr No ...

lumphammer2 · 29-12-2022 2:19am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120036493#Comment_120036493

+1 ... in general I enjoy Bond movies ... I know most are far fetched and I know the quality varies but they are as a whole entertaining ... There was a 6 year gap between the last 2 ... looking like the same between the last one and the next one ... we do need to get back to a film every 2 years ... that was not done since 2006/2008 IIRC ... Brosnan did 1 every 2 years and the original 1962-89 run had ones either every year or 2 years mostly with one 3 year gap ...

Big Gerry · 30-12-2022 9:09pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120042792#Comment_120042792

I never got why they dropped Brosnan ? He deserved at least one more bond film before leaving the role.

Die another day was a **** film but it made tons of money.

You would think the producers would prefer a "bad" bond film that makes money over "good" bond films like license to kill or on her majesty's secret service that didn't make much money at the box office.

FunLover18 · 30-12-2022 10:34pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120047922#Comment_120047922

Your final point is kinda ruined by the fact that Craig's Bond films are generally regarded as good and they made good at the box office.

Big Gerry · 30-12-2022 11:06pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120048211#Comment_120048211

To this day I find it hard to think of Craig as "Bond".

I wasn't a big fan of Brosnan but I would choose him any day over Craig.

You can put just about any actor in the Bond role and the films will make buckets of money.

The lead actor is almost irrelevant in terms of box office.

ArmaniJeanss · 31-12-2022 12:00am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120047922#Comment_120047922

Maybe Brosnan wanted more than a 1 film deal?

Perhaps the producers were conscious that laziness/inertia had led them to keep Connery and Moore for one film too many, and decided they might as well grasp the nettle now rather than have to do it in 3 years regardless.

I don't know whether the idea of the 'reboot/origin story' was there before Craig was cast. But if the 'idea' was first then clearly they needed a new lead.

Big Gerry · 31-12-2022 12:25am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120048447#Comment_120048447

I think Brosnan was only ever signed up for 3 Bond films then after that he had to negotiate each film on its own.

He didn't get much money for Goldeneye but by the time Die Another Day came along he was on A-List money.

Back in the early 2000s I thought Brosnan would do as many bond films as Moore and maybe step down from the role when he was about 60.

saabsaab · 02-01-2023 6:38pm

Probably the 'bad guy' is just as important as Mr Bond. The likes of Goldfinger or Blofeld should be selected carefully. The usual threating the world with nuclear destruction by a paranoid madman with access to such weapons may not be enough?