40 replies to this topic

[Kingdom Come]

With VAST changes in the world of film making about to commence, will a Bond film be a cinematic experiecne in 20 years? will we still have cinema as we know it, then?

To the user below, this thread IS in the 'General Discussion'.

[Qwerty]

KC, please watch where you post some of your topics. This belongs in Gen. Bond Film Discussion.

[Kingdom Come]

It is in General discussion.

[hrabb04]

Nope. It might be making a comeback by that time, but who knows what form it will take. I think Bond is one step away from going the way of Star Trek, another property that has been around for 40 yrs.

[Kingdom Come]

Never mind 20 years - I think there will be no cinematic Bond films in 10. As the 'home cinema' approach really takes off people will no longer need a cinema.
My guess is we have half a dozen films left in this poorly produced series.

[Bon-san]

Never mind 20 years - I think there will be no cinematic Bond films in 10....
My guess is we have half a dozen films left in this poorly produced series.

Please stop. I can't take much more sunny optimism.

[hrabb04]

EON has one more left in the chamber, and it's shaping up to be a dud.

[Bond_Bishop]

I don't think the series will surive twenty more years. Probably 10 years nothing more

[Jim]

Years in it yet.

Whether people will bother going to the cinema any more is another matter and that may kill it off. That's what I understand this thread to be about, anyway. "Cinemas will end before the Bond films do: discuss"

[doublenoughtspy]

People have been predicting Bond's death for longer than most of us have been alive.

The series has survived a lot of ups and downs - and a revolving door of 3 different Bond actors in 4 years during 1969-1973.

Young Bond has done fairly well, the video games have done well and continue to garner publicity - I don't see why people here are sounding the death knell of the cinematic series.

Granted, things I've heard about the current Bond candidates and filming choices are not ones I would have made and don't exactly excite me - but it doesn't mean the series is anywhere near ending in a decade or so.

Now if Babs & Michael decided to sell EON after a bunch of box office failures - then there might be cause for alarm. But that hasn't happened.

[Tarl_Cabot]

20 years ago I didn't think people would pay to see action films in 2005(and I guess I was right ).I think as long as people enjoy film as a medium of entertainment and action movies make money there will be Bond films. Just because the American middle class has plasma TVs and probably would rather wait for the DVD doesn't mean Bond can't be profitable around the world in theaters. I do think they should go for the lower budget story driven route instead of trying to be 'Blockbuster' fare.

Anyway,Bond has survived...because Bond is the coolest fictional charater ever created and the films provide and escape and window into a good life we all would like to enjoy.

So don't be so pessimistic.

[Kingdom Come]

That's what some said about Star Wars and there ain't gonna be any more of those, even taking into consideration how much money they have made.

[Moore Not Less]

I have no idea where Bond will be in twenty years. If the cinematic James Bond were to die, perhaps the tv James Bond would be born. How about a tv series along the lines of Granada TV's Sherlock Holmes series starring Jeremy Brett? A series that would stay loyal to the Fleming novels. The episodes would be broadcast in the correct order and would be set in the correct time period.

I think this is a really good idea, but I won't take the credit. Credit to superado (AJB).

[Turn]

Young Bond has done fairly well, the video games have done well and continue to garner publicity - I don't see why people here are sounding the death knell of the cinematic series.

I think it's a lot easier for some people who don't like what they are hearing, aren't hearing or have yet to hear about the series to put it down.

As far as future goings on in filmmaking, there are trends that we have seen come and go for years. Why think everyone will necessarily stay at home all the time in the future? I've heard stories even DVD sales are leveling off, so that really doesn't help the case.

Will teens or people dating really want to necessarily stay at home to watch something any more in the future than they have 50 years ago or now? Bonds are some of the few films that bring in various age groups because the early fans are getting older and there is already a strong base over the ages and the younger people discovered the series through video games, DVDs and cable marathons.

[hcmv007]

In 20 years, I see about 5-7 new Bond films being made, and hopefully the producers get better writers than P & W (why do their names sound like a bad tasting wine, or crooked law firm?), and the right actor to play the role. Bond #8 should be just starting out. With everything that is going on in the world today, Ian Fleming's creation will continue to endure. Every icon has a period when things don't go to well for them, for the US, it was Batman in the 60's and '70s. The '90's and '00's haven't been godd to Bond yet, but he will do his part to "keep the British end up" for certain.

[ComplimentsOfSharky]

That's what some said about Star Wars and there ain't gonna be any more of those, even taking into consideration how much money they have made.

Star Wars also had a limit from the very beginning. At the most Lucas planned 3 trilogies (the originals, the prequels and the sequels). So at most there would be 9 movies. We probably are indeed done with the six but that's still 2/3 of the projection.

Bond on the other hand never had a set number of movies to tell his story. It was always open-ended.

[K1Bond007]

Bond will always be around in some form. I feel that even if for some reason the next 5 films tank and the Bond series is retired, in another 20 or so years they'll reboot the series and possibly do remakes of them all or something. The popularity, the impact on our culture is too massive for Bond to simply have his 'licence revoked'.

I don't think anybody on the planet knows where Bond will be in 1.5 years, so the question of where he'll be in 20 years is somewhat silly. I've stated in the past that I don't believe the theater will survive the next decade, so that should be some sort of indicator, IMHO. Home theater - on demand, high definition DVD (gen-next) etc etc. The theater, IMO will go the way of the drive-in where you'll see one or two once in a blue moon, but they're really only around for nostalgia.

[Kingdom Come]

Sharkey when the films started they were always based upon the books and it was thought that when all or most of the books had been filmed then that would be a natural end. 1970s changed all that with TSWLM and it was certain after its performance that the films could go on without the books influences.

[licensetostudy]

I was thinking about music the other day and how people are purchasing albums or songs from the internet such as from i tunes, and am wondering if record stores outside the internet like Tower Records for instance are losing money and have sales dropping. I don't even go out anymore to shop for music and do it all through i tunes, and maybe more and more people are doing the same. Will this lead to the end of all outside record stores? It is possible that home theater will become advanced in ways where it will not mean anything anymore to go into theaters.

Aside from all this, I believe the Bond films should end despite being a fan. Twenty pictures is just too much, and it certainly is getting tiresome. I think they should do Casino Royale since it is necessary to make an official picture of Fleming's first novel, and forget about doing a 22nd film. I think Bond films may continue though just as long as Babs and Michael have careers. The series will end when they retire to some beach property, and I doubt they will sell it to someone else.

[Double-Oh-Zero]

As most others have said, I think the films'll conk out once people want them to. If audiences cease to pay money to watch them, the Powers That Be will cease paying money to make them. Which I don't see happening any time soon.

Still think that the video games and DVDs will continue to thrive, though. The books may yet get another boost and get going again (featuring the "regular" Bond, not the pubescent one).

[SecretAgent007]

Well, if the next generation DVD (DVD-HD or Blueray) are going to bury cinema, they better skip the second gen and start on a third. Blueray looks particularly bad, just more convienent for certain applications. I hope it bombs. Both formats don't look that much better than current DVD, even with over 600 more lines of resolution. And I think the quality of Plasma and LCD aren't that hot either. Of course, all of this is still fairly new and will improve over time.

[Bondian]

I think all future Bond films past 2020 will be viewed straight from post production via CBn.

EON will sell it's franchise to CBn. MooMoo will be chairman of Sony (in conjunction with MooMoo Enterprises ) and all the other Bond sites will be working for the Daily Mail.

Bond 25 will be produced, written and directed by CBn.

Michael G. Wilson will write his autobiography called "EON. My wife with Bond!". Barbara Broccoli will write her autobiography called "EON. My life with Bond!".

Zencat and Athena will be married and produce five sons named Sean, George, Roger, Timothy and John II.

Who the hell knows what the situation is in 20 years. Let's get this frigging film in the can for f.f.f.f for f's sake.

Cheers,

Ian

[Simon]

People have been predicting Bond's death for longer than most of us have been alive.

Indeed, the series' death has been 'predicted' since 1965. I am sure all those hacks in the know are waiting for the time it does go under to pop up and say, "I was the first to predict."

The series has survived a lot of ups and downs - and a revolving door of 3 different Bond actors in 4 years during 1969-1973.

Indeed five actors in six years, if you go back two more years to Connery in YOLT and Niven in CR.

No, there's plenty of life in the series yet. Quite evidently, we can see the producers are not above throwing in the odd spanner with Brosnan removals. How this decision pans out is yet to be seen but it has breathed life into the situation whereby one might otherwise have thought it wasn't necessary yet. (for Joe Public audiences, not fan boys)

The only way the series might be stifled is if, to quote a recent interview, the pomposity and rigmarole increases to such proportions that it scares away any and all half decent directors. The control has been good for the formula (one knows what one is going to see), the flip side is that surprises and quality may wane still further.

But I am figuring at least another 40 years. I started a thread some time ago (which attracted my usual four responses) as to whom the series would fall once Michael and Barbara were to retire. Who are the producers in waiting? That, to me, is more indicative of the series' success.

[Kingdom Come]

ComplimentsofSharkey, the Bond films were originally about the books and when the books were filmed (portions) then that was it in all probability. Like Lucas no one thought they would go further than the 60s.

[ACE]

Chems Bont - you return with the tedious inevitability of an unloved season!

People are always trying to put a timescale to Bond. It is difficult as there is nothing quite like it.

In literary terms, I thinks James Bond will be with us for a long, long time. Centuries from now, Bond will still be read and enjoyed. This belief is some sort of karmic justice to the the story of Anne Fleming's friends mocking Ian by reading his works out loud in soirees in London. Where are these intellectuals now? Who remembers them? What enduring value has their work achieved and to what sort of audience?

As a major filmic brand, I think Bond will continue for at least another 10 years. If made well and sustainably and with enough care, I think Bond has life in him.

However, if the current crop of Eon/IFP releases both cinematically and literary do not continue, other people will buy the potent 007 property and exploit at later down the line.

We are not at the end.
We are not at the beginning.
But we are only really at the end of the beginning.

In 2034 (70 years after the death of the originating author - Fleming), the copyright to the literary character becomes public domain i.e. anyone can write stories featuring Bond. The original novels become open to anyone to adapt. Bond will become Sherlock Holmes, Dracula etc. You will be able to buy cheap Fleming books as classics. Bond will become even more pervasive as intellectual property. However, culturally it will become more dilute.

Then you will get faithful adaptations of the novels. Note, the film copyrights and the character and franchise of Bond will not pass into public domain then.
And any new interpretation of Bond will have to combat the established image of who the public think Bond is. No gunbarrels, no James Bond theme, no PTS, title song and sequence, no sets, no gadgets. Just the Fleming.

So, as the song says, we've only just begun. The Bond we know is finite but the Bond beyond is an undiscovered country.

ACE

[licensetostudy]

Michael G. Wilson will write his autobiography called "EON. My wife with Bond!".

Now that's funny.

Zencat and Athena will be married and produce five sons named Sean, George, Roger, Timothy and John II. 

There is no doubt that Zencat and Athena will name their sons after Bond actors, I mean they're fanatics right? However, I think Athena's love for GoldenEye will make them name one son after Pierce. I still think their age difference is a bit creepy, but no offense.

[Bondian]

Now that's funny.

Thank you.

There is no doubt that Zencat and Athena will name their sons after Bond actors, I mean they're fanatics right? However, I think Athena's love for GoldenEye will make them name one son after Pierce.

Maybe they'll call him 42mill?.

[trumanlodge89]

That's what some said about Star Wars and there ain't gonna be any more of those, even taking into consideration how much money they have made.

george lucas has been talking about making one or even 2 star wars tv shows. (an animated one, similar to the clone wars miniseries and a live action one.) theres still plenty of life in the star wars franchise, maybe even moreso than james bond.


although i really cant see bond dying anytime soon. its already 20 films strong, and its latest did great at the box office. as long as they keep selling, we'll keep getting new ones.

[Twine29]

I think that 20 years from now Bond will be different, yet still retain the classic elements that make him who he is. Much like Connery and Pierce - they are different eras, but essentially the same...

[Kingdom Come]

I think Bond films for a cinema or a 'home system' (and that will grow beyond recognition) will continue but already we see the start of a 'slow down'. I believe there will gradually be longer periods of time between the films for a number of reasons, the important one for us in helping to retain quality. But we will see 5 or more years between films and by 20 years time that figure will have grown?