159 replies to this topic

[Levi David Tinker]

I think Blofeld and Spectre are more relevant now than ever, given the heightened role of PMCs and other non-governmental actors in world affairs. Outsourcing is the name of the game. However, with the exception of Hinds, I have to disagree with the suggested actors so far. We need someone younger, a contemporary of Craig, not men who are in their 70s like Stewart. Christoph Waltz might be a good choice, but he might veer too much towards camp in his portrayal.

I agree with the first part of your post. And I also think that with the right actor, and great writing Dr Evil will quickly fade from the audiences mind while watching.

I really would love to see Blofeld return.

Soooo... I'm seeing a bunch of talk about how supposedly Idris Elba met with the Bond producers recently, and there's this totally ridiculous speculation that Elba may be the next James Bond, and I say ridiculous because: a) Craig is only just now finding his momentum, and I bristle at the thought of anyone else playing Bond for a good long while, in fact I hope he stays a lot longer than just two more movies. So, for me at least, talk of replacing him just seems wrongly absurd in every way for the time being.

BUT. If Elba did in fact meet with the producers, why is no one speculating that he could be in talks to be the next Bond villain??

I think Idris Elba would be perfect as the new Blofeld!!! Nobody will be confusing that guy with Dr. Evil...!

Hope I'm not sounding foolish, but I feel like I may be on to something here. Anybody else agree...?

Whoops! And I should add that I don't find the idea of a black James Bond ridiculous at all, just not til Craig's done and retired.

I could definately see him as Blofeld

Edited by Levi David Tinker, 27 October 2012 - 01:04 AM.

[AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän]

I doubt if Elba plays him his name would be Blofeld - it would be something else - but the character could be based on him.

[Pussfeller]

I doubt if Elba plays him his name would be Blofeld - it would be something else - but the character could be based on him.

He could still be called Blofeld. "I was the unwanted child of a Rhineland Bastard and a Senegalese girl of good family."

[Tony_OO_Black]

I remember those press reports that Michael Sheen might be Blofeld from a Peter Morgan script. That would be brilliant casting if you ask me. Re-imagining Blofeld I think would really work. I'd make him a little Bane-esque from TDKR - an enigmatic, cultured lunatic terrorist with resources who provides a psychological, and possibly physical, threat to Bond.

I never felt they got Blofeld quite right in the films - Donald Pleasance was good but a bit camp, Telly Savalas played him too Telly Savalas, Charles Grey wore a ing dress! And we don't mention For Your Eyes Only, do we? He was better when just a shadowy voice compared to the slightly underwhelming reality. He deserves doing properly IMO.

About time, I reckon. Make it happen John Logan!

[AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän]

I doubt if Elba plays him his name would be Blofeld - it would be something else - but the character could be based on him.

He could still be called Blofeld. "I was the unwanted child of a Rhineland Bastard and a Senegalese girl of good family."

Didn't thought of that. It could work.

[Single-O-Seven]

As there has never been a true villainess dominating any films, would anybody be intrigued if the rebooted Blofeld was a woman? It might create an interesting dynamic against Craig's Bond, but it would have to be handled in a way that's quite difficult to imagine.

[Tony_OO_Black]

Would be interesting, but you'd be better off developing a new character - else you'd have to cast a bit of a freakishly weird woman as Blofeld, and it wouldn't create that sexual tension that would probably be needed.

Elektra King from TWINE was close to a great, proper Bond villainess. If that film had had more balls (or any, in fact), we would have already seen such a dynamic with Brosnan's Bond.

[L4YRCAKE]

I doubt if Elba plays him his name would be Blofeld - it would be something else - but the character could be based on him.

He could still be called Blofeld. "I was the unwanted child of a Rhineland Bastard and a Senegalese girl of good family."

Didn't thought of that. It could work.

I guess in a sense that begs the question: if they brought him back but under another name, would that be a good idea? My feeling is no, if for no other reason that they've waited all these years to get the rights back to Blofeld and SPECTRE, only to use other names, what would the point of it all have been...?

And I totally think Elba is in talks to be Blofeld. A large dose of wishful thinking in there to be sure, but it seems totally logical and inspired in my mind if it's true.

[Iceskater101]

What Elba playing Blofield? Interesting...

[007jamesbond]

there should be a poll question if you want Blofeld or not, who should play him,

[QuantumOfRoyale]

I highly suspect that Blofeld will be featured in at least some capacity in Bond 24 / 25. Logan expressed his love for the character in interviews for Skyfall, and I think it'd be a sensible way to end the Craig Bond run.

[TheManwiththeWaltherPPK]

I agree completely. It is just too much of a coincidence that Logan has so consistently espoused his love for Blofeld in interviews and now has been subsequently announced as writing Bond 24/25 based upon an a story arc that links those two films. When I think of Bond and serial storytelling, I think of SMERSH and Spectre/Blofeld. Given the fall of the Soviet Union quite some time ago, only really the latter is use-able in a modern Bond film.

Edited by TheManwiththeWaltherPPK, 28 October 2012 - 04:54 AM.

[Armand Fancypants]

I do like the Hinds suggestion. A lot.

[L4YRCAKE]

I do like the Hinds suggestion. A lot.

Sorry, what's the Hinds suggestion? Unsure what that's a reference to...?

[Guy Haines]

Well, since it may be that Bonds 24 and 25 are to be linked, may I offer my thoughts about what I wouldn't mind seeing in 2014 and beyond.

Bond 24 I'd like a Thunderball style "pay up or else" story. It doesn't have to be about stolen nuclear stuff - there are plenty of real life global threats to panic world governments that could be used - but I'd have a mysterious "Number 1" assign his colleagues to carry out this ransom threat, which of course Bond foils just in time. I'd have the usual two leading ladies, one of whom Bond has a casual fling with before moving on to work with the second one, who he actually rather fancies for real, but never gets to have his way with, but sails close. The threat overcome, Bond proposes - but she rebuffs him, and in the final scene we discover why, as they part amicably and prepare to go their separate ways:-

Girl two "James, I'm getting married. To that man over there."

The second girl is, of course, Gala Brand.

As they prepare to drive off in different directions, a third car appears and bullets fly. Bond survives the assassination attempt - but Gala and fiance are dead. A case of mistaken identity (her fiance is quite similar in appearance to Bond). The villains, rubbing it in, leave their calling card - an object with an ugly octopus symbol on it. End of 24.

Bond 25

M "Don't let this assignment become personal. Agent Brand knew the risks." Bond "Her fiance didn't!". More blood on his hands, but 007 isn't shattered by the deaths at the end of 24. Rather, he is determined to bring the perpetrators to justice and smash "the organisation". Bond is assigned to track down the head man, and finds him, with the aid of a certain "Tiger" Tanaka, in a remote castle in Japan, surrounded by poison plants. To the outside world he is Shatterhand, but in reality he is the founder of Quantum, and its successor, SPECTRE. To coin a phrase "You Know His Name". Before the final confrontation, we are treated to a torture session, and a justification for his crimes. Something like this, with acknowledgements and apologies to a certain late era Fleming novel:-

"Our man Le Chiffre financed terror, but as an object lesson to the world in how corrupt the global financial system has become. A terrorist outrage traced to dirty money in a Swiss bank - surely it would have spurred the authorites to completely overhaul the way the world economy works? Obviously since the 2008 collapse, it didn't! But try to analyse it from a higher level of thought. What was so wrong with what we did? Then that business in Bolivia - Mr Bond, the way the resources of the world are wasted is quite shocking. By placing the world's resources under our control, we could have forced the governments of the world to be more, er "environmentally aware"!"

(A bit of mischief next!)

"And then, did you ever wonder about our friend Gonzales, also known as Raoul Silva? How could a brilliant but demented computer hacker have staged those "full blown", in every sense, terrorist attacks which had such an unfortunate outcome. Mr Bond, someone had to find the money for that seemingly endless supply and men and materials he had for the final assault on Skyfall. Mercenaries are, well, mercenary. Silva couldn't do it on his own - he was too obsessed with his target. That and too much time playing "World Of Warcraft" until dawn, I dare say! Oh dear. Computer geeks, and my part in how they end up they way they do."

And so on. You get the picture, I hope, and can shrewdly guess the outcome, save that Bond doesn't lose his marbles, but reports back to M, who has a new assignment. Station J in Jamaica has gone off the air. Head of station and his secretary have disappeared. Probably nothing much to it, but go and investigate Bond, there's a good chap!

[tdalton]

Armand Fancypants, on 28 October 2012 - 04:08 AM, said:

I do like the Hinds suggestion. A lot.

Sorry, what's the Hinds suggestion? Unsure what that's a reference to...?

Someone suggested that Ciarian Hinds play Blofeld on a previous page in the thread.

Edited by tdalton, 28 October 2012 - 10:16 AM.

[univex]

A cool imposing Blofeld and someone known to Craig:



Too old, how about:



Yes, that´s Colin Firth. Bald.

[TheManwiththeWaltherPPK]

I like the suggestion of Ciaran Hinds. He has the overall look and build of literary Blofeld (most notably in Thunderball) and the acting talent. The only problem is that I really want a Central European playing the part, preferably a German (or someone who can do such an accent). Anyone know if Hinds can do a good German accent or, if not, a quality Germanic actor who has a similar look?

Ciaran looking as Blofeld-esque as possible in my opinion (without being ridiculous fat):

Edited by TheManwiththeWaltherPPK, 29 October 2012 - 07:03 AM.

[Pussfeller]

Blofeld's ancestry was always a bit muddled. Greco-Polish with a dash of German, right? Any one of these nationalities could be emphasized. Perhaps he could be played as Polish-born but Anglicized (a fairly common blend these days). He could even be Polish-Irish, or Greco-Irish. Or just vaguely European, like Le Chiffre.

[Shrublands]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

EW just released their Bond edition on the iPad this morning so I ended up getting it and reading the piece. At the very end of the article, Craig says something really freaking interesting:

"Everyone always moans, 'Where's Bond gone? Where's all the jokes?'" Craig says. "Well, give us time!" As he says this, he picks up an apple and takes a Richard Kiel-size bite out of it. "I always had a plan in the back of my head that the third movie-if I ever got there-it would be time to take the gloves off and bring the gags back in. That's why we have the Aston Martin DB5 from Goldfinger and the classic Bond theme in the new one. That's what people come to see. So that villain with the cat on his lap, let's bring him back! Mike Myers took him, and we have to reclaim him."

A joke or a slip of the tongue of what they might do with Bond 24?

That is very interesting, thank you.

Remember the way Craig talked about ...

Spoiler

Moneypenny and Q

...before Skyfall

[AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän]

Blofeld's ancestry was always a bit muddled. Greco-Polish with a dash of German, right?

Blofelds birthplace was part of the German Empire when he was born and became a part of Poland in 1918. Fleming does mention that he was Polish so it is a bit vague - we do not know his religious background but if he was protestant he must've been German.

And I'd love to have Ulrich Matthes to play him - he was offered the role of Le Chiffre and played Goebbels in Der Untergang - he certainly has those black eyes Fleming wrote about.

Edited by AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän, 29 October 2012 - 08:35 AM.

[jaguar007]

I was just reading the latest Entertainment Weekly (with Bond on the cover), at the end of the interview, Craig said "So that villain with the cat on his lap, let's bring him back! Mike Myers took him, and we have to reclaim him"

[SecretAgentFan]

For the Bond 2.0 era I think we NEED to have Blofeld again. And Logan pitching 24 and 25 as a two-parter - that must have a connection with SPECTRE/QUANTUM and its head.

[Shrublands]

For the Bond 2.0 era I think we NEED to have Blofeld again. And Logan pitching 24 and 25 as a two-parter - that must have a connection with SPECTRE/QUANTUM and its head.

Yes, I agree. Let’s take a look at what we know…

John Logan has said that, “Bond should always fight Blofeld”
Logan has pitched a two-film story to Eon, who are going with it.
Eon say they now have the SPECTRE and Blofeld rights back.
Craig, who has a lot of influence, has talked about reintroducing and reclaiming the Bond icons. It seems to be something that interests him and he’s mentinoned Blofeld specifically as next on the list.

Yes, Eon are on record as saying that SPECTRE and Blofeld are old fashioned and don’t fit with the current style, but what if Logan’s idea brings them into the modern style as convincingly as the reimagining of Q?

Nothing conclusive, but a pattern that gives me hope.

[triviachamp]

Eon say they now have the SPECTRE and Blofeld rights back.

Interesting. Any link to this story? I guess they have bought out McClory's heir(s). So does this mean another Thunderball remake?

[Walecs]

Blofeld in 007 Legends is a simply proof.

[triviachamp]

Blofeld in 007 Legends is a simply proof.

Huh, didn't realize that. Looks like conclusive proof to me!

[L4YRCAKE]

This is a quote from an interview with Barbara Broccoli:


And Blofeld? Will he ever be returning?
[laughs] Blofeld has obviously been an important part of the history of Bond, and as much as we love him we're focusing on trying to create new villains. Certainly when you see Javier Bardem you'll see that he serves up a pretty dangerous cocktail for Bond. I think that he's a new version of the lethal adversary that Blofeld has been in the past.

Here's the link to the interview:

http://www.flixist.c...li-213135.phtml

With that said, I'd swear I saw a recent interview with her that seems more warm to the idea of a return of Blofeld and SPECTRE, and she mentions that Eon now owns all the full rights, but I can't seem to track it down so you'll just have to take my word for it.

[AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän]

Craig did shoot the idea or Bonds 24 and 25 being a two-part story, but that does not mean there cannot be plot threads that tie them together - those being Ol' Ernie & co. He appeared in 4 of the Connery Bonds and those films were 99% stand-alone stories but with a mutual source of threat. And to make Blofeld work in the 21st Century Logan has to go back to the source, that being the Master Ian Fleming. No nehru suits or white persians, just a large middle aged man who'se mind is like a black diamond.

Edited by AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän, 02 November 2012 - 11:16 PM.

[Guy Haines]

Craig did shoot the idea or Bonds 24 and 25 being a two-part story, but that does not mean there cannot be plot threads that tie them together - those being Ol' Ernie & co. He appeared in 4 of the Connery Bonds and those films were 99% stand-alone stories but with a mutual source of threat. And to make Blofeld work in the 21st Century Logan has to go back to the source, that being the Master Ian Fleming. No nehru suits or white persians, just a large middle aged man who'se mind is like a black diamond.

I've jotted down a couple of ideas above - no more than bare bones - for 24 and 25, which would even link SF to a return of Blofeld and SPECTRE. After all, watching SF, I couldn't help but wonder - "Who's paying for Silva's almost limitless supply of men and machines? It can't be down to a run of luck playing online poker!" :-)