109 replies to this topic

[SecretAgentFan]

Source: http://www.wenn.com/...r-new-spy-film/

 

 

 

Interesting. I thought this project would go the way of the "Thomas Crown"-sequel. But with Roger Donaldson as director and Olga Kurylenko now cast, Brosnan will get to do his own spy film after all.

 

[Walecs]

Interesting indeed!

[Odd Jobbies]

Certainly something to look forward to....

 

One of the writers gave us the Tom vehicle Oblivion  (haven't seen it, but by accounts its pretty poor) and i imagine that's where Olga came in. He also did the recent series Last Resort, which again i haven't bothered watching because it's been cancelled already, but it did look great and reviews liked it.

 

The other writer did Predators which wasn't a classic, but was a vast improvement on all previous sequels and showed an understanding of the source material (what exactly made the original movie work).

 

Donaldson's made one authentic classic - the spy movie No Way Out, starring Kevin Costner in '87 (highly recommended if you haven't seen it). But since then it's been very mediocre; the only other good thriller i can spot on his resumé is White Sands ('92), which had good performance and atmos, but the narrative was a little too opaque if i remember correctly. The Bank Job  was just about OK and Thirteen Days and The Getaway remake had decent reviews.

 

Obviously Donaldson and Brosnan have worked together on the forgettable disaster movie Dante's Peak, so at least they know they'll get on and i imagine that'll put Brosnan at ease, which should help him to deliver one of his more genuine performances.

 

There's nothing that suggests this'll come close to the quality of Skyfall, but it's very exciting to have a Brosnan spy movie on the horizon. Donaldson and the writers are very capable of delivering something special should the stars align for them, so here's hoping.

Edited by Odd Jobbies, 28 April 2013 - 07:04 PM.

[S K Y F A L L]

Certainly something to look forward to....

 

One of the writers gave us the Tom vehicle Oblivion  (haven't seen it, but by accounts its pretty poor) and i imagine that's where Olga came in. He also did the recent series Last Resort, which again i haven't bothered watching because it's been cancelled already, but it did look great and reviews liked it.

 

The other writer did Predators which wasn't a classic, but was a vast improvement on all previous sequels and showed an understanding of the source material (what exactly made the original movie work).

 

Donaldson's made one authentic classic - the spy movie No Way Out, starring Kevin Costner in '87 (highly recommended if you haven't seen it). But since then it's been very mediocre; the only other good thriller i can spot on his resumé is White Sands ('92), which had good performance and atmos, but the narrative was a little too opaque if i remember correctly. The Bank Job  was just about OK and Thirteen Days and The Getaway remake had decent reviews.

 

Obviously Donaldson and Brosnan have worked together on the forgettable disaster movie Dante's Peak, so at least they know they'll get on and i imagine that'll put Brosnan at ease, which should help him to deliver one of his more genuine performances.

 

There's nothing that suggests this'll come close to the quality of Skyfall, but it's very exciting to have a Brosnan spy movie on the horizon. Donaldson and the writers are very capable of delivering something special should the stars align for them, so here's hoping.

Thanks for the NO WAY OUT recommendation, really enjoyed it. 

[x007AceOfSpades]

Very interesting and great news! Will add to the OKAS tonight!

[trevanian]

I've read the first half-dozen or so of THE NOVEMBER MAN novels several times ... the second is absolutely fantastic, and the third -- the one they are basing the film on -- was as I recall mostly okay. I stopped reading them when the author decided to have a continuing character brutalized for no good effect, and apparently things went downhill further after that.

 

Always saw Devearaux as a David Janssen type ... 

 

This story won't give Broz an opportunity on the level of TAILOR OF PANAMA, but I imagine it'll play. Spottiswoode is pretty solid - don't know if he can pull out of Broz what Boorman did (which was the Bond performance I always wanted to see from Brosnan), but here's hoping. 

[Dustin]

Interesting development there. The November Man series seems to be one of those gems nobody knows about any more today. Or hardly anybody, because the few reviews you can find (like here) start at 'positive' and go up to 'raving'. I have to admit I didn't catch this at the time and never got around to bridge the gap since. Will have to take a look at them.

 

The intriguing thing is this adaptation starts with Brosnan, a seasoned actor already. If they aim for a series - as I suppose they will, lest they could just have gone with an original script - that would mean for the first time* a 'senior' agent in a possibly longer running series, ambitious given the youth craze of the studio suits.  

 

 

*Not counting Smiley there, who is in the end more of an equivalent to M/the agent's boss/spymaster than to Bond/the agent himself.

Edited by Dustin, 29 April 2013 - 03:20 PM.

[trevanian]

I was just going to mention Smiley!

 

If you start reading them, the first one, which accurately and eerily predicts Mountbatten (unfortunately that was the principal buzz surrounding it, like CHiNA SYNDROME and 3mile island, nearly the same time), is worth reading, but SCHISM, the second one, is the one I find to be so very telling and soul-accurate in its portrayal of the 'inner' spy. Most of the early ones have a real-world inspiration, which is noted up front. 

 

Now that I remember it, he has a boss named Handy, a little nothing of a guy who just eats his cheesburger at the local restaurant every day, but as the books go on, he develops or demonstrates resources. Maybe I should give them a new read, knowing now to quit after the first four or five. 

 

Between Bourne and Bond and UNCLE and M:I we are in some weird mini-spy craze, aren't we? 

[tdalton]

 

The intriguing thing is this adaptation starts with Brosnan, a seasoned actor already. If they aim for a series - as I suppose they will, lest they could just have gone with an original script - that would mean for the first time* a 'senior' agent in a possibly longer running series, ambitious given the youth craze of the studio suits.  

 

I think part of it has to do with the fact that it's Brosnan's DreamTime production company that is making the picture.  If this were being made directly by one of the big studios, then they'd for sure be looking to cast the next young star.  Brosnan, I'm sure, sees this as his best opportunity to take a run at the Bond films and make the kind of spy film that he's always wanted to make.  

 

I, for one, wish Brosnan luck.  I find myself rather surprised to say this, but as things stand now, I think I'd find myself to be more excited for November Man than I am for Bond 24.  I hope that Brosnan ends up getting to make this the Bond film he'd always wanted to make, if for no other reason than his abilities in such a role can be judged on their own merit rather than on the ineptitude of the creative team surrounding him, as was the case during his tenure as Bond. 

[Dustin]

 

Between Bourne and Bond and UNCLE and M:I we are in some weird mini-spy craze, aren't we? 

 

 

Just what I thought recently. The upcoming "STAR WARS by Disney ™" barrage mentions they want to do spin-offs with individual characters and I wouldn't be surprised if they picked up the secret agent theme of the Agent of the Empire comic series, too. And characters like Dominic Flandry are long since overdue on the screen. Maybe now their time has come finally?  

Edited by Dustin, 29 April 2013 - 03:38 PM.

[Dustin]

 

 

The intriguing thing is this adaptation starts with Brosnan, a seasoned actor already. If they aim for a series - as I suppose they will, lest they could just have gone with an original script - that would mean for the first time* a 'senior' agent in a possibly longer running series, ambitious given the youth craze of the studio suits.  

 

I think part of it has to do with the fact that it's Brosnan's DreamTime production company that is making the picture.  If this were being made directly by one of the big studios, then they'd for sure be looking to cast the next young star.  Brosnan, I'm sure, sees this as his best opportunity to take a run at the Bond films and make the kind of spy film that he's always wanted to make.  

 

 

 

Think I've read about this. Indeed, the usual Hollywood studio suspects would have made this a vehicle for Ryan Gosling or some other newcomer with a need for his own series and an army of teenie fans to storm the internet to add to his glory. Still, wonder if Brosnan didn't wait a bit too long for this stunt.

 

I'm in two minds about this. On the one hand I wish him all the best with his project and can see why he feels he's still not at peace with the genre and the role of secret agent. On the other I doubt people will really judge this entirely on its own merits. They did not do this with NSNA, they of course saw Connery's character in THE ROCK as a James Bond version and it's hardly conceivable Brosnan's Devereaux will not have to stand up to the 007 comparisons. So it will be difficult to judge on the actual potential of the November Man, also with an eye on further entries. I sometimes wish the big names in the business would not try to corner the market for interesting series material (like Travis McGee in the hands of DiCaprio) and then sit for years on their property without making a move.   

Edited by Dustin, 29 April 2013 - 04:08 PM.

[tdalton]

Agreed that nobody is going to judge November Man entirely on its own merits, at least in terms of the film itself.  What I'm saying is that it'll be nice to see whether Brosnan can deliver the goods in such a role on his own merits, as it would seem as though he's the main creative force here.  Since it's his production studio making the film, one would have to assume that he's either the one making the decisions, or at least has a very large say in them, behind the scenes as to who the rest of the creative team is.  The success of this attempt at portraying a secret agent will rest largely on Brosnan's shoulders, which is something that would be difficult to say about his stint as Bond when the screenwriters insisted on having him spew out some of the worst one-liners in the history of cinema.

[Yellow Pinky]

Having read about two thirds of the November Man series, all of this just makes me scratch my head.  There's nothing about the books that fit with what they're proposing here with this adaptation.  I'm curious to see if Brosnan will give the character of Deveareaux a nationality change or if he will attempt to portray him as American as in the books.  He's also a good 10 years (or more) older than the character as written.

 

The series is a solid mix of old school Deighton/le Carre espionage and the action of something more along the lines of the Quiller series.  It is not Bondian escapist fare though.  I can certainly see the allure to Brosnan though as it will afford him the opportunity to do some real acting.  I agree with Trevanian above that the books became pretty violent, and in the case of "Hemingway's Notebook," downright brutal.  That said, "League of Terror," which came out after it is one of my favorites of the series.

[sharpshooter]

Brosnan in a spy film? I'm there.

[SecretAgentFan]

I imagine that NOVEMBER MAN is so different from Bond that Brosnan will actually not do this as his answer to the Bond franchise. Of course, the spy element will make the media draw comparisons. But this is probably just good material to make a film of, marketable because of Brosnan´s Bond association, but going into a different direction.

 

By the way: Brosnan delivers an excellent performance in his most recent film, the surprisingly good romance "LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED", showing his age, bitterness and simmering hope. I do think that he is getting better and better. And he will be highly interesting to watch in NOVEMBER MAN.

Edited by SecretAgentFan, 30 April 2013 - 08:14 AM.

[Dustin]

Well, from what I've read about the books they seem to emulate a le Carré/Adam Hall-mixture. While that is not the girlsandgunsandmartini-diet of Fleming the action element is probably prominent enough to make the Bond connection hardly avoidable. The topics of these thrillers to me look realistic enough to lend the whole affair a down-to-earth feel, but the real challenge for Brosnan will be to depict a believable character himself. I wonder if his production company already thought about how to follow up this entry? 

Edited by Dustin, 30 April 2013 - 11:07 AM.

[Yellow Pinky]

A new short Brosnan interview where he discusses Bond, his newest movie, "All You Need is Love," and at the end brings up "The November Man."  The biggest reveal seems to be that the mantle for a franchise would be handed over to the younger spy character.  Almost makes me wonder if he's not playing Devereaux, but instead is playing his boss, Hanley, and Dominic Cooper will be playing Devereaux. 

[Dustin]

A new short Brosnan interview where he discusses Bond, his newest movie, "All You Need is Love," and at the end brings up "The November Man."  The biggest reveal seems to be that the mantle for a franchise would be handed over to the younger spy character.  Almost makes me wonder if he's not playing Devereaux, but instead is playing his boss, Hanley, and Dominic Cooper will be playing Devereaux. 

 

 

Odd indeed. I somehow don't see Brosnan's company securing this series' rights and then not having the boss in the lead. Then again by now Brosnan is definitely closer to the M/spymaster age bracket. 

 

Another possibility: Brosnan plays Devereaux and then hands over the code name "November Man" to his sidekick. Further entries would then be original screenplays only using characters and elements devised by Bill Granger. Given the Bourne/Ludlum example - and of course Bond! - that is probably the way the industry would overall prefer when going about filming this material.  

Edited by Dustin, 01 May 2013 - 03:40 PM.

[DominicGreene]

This is pretty awesome news. Good to see Brosnan in other spy-esque film, maybe the Bond film we never had. 

 

Any recommendations on how to get started in the series? Book 1 first?

[Odd Jobbies]

Thanks for the NO WAY OUT recommendation, really enjoyed it. 

 

My pleasure!

 

Good  thrillers made for adults are thin on the ground these days, so the likes of NO WAY OUT are worth going back to now and then to be reminded how it should be done.

 

Costner made some poor career choices in the 90s which made it easy to forget that the guy really can act given the right material and direction. But in acting terms he made a great come back with the the little seen 2007 movie MR BROOKS - a psychological thriller about a serial killer - again, it's highly recommended.

 

Mr. Brooks (2007) - IMDb

Edited by Odd Jobbies, 04 May 2013 - 02:17 PM.

[SecretAgentFan]

I liked that one, too.

 

Interesting to see that leading actors like Costner and Brosnan were in their late 30´s and 40´s when their career was in full swing.

 

Nowadays, the most successful actors seem to be mostly in their 20´s and 30´s.

[Odd Jobbies]

I liked that one, too.

 

Interesting to see that leading actors like Costner and Brosnan were in their late 30´s and 40´s when their career was in full swing.

 

Nowadays, the most successful actors seem to be mostly in their 20´s and 30´s.

 

So true. It speaks volumes about who the studios now believe their audience is.

 

Perhaps the older audience is relying more and more on watching movies via cable/satellite on their home theatres, so the studios are making less money from them than from the young folk. The problem is, though, that the fewer movies are made for adults the more adults will rely upon those home theatres. It's all a bit depressing really, but hopefully November Man will be a grown-up thriller and bring some cheer to us old folk

[x007AceOfSpades]

I was given an invitation to attend a private screening of Pierce Brosnan's spy film, November Man, but I ended up not going, as I couldn't make it, which shames me, because I really wanted to see it and to see Brosnan back on the screen.

[Walecs]

I wonder when we'll see a trailer.

Edited by Walecs, 11 December 2013 - 09:19 PM.

[SecretAgentFan]

Interesting tidbit about the director claiming that Brosnan is playing the lead in "November Man" like the Bond he always wanted god play.

 

http://www.hollywood...l-pierce-678198

[sharpshooter]

Interesting tidbit about the director claiming that Brosnan is playing the lead in "November Man" like the Bond he always wanted god play.

 

http://www.hollywood...l-pierce-678198

Alright, this has raised my interest in November Man even further. Brosnan does look good in the set pictures. 

[Colossus]

Really good title

[SecretAgentFan]

"November Man" is set for an August release date!

 

http://www.deadline....ovember-7-2014/

[x007AceOfSpades]

"November Man" is set for an August release date!

 

http://www.deadline....ovember-7-2014/

 

Awesome! Still bummed I didn't go to the screener some time ago, but this will be great!

[sharpshooter]

"November Man" is set for an August release date!

 

http://www.deadline....ovember-7-2014/

Excellent, I'll be there.