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Would Anthony Hopkins Make a Good Older Bond?


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#1 DavidJones

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Posted 02 May 2015 - 02:36 PM

Imagine this: instead of Die Another Day being the film to celebrate the 40th anniversary, would it have been a good idea to have a 'catch-up' with the 1960s Bond and see what he, as an older man and agent, would be like? Hopkins was, I think, 65 in 2002.

 

They could have phoned Connery to ask him to do it, and he would have growled and told them to eff off and slammed the phone down. And then he would have later read that they've gone one better and got Sir Anthony Hopkins instead!

 

Funnily enough, in 1971, Hopkins was considered for Bond, saying in 2012: "I met Cubby Broccoli and I didn't think I was the right material for Bondlb_icon1.png but it was flattering to be offered it."

http://www.southwale...l#ixzz3YzXg9SaR


Edited by DavidJones, 02 May 2015 - 02:37 PM.


#2 0072

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Posted 06 May 2015 - 07:35 AM

I wouldn't pick him for Bond either.  But... what a sensational villain he'd make!



#3 graric

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Posted 06 May 2015 - 10:39 AM

I wouldn't pick him for Bond either.  But... what a sensational villain he'd make!

 

Well he is rumoured to play a villain every second film or so (and supposedly he was up for the role of Trevelyan when he was planned to be an older mentor for Bond, rather than just an equal.

Honestly given how half hearted Hopkins can be in recent roles, I'm not sure how much I'd want him to try out being an Older Bond.

 

As for Connery playing an older Bond in 2002, while he has always displayed mixed feelings towards the role he did return to the role 3 years later for the FRWL game,  and was on good enough terms with the producers to visit the World is not Enough set (and watch Pierce Brosnan escape the series of fireballs in the nuclear test site.)
At the time Connery was looking to make a hit film (after turning down Matrix and Lord of the Rings, and why he signed on for League of Extraordinary Gentleman)- and he'd be very aware of how successful the Bond films still were.
(The key to persuading him then, I imagine, would have been how much the producers would be willing to pay to get him back.)



#4 Hansen

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Posted 10 May 2015 - 01:26 PM

Right now Pierce Brosnan or Timothy Dalton would be great for an older Bond.

#5 Odd Jobbies

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Posted 10 May 2015 - 03:23 PM

Daniel Day Lewis



#6 tdalton

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Posted 10 May 2015 - 03:44 PM

He would have been great for a Bond villain back in the 1990s.  But as an older Bond.  Absolutely not.



#7 Odd Jobbies

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Posted 10 May 2015 - 04:06 PM

I think in his day Daniel Day-Lewis would've have been the greatest Bond ever; his level of detail is second to none - he'd have created the most nuanced Fleming-esque Bond imaginable.

Sadly for Bond he'd have never touched the role - he's a notoriously picky actor. However, a one-off playing old  Bond (they aged him very well in There Will Be Blood) may hold an attractive challenge for him.  

 

Now, if that one off were to be directed by Tarantino i'd just about wet myself.

 

 

Note: Before the hate begins i'd like to point out that i wouldn't want Tarantino as a canon director - too iconoclastic for the brand - but for a one-off high concept piece about an aged Bond he's top choice in my book.



#8 billy007

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Posted 10 May 2015 - 11:28 PM

Why not have Sir Anthony portray 001 in a flashback training segment?



#9 Emrayfo

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Posted 12 May 2015 - 12:30 AM

I'm not really a fan of this idea, but if I was pressed I'd have to choose Sam Neil over Anthony Hopkins for a superannuated Bond reflecting on his life and career and maybe being drawn into one last adventure. But it's not really the kind of character exploration I want to see with this character. For me Bond has to be in the eternal 'now', at the peak of his powers. That's the beauty of the character and part of the secret of the film franchise's success - much like characters in comic books.

 

It is for similar reasons I don't truck with the 'young Bond' idea that gets floated on this forum from time to time. There is no young Bond. The Bond we know is the man who may not live beyond tomorrow. Bond is a 'Double-O'. Before becoming a 'Double-O' he was a non-licensed to kill Mi6 operative; before that a Commander in the RN (And if you need further back-story I also like to think he also had Special Boat Service experience, with perhaps secondments to the SAS or US Navy Seals - after all someone of his skills and abilities screams 'special forces'). If anything, I wouldn't mind a future Bond film where part of the plot relates to an episode from his past, and we get a flashback to his military period - perhaps on an operation.