71 replies to this topic

[dinovelvet]

Don't worry, Cecile de France is probably cast already.Her agent was suspiciously quick to deny the rumor that she was cast, wasn't he?

Its entirely possible, yes. Does this mean that Gulshan Grover has also been cast as Le C....?! One way or another, I guess we're going to find out in the next few weeks, or at least before January 30!!!

[Loomis]

As for the story about 3 stars turning the role down, the story is that Sony's trade-off for giving relative unknown Craig the OK was that a star would have to be cast in the Bond girl role (a la OHMSS) or as the villain. We'll see if the filmmakers end up having to cast less well known thesps in all three main roles and hope that the Bond brand alone is enough to draw audiences.

Deliver the Bond brand with sufficiently high quality (script, locations, visuals, etc.), as they did with GOLDENEYE, and, yes, it'll be enough. More than enough. Plus, the novelty value of a new Bond actor (especially such a controversial one as Craig) will give CASINO ROYALE an extra boost at the box office.

Whether Craig will be a "successful", "audience-friendly", etc. Bond remains to be seen, but it won't really be an issue until BOND 22. That's the test, and then will be the time to prop him up with famous names if that's seen as a possible good move. Go for too much "star power" now, and they'd take the focus off the new Bond and make it look as though they were already trying to "compensate" for him. Which wouldn't exactly send out signs of confidence.

[dinovelvet]

Deliver the Bond brand with sufficiently high quality (script, locations, visuals, etc.), as they did with GOLDENEYE, and, yes, it'll be enough. More than enough. Plus, the novelty value of a new Bond actor (especially such a controversial one as Craig) will give CASINO ROYALE an extra boost at the box office.

Whether Craig will be a "successful", "audience-friendly", etc. Bond remains to be seen, but it won't really be an issue until BOND 22. That's the test, and then will be the time to prop him up with famous names if that's seen as a possible good move. Go for too much "star power" now, and they'd take the focus off the new Bond and make it look as though they were already trying to "compensate" for him. Which wouldn't exactly send out signs of confidence.

Agreed. I think the Sony trade-off, if anything, was off-screen stuff like hiring Martin Campbell who it seems is part of Sony's "team" (with the Zorros and Vertical Limit), and the other part of the trade-off will be when a Sony artist is announced as the theme singer for CR, as zencat suggested.

[zencat]

Unless there's truth to these "girl crisis" casting stories, I really wish Eon would put a stop to them with some sort of official word. There has been a very steady drumbeat of negativity about this film since the earliest Brosnan stories. For whatever reason, the press seems determined to characterize this movie always in a bad light. Maybe Eon doesn't realize (or care) how much this kind of thing sticks to a movie and establishes a public perception that is very hard to shake. Does Eon even have a PR or spokesperson anymore?

[Loomis]

Deliver the Bond brand with sufficiently high quality (script, locations, visuals, etc.), as they did with GOLDENEYE, and, yes, it'll be enough. More than enough. Plus, the novelty value of a new Bond actor (especially such a controversial one as Craig) will give CASINO ROYALE an extra boost at the box office.

Whether Craig will be a "successful", "audience-friendly", etc. Bond remains to be seen, but it won't really be an issue until BOND 22. That's the test, and then will be the time to prop him up with famous names if that's seen as a possible good move. Go for too much "star power" now, and they'd take the focus off the new Bond and make it look as though they were already trying to "compensate" for him. Which wouldn't exactly send out signs of confidence.

Agreed. I think the Sony trade-off, if anything, was off-screen stuff like hiring Martin Campbell who it seems is part of Sony's "team" (with the Zorros and Vertical Limit), and the other part of the trade-off will be when a Sony artist is announced as the theme singer for CR, as zencat suggested.

Agreed. Of course, Craig benefits Sony too, in a way (sales of LAYER CAKE presumably going through the roof).

[Loomis]

Unless there's truth to these "girl crisis" casting stories, I really wish Eon would put a stop to them with some sort of official word. There has been a very steady drumbeat of negativity about this film since the earliest Brosnan stories. For whatever reason, the press seems determined to characterize this movie always in a bad light. Maybe Eon doesn't realize (or care) how much this kind of thing sticks to a movie and establishes a public perception that is very hard to shake. Does Eon even have a PR or spokesperson anymore?

Go to Sony's site

http://www.sonypictu...vies/index.html

and click on the link that'll take you to the great work that's already being done to promote ROCKY BALBOA, a film that isn't scheduled to open until three months after CASINO ROYALE in February 2007. And then compare what you'll find to Sony's work on the CR site.

Sony, Stallone and co. are doing a terrific job of creating fan goodwill that is already (I gather from looking at other sites) translating into positive buzz for their revival of Rocky. They've even given us fight and rehearsal footage to look at. The equivalent for the CR team might be, oh, I don't know, an exclusive interview clip featuring Campbell or Craig or Haggis or Wilson or whoever, plus Craig's screentest (polished up with a sneak preview of new Arnold music and edited together nicely)....

But Eon seems to have a habit of giving us everything or nothing (*ahem*, as it were), and right now they're giving us.... nothing. Sure, sure, it may not end up actually hurting the film (I firmly believe that CR will be a smash when released next November, although I do have my doubts about Craig's long-term popularity as Bond), and, yes, an official start-of-shooting press conference isn't exactly far away, but, still, they could be doing better.

I've followed Bond for many years and cannot remember anything remotely like the dark cloud of negativity that's currently surrounding CR.

[Turn]

Unless there's truth to these "girl crisis" casting stories, I really wish Eon would put a stop to them with some sort of official word. There has been a very steady drumbeat of negativity about this film since the earliest Brosnan stories. For whatever reason, the press seems determined to characterize this movie always in a bad light. Maybe Eon doesn't realize (or care) how much this kind of thing sticks to a movie and establishes a public perception that is very hard to shake. Does Eon even have a PR or spokesperson anymore?

Go to Sony's site

http://www.sonypictu...vies/index.html

and click on the link that'll take you to the great work that's already being done to promote ROCKY BALBOA, a film that isn't scheduled to open until three months after CASINO ROYALE in February 2007. And then compare what you'll find to Sony's work on the CR site.

Sony, Stallone and co. are doing a terrific job of creating fan goodwill that is already (I gather from looking at other sites) translating into positive buzz for their revival of Rocky. They've even given us fight and rehearsal footage to look at. The equivalent for the CR team might be, oh, I don't know, an exclusive interview clip featuring Campbell or Craig or Haggis or Wilson or whoever, plus Craig's screentest (polished up with a sneak preview of new Arnold music and edited together nicely)....

But Eon seems to have a habit of giving us everything or nothing (*ahem*, as it were), and right now they're giving us.... nothing. Sure, sure, it may not end up actually hurting the film (I firmly believe that CR will be a smash when released next November, although I do have my doubts about Craig's long-term popularity as Bond), and, yes, an official start-of-shooting press conference isn't exactly far away, but, still, they could be doing better.

I've followed Bond for many years and cannot remember anything remotely like the dark cloud of negativity that's currently surrounding CR.

This bothers me somewhat too. It's as if Eon is still clinging to that tried-and-true method of thinking Bond can just sell itself. It can to an extent, but it can also do so much more. It's that way of thinking that hurt LTK at the box office 16 years ago.

In an era of one blockbuster, remake, sequel after another, Bond isn't what it used to be and with a new, unknown in the lead it's more important than ever to get that attention out there. They can't hide behind the small studio thing anymore, either. Take advantage of the new era of exposure. It's not like fans won't flock to to it and it's not exactly a secret about what's going on with CR. The story is pretty well known to a lot of us. Give the people something.

[Bon-san]

Unless there's truth to these "girl crisis" casting stories, I really wish Eon would put a stop to them with some sort of official word. There has been a very steady drumbeat of negativity about this film since the earliest Brosnan stories. For whatever reason, the press seems determined to characterize this movie always in a bad light. Maybe Eon doesn't realize (or care) how much this kind of thing sticks to a movie and establishes a public perception that is very hard to shake. Does Eon even have a PR or spokesperson anymore?

I get the sense that Eon (read, Mike and Barbara) is far too insulated from reality. [Much like the current Bush administration, and no that's not a knock on the Repubs. Just a recognition of the obvious] Mike and Barbara apparently don't want to hear bad news or constructive feedback from their staffs, and so they apparently don't hear any. Perhaps their staffs are too insulated themselves, or else they just don't have the guts to shoot straight with Mike and Babs.

I mean, if I were on staff at Eon, I'd be barking about this stuff daily. They'd be getting a ration, and if they continued to sit on their hands, I'd just yell louder. It's really very difficult for me to understand their administrative decision making (or lack thereof).

Come on, hire me. I'll save you headaches and put more bums in seats.

[blueman]

I have zero problem with how EON is handling publicity: when they have something to say, they say it. And they let the film do the talking in the end (for better or worse). No problems...it's kinda frustrating, but rather this than them giving the tabloids more rumour fodder, because you know the tabloids are just waiting to twist whatever is said (short of a casting announcement) towards whatever agenda they think will sell the most papers that week. Bond is a target ( ), in such an envirnoment I salute their stance.

Patience. These rumour-mongers have yet to impact this franchise, and EON knows it.

[dinovelvet]

I get the sense that Eon (read, Mike and Barbara) is far too insulated from reality.  [Much like the current Bush administration, and no that's not a knock on the Repubs.  Just a recognition of the obvious]  Mike and Barbara apparently don't want to hear bad news or constructive feedback from their staffs, and so they apparently don't hear any.  Perhaps their staffs are too insulated themselves, or else they just don't have the guts to shoot straight with Mike and Babs.

I mean, if I were on staff at Eon, I'd be barking about this stuff daily.  They'd be getting a ration, and if they continued to sit on their hands, I'd just yell louder.  It's really very difficult for me to understand their administrative decision making (or lack thereof).

Come on, hire me.  I'll save you headaches and put more bums in seats. 

Actually I think Babs & Mike might be more in touch with what's going on than we're giving them credit for. After all, was it not because of the criticisms directed at DAD that they decided to go in a whole new 'realistic' direction, dump Pierce, and hire Danny? If they really were in an ivory tower, we'd have Pierce's fifth Bond (probably in theatres right now) made for $140 million with the usual "wall-to-wall action!".
Anyhoo, let's not forget EON did hold the press conference to introduce Daniel Craig, arriving by speedboat and all that, which got huge publicity around the world, and they're probably going to have another one at the start of filming, right? They didn't have to do anything like that, they could have just put out a press release saying Daniel Craig is the new James Bond, see you in November 2006! As for the Rocky stuff on the Sony site, its probably more to do with Sony realizing that movie in particular needs a lot of push and hype to get people interested (let's face it, most people laughed when they heard there was going to be another Rocky sequel).

[Moore Not Less]

Unless there's truth to these "girl crisis" casting stories, I really wish Eon would put a stop to them with some sort of official word. There has been a very steady drumbeat of negativity about this film since the earliest Brosnan stories. For whatever reason, the press seems determined to characterize this movie always in a bad light. Maybe Eon doesn't realize (or care) how much this kind of thing sticks to a movie and establishes a public perception that is very hard to shake. Does Eon even have a PR or spokesperson anymore?

I don't believe Eon should respond to all the rumours on a virtual daily basis regarding Casino Royale. A better idea would be for them to hold a press conference (perhaps once a month) in which they could respond to any news, rumours, speculation etc. Eon could also bring along a member (or members) of the cast and crew for a Q & A session with the proviso that no vital plot elements of CR will be revealed.

Seems like good PR to me.

[Bon-san]

[quote name='dinovelvet' date='30 December 2005 - 00:40'][quote name='Bon-san' date='29 December 2005 - 21:17']I get the sense that Eon (read, Mike and Barbara) is far too insulated from reality.