22 replies to this topic

[Scrambled Eggs]

There's been a thread suggesting future directors, one suggesting future Bond girls, one suggesting future Bond cars, about a thousand suggesting future Bonds...

But not one for the writers. Which is odd considering that Purvis and Wade have taken so much flak on here over the years.

So, when Babs and Wilson sit down with some writers to discuss Bond 23.... who do you think should be in the room?

A suggestion:

Steve Knight. British screenwriter who wrote the excellent Eastern Promises and Dirty Pretty Things. Oscar nominated.

[Quantumofsolace007]

honestly I;'d like David Goyer to do it.

[sorking]

Steve Knight. British screenwriter who wrote the excellent Eastern Promises and Dirty Pretty Things. Oscar nominated.

I love this suggestion. He's a screenwriter who can combine violence with character, has an eye for the peculiarities of a location and its society, has a dark sense of humour, and who can adapt his work to the style dictated by the director (and, in Bond's case, producers).

Richard Price would be an interesting voice to add to the mix. (Sea of Love, Mad Dog and Glory, The Wire - oddly - and the criminally underrated Shaft remake.) He's great at crime iconography mixed with realistic wit and soulful character work.

Paul Abbott apparently weighed in on the third Bourne in an uncredited capacity, and he'd be a remarkable voice to bring up from TV.

There are other writers I love - Whedon, Sorkin, John Hodge - but I wouldn't want them anywhere near Bond. It's a hard style to work in, and requires a specific set of skills.

[Captain Tightpants]

sorking, I'd love to see Joss Whedon do it, too, if only because we'd be guaranteed one of the most memorable Bond Girls. And he's proven he can do action, too; he was uncredited for Speed despite writing 98% of the thing.

I'd love to have a crack at a Bond film; I'd like to think I've got some great ideas, and even though I'm only doing one unit on the subject at uni, Joshua Zetumer was brought in as script doctor for QUANTUM OF SOLACE despite not having and scripts produced ...

[D. Bond]

My vote goes to Eric Roth (The Good Shepherd, Munich). I love the dramatic feel he brings to his stories. And the action is only where it's necessary and has a lasting effect. I'd think he'd do rather well if he took a shot at a Bond film.

[sorking]

sorking, I'd love to see Joss Whedon do it, too, if only because we'd be guaranteed one of the most memorable Bond Girls. And he's proven he can do action, too; he was uncredited for Speed despite writing 98% of the thing.

Um, I said I love Whedon but absolutely DON'T want him anywhere near Bond.

Whedon's a genius at what he does, but his style is genre-aware and post-modern. He doesn't write about vampires in a real small town, he writes about movie vampires in a movie version of a small town. He doesn't write about the future of humanity in space, he writes about characters from a Western in space. The distinction is important - he draws on genre icons far more than from 'real life'.

As such, his writing for Bond would be about reflecting the style to date. A little of this can be neat. Too much would be wholly inappropriate for the current style - far more GoldenEye than Casino Royale. He may bitch about his Alien movie, but the original script is clearly a "we know we're in a movie" script. Soldiers, convicts and truckers are identifyably 'real'. A whacky band of space pirates? Not so much...

Still, you're not wrong about the Bond Girl.

Also: He didn't write 98% of Speed. A lot, and a bulk of the dialogue, but Yost nailed the story. If he'd written that much, arbitration would have given him a credit.

I'd love to have a crack at a Bond film; I'd like to think I've got some great ideas, and even though I'm only doing one unit on the subject at uni, Joshua Zetumer was brought in as script doctor for QUANTUM OF SOLACE despite not having and scripts produced ...

Anything's possible - but he did have enormous buzz in the industry. In fairness, it often happens that way - most movie writers' early name is made by movies we never see. Spec sales that never see the projector, but generate heat based on their quality. "Did you see that guy's script? You should hire him for the rewrites..."

[SecretAgentFan]

There's been a thread suggesting future directors, one suggesting future Bond girls, one suggesting future Bond cars, about a thousand suggesting future Bonds...

But not one for the writers. Which is odd considering that Purvis and Wade have taken so much flak on here over the years.

So, when Babs and Wilson sit down with some writers to discuss Bond 23.... who do you think should be in the room?

A suggestion:

Steve Knight. British screenwriter who wrote the excellent Eastern Promises and Dirty Pretty Things. Oscar nominated.

SUPERB IDEA. Let´s call EON right now!

[CaptainPower]

The Nolan brothers?

[Captain Tightpants]

Also: He didn't write 98% of Speed. A lot, and a bulk of the dialogue, but Yost nailed the story. If he'd written that much, arbitration would have given him a credit.

Yeah, the story accounts for that 2% ... most of the actors didn't want to be involved until he was brought on, because they thought it would be a DIE HARD clone.

I'd love to have a crack at a Bond film; I'd like to think I've got some great ideas, and even though I'm only doing one unit on the subject at uni, Joshua Zetumer was brought in as script doctor for QUANTUM OF SOLACE despite not having and scripts produced ...

Anything's possible - but he did have enormous buzz in the industry. In fairness, it often happens that way - most movie writers' early name is made by movies we never see. Spec sales that never see the projector, but generate heat based on their quality. "Did you see that guy's script? You should hire him for the rewrites..."

It's nice to dream, but I don't think I'd do it unless they said "We really, really want you to". Bond films are some of my favourites, and I don't think I'd want to be involved until it came time to being a member of the audience. Besides, my screenwriting unit takes up one semster of a four-year degree. There are some people in Hollywood who do writing courses at the University of California that take up an entire degree. I'd love to be a screenwriter, but the Australian scene isn't enough for me: I want to be making my own shows, not writing for HOME AND AWAY or NEIGHBOURS. I'm too ambitious for my home country, but can't compete with the big boys.

[sorking]

Also: He didn't write 98% of Speed. A lot, and a bulk of the dialogue, but Yost nailed the story. If he'd written that much, arbitration would have given him a credit.

Yeah, the story accounts for that 2% ... most of the actors didn't want to be involved until he was brought on, because they thought it would be a DIE HARD clone.

I hope you're joking, because any screenwriter who thinks 'story' is only 2% of a movie script...well, that's nuts. Speed is a story movie - the characters and the lines are fine but it's not a drama. The tension, the surprises, the whole damn thing runs on narrative. That's why it works - it's freight-train of story development.

I don't deny he had a lot of influence on the script - aside from anything else his name was on the poster until the WGA arbitration - but, let's be clear, Yost wrote a shedload of that film. Actors might want more character work, and no doubt he gave that to them, but Die Hard is THE action movie to use as a model...not least because it includes that same amount of character stuff.

Whedon fans - of which I am one - often want him to be more than he is. In the case of Speed he's one of a pair of talented writers who made the script work. But his credit came out that way for a reason: Yost did a lot of the good work. Whedon then made it soar...but not by changing enough to win credit.

Bah, sorry, taking this waaaaay of topic!

[Captain Tightpants]

Well, I'm just going by Yost's comments that Whedon did 98% of the thing. That's where I got the number from. Maybe you're right; maye we just want him to be more. But he's probably my favourie writer of all time in film and television; hell, where do you think I got my username and signature from? It's 'cause I see so much of myself in Malcolm Reynolds that it's scary.

[Zorin Industries]

Whedon is completely wrong. And far too television.

[tdalton]

So, when Babs and Wilson sit down with some writers to discuss Bond 23.... who do you think should be in the room?

My suggestions would be:

Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List, American Gangster, All the King's Men (2006), The Interpreter, The Falcon and the Snowman)

Brian Helgeland (Payback, Mystic River, Man on Fire)

Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Last King of Scotland)

[sorking]

My suggestions would be:

Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List, American Gangster, All the King's Men (2006), The Interpreter, The Falcon and the Snowman)

Brian Helgeland (Payback, Mystic River, Man on Fire)

Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Last King of Scotland)

A Helgeland script with a Morgan polish would be a excellent thing indeed.

[DamnCoffee]

J.J. Connolly would be an interesting choice.

[Quantumofsolace007]

honestly I;'d like David Goyer to do it.

Just to explain my post a little better.


When watching Batman Begins and the Dark knight their scens and sequuences literaly lifted from some of my favourite Batman graphic Novels. This seems to be Goyer's MO . If Hegot the Job almost certanitly unsued fleming elemnts and maybe even character would beon the film and the title might come from fleming as well.

Though sicne i'm usnure if many would jump on board with an amaerican writing bond perhaps Goyer for the story and someone else for the script?

[DamnCoffee]

Well... Wilson is Amercian and he penned For Your Eyes Only,Octopussy, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill.

And Tom Mankiewicz penned Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun.

[Quantumofsolace007]

Well... Wilson is Amercian and he penned For Your Eyes Only,Octopussy, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill.

And Tom Mankiewicz penned Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun.

Ah your right. Well I stand by my choice. I think Wilson and Goyer combined could pen a very interesting third bond film indeed

[mister-white]

In the subject of writers, I think Wade & Purvis are done. If you look on the credits on QoS, it seems Paul Haggis is the main writer and those two probably didn't do that much. As for new writers to bring in, even if they don't bring his brother on board to direct, I want to see Jonathan Nolan write a Bond.

[DamnCoffee]

Jonathan Nolan would be a real treat.

[sorking]

In the subject of writers, I think Wade & Purvis are done. If you look on the credits on QoS, it seems Paul Haggis is the main writer and those two probably didn't do that much.

If you don't understand how accreditation works, you shouldn't pretend that you do.

[Bradley De La Cloche]

Well... Wilson is Amercian and he penned For Your Eyes Only,Octopussy, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill.

And Tom Mankiewicz penned Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun.

Don't forget Richard Maibaum!

[Mister E]

Well... Wilson is Amercian and he penned For Your Eyes Only,Octopussy, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill.

And Tom Mankiewicz penned Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun.

Don't forget Richard Maibaum!

Yep. Anyway, I think David Mamet and maybe Micheal G. Wilson collaborating with him could make a good match.

Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Last King of Scotland)

Great choice.