4014 replies to this topic

[sharpshooter]

It's mentioned in one of the articles about the opening of a new Omega flag ship store, but it's buried amongst loads of other stuff. Mi 6hq.com has the relevant bit cut out if you're keen.

Just saw the story. The Omega president's response came when he was asked if Craig will wear the Seamaster again on screen.

 

"I'll meet with him in two or three weeks, but I’m not the one to decide. Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson have this incredible spirit about what they want."

[Odd Jobbies]

I saw this story too - it's an unfortunate leak for Eon, since they obviously want to keep us guessing (all those 'Whose the next Bond stories are great press in the between movie lull). But if true - don't see why the guy would lie - it's almost a confirmation (imo) that Craig is doing 25.

[Jim]

Products first, script later; the usual.

[SecretAgentFan]

Craig probably just wants some more free watches.

[Orion]

It's not so much "products first" as, "money first"

[Odd Jobbies]

The point is he's a busy actor. Why would he bother with this if he wasn't intending to do the movie (unless he really does just want the free watch )

But seriously he's not short of cash so I see this as the best clue yet that he's decided to do 25.

[Dustin]

Have there been events for the 'Ambassadors' of this watch-thingy without the need to promote a film? I think I remember a couple of ads with Brosnan and Craig just showing off a watch as themselves, no dinner jacket, no guns, no 007 written all over it. But my memory may let me down there, could be entirely wrong. Maybe the helicopter is intended for blowing up the watch. Or vice versa, whatever has more oomph...

[SecretAgentFan]

I believe I remember those "hey, I am/was Bond and can still sell tons of watches just by appearing anywhere"-events with other actors, too.

 

Probably this is even less of a hint at BOND 25 than the helicopter that couldn´t fly...

[sharpshooter]

But seriously he's not short of cash so I see this as the best clue yet that he's decided to do 25.

Last year Callum McDougall said Craig was the first choice for Bond 25. Craig said playing Bond was the best job in the world and he would miss it terribly. Barbara Broccoli is producing Othello. I think there's a very good chance Craig comes back.

[SecretAgentFan]

EON certainly would want him to.  It all depends on whether he wants to commit to another tough shoot and the probably even tougher PR circus.

[RMc2]

Yes, that reminds me of this QoS-era advert that technically has nothing to do with the latest Bond film. So maybe the helicopter is part of an Omega ad riffing on his persona.

 

[MajorB]

That sounds right, SecretAgentFan. At whatever point B25 becomes a go project, Craig will decide whether he has the energy and will to go through it again. If he doesn't, it clearly won't be out of any distaste for the part, whatever the tabloids may say.

[Odd Jobbies]

I stand corrected - it seems there's plenty of president for the actors to promote stuff between movies, so it's probably an ad.

 

And maybe, if he's turning down  the wads of cash Eon want to throw his way for 25 then he really need this ad to pay the bills

[DavidJones]

Tom Hiddleston - on Graham Norton Show - mentioned Thunderball and even named-checked Largo, almost as though he wanted to show people he was a Bond fan. Hmm...

Edited by DavidJones, 17 February 2017 - 11:08 PM.

[SecretAgentFan]

Hiddleston is yesterday´s news.  There probably was a short window of time in which he was tested and considered.  But that was last year.  Before his Taylor Swift affair.  And before DC said publicly that Bond is the greatest job in the world.

 

So, closer than Clive Owen, but not even as close as Brosnan before "The Living Daylights".

[Odd Jobbies]

...not even as close as Brosnan before "The Living Daylights".

It's harder to get any closer than that without actually doing the movie. Perhaps Brolin!

[DavidJones]

 

...not even as close as Brosnan before "The Living Daylights".

It's harder to get any closer than that without actually doing the movie. Perhaps Brolin!

 

 

Brolin got the closest as he was actually cast. There were a couple of days in 1982 when he was the Bond of record.

[Odd Jobbies]

Wasn't Brosnan cast, just not yet announced when the Remington Steele gits extended his contract?

[DavidJones]

Wasn't Brosnan cast, just not yet announced when the Remington Steele gits extended his contract?

 

Yes, he apparently did promotion shots etc, though these have never been released.

[SecretAgentFan]

So, maybe Hiddleston was just like Clive Owen - only the rumour he did a screentest was more credible.

[ggl]

 

 

...not even as close as Brosnan before "The Living Daylights".

It's harder to get any closer than that without actually doing the movie. Perhaps Brolin!

 

 

Brolin got the closest as he was actually cast. There were a couple of days in 1982 when he was the Bond of record.

 

Source, please?

 

John Gavin did signed the contract in 1970/1.

[Odd Jobbies]

Source, please?

 

 

[SecretAgentFan]

Those were the days... 

[DavidJones]

 

 

 

...not even as close as Brosnan before "The Living Daylights".

It's harder to get any closer than that without actually doing the movie. Perhaps Brolin!

 

 

Brolin got the closest as he was actually cast. There were a couple of days in 1982 when he was the Bond of record.

 

Source, please?

 

John Gavin did signed the contract in 1970/1.

 

 

Got mixed up Gavin was the guy, you're right. Read it in Simon McKay's excellent book The Man with the Golden Touch. Apparently, however, Brolin did buy a house in London in anticipation of winning the role.

 

Clive Owen may have come close too, but he and Eon deny that.

Edited by DavidJones, 19 February 2017 - 07:02 PM.

[Odd Jobbies]

According to the DVD doco Brolin had won the role, but a last minute call from Moore, relented to Cubby's offer saw Brolin dumped, sadly.

 

His screen test is pretty dull and cheesy - his performance that of the milktray man. But that was the early 80s trappings. Looking at his other movies he had the potential and may well have become a great Bond.

[Dustin]

Frankly, I see neither Brolin nor Neill* as very convincing in their screen tests. I suppose back then Eon's main concern was to find a guy fitting the mould marked 'James Bond 007' ™ ©, not somebody to really make the role his own.

In this case MGM may actually have been on to something when they suggested Mel Gibson. I won't go into the various reasons why Gibson wouldn't have been what the producers sought back then. But it's hard to deny Gibson wouldn't have been content just with fitting the mould. Much like Dalton and later Craig would.

*Funny how memory works: in an interview a couple of years back Neill remembered being asked to take off his shirt for the screen test. He argued he was a skinny guy and not used to working shirtless and nervous as hell since he only just arrived in London and had so little experience. Well, in REILLY, ACE OF SPIES he had a couple of shirtless scenes and seemed comfortable enough. On top of a scene that was a nod to just that FRWL scene between Bond and Tanja.

[DavidJones]

According to the DVD doco Brolin had won the role, but a last minute call from Moore, relented to Cubby's offer ...

 

Do you reckon the Brolin offer was just to make Moore sweat? Or was it a genuine?

Edited by DavidJones, 20 February 2017 - 12:30 AM.

[Dustin]

Brolin certainly took it as a serious offer. Back then Moore and Broccoli had a dancing routine, the one being coy, the other looking at candidates. They were both fond of playing games and both aware of it.

I think Broccoli knew he had a strong and reliable actor, one who didn't much go for diva business. After his experiences with McClory, Connery and Lazenby Broccoli would always prefer the proven and reliable.

[SecretAgentFan]

Frankly, I see neither Brolin nor Neill* as very convincing in their screen tests. I suppose back then Eon's main concern was to find a guy fitting the mould marked 'James Bond 007' ™ ©, not somebody to really make the role his own.

In this case MGM may actually have been on to something when they suggested Mel Gibson. I won't go into the various reasons why Gibson wouldn't have been what the producers sought back then. But it's hard to deny Gibson wouldn't have been content just with fitting the mould. Much like Dalton and later Craig would.

 

Well said and I agree absolutely.   While I love Sam Neill I never thought he could be Bond.  He is definitely a terrific character actor but not of the hero mould.  Brolin looks like a hero - but I never saw him in anything that could justify his Bond-ness.  Gibson, however, would have been an interesting choice if he had not ruled out appearing in more than one movie.

[Dustin]

THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY made a good case for what a serious approach to Bond with Gibson could have looked like. But in effect the Bond niche had problems to keep its own thriller core in balance. It's not a given something more down to earth would have been welcomed, regardless who played it. The market was not yet ready for this, it would seem. And Broccoli had a fine understanding of this.