1531 replies to this topic

[Attempting Re-entry]

Any more thoughts on re-casting Craig? Keep him? Lose him?

Must keep DC.

[Quantumofsolace007]

Any more thoughts on re-casting Craig? Keep him? Lose him?

Must keep DC.

Agreed.

I'd like to see Daniel Craig Back for 5 times

[terminus]

Am working on an outline to bring all of the various elements together into a story - which will, hopefully, please everyone.

[Aris007]

Any more thoughts on re-casting Craig? Keep him? Lose him?

Must keep DC.

Agreed.

I'd like to see Daniel Craig Back for 5 times

KEEP CRAIG BONDING!!!!...............please!

[terminus]

Guess that means we're keeping Craig as Bond then.

[dinovelvet]

Am working on an outline to bring all of the various elements together into a story - which will, hopefully, please everyone.

Are we going ahead without a third gadget then? Not that we need a third one. Do most Bond films have three?

Anyway, are we all just going to write our own versions and post them, or what? It might be fun to see what different stories people come up with using the same basic building blocks.

[terminus]

That's a pretty good suggestion, Dino. In previous versions of the game, it got fleshed out as we went along but since the items here are disparate then it could be interesting to see what people come up with.

I was just going to post my version and let people see what had come from it and then they could alter it until we had a version that pleased everyone.

Maybe if we all did versions then we could do a TSWLM and pull the best ideas from everyone's drafts until we came up with an 'Ultimate' version

[tdalton]

Maybe if we all did versions then we could do a TSWLM and pull the best ideas from everyone's drafts until we came up with an 'Ultimate' version

I think that this would be a great idea. It would certainly be interesting to see what everyone came up with within the parameters that have been set.

[DaveBond21]

Are we going ahead without a third gadget then? Not that we need a third one. Do most Bond films have three?

Most don't have as many as three, but it should be noted that some of the movies feature Q Branch, in which we see a number of gadgets being tested.

Although Thunderball, for example, has at least four - the jetpack, Geiger Counter watch, an underwater camera and rebreather device.

[coco1997]

I hate to piss on this potential parade, but the idea of us all posting our own outlines and then constructing an "ultimate" treatment culled from the best ideas just seems like it would be breeding ground for a lot of creative differences and bickering. I suggest terminus post his full outline once it's complete (since he spearheaded this entire project) and we can then dissect it from there.

[dinovelvet]

I hate to piss on this potential parade, but the idea of us all posting our own outlines and then constructing an "ultimate" treatment culled from the best ideas just seems like it would be breeding ground for a lot of creative differences and bickering. I suggest terminus post his full outline once it's complete (since he spearheaded this entire project) and we can then dissect it from there.

You say that after I've written the PTS! Well here's my 2 cents anyway, feel free to lavish praise, nitpick, mock, send money, etc :

MGM/Warner Bros. in association with EON Productions and dinovelvet inc. present "UNTITLED BOND 23 PROJECT", a film by Michael Mann

FADE IN/GUNBARREL SEQUENCE

The circular gunbarrel pulls out to reveal we are in MOSCOW. The camera drifts over colorful church spires to a seemingly deserted warehouse. But behind tinted windows, ARMED GUARDS are inside, watching over the sleek-looking top secret AX-21 VTOL experimental aircraft. Two of the guards speak in Russian-tinged English* (Paul Haggis to actually make the dialogue bearable later on, of course )

Guard 1 - I am worried, Oleg. They cannot just steal an aircraft like this and not expect reprisals.
Guard 2 - Relax, Dimitri. It's easy work, and they are paying us double. And for what? Nothing! We are in Moscow. Nobody will be foolish enough to try anything here.

IN THE SKY - a jet black shadow of a stealth plane circles above the Square. The cargo bay doors open and a lone FIGURE CLAD IN BLACK drops out, camouflaged against the night sky. He NOSEDIVES for several hundred feet, plummetting straight towards Red Square, as he pulls a cord. An entire PARAGLIDER rig instantly unfolds from his backpack, sending the figure into a graceful swoop, arcing towards the warehouse.

Through NIGHT VISION GOGGLES, we see the figure's POV as he steers. A digital display reads "Scanning codes...FOUND". The figure presses a button and as the paraglider steers closer, the huge warehouse DOORS SLIDE OPEN at both ends.

Inside the guards panic. "They've found us!", "Kill anyone who enters!".

Still up in the air, the mystery figure withdraws a GUN and FIRES IT through the open doors. A tiny object imbeds into the concrete, as Guard Oleg rushes over to it. He examines it. "EMP? What is EMP?"

As if to answer, the tiny object FLASHES and a shockwave of energy fills the room, blowing out the power and plunging everything into blackness. Right on cue, the paraglider SAILS into the room. Guards FIRE WILDLY, missing everything as the paraglider calmly floats over the aircraft, dropping another tiny object on top of it.

The glider is already hurtling out of the other end of the warehouse before anyone has a clue what's happened. BEHIND THE WAREHOUSE, the glider finally touches down in a junkyard. The figure folds the chute up in seconds and stuffs it into a wrecked car. Finally he removes the goggles and helmet. It is JAMES BOND, 007. Peeling off his jumpsuit, he is wearing an unusually cheap/loud suit by Bond's standard. In the pocket is a tiny flask; he removes the lid and POURS THE CONTENTS OVER HIMSELF. Right on cue, SHOUTING AND FLASHLIGHT BEAMS light up the area. Guards pour in as Bond staggers around, clutching the flask.

Guard 1- "Who are you? Did you see anyone come through here?"
Bond - (Russian accent) "Where is...bar? I am out of vodka!"

The Guards LAUGH and JEER at him and move on. Once they're out of sight, Bond adopts a normal posture and walks out of the area. Unscrewing the bottom of the flask, he extracts a tiny DETONATOR. He casually tosses the flask away, in typical Daniel Craig fashion.

Round the corner, and Bond is in Red Square. We see the reason for the disguise - everyone else is wearing similar loud 'gangster' suits and Bond blends in perfectly. A PARKED CAR awaits with the engine running. Bond gets in to the back seat. Two Russians sit in the front.

Driver - You smell of cheap booze.
Bond - Well, I am trying to blend in as a Russian.

Bond hands over the detonator. "Want to do the honors?"
Russian Goon 1 "Da. I take any opportunity to blow up something American"

He hits the switch and BOOM, the warehouse goes up in flames.

Bond - "It's been a pleasure working with you".
Goon 1 - "Unfortunately the job is not quite over, there is a loose end".
Bond - "And what's that?"
Goon 1 - "You."

The Driver produces a SILENCED PISTOL and aims it at Bond. A SHOT goes off and the Goon looks confused. BOND has shot the Driver through the seat.

Bond - Tell your boss next time you plan a doublecross, don't send two men with assassin tattoos on the backs of their hands.

The Driver SLUMPS forward, kicking the car into gear. The car ZOOMS forward, jolting both men back in their seats. The Goon SLIDES into the back and pulls a SWITCHBLADE. The gun is knocked out of Bond's hand as the two men STRUGGLE in the back.

The car ploughs straight through Red Square, completely out of control, scattering TOURISTS and MARKET VENDORS in all directions. Bond SLUGS the goon in the face, stunning him; as the car races towards a wall, Bond opens the front door and hurls the driver out. Unable to reach the handbrake in time, Bond turns the car, slamming its side into the wall. Shaken (not stirred), Bond steps out only to realize the goon is no longer in the car; he's halfway across the Square. Bond gives chase as the Goon takes refuge in St. Basil's Cathedral.

Bond bursts through the door, at the ready. The Goon is DEAD, lying in front of him, a clear bullet wound to the forehead. Confused, Bond looks around, but the place is completely deserted. Hearing distant police sirens, Bond turns to leave, when he notices a tiny object on the floor right in front of him, seemingly there for him to find. He picks it up, examines it, then tosses it away before leaving. The camera pans in to the small object, a silver lapel pin in the shape of a Q.

INSERT TITLE SEQUENCE HERE!

Untitled Bond 23 project to be continued! (Or not)

[Zorin Industries]

A bit derivative maybe Dinovelvet? I like the Q lapel pin at the end. But maybe that could be found in a completely unobvious setting, one which makes it instantly more sinister when it is found - for BOND and the audience?

[terminus]

Well - that's certainly MUCH better than the PTS I came up with. I skipped the PTS and started on the post titles in the hopes I would be inspired later about the pretitles.

I'd definitely attach that to a project as a worthy PTS. I'll post the outline I've determined in a bit, I've got to pop out to the shops in a moment so I will do it when I get back.

[terminus]

Here's how I imagine the sniper sequence turning out -



FRANCE

Bond uncovers the systematic murder of agents associated with the intelligence agencies of NATO countries that were involved in a given project. He plans to replace the remaining agent and eliminate the sniper that is taking out the agents.

A figure riding a motorbike and wearing a motorbike helmet is seen to be riding through the French countryside, followed by a snipers scope. Just as the figure fingers the trigger, he feels the cold metal of a gun on the back of his head -

Meet JAMES BOND, 007.

"You've been a bad, bad boy," quips Bond. The sniper reacts, pushes Bond away from him and makes a run for it - with Bond's P99 getting thrown out of reach. The chase smashes through fields and country lanes, passes a cafe on a country lane where a man checks his wine bottle in disbelief at what he's just seen.

The chase eventually reaches a farmyard which is undergoing serious renovation. A game of cat and mouse occurs between the sniper and Bond, taking full advantage of the building site - until Bond has the sniper at his mercy. Dialogue quickly establishes this is the same sniper that Bond encountered in Moscow.

At his mercy, that is, until the sniper takes a cyanide pill and falls dead at Bond's feet. The problem is, the pair are in a building that has been rigged for demolishing - and as the sniper dies, the building starts to come down around Bond and the agent has to rush to escape.

Bond, frustrated, walks back through the farmyard, battered and bruised - as the motorbike and the leather clad motorbike rider, pulls up at the side of the road.

Only now do we notice the shapely curves in the leather and as the jet black helmet is removed, luxurious red hair falls free revealing that the rider is a beautiful, porcelain skinned woman - this is FLEUR.

[coco1997]

The PTS by Dinovelvet and the courier sequence courtesy of terminus are fantastic.

[terminus]

Thanks! I'm pretty proud of how this is turning up - and love how Dinovelvet has worked out the PTS.

[terminus]

Here's the next chunk of treatment that I've come up with. I've skipped the MI6 sequence - but am imagining the following would be conveyed:

Fleur had replaced an agent, Waddingham, who was part of a NATO team investigating suggestions that Russian politico and business magnate is connected to mining uranium on the moon using his corporate space program as cover. All of the other members of the team are dead. Which means someone, possibly Quantum or a client organisation of theirs, is worried that the team has uncovered something. This leads to Bond being sent to Saba.


Saba, Netherland Antilles

Bond steps off the plane in Saba wearing a light cotton suit. He walks through the airport terminal where he is followed by an unseen figure - which turns out to be eighty year old Serafin Melendez, Head of Station for the Netherland Antilles, wearing a crisp white cotton suit and a panama hat. You can imagine he'd be quite dashing in his younger days as he escorts Bond to a broken down sedan and drives them through the lush green countryside to Melendez' villa where they dine on a balcony that overlooks the harbor.

Melendez was a Double-Oh once upon a time, back when Bond was in the crib. It's clear that Bond has a lot of respect for the elder man - and so has M, judging from the fact that they've kept an eighty year old in the field.

Melendez points out Rusayev's luxurious silver yacht docked in the harbor and explains that although Rusayev is a well known Russian politico and corporate magnate, he keeps a luxury holiday home on Saba - which also houses the launch site of his corporate space centre. As they watch, the rear of the yacht opens up and a sports car drives up a ramp and onto the quay before turning down a street and vanishing.

Melendez has arranged for Bond to attend a charity gala event that Rusayev is throwing in aid of the World Wildlife Foundation that night. Bond will go undercover as James Stock, a reporter for the London Financial Times writing a report on the space centre.

As Bond climbs into Melendez' sedan, Bond muses that they'll need a better car if they're to infiltrate the charity event. And on that we CUT to the BMW Concept Vision Efficient Dynamics pulling up outside of the building used to hold the charity event - the heads of other attendees turn.

Bond enters the event which is attended by the rich and famous. As the event continues, Bond finds himself next to Corinne Veneau, whom he recognises from his encounter with her in Russia (see 'Quantum of Solace'). They swap iced greetings but are interrupted by the arrival of Maxim Rusayev who, it turns out, is Corrine's boyfriend. He takes a liking to Bond and invites the secret agent to come and visit him at his extensive estate and will arrange travel for Bond to the estate the following morning. Bond agrees and the following morning, Bond is picked up by a limousine - but opts to follow the limousine in his own car instead.

Pulling up at the estate, Rusayev has to attend a business meeting but will be back that evening. He explains Corinne will take care of him and Bond finds the Canadian woman in the swimming pool. The swimming pool has glass walls that is sunk into an aquarium filled with exotic fish (so when you're in the pool, it looks like you're in the aquarium). Corinne explains that Rusayev is a collector of wild and exotic animals.

After the swim, the pair enter a steamroom where Bond uses a bug detector built into his watch to make sure that they are not being listened to. He then takes the opportunity to try and gather further information but Corinne can provide nothing of further interest and she's not even that interested in helping him. Corinne no longer works for the Canadian Secret Service and she's none too happy to see Bond, seeing him as the man responsible for her loosing her job. She just has really really bad taste in men - and Bond takes it upon himself to warn her that Rusayev is involved in uranium mining and smuggling.

Corinne takes the warning under advisement. A messenger arrives and reports that he has been asked to take Bond to the space centre. As Bond is driven to the space centre and into Rusayev's office, he notices that the Russian men is wearing special contact lenses, Rusayev explains that his cornea are sensitive to sunlight and thus the contact lenses filter the light. It's an affliction but it has not stopped him from building his career - he's notably proud of being the first corporate cosmonaut on the moon.

A fact Bond latches onto, asking Rusayev if he knows about the uranium deposits and the idea that it could be mined. Rusayev admits he has heard of it, but dismisses the mining of the deposits as pure science fiction.

Fifty years ago, Bond reminds Rusayev, the internet was science fiction.

Bond also surmises that Rusayev is obsessive compulsive from the way that Rusayev keeps moving items on his desk around until they are in specific constellation with each other. He notices crates being unloaded from a recently returned rocket and makes note of them being loaded onto a truck to be taken to the airstrip.

That night, Bond decides to break into the space centre to search the office and other rooms for information. He finds information suggesting that Rusayev IS smuggling the uranium via Saba to a remote airfield in the Yukon which is being used as a staging area to take the weapons to oilfields on the Alaska/Canada border.

Bond hears movement and makes his escape, ducking out of a window just as Rusayev walks into the room (with Corinne sleeping in the luxurious bed at the estate) and misses him. But he notices that there's an item on the desk out of position, picks up his mobile phone and dials a number - "Your friend is poking his nose in, you know what to do."

Bond pulls up outside his hotel and opens his door. The lights are off, Bond flicks them off and finds Melendez sitting in the corner of the room with a gun pointed at Bond. "Shame," says Melendez. "I'd heard you were much better than this." Bond can't believe that the old man has betrayed, not only him but everything he spent his whole life safeguarding. Melendez has his reasons - with Rusayev having his granddaughter kidnapped and threatened with death if Melendez didn't cooperate.

Melendez shoots Bond with a tranquiliser gun before alerting two waiting thugs who manhandle Bond into the back of Melendez' sedan. Bond is then transported back to the estate where he finds out that Corinne has been ushered out of bed in her pyjamas. Melendez has told Rusayev that Bond is a secret agent and revealed that Corinne may be in league with him.

Earlier we learned that Rusayev has excavated a series of caverns sprawling under his lands and that he often leads hunting parties to find wild animals and keeps them in the system of caves, starving them to drive them mad and make them all the more ferocious. He sends people down there for sport and for punishment - he throws Melendez into the caverns where a lion is released, mauling the old man.

Melendez: A poor stupid old man. He honestly believed I had kept his granddaughter alive. No, she was dead as soon as he agreed to cooperate - and now, so is he.

Bond and Corinne are thrown into the maze of caves and must out-run and out-last the animals. They manage to save Melendez, but he is too seriously injured and eventually sacrifices himself to save Bond and Corinne after learning that his granddaughter is actually dead.

Bond and Corinne defeat a giant squid, making their way from the tunnels through an underwater tunnel and out into a cave on the shore where the pair collapse, exhausted, in each others arms and share a kiss.

[Zorin Industries]

Box-ticking perhaps (via the jaded prism of John Gardner novels and nostlagic notions of what a Bond film is, based only on what they have been but not what they now are?)

Most of those story beats have been done time and time again... and are not done so much now and certainly not shoe-horned in with so little concern to characterisation.

Sorry to be harsh. I like the idea of CORRINE returning and the older 80 year old character. But his granddaughter feels clunky to me and the first thing that would go at the first story meeting.

[terminus]

Box-ticking perhaps (via the jaded prism of John Gardner novels and nostlagic notions of what a Bond film is, based only on what they have been but not what they now are?)

Most of those story beats have been done time and time again... and are not done so much now and certainly not shoe-horned in with so little concern to characterisation.

Sorry to be harsh. I like the idea of CORRINE returning and the older 80 year old character. But his granddaughter feels clunky to me and the first thing that would go at the first story meeting.

I needed a believable reason for Melendez to have turned traitor and the kidnapped daughter was the closest idea at hand, if there's a suitable alternative out there then we can certainly use it.

Re: your capitalisation of CORRINE - have seen it spelt as both Corinne and Corrine (it's spelt in both ways at various points on IMDB too, which is odd) so wasn't too sure and the official webpage didn't seem to shed any light. Haven't got my copy of Quantum of Solace close at hand at the moment, how is it spelt in the credits of the movie?

You've rightly criticised the elements that aren't very good. I do agree that the sequences with the introduction to Rusayev and Corinne is rather traditional and formulaic isn't as innovative as the sequences could be. I do, however, like the sequences with Melendez meeting Bond, dining with him overlooking the quay and introducing the car - and his subsequent betrayal. My concept when planning the sequence out was that Melendez is how Bond might turn out when he is eighty - charismatic and with the clarity that he was once very handsome - so Bond can't bring himself to even comprehend that Melendez could ever be a traitor.

How do you imagine the sequence of events in Saba could be brought together?

[dinovelvet]

A bit derivative maybe Dinovelvet? I like the Q lapel pin at the end. But maybe that could be found in a completely unobvious setting, one which makes it instantly more sinister when it is found - for BOND and the audience?

Yeah, it's a little bit of a mishmash of the PTS of Octopussy and The Living Daylights, plus a 'mystery assassin' like TWINE, with a Goldfinger nod in there too. So yes, I accept accusations of it being derivative! I do like the kind of PTS that ends with a little bit of a twist or a mystery like, say, TMWTGG, YOLT, or TWINE, so I was trying with the Q pin to give the audience something to chew on as they're listening to the Lady Gaga title sequence

The PTS by Dinovelvet and the courier sequence courtesy of terminus are fantastic.

Thanks! I'm pretty proud of how this is turning up - and love how Dinovelvet has worked out the PTS.

Thanks, guys. I'll read terminus' writings later!

[Zorin Industries]

Re: your capitalisation of CORRINE - have seen it spelt as both Corinne and Corrine (it's spelt in both ways at various points on IMDB too, which is odd) so wasn't too sure and the official webpage didn't seem to shed any light. Haven't got my copy of Quantum of Solace close at hand at the moment, how is it spelt in the credits of the movie?

Not a clue. I capitalise as I do with all characters in a script. Call it a habit.

My concept when planning the sequence out was that Melendez is how Bond might turn out when he is eighty - charismatic and with the clarity that he was once very handsome - so Bond can't bring himself to even comprehend that Melendez could ever be a traitor.

Fair enough. Though that has all been covered with MATHIS already.

[Zorin Industries]

How do you imagine the sequence of events in Saba could be brought together?

Well I wouldn't have CORINNE's boyfriend as any character. That motif is done very significantly at the close of SOLACE so would not need repeating. And would she ever be with another man again after the way BOND leaves her reeling with what he knows?

To be honest, the Saba stuff you have written is so ladened with tick-box moments and gestures that it reads quite awkwardly and samey-ly (that is a word I have just made up!).

My advice - keep the characters, keep the locations....but work them in more effectively, with greater intrigue and greater originality. Forget all the Bond films you have ever seen and go from there.

[Zorin Industries]

I was trying with the Q pin to give the audience something to chew on as they're listening to the Lady Gaga title sequence

Absolutely. But - put it where we wouldn't expect. This is just a suggestion...off the top of my head ...ignore by all means...

_______________________________________________________________

EXT. MONASTERY ROAD. PORT LLIGAT - NIGHT

Local FIRECREWS struggle with a flaming MONASTERY. Wood and debris collapse fiercely into the flames. There is no saving this MONASTERY.

An exhausted and filthy FIREMAN attempts blocking an onlooker gaining access.

FIREMAN
Ninguna entrada! Ninguna entrada!

The unseen figure ignores the pleas and disappears into a gap in the flames. The FIREMAN is too tired and surrenders to their risk.

CUT TO :

INT. MONASTERY. PORT LLIGAT - NIGHT

Fierce flames and falling debris. A LADY's HIGH HEELS navigate the burning timber with poise and intent towards a stand alone ALTAR.

The LADY's mancicured hands reaches onto the ALTAR and calmly removes a "Q" lapel pin badge from beside a burning chalice.

END OF SCENE.

[dinovelvet]

Hmm, so we've gone with the (presumably) joke suggestion of John Astin and not Ortiz as I originally picked. But in a strange way, it kind of works, I can imagine a relatively remote place like Saba having an 80 year old as its lone secret service operative (even though he's played by an ex-sitcom star who hasn't acted in four years. Hell, if we're going to get a comedy 80 year old, why not just hire Roger Moore and make it a proper reunion?!)

Anyway, I did kind of come up with my own version of events; the France scenes look sound to me, and I like that we got the Red square assassin worked in there.

After the reveal of Fleur, we'd presumably cut to MI6 where Bond would meet his new secretary, Loelia Ponsonby, as part of the new regime change via the new M. We'd get Judi Dench in a final appearance like Q in TWINE to hand over the reigns to Dalton, cue an "emotional" scene between her and Craig.

We then cut to...the surface of the moon! Where Russians are secretly mining uranium under the cover of a corporate space program, say, they are building the first commercial moon base. (If you want to anchor it in reality a bit more, we could explain that the uranium was uncovered as a result of NASA causing an explosion on the moon in 2009. EON usually likes to blame Americans at least once per Bond film). As the astronauts load the shuttle up with uranium, one astronaut inside (consults his list of stereotypical Russian names), PAVEL, cuts off the others' oxygen supply remotely, killing them all. He blasts off on his own, taking the uranium with him.

In the Earth's atmosphere, Pavel ejects the container of uranium at a predetermined point and the shuttle lands safely in a remote location in Siberia. Pavel emerges to be met by a man named COSTIGAN, who asks if the uranium was released safely at the exact location. Pavel answers yes, and Costigan promptly executes him.

A quick news report goes out in Russia claiming that the shuttle collided with a satellite and there were no survivors.

Back at MI6, Bond and the new M discuss these events. An obscure radar station in Venezuela reports a mystery object appearing briefly on the scope near Saba at the time of the "collision". (This report comes courtesy of South American section chief Felix Leiter, who since we have opted not to use him, doesn't have to be shown, or can appear briefly on a video conference screen, etc). And if we want to get cutesy with the in-jokes, we can have Dalton say something to Bond like "Ah yes, Felix Leiter, I know the man. Next time you see him, ask him how the leg is.". Looking at files on Maxim Rusayev, they find he owns property on Saba, so Bond is sent there to investigate. (We can either have a Q scene where he picks up his gadgets, or he can just handily use the gadgets later on!)

SABA, NETHERLAND ANTILLES (I like much of what Terminus did here, so I've kind of mixed my own ideas in with his, and have tweaked it to bring the henchman and this SEEL business into the story).

I see from Wiki that Saba has a "Government house". Bond could arrive there as a nice throwback. He meets Serafin Melendez, secret service on loan from Puerto Rico, who takes him to a local bar to talk business. (If we're still using Ti-Ti Ramone, Bond could order a drink there. "Hello, I'm Ti-ti". Insert your own Tom Mankiewicz response here - "But of course you are/ There's no doubt about that/ Oh, I believe you/ I never would have guessed", etc.)

Bond and Serafin discuss Rusayev on the bar patio overlooking the harbor, and that he's expected to arrive tonight. Serafin notices Costigan flirting with women at the bar, and points him out to Bond. "His name's Costigan. Ace pilot, former US rangers until they threw him out for insubordination. Now he smuggles, or at least that's the rumor since no-one's actually caught him".

Over to Terminus : "Melendez points out Rusayev's luxurious silver yacht docked in the harbor and explains that although Rusayev is a well known Russian politico and corporate magnate, he keeps a luxury holiday home on Saba - which also houses the launch site of his corporate space centre. As they watch, the rear of the yacht opens up and a sports car drives up a ramp and onto the quay before turning down a street and vanishing.

Melendez has arranged for Bond to attend a charity gala event that Rusayev is throwing <for the launch of SEEL> Bond will go undercover as James Stock, a reporter for the London Financial Times writing a report on the space centre.

As Bond climbs into Melendez' sedan, Bond muses that they'll need a better car if they're to infiltrate the charity event. And on that we CUT to the BMW Concept Vision Efficient Dynamics pulling up outside of the building used to hold the charity event - the heads of other attendees turn."
* I see a nice comedy moment here where Maxim pulls up in his car, drawing a crowd, until a tuxedoed Bond turns up in his BMW, and the crowd all turns to look at him instead. Cue Bond smiling politely at Maxim, who storms inside in a huff.

Inside the reception,
Melendez - By the way, I got a message that Canadian intelligence is sending someone down here to meet us.
Bond - Canadian intelligence? Didn't know there was such a thing.

Corinne Veneau is standing behind them in a knockout dress. "I used to think the same thing about the British until one of them helped me out". Bond is surprised, and introduces her to Serafin, explaining how he met her in QOS (thus reminding the casual fans in the audience who otherwise wouldn't remember her). Corinne tells them that Maxim has been drawing suspicion by surveying oil pipelines on the Canada/Alaskan border under the guise of "making sure the environment is safe" and she's been sent to investigate.

Maxim then makes his Big Villain Speech to the crowd, he announces the launch of SEEL (Soviet Environmental and Ecological Legislature), an organization to establish and regulate new green policies worldwide. Afterwards, he mingles and meets Bond. (Here we can maybe have a good old casino scene where Bond faces Maxim at the tables. Roulette, perhaps? Maxim goads him with "I hope you handle your money better than the British handle their oil, Mr.Stock". Of course Bond wins, and when Maxim hands him a check for his winnings, Bond refuses and says "Why don't we just donate that to the families of the victims of the recent shuttle disaster?". Maxim glowers at Bond and leaves, and Serafin agrees to follow him. Corinne returns with drinks from the bar and complains about a creep trying to grope her. When Bond asks who it was, Corinne points the man out - it is Costigan. "Rusayev keeps some interesting company", remarks Bond.

So, ah, more to come, maybe.

[terminus]

Excellent how you've merged the ideas together. I'm half and half on using Ti-ti but you've done it in quite a nice knowing way as well as bringing in SEEL.

I would quite like to keep Melendez betraying Bond and Corinne.

I did to a slight redraft of the scenes I posted in which I wrote Loelia Ponsonbury as Melendez' beautiful assistant, ostensibly a minder for the octogenarian agent. But we don't need to keep that.

[terminus]

I've done a slight revision of the version that dinovelvet posted. Picking up after the dual MI6 scenes and the sequence of events with the shuttle, the moon and the landing site in Siberia, we move to Saba, an island in the Netherland Antilles.


SABA, NETHERLAND ANTILLES

Bond arrives at Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport and takes a taxi to the government house. Here he meets Serafin Melendez, an octogenarian in a crisp white suit and panama hat, the Head of Station for the Netherland Antilles. The Dutch and the islanders are giving MI6 a great deal of leeway into their investigation but he suggests taking a walk to a nearby cafe where they can speak freely.

Melendez is, it transpires, a former Double-Oh - it is heavily suggested that he may even have been a previous holder of the infamous 007 designation. Either way, it's clear that Bond has a lot of respect for the elder man and so has M, judging from the fact that they've kept an eighty year old in the field.

At the cafe, Bond orders two ice-cold beers from the buxom bartender -

"Hello, I'm Ti-ti"

"I never would have guessed"

Bond and Melendez discuss Rusayev on the bar patio overlooking the harbor and that he's expected to arrive tonight. Melendez points out a ruggedly handsome man flirting with women at the bar.

"His name's Costigan. Ace pilot, former US rangers until they threw him out for insubordination. Now he smuggles, or at least that's the rumor since no-one's actually caught him".

Melendez points out a luxurious silver yacht docked in the harbor and says that it belongs to Rusayev. As they watch, the rear of the yacht opens up and a sleek grey sports car drives up a ramp and onto the quay before turning down a street and vanishing.

Melendez has arranged for Bond to attend a charity gala event that Rusayev is throwing <for the launch of SEEL> Bond will go undercover as James Stock, a reporter for the London Financial Times writing a report on the corporate space program that Rusayev controls.

As Bond climbs into Melendez' sedan, Bond muses that they'll need a better car if they're to infiltrate the charity event. And on that we CUT to the BMW Concept Vision Efficient Dynamics pulling up outside of the building used to hold the charity event - the heads of other attendees turn.

There's a nice comedy moment here where Maxim pulls up in his car, drawing a crowd, until a tuxedoed Bond turns up in his BMW, and the crowd all turns to look at him instead. Cue Bond smiling politely at Maxim, who storms inside in a huff.

Inside the reception, Bond notices Corinne Veneau on the arms of Costigan who cuts a dashing figure in his tuxedo. Bond and Corinne meet each others gaze across the crowded room but no words are spoken.

Bond relays the sighting to Melendez who is listening in to Bond using an earpiece.

"I'll be damned. Corinne Veneau. A woman I once met. Canadian Intelligence, or she used to be."

"Canadian Intelligence? Didn't know there was such a thing."

Bond explains to Melendez how he met Corinne in Russia several years earlier after his adventure in Bolivia.

Maxim then makes his Big Villain Speech to the crowd, he announces the launch of SEEL (Soviet Environmental and Ecological Legislature), an organization to establish and regulate new green policies worldwide. Afterwards, he mingles and meets Bond. (Here we can maybe have a good old casino scene where Bond faces Maxim at the tables. Roulette, perhaps? Maxim goads him with "I hope you handle your money better than the British handle their oil, Mr.Stock". Of course Bond wins, and when Maxim hands him a check for his winnings, Bond refuses and says "Why don't we just donate that to the families of the victims of the recent shuttle disaster?". Maxim glowers at Bond and leaves but is cornered by Costigan and the two man step into a side-room for several minutes.

"Rusayev keeps some interesting company."

At the end of the night, Bond slips a coat check attendent a crisp note to slip a piece of paper into the pocket of Corinne's coat. When Corinne comes to retrieve her coat, alongside Costigan, she finds the piece of paper in it and unfolds it, covertly reading it as she climbs into Costigan's rental car.

"What is it?"

"Just a note to remind me of something I have to do tomorrow."

Corinne crumples the piece of paper up and drops it out of the window as the car moves along the only road on the island, the paper flutters down in the breeze to the gentle waves of the water as we -

It's the next day. Bond has found a table at Ti-ti's on the balcony overlooking the harbor. He is reading a copy of an international broadsheet which he folds in half and puts on the table - as Corinne Veneau, wearing a light cotton dress that plays in the breeze.

"I hoped never to see you again. But you just had to walk back in my life, James," says Corinne.

"For a woman who hoped never to see me again, you accepted my invitation to meet me for breakfast with little thought"

Bond tries to warn Corinne away from Costigan because of his questionable history in smuggling and the black market. He brings up the topic of Maxim Rusayev and asks why Costigan spent several minutes in private speaking to Rusayev the previous evening.

Corinne explains that Rusayev has hired Costigan to make aerial surveys of several oil pipelines on the Canada/Alaska border, making sure that the environment is safe. He's not involved in anything illegal, Corinne assures Bond - but the fact that Bond is making inquiries has raised her suspicions, though she won't admit it.

Her suspicions are raised enough that she brings up the question of the legality of the work that Costigan is doing for Rusayev whilst the pair sit in bed, the sheen of sweat on their bodies whilst Costigan enjoys a post coital cigarette. The fact that she questions him raises his ire and he becomes physically abusive to her - as she lies crumpled on the floor, tears streaking down her cheek she comes to her decision.

As Costigan sleeps, the thin sheets draped across his scarred yet muscled body, Corinne slips on her cotton dress and sneaks out of the house where she pays the receptionist of the hotel to deliver a message.

Bond and Melendez are enjoying the conversation on the balcony of the cafe when Ti-ti approaches and hands a slip of paper to Bond, containing the message from Corinne.

It explains that Costigan will be ferrying an unknown cargo from Saba to the Yukon early the following morning. Bond slips the piece of paper into his pocket, tells Melendez that he will need an early morning wake-up call.

It is the next morning and Bond is watching through binoculars as a canister is loaded onto Costigan's plane whilst it idles near the end of the runway at Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport. He takes a snap of the caniter and sends it, via picture-text (using his brand new Nokia cameraphone) to Loelia Ponsonbury at MI6 before managing to attach a tracker to the plane.

As Costigan's plane starts to taxi down the runway, Bond feels a tranquiliser dart snap into his neck and sees Melendez aiming the tranquiliser gun.

Bond wakes to find he has been transported to Rusayev's villa on the island and is tied to Corinne. The villa is located above a spectacular complex of natural caverns within which Rusayev has housed a number of wild and dangerous animals.

Bond can't believe that Melendez has turned on the government he worked for and devoted his life to. Melendez apologises but he explains that Rusayev is holding his granddaughter and would kill her if he didn't cooperate.

Rusayev has Melendez dropped into the caverns where he breaks his leg and howls in pain. The Russian clarifies that Melendez' granddaughter died the moment that Melendez agreed to his terms.

Bond and Corinne are dropped into the caverns where they try to help Melendez by fashioning a splint from their clothes and wood that has been dropped. The trio make their way through the dark caverns, fighting off an attack by a hungry lion.

Melendez sacrifices himself (and, ultimately redeems himself) to the lion, allowing Bond and Corinne to escape through a tunnel that is submerged in a pool of water. Despite almost drowning as the tunnel is much longer than either person expected, they find a small hollow to take another breath before swimming the rest of the distance down the tunnel and emerging onto Saba's golden beach where they collapse into each others arms.


After this, presumably, we'd move into the Canada sequences.

[coco1997]

Good work, terminus. Might I suggest that you emphasize that it was Costigan who was holding Melendez's granddaughter, as by that point the audience would know what Costigan does with women and this would amp up his sense of sinister that much more.

[terminus]

That is a pretty good idea, coco1997. It would make Costigan increasingly horrid, something which I've tried to continue in my envisagement of the Canadian sequences. I wonder if we've put more characterisation into Costigan than into Rusayev at the moment - we've barely mentioned his OCD and photo sensitivty yet.

Here's my envisagement of the Canadian sequences. I'm sure dinovelvet will do a pass at the sequence to and we can merge the two versions as we've done with the previous sequences.


BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA

Corinne has been taken to the Dreamy Pines Motel in the Rocky Mountains where she is being guarded by MI6. However, Quantum have tracked Corinne down and have sent two men - Morant and Horowitz - to take her into custody. They claim to be working for the motel owner (whom they have killed by shooting him between the eyes so that his car veers off the road, over a cliff and into a valley where it explodes in a fireball) to get past the guards and shoot them. The guards are shot and after binding Corinne's hands and feet with rope and throwing her into the boot of the car, they douse the motel in petrol and throw a burning match onto the surface - the hotel bursts into flame.

Morant and Horowitz drive away from the burning motel with Corinne stashed in the boot of their car.

THE YUKON TERRITORIES, CANADA

MI6 have tracked Costigan to a remote airstrip in the Yukon Territories. It is a private airstrip and the ownership is tracked to one of Rusayev's companies. Bond has co-opted Fleur to help him infiltrate the airstrip, uncover whatever Rusayev has planned and to recover the mysterious cannister jettisoned from the shuttle that supposedly crashed in Siberia. The airstrip can be accessed only by a single road and that is under heavy guard. The only other option is to go cross country which would involve several miles of hiking and skiing - which is what happens as a helicopter skims low across the surface of a frozen lake and two figures wearing combat suits bungee out of the back. This is Bond and Fleur - and they unclip the bungee cord when they reach the ground before putting together skis and ski poles from the packs on their backs.

The duo set off across the snow covered landscapes, dodging around trees and closing on the airstrip. As they get closer, they set off a perimeter alarm and a squad of guards are dispatched by Costigan on skis. There follows a pitched fight between Bond, Fleur and the guards - as Bond and Fleur's ski-poles are revealed to mask rifles and their ski-goggles double as targeting scanners and night-vision goggles. Bond fells the final guard with a precisely placed shot to the head - and he and Fleur swap suits into the uniforms of the guards before moving onwards to the airstrip.

At the airstrip, Costigan is supervising scientists unloading the uranium from the canister and manufacturing a low yield nuclear bomb that Rusayev wants him to eject from his plane in a precisely placed drop zone near an oil pipeline on the Alaska/Canada border. Several bombs have been placed - this will be the last.

Bond and Fleur infiltrate the airstrip and uncover a list of locations the bombs have been planted. As Fleur is radioing in the locations, Costigan shoots her through the heart and engages in a face-off with Bond. Costigan claims to be sad that Fleur is near death and that he hasn't had intercourse with her - but, he points out, that the other party being dead hasn't stopped him before. Bond is disgusted. The pair engage in a close quarters fight through the airstrip complex - and Bond learns that Corinne has been kidnapped from protective custody and is being held by Rusayev. If the bombs don't detonate, then the Russian will shoot Corinne.

Costigan dies when Bond pushes him into the rotor blade of an idling plane and blood splatters everywhere. Bond radio's for a team to come in and recover the uranium and secure the airstrip.






I'd imagine that, following the sequences in Canada, MI6 would somehow track Rusayev and Corinne down to China where the final confrontation and the truck/helicopter stunt would presumably take place.

[coco1997]

As always, well done, terminus. As for the ski chase, I remember a few years ago someone suggested a twist on the usual ski chase could have the Bond girl getting injured or losing one of her skis thus forcing Bond to "share" skis with her or handcuff himself to her to steady their trajectory. Maybe it would work here, maybe it wouldn't, but it's just something to consider.

[terminus]

Good idea, might be something that could be used. I hope I haven't put other people off by posting my concepts on the scenes so much, twasn't my intention.