22 replies to this topic

[DouglasJ]

So my friend and I were conversing the other day, and the conversation came round (as it normally does) to Bond. We started talking about our mutual love of On Her Majesty's Secret Service and the fact that we both enjoyed Lazenby in the role, and we would have liked at least one more entry in the style of OHMSS.

So we decided to do some fan-scripting. Not only that, we decided to make a game of it and create cast lists (we can only use people active in 1970/1971) and posters. Neither of us are very good at photo editing, so please excuse the poor quality of the posters as they go up.

The screenplay is now basically finished, with a few finishing touches being added. We intend to put the screenplay online on the 19th of November, with a novelization to follow approximately one week later for those who prefer reading prose. So we're putting this up on various websites in the hopes that, when we finish, people will have a read of it and let us know what they think.

Just for the sake of it, here's the 'other stuff' we've done for fun.

Cast List:
James Bond - George Lazenby
Vivienne Michel - Brigitte Bardot
Ernst Stavro Blofeld - Telly Savalas
Rene Mathis - Jean-Pierre Aumont
Marc Ange Draco - Gabriele Ferzetti
Irma Bunt - Olga Tschechowa
Felix Leiter - Rik Van Nutter
M - Bernard Lee
Bill Tanner -Jeremy Brett
Q - Desmond Llewelyn
Sir James Moloney - Patrick Troughton
Miss Moneypenny - Lois Maxwell

Synopsis:
All The Time In The World picks up several months after the tragic finale of On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Bond is a wreck and is unable to perform to his previous standard in his duties as a Double-O-Agent.

Sent on a mission of personal revenge by M, Bond calls upon his wits, his fists and allies old and new to find Ernst Stavro Blofeld and avenge his late wife.

Posters:
Teaster Poster
British Quad (Coming Soon)
Character Posters (Coming Soon)

[terminus]

Excellent project, douglas.

This sounds like my sort of thing, looking forward to seeing it debut.

Have to admit, I have batted round a few ideas with coco1997 about doing a 'Missing' Roger Moore film in script format at some point.

[chrisno1]

Interesting idea. I'm not one for cast lists; the character list has all the old favorites, bar Ms Michel.
Co-incidentely my current project is also to do with OHMSS, I'll be interested to see what your "sequel" pans out like.

[DamnCoffee]

Very interesting! I'll definitely keep my eye on this one!

[coco1997]

The screenplay is now basically finished, with a few finishing touches being added. We intend to put the screenplay online on the 19th of November, with a novelization to follow approximately one week later for those who prefer reading prose. So we're putting this up on various websites in the hopes that, when we finish, people will have a read of it and let us know what they think.

Sounds like a very exciting project, Douglas! I'll definitely keep my eye out for this one.

[terminus]

This still on schedule?

[DouglasJ]

This still on schedule?

Yes and no.

The script is complete - the final draft was actually finished a couple of weeks ago.

However, we are considering holding it back and making the thing as an audio play. We're adapting the script to work as a play and seeing how things look.

We'll be making a final decision within a week and begin casting shortly after.

[terminus]

An audio-drama? That would be novel! I've only heard one fan produced audio-drama carried to completion before - and that wasn't particularly well done. Part of the problem being the need for action sequences and how hard they are to do in audio form.

Good luck to you whichever you decide to do.

[chrisno1]

There have been some excellent Fleming adaptations on BBC Radio 4, but I'd be very cautious about trying to write one without a prior text. It will need to be very explanatory and (usually) be written in the first person, which is an unusual take for FF. None the less, good luck with whatever you want to do.

[coco1997]

The script is complete - the final draft was actually finished a couple of weeks ago.

However, we are considering holding it back and making the thing as an audio play. We're adapting the script to work as a play and seeing how things look.

We'll be making a final decision within a week and begin casting shortly after.

Why not release both the script and the audio drama? It might make it into more of a multimedia experience.

[coco1997]

Anything going on with this?

[DouglasJ]

I forgot I had made this thread. It's online now, link is in my sig.

In the end the Screenplay had much more of the other guy in it than me. It's his story really, but since I'm on here I might as well provide.

[volante]

I forgot I had made this thread. It's online now, link is in my sig.

In the end the Screenplay had much more of the other guy in it than me. It's his story really, but since I'm on here I might as well provide.

Good job!

[coco1997]

Very good script, Douglas. Here's my personal review:

Spoiler

All in all, it was a very satisfying and original take on a 'what if?' sequel to OHMSS. Unlike most revenge-themed OHMSS follow-ups I've read over the years, this one went in some new directions--namely, the heavy use of France as a setting (rather than Japan), the introduction of Rene Mathis and Vivienne Michel. Although it's been done before in Benson's "Never Dream of Dying", Draco's betrayal of Bond and his callous attitude towards his dead daughter was very unsettling and you had me feeling the same sense of anger as Bond. You very much nailed Lazenby's portrayal of Bond although throughout the script I felt as though you made him a bit too sentimental for the Bond character. That being said, the ending didn't sit well with me--not the casino scene and the cameo by Sylvia Trench, which I felt were fantastic call backs to "Dr. No" and "OHMSS"--but the way Bond does a complete 180 from the man he was throughout the first 90 or so pages of the script. There's a difference between 'forgiving' and 'forgetting'; given the events of the story, I think it's safe to Bond has forgiven himself and moved on from Tracy's death, but the later films--"TSWLM," "LTK", "TWINE"--show that her death and his guilt will always be with him. I know you wanted the ending to connect directly with "DAF", but I think perhaps one final acknowledgment of Tracy before the end credits would have been appropriate and would have shown that while Bond has finally let go of his guilt, the impact Tracy had on his life is unchangeable. I also think that, given the ending is set up for Bond to return in "DAF", perhaps some plot thread should have been included explaining how Blofeld is still alive in "DAF", that is, of course, unless you're planning on writing your own treatment of "DAF", which I would enthusiastically read.

[DouglasJ]

Very good script, Douglas. Here's my personal review:

Spoiler

All in all, it was a very satisfying and original take on a 'what if?' sequel to OHMSS. Unlike most revenge-themed OHMSS follow-ups I've read over the years, this one went in some new directions--namely, the heavy use of France as a setting (rather than Japan), the introduction of Rene Mathis and Vivienne Michel. Although it's been done before in Benson's "Never Dream of Dying", Draco's betrayal of Bond and his callous attitude towards his dead daughter was very unsettling and you had me feeling the same sense of anger as Bond. You very much nailed Lazenby's portrayal of Bond although throughout the script I felt as though you made him a bit too sentimental for the Bond character. That being said, the ending didn't sit well with me--not the casino scene and the cameo by Sylvia Trench, which I felt were fantastic call backs to "Dr. No" and "OHMSS"--but the way Bond does a complete 180 from the man he was throughout the first 90 or so pages of the script. There's a difference between 'forgiving' and 'forgetting'; given the events of the story, I think it's safe to Bond has forgiven himself and moved on from Tracy's death, but the later films--"TSWLM," "LTK", "TWINE"--show that her death and his guilt will always be with him. I know you wanted the ending to connect directly with "DAF", but I think perhaps one final acknowledgment of Tracy before the end credits would have been appropriate and would have shown that while Bond has finally let go of his guilt, the impact Tracy had on his life is unchangeable. I also think that, given the ending is set up for Bond to return in "DAF", perhaps some plot thread should have been included explaining how Blofeld is still alive in "DAF", that is, of course, unless you're planning on writing your own treatment of "DAF", which I would enthusiastically read.

Thanks for your review. I am somewhat amazed that someone actually took the time to read this. It's very much appreciated.

RE: Your thoughts on the ending...

Spoiler

We originally included another scene, after the Casino scene which saw Bond return to the Grave site, designed to show that she was not forgotten. We removed it for reasons that I can't quite remember at the moment. I think it was because we eventually decided that the Casino Scene onwards took place several months after the rest of it.

I am considering including it in a 'directors cut' (daft I know) version sometime in the future - do you think it would benefit from it?

As for Bond being a bit too sentimental at times, this was a concern when we were writing it. Then we just went with it, even in the YOLT novel Bond doesn't seem THAT cut up... so we wanted a more emotionally messed up Bond. Just for this one)

We're currentely working on a Diamonds Are Forever, also based around Lazenby. We're taking our time with it - largely because we're working on some DC Comics fan screnplays right now.

We then plan on writing one final story, which will be totally original.

[Mr. Blofeld]

Spoiler

Why is Draco so callous about his dead daughter? His only child? Benson might have done it, but that doesn't meant it's the right way to take the character...

[DouglasJ]

Spoiler

Why is Draco so callous about his dead daughter? His only child? Benson might have done it, but that doesn't meant it's the right way to take the character...

Spoiler

To be honest, Never Dream Of Dying is the reason I resisted the idea when Callum mentioned this idea to me. My original draft had Draco die while helping Bond much earlier in the story.

Then I thought 'Draco is the head of a massive criminal organisation. He's a bad guy who fans like to paint as a good guy, and that's just what I'm doing. Heck, he spends the whole of OHMSS manipulating both Bond and his daughter. He's a bad guy.'

And I realised Callum was right.

Edited by DouglasJ, 16 January 2011 - 10:36 AM.

[Mr. Blofeld]

Spoiler

He might twist Bond's arm into marriage, at first, but his steps with Tracy are clearly designed to get her help -- he sends her to some of the best psychiatrists in Switzerland, and he's devoted to her welfare, to the point of being willing to keep her from self-harm when she threatens to kill herself. It's "cruel to be kind", yes, but not all-out cruel, and he doesn't force Bond's final decision for marrying Tracy, because Bond makes that decision himself.

He's even quite regretful about his lifestyle, at times; raping Tracy's mother, as a young man, he now realizes is "unfortunate", mirroring a same regretful side we saw of Fleming in The Spy Who Loved Me -- you could say Fleming carved out a piece of himself, made it Italian, and put it in his book... but that doesn't mean Draco is evil, just because he's a criminal.

Enrico Colombo is a criminal in "Risico", for example, but he's an honorable smuggler; he doesn't deign to traffic in drugs, as Kristatos does, and so he is made "pure", in a way. You could say Fleming strives for the same with Draco; there's certainly precedent.

[DouglasJ]

Spoiler

but that doesn't mean Draco is evil, just because he's a criminal.

Spoiler

I reckon there's a thin line. The stress caused by what he's gone through could quite easily cause him to snap. Itotally understand what you are saying though, and agree to an extent. It just didn't fir with our plans for this story.

[coco1997]

Spoiler

He might twist Bond's arm into marriage, at first, but his steps with Tracy are clearly designed to get her help -- he sends her to some of the best psychiatrists in Switzerland, and he's devoted to her welfare, to the point of being willing to keep her from self-harm when she threatens to kill herself. It's "cruel to be kind", yes, but not all-out cruel, and he doesn't force Bond's final decision for marrying Tracy, because Bond makes that decision himself.

He's even quite regretful about his lifestyle, at times; raping Tracy's mother, as a young man, he now realizes is "unfortunate", mirroring a same regretful side we saw of Fleming in The Spy Who Loved Me -- you could say Fleming carved out a piece of himself, made it Italian, and put it in his book... but that doesn't mean Draco is evil, just because he's a criminal.

Enrico Colombo is a criminal in "Risico", for example, but he's an honorable smuggler; he doesn't deign to traffic in drugs, as Kristatos does, and so he is made "pure", in a way. You could say Fleming strives for the same with Draco; there's certainly precedent.

Perhaps before making a final judgment call on the whole Draco situation, you should first read the script?

[terminus]

Having only just realised, this is downloadable as a pdf, I'll get to reading it ASAP.

[chrisno1]

I just read this. Interesting.
I'm not into "spoilers" so look away now.......






Just a few thoughts. The ending disappointed me. I think the sudden changes in one or two characters didn't ring true. While I enjoyed the idea of Blofeld hiding out in the Paris catacombs, I missed the world dominating/threatening plot. This is basically a one dimensional revenge story. Some of the dialogue is good. I didn't like the epilogue, it was much too cute and fanciful, a bit 'Lew Grade 1960s TV.' Occasionally I got a sense of Bond's deep loss, especially in the scene with Vivienne, but this was tethered to the over-strains of the pursuit sequences you re-imagined from the DAF PTS. My only other query was that I thought this was going to be a radio script. There is an awful lot of visual description for a radio show. I expected more first person narrative to tell the story from Bond's POV.
None the less, Douglas, sterling work in tackling a thorny subject which is very personal to many Bond fans.

[CallumJStewart]

Hi everybody. This is Callum Stewart, co-author of ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD, and I just want to say thanks to everyone who has read or is reading our script. It was a real labour of love for Douglas and I and to know that people are reading it is pretty awesome. Also, thanks for your reviews/comments - all cheers and jeers are welcome and appreciated.