164 replies to this topic

[Shrublands]

Naomie Harris in talks to be a Bond girl in 'Bond 23'

EON confirms she's met with producers...

Interesting.

Yes, interesting indeed.

It’s very, very unusual for Eon to confirm a meeting simply because an entertainment publication asks them. I’d say this is a done deal.

[Captain Tightpants]

It’s very, very unusual for Eon to confirm a meeting simply because an entertainment publication asks them. I’d say this is a done deal.

Except they don't confirm it. Read the article again:

Turns out the British tabloids aren’t always wrong. EW has confirmed reports in Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World earlier today that actress Naomie Harris (Pirates of the Caribbean, 28 Days Later) is being considered to star as a Bond girl in Bond 23, the stand-in title for the long-delayed, soon-to-shoot 007 movie. A spokesperson for Eon Productions, Bond’s home, tells EW that Harris has indeed met with the filmmakers, although no deals have yet been struck. Beyond that, all we know about the film is that Sam Mendes will direct, Daniel Craig will return as Bond for the third time, and Judi Dench will be back as M. Although EW has not confirmed it, the British tabs have also reported that offers to play the villain have gone out to Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes. Who knows? Maybe they’re right about that too.

Where do EON actually confirm that Harris has met with them? This is the best they can do:

A spokesperson for Eon Productions, Bond’s home, tells EW that Harris has indeed met with the filmmakers, although no deals have yet been struck.

That's it. An unnamed, unquoted EON executive. Who talked to a tabloid rather than an actual news publication. When was the last time EON ever did that? They're notoriously tight-lipped; we don't find out information about the film until EON decide it is time to tell us. At the very least, they'll put out a press release, if not hold a press conference to announce it. They're not going to talk to a tabloid, and they're certainly not going to bandy about talking about "meetings". Especially since the tabloids caused a lot of distress to the families of the QUANTUM OF SOLACE film crew by claiming that production had inadvertently started a full-scale gang war when filming in Panama, when all that was really hppening was a labour strike on the other side of the city. The tabloids are the last people EON would be talking to.

This reeks of the typical tabloid tactic of inventing someone in the know - but never naming or quoting them - with the objective of increasing readership by appearing more legitimate.

[Shrublands]

It’s very, very unusual for Eon to confirm a meeting simply because an entertainment publication asks them. I’d say this is a done deal.

Except they don't confirm it. Read the article again:

I’ve read the article and understand it perfectly.
When EW contacted Eon, rather than the usual “no comment” or non-returned call they confirmed that a meeting had taken place. This is highly unusual.
I’m now speculating, based on many years of Bond watching, that the deal is more or less done. But no official announcement will be made until several weeks after the ink has dried.

[Captain Tightpants]

Why would EON want to fuel speculation? Like I said, we only ever find out information on EON's terms. If the meeting really did take place and they wanted us to know it, the article would have had a direct quote from said spokesperson.

[Shrublands]

Why would EON want to fuel speculation? Like I said, we only ever find out information on EON's terms. If the meeting really did take place and they wanted us to know it, the article would have had a direct quote from said spokesperson.

Are you saying that you believe Entertainment Weekly invented this conversation with a spokesperson for Eon Productions?

And that they did this to add gravitas to an article in The News of the Screws?

[iBond]

Not gonna lie, but I've never heard of her before...Her name is very catchy though. I will have to check out the films she's been in like Pirates.

[Captain Tightpants]

Are you saying that you believe Entertainment Weekly invented this conversation with a spokesperson for Eon Productions?

And that they did this to add gravitas to an article in The News of the Screws?

No, I believe that News of the World ran their usual trash, but Entertainment Weekly bought it. When EW went to confirm the story, they had to go through NotW. Realising that they could keep their profile up, NotW engineered the "spokesperson" to "confirm" the story to EW.

[Bucky]

maybe she will be the new moneypenny.

[Pierce - Daniel]

I hope she accepts the offer, i think she would be great as a Bond girl. So far the news of the cast has been very exciting. I think the inflouence of Mendes has led meant that this film seems the most 'planned' Bond film for a very long time

[Shrublands]

Are you saying that you believe Entertainment Weekly invented this conversation with a spokesperson for Eon Productions?

And that they did this to add gravitas to an article in The News of the Screws?

No, I believe that News of the World ran their usual trash, but Entertainment Weekly bought it. When EW went to confirm the story, they had to go through NotW. Realising that they could keep their profile up, NotW engineered the "spokesperson" to "confirm" the story to EW.

I see… That’s quite a convoluted theory you have there. I don't understand why EW would have to go through NotW to confirm anything.

So, I suppose, you also don’t believe Shadow and Act when they say that their “long-time trusted scooper, who’s based in London (EC Forde)” spoke to Naomie Harris about all this, and she confirmed that she’d indeed been offered a role in the film.

Do you think that the NotW has compromised this EC Forde some how? Or do they have a doppelganger perhaps?
Of course, S&A could have made the whole thing up, having originally been sceptical about the story. A big change of heart that.

We'll see...

[Zorin Industries]

Folk do realise that whatever actors are in discussions about appearing in BOND 23 none of them will be allowed to discuss it outside of those, er, discussions.

Wait until things are made official.

[Captain Tightpants]

I don't understand why EW would have to go through NotW to confirm anything.

Because there's nothing to confirm! The tabloid made the entire story up! With EON being notoriously tight-lipped, EW's first point of call in confirming the story would be the people who "spoke" to the spokesperson first. Especially since the "source" inside EON was anonymous; EW wouldn't be able to get the name of the source otherwise. If they simply contacted EON, EON would plead ignorance. But if they knew the name of someone willing to talk, that makes them more likely to get results. But since the source doesn't actually exist, NotW simply have to put their own person in play to "confirm" the story and plead anonymity.

Do you think that the NotW has compromised this EC Forde some how?

Yes. By working with this EC Forde in the first place, they compromised EC Forde. That's what tabloids do. They are protected by laws that limit the amount of money that can be paid out in the event of wrongdoing, which is basically a licence to write whatever the hell they want about whoever they want because if ever someone takes them to court, all the tabloids have to do is draw things out long enough that it starts costing their victim more than they could receive in remuneration.

Tabloids are notorious for doing this. Look at the production of QUNATUM OF SOLACE: while filming the scenes at Greene's party in Panama City, there was a labour union striking on the opposite side of the city. The tabloids reported this as a theft of sound equipment from the set. Then they reported that the producers had paid a group of local youths to protect their gear. Then they reported that the youths were actually from a gang, and that the set was on a rival gang's territory. Then they reported that the gangs had gone to war with one another, interrupting production of the film with live gunfire. All of this was compeletely untrue, and caused great distress to the amily and friends of the production team - who had no idea that any of this was going on.

It's not the first time that something like this has happened. In Australia, the tabloids have gone to war more than once. When Schappelle Corby was imprisoned on drugs charges in Bali, one tabloid supported her sister Mercedes, and another tabloid supported her former friend Jody Power; Power and Mercedes Corby had a falling-out over Schappelle's arrest. The story went on for weeks as the tabloids dragged the dispute between the two women out, fishing for ratings and audiences. It happened again a year or two later; this time, there were claims that a young boy in Papua New Guinea was to be the main course for his cannibalistic tribe. One tabloid started running the story, and the other picked it up; when the other started getting higher ratings and planned a "rescue mission", the first tipped off the local authorities that they were travelling on incorrect visas and had them detained so that they could go in and steal the story back. And in the early 1990s, there was an infamous incident where a tabloid journalist fabricated an entire story claiming that fugitive businessman Christopher Skase had dozens of Majorcan police officers on his payroll and had orchestrated a series of roadblocks to retrieve tapes of his supposed wrongdoing (which were conveniently destroyed during the flight) - only for the whole thing to be demonstrated as a fraud, having taken place in Barcelona rather than Majorca, with ordinary traffic control police supposedly being the corrupt police battalion sent after the reporters. Likewise, when Fernando Alonso moved from Renault F1 to Scuderia Ferrari in 2009, the Spanish tabloids ran dozens of stories claiming that a deal had been signed months before he actually made the switch despite photographic evidence that made it impossible for him to be where and when the Spanish tabloids climed he was.

Tabloids lie. They make things up, and they don't care who they hurt. Everything they do is designed for one purpose and one purpose alone: to sells paper. And Bond is one of their favourite money-spinners. If they claim that Naomie Harris has been in talks to star in BOND 23, they get readers. If an established publication can be misled into thinking that the story is geuine, they get more readers.

[Shrublands]

Folk do realise that whatever actors are in discussions about appearing in BOND 23 none of them will be allowed to discuss it outside of those, er, discussions.

Wait until things are made official.

Is that why Ralph Fiennes mentioned that he was in discussions to journalists at the Berlin film festival and why Javier Bardem talked to the LA times about his discussions? Nether are official to the best of my knowledge.

Anyway, it’s quite fun to speculate about rumours here – see if they pan-out or not. You don’t have to join in, if you don’t like it.

[Captain Tightpants]

They are entitled to discuss discussions. But once a contract has been signed, they are bound by confidentiality. Meat Loaf was originally cast as Renard in THE WORLD IS NOT EOUGH, but then he went and shot his mouth off about it and was repalced by Robert Carlyle. Speculating about rumours might be fun, but there is a time and a place for it. If you're willing to believe the rumours, that's your business - but mroe fool you when there is a documented history of tabloids making things up.

[Shrublands]

Yes. By working with this EC Forde in the first place, they compromised EC Forde.

Who says EC Forde is working with NotW?

Something tells me that the people writing for an organ dedicated to “Cinema of the African Diaspora” are not particularly chummy with the journalist of the Murdock press, nor are they that interested in propping-up spurious stories about Bond girls.
Just My opinion.

[Zorin Industries]

Folk do realise that whatever actors are in discussions about appearing in BOND 23 none of them will be allowed to discuss it outside of those, er, discussions.

Wait until things are made official.

Is that why Ralph Fiennes mentioned that he was in discussions to journalists at the Berlin film festival and why Javier Bardem talked to the LA times about his discussions? Nether are official to the best of my knowledge.

Yes and neither of them have been confirmed in an Eon/Sony press release either...to the best of my knowledge.

I know what my hunch is on this, but I also know how Bond HQ like these things properly handled - and this ain't it.

Of course speculating is fun to some. I always prefer a bit of validity. I certainly don't buy into every rumour just because the rumour batons are being passed around. That is not about validity. Otherwise I must have missed the Bond films that starred Sharon Stone, Whitney Houston, Gulshan Grover and Darcy Bussell.

[Captain Tightpants]

Who says EC Forde is working with NotW?

Well, if NotW are using EC Forde as a source, that implies they are working with one another. Even if it's only a one-time deal.

[Shrublands]

I certainly don't buy into every rumour just because the rumour batons are being passed around.

I don’t swallow every rumour either, but something tells me there’s something to this one. We will see...

Who says EC Forde is working with NotW?

Well, if NotW are using EC Forde as a source, that implies they are working with one another. Even if it's only a one-time deal.

But nobody has said that EC Ford is a source for NotW.

[Captain Tightpants]

But nobody has said that EC Ford is a source for NotW.

You did:

So, I suppose, you also don’t believe Shadow and Act when they say that their “long-time trusted scooper, who’s based in London (EC Forde)” spoke to Naomie Harris about all this, and she confirmed that she’d indeed been offered a role in the film.

[Shrublands]

But nobody has said that EC Ford is a source for NotW.

You did:

So, I suppose, you also don’t believe Shadow and Act when they say that their “long-time trusted scooper, who’s based in London (EC Forde)” spoke to Naomie Harris about all this, and she confirmed that she’d indeed been offered a role in the film.

No I didn’t
If you read that again, you might see that I’m saying, he’s a source for Shadow and Act an organ dedicated to “Cinema of the African Diaspora”
Nothing to do with NotW.

[Captain Tightpants]

Well, then, you're not very good at explaining things clearly.

[Napoleon Solo]

Just taking a quick glance through the thread, a couple of observations:

1. What Entertainment Weekly said: "A spokesperson for Eon Productions, Bond’s home, tells EW that Harris has indeed met with the filmmakers, although no deals have yet been struck."

As I read it, EW says it talked to somebody at Eon, describing them as a spokesperson. No name attached. Possibilities: 1) They did talk to somebody who said that. 2) They didn't, in which case EW would be lying. 3) EW talked to somebody who may or maybe not be fully in the loop. With no name provided, whichever you believe is up to you. But EW did not say Harris had been definitely cast.

2. History of this sort of thing. As has been pointed out, there were stories about people being cast or being in the running that proved incorrect. At least some, though, did pan out. Almost 30 years ago, stories surfaced that James Brolin was being considered for the Bond role in Octopussy. Eon never confirmed that either, but it proved to be true. The proof didn't come until 1994 when Brolin's screen tests were shown at a Bond fan convention in Los Angeles.

I don't know whether or not the Harris news is correct. Even if it is, she still might not get cast.

EDIT: Here's another example, In 1995, Donald Westlake was at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. He gave a newspaper interview about how he was going to be writing the next Bond film, which would be Brosnan's second.

Eon didn't confirm that, either. So if there was a Commander Bond message board at the time, some here would post it was bad reporting, etc. Later that year, there was the Bond convention in NYC just ahead of the GoldenEye premier. Michael G. Wilson got asked about Westlake's comment. Bruce Feirstein was standing nexz to Wilson. It was clearly the first time he had heard of it.

Asked directly like that, Wilson did vefify, saying Eon had been talking to Westlake.

The point is: while you can't believe everything you read about Bond movie news, neither can you reject everything just because Eon hasn't put out a press release. A press release is written at the end of the process. It really is a case by case basis what is right and what isn't.

[Shrublands]

Well, then, you're not very good at explaining things clearly.

I say “Shadow and Act” but YOU read that as "The News of the World", for some reason.

Now you say I'm "not very good at explaining things clearly."

[Captain Tightpants]

You never explained who Shadow and Act are. For all I know, they're a pair of regular gossip columnists for NotW.

[Shrublands]

You never explained who Shadow and Act are. For all I know, they're a pair of regular gossip columnists for NotW.

Well it is not.

The big clue that I wasn’t talking about The News of the World was when I described Shadow and Act as “an organ dedicated to the Cinema of the African Diaspora” (3 times). The News of the Screws has been called many things, but I don’t think it has ever been described quite like that.

[double o ego]

I hope if true its not as the main Bond girl, I just dont find her all that attractive. Granted, they went out of their way to make her ugly in Pirates, but still, shes a bit ordinary.

Yes because Craig himself epitomizes the archetype of the traditional and expected Bond aesthetic. Jog on.

[Mr_Wint]

maybe she will be the new moneypenny.

"Moneypenny, a feast for my eyes!"
"What about the rest of you...?"

[AndrewBond]

It's possible that, with the 50th anniversary, EON might want to harken back to Dr. No, and set Bond 23 in Jamaica. Given that she's most known for playing a girl from the islands in the Pirates movies, that could be the role they want Harris to play.

Then again, CraigBond visited the Carribean in the last two films (Bahamas in CR and Haiti in QoS), so that might be stale. And I'm against Bond films paying huge homages to themselves, like Field's death in QoS. It's time to move forward.

[supernova]

The ladies in Casino Royale were absolutely stunning with Eva Green, Catrina Munroe, Ivana Milicevic (Le Chiffre's girlfriend), Alessandra Ambrosio and all the amazing looking women in the Casino scenes. The movie was completely in the gorgeous people and scenery mode one expects in Bond movies.

And then in my opinion the glamour and the ladies took a dive in Quantum of Solace. Yes, the opera scene was grand and elegant -- but all in all the movie and leading lady Olga Kurylenko seemed so gritty and unglamorous.

Hope Bond #23 doesn't go the lightweight route this time. I want to watch Bond not Bourne.

[blueman]

Talking about a rumor is different than swallowing it. In the vacuum created by no news, discussing the relative merits of this or that rumored bit of casting seems quite all right to me.

Harris as Moneypenny, hmmm, I like it.