57 replies to this topic

[Joey Bond]

With almost all the Fleming titles and materials used up, and the series reaching its 50th anniversary this year, meaning within a few years some of the early films will be over 50 years old, I just wonder if they producers will ever consider a remake. When I say remake it can mean either remaking a Fleming novel (a la 2006's Casino Royale) or remaking one of the earlier films (like a From Russia With Love, set in current day Russia). More importantly, would you want them to do it? And if you do, which films or novels would you want them to remake?

For me, even though the earlier Connery films are gonna be the ones that age the most, they're too classic and too damn good to be remade. I could see them redoing some of the Moore films that perhaps wasn't as well done as it could have been, like Moonraker or the Man with the Golden Gun. I don't know, seeing the 007 Legends trailer kind of gave me the idea.

[FredJB007]

I would like to see OHMSS remade someday. Actually, the Fleming trilogy would be awesome- OHMSS, YOLT and TMWTGG in chronological book order. Using the plots from the books.

[Simon]

No and no.

Curiously, the only time I have heard of something like this from within the camp was when John Glen had just finished Octopussy, and he was figuring a remake of FRWL followed up by a sequel to Octopussy was a good idea.

Bearing in mind the Ocean's 11's sequel was Ocean's 12, could / would that make it Octopussy 9?

Anyway, still no.

[Pussfeller]

I don't imagine it will happen within our lifetimes, but who knows what blasphemies our distant descendants will be capable of? Perhaps in a hundred years they'll remake Octopussy as a prestigious historical drama, and The Man With The Golden Gun as a hardcore yaoi visual novel.

[Dustin]

It's often been argued the Bond films are a whole series of remakes, so perhaps we're already there without being (too) aware of it. Generally no, I don't think an outright remake - á la NSNA - would be welcome. It's difficult enough doing these films on a regular basis and surpass - or at least meet - audience expectations every two to three years or so. Bringing a remake to the gunfight would probably sink the ship more reliably than casting some hick from the hinterlands and let him pick his nose while ordering 'shaken, not stirred' apple juice. No, self-referential the Bonds may be, but never actual 'been-there, done-that' remakes.

[Secret007]

Of course, Casino Royale has been made three times. The CBS Climax Mystery Theatere episode in 1954, The comedy spoof movie in 1967 and finally the serious adaptation of Casino Royale in 2006 with Daniel Craig.
Thunderball was made twice, the first with Sean Connery in Thunderball (1965) and with Sean Connery returning a James Bond after a 12-year absence in, Never Say Never Again (1983), using the Thunderball story and characters again. Sean Connery was 52.
It's going to get to a point where we will see James Bond doing the same feats as he did in other movies. Skyfall (2012) will have Bond fighting for his life on top of a moving train again as he did in Octopussy (1983).
Skyfall also takes James Bond back to Scotland and Istanbul, Turkey as he visited in From Russia With Love (1963).
It doesn't matter if they re-do a location or a stunt in a James Bond movie. They can always improve upon it and make it better and suspenseful. It's nice to see the same locations again in a James Bond movie. I wouldn't mind if they went back to Las Vegas (Paradise). Can you see James Bond on top of the Luxor Casino Pyramid or spying around the New York Resort. How about fighting for his life as the volcano at the Mirage?

[seawolfnyy]

That's a tough question that 007 Legends may sort of answer. I wouldn't mind seeing a modern day Goldfinger or OHMSS, but that's about it. From Russia with Love wouldn't work as, despite being one of the best, is probably also one of the most period specific pieces. LALD wouldn't go over well either, in my opinion. Die Another Day was a pseudo-remake of Moonraker. Same with TSWLM in regards to YOLT. NSNA was a straight remake of TB and McClory was even trying for a third before he died. Personally, I love most of the movies the way they are and would rather see new adventures versus remakes. However, GF and OHMSS....

[AMC Hornet]

If EON raided Fleming's novels for more unfilmed sequences but still used new titles (eg Licence to Kill based on LALD & THR) Then I'm good with it.

Sure, let's see Bond go to Japan (or somewhere in Indonesia, maybe) and penetrate a coastal castle landscaped with poisonous shrubbery in order to kill the mad criminal within. Go ahead and call the film SHATTERHAND, as that seems to be what *everybody* wants.

Back to Vegas and a ghost town to take out the Spang Brothers in The Rough With the Smooth, or to the Carribean to foil a treasure hunt that's financing terrorism in The Undertaker's Wind.

These wouldn't be remakes per se, but adaptations of Fleming's hitherto unused ideas. It worked in FYEO, OP & TLD - I say go ahead and keep it up.

[AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän]

No.
Only "remakes" I would support would be a period piece television miniseries faithfully adapting Ian Flemings novels, set in the 50's and 60's.

[DR76]

For me, even though the earlier Connery films are gonna be the ones that age the most, they're too classic and too damn good to be remade.

"THUNDERBALL" was remade in the early 80s. And I can think of at least two early Connery films that don't seem that good to me.

However, I would prefer if adaptations of the Gardner and Benson novels were made, instead of remakes of the Fleming titles.

[hoagy]

They made a SUPERB film, but I had hoped for a Casino Royale set in the original early 1950s timeframe. The first few Connery Bonds already were made close enough to their publication dates that they were set just right. The non-book Bond movies, of course, may as well have been set, timewise, as they were. TSWLM cannot be filmed as the story was written, so the timeframe becomes irrelevant since it becomes a non-book Bond.
However -- already noted: the OHMSS/YOLT/TMWTGG trilogy would be terrific together, in proper order. The second two were made quite differently from the books, so there remain good stories to tell for them -- particularly for YOLT, which would be quite cinematic. TMWTGG needs more "oomph." The problem is that OHMSS was set not far from its proper time frame and was quite faithful to the book.
The ones which stand out, for me, as having been made quite out of its timeframe and rather deviated from the story, and, therefore, which might be good for Remakes: Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, Moonraker (I know, already made twice, right ? Once in name only, and again in Die Another Day). Perhaps as a trilogy -- after all, the publication order was LALD, MR, DAF, right after each other. Set in the early to mid-50s. Faithful to the books. They might need some amplification ("oomph") but it would best be done so that they'd fit for the times. I mean it should be done to the hilt. Not just the timeframe but hair, clothing, background music, cars, pace of the film, cinematography - nothing to give away they were not made THEN *except that the sex, nudity and violence would not have gone onscreen then). Use a different Bond actor than the films before and after this In Period trio. Perhaps add a thread to tie them together. Don't shy away from anything (nudity, sex, violence) ie, let them be R-rated. Perhaps film them all together and use quick release dates no more than a year apart. Use actors and actresses who you'd believe as having been of those times.

[seawolfnyy]

For me, even though the earlier Connery films are gonna be the ones that age the most, they're too classic and too damn good to be remade.

"THUNDERBALL" was remade in the early 80s. And I can think of at least two early Connery films that don't seem that good to me.

However, I would prefer if adaptations of the Gardner and Benson novels were made, instead of remakes of the Fleming titles.

Which 2 are you talking about? DAF I can understand, but which of the other 5 do you find not that good?

[AMC Hornet]

Frankly, I'm surprised that EON had the courage to use the title 'Casino Royale' at all.

I would have been afraid of the general public associating the title with the 1967 spoof/disaster. But B&W either hoped that CR67 was sufficiently old enough to have been forgotten, or gave the general public credit for enough intelligence to recognize that their film was going to be something different.

For the same reason I would still shy away from remaking DAF or TMWTGG under those titles. Too many people whinge about how 'bad' they were (yours truly excepted) - wouldn't people who only hear the negative assume a remake would be just as 'bad'?

That's Cubby B logic, anyway - he wouldn't use Quantum of Solace as a title because "I don't know what it means" and assumed that no one else would either (he was a great believer in the adage: "no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public" - and didn't Moonraker make just oodles of money?).

So perhaps I'm wrong, and we are ready for remakes - except, I'd rather still see new titles and new stories incorporating Fleming's original material where possible and appropriate (I really enjoy those moments when I know I'm the only person in the audience who recognizes a scene (such as the shootout in the Krest warehouse) as derived from Fleming's work.

[00Twelve]

Absolutely. Thunderball.

[The Shark]

Absolutely. Thunderball.

Sacrilege!

[AMC Hornet]

Absolutely. Thunderball.

Wot, again?
(Or should I never say that?)

[Pam Bouvier]

I would like to see OHMSS remade someday. Actually, the Fleming trilogy would be awesome- OHMSS, YOLT and TMWTGG in chronological book order. Using the plots from the books.

I've always thought it would be fun to see OMSS done with an established Bond. Would be especially interesting to see Daniel Criag do it since he did Casino Royale. Would be bittersweet to see the character come full circle after Vesper's death and find Tracey, only to lose her in the end.

In addition, seeing a Fleming book updated like we did with CR would be a treat.

[L4YRCAKE]

Seeing Daniel Craig in a Goldfinger remake seems like an absolutely awesome and terrible, terrible idea at the same time.

Remaking movies where the novel and the film shared little resemblance to each other seems somewhat appropriate (Moonraker, for instance?) but then why call it Moonraker? And on that note, there's tons of material from the novels that have yet to be put on the big screen, that I like, and don't see the need to reuse Fleming titles necessarily.

Like stated above, the Blofeld trilogy has a special place in Bond history, a retelling of that seems like a great idea... tho' not sure how soon for that is too soon, but to have the same actor lose both Vesper and Tracy seems right, not to mention emotionally devastating.

Personally I'd have to go with You Only Live Twice and The Man With The Golden Gun as the best theoretical candidates for a remake. Also, like previously mentioned, at some point in the far, far, far away future it would be interesting to see the films done as period pieces, in chronological order of the books. Dunno if that could ever be made to work, unless perhaps the producers were willing to have a completely standalone Bond period piece HBO miniseries done at the same time as modern films were being made. With no connection between the productions, of course.

[Ozzel]

No.
Only "remakes" I would support would be a period piece television miniseries faithfully adapting Ian Flemings novels, set in the 50's and 60's.

This. In particular, I dream of such an adaptation of Moonraker (and in my mind, it stars Michael Fassbender).

[Walecs]

Yes, Bond 24 must be Live and Let Die and be a word by word faithful adaptation of the Fleming book. After that, all of the other books, from Moonraker (which never had a movie) to TMWGG.
Then, new titles or continuation novels adaptations are welcome.

[Guy Haines]

I've said this before, but I would like to see a remake of Moonraker featuring a game of bridge, a cad and a cheat named Sir Hugo Drax - his real background and nationality a mystery - and a superweapon aimed at the heart of the UK. Doubt it will ever happen, but you never know.

Incidentally, an interesting comment by Michael G. Wilson, interviewed in the latest edition of SFX magazine, about Blofeld and SPECTRE: "We believe we can use them. They're a little dated at the moment. We went for the Quantum organisation, which was more business oriented.......... rather than a criminal organisation that did blackmail and bank robberies." Barbara Broccoli also commented that because of Austin Powers "we need a little time to pass before we go back to extortion and blackmail!"

So it seems unlikely at the moment, but Blofeld and SPECTRE could return. I've always thought it could be done, and that a reboot needn't mean a return to a bald cat stroking madman with black-suited henchmen at his beck and call. Just as Q has been re-imagined for Skyfall, so Blofeld be rather different from the one we are familiar with. Quite how different is another matter. And how Bond's wife of one day Tracy could be re-introduced.

A remake of OHMSS? Could be a remake too far!

[L4YRCAKE]

I. am. DYING. For them to bring back Blofeld. In fact, I'm all but certain they've done an incredible job throwing everyone off the scent and Ralph Fiennes is indeed the man himself. Saying he's going to be the new M is a huge red herring, in my opinion. I think Skyfall was originally intended as the third of a trilogy, and the reason they left off the scene at the end of QOS with Mr. White is so they had the option of making a standalone, which they've done. Yet, it is my belief they are going to be finding Blofeld right at the top of Mi6, hiding in their plain sights all along. How far will they go from the caricature that Dr. Evil was based on, hard to say? But I think Silva's blonde wig may have some role in it yet. And from all I can tell the producers finally have the rights back to the character and the whole McClory issue has been resolved.

On a separate note: Okay, I give up. What is the fascination with Michael Fassbender playing Bond?? I think he's a terrific actor, but thinking of him as Bond has never, ever crossed my mind, where is this coming from? Is there a film I need to see that is giving everyone this inspiration?

[Trevelyan 006]

I like them just the way they are thank you very much!

In all seriousness, I don't think re-doing ANY of the already established films over is something that I would be interested in seeing. If anything, true-to-novel films would be interesting to see. Even still, I'd rather they slept on the idea.

Live and Let Live, so to speak...

[seawolfnyy]

I. am. DYING. For them to bring back Blofeld. In fact, I'm all but certain they've done an incredible job throwing everyone off the scent and Ralph Fiennes is indeed the man himself. Saying he's going to be the new M is a huge red herring, in my opinion. I think Skyfall was originally intended as the third of a trilogy, and the reason they left off the scene at the end of QOS with Mr. White is so they had the option of making a standalone, which they've done. Yet, it is my belief they are going to be finding Blofeld right at the top of Mi6, hiding in their plain sights all along. How far will they go from the caricature that Dr. Evil was based on, hard to say? But I think Silva's blonde wig may have some role in it yet. And from all I can tell the producers finally have the rights back to the character and the whole McClory issue has been resolved.

On a separate note: Okay, I give up. What is the fascination with Michael Fassbender playing Bond?? I think he's a terrific actor, but thinking of him as Bond has never, ever crossed my mind, where is this coming from? Is there a film I need to see that is giving everyone this inspiration?

I completely agree on everything except that Ralph Fiennes is Blofeld. I believe he will be the new M. However, I could totally see a twist at the end when we see a man stroking a white cat after Bond has beaten Silva . I wouldn't mind if Quantum also got reimagined as SPECTRE in the near future. We'll see. As for Fassbender, I don't see him as Bond, but I do think he'd make a great villain.

[L4YRCAKE]

I like them just the way they are thank you very much!

In all seriousness, I don't think re-doing ANY of the already established films over is something that I would be interested in seeing. If anything, true-to-novel films would be interesting to see. Even still, I'd rather they slept on the idea.

Live and Let Live, so to speak...

Well, let's face it, with the Bond video game coming out I think they've pretty much covered the whole re-imagining classic Bond in the new current form. I have a hard time seeing any Bond films being remade in the even more or less distant future.

And to reiterate, my feeling is that they rewrote Skyfall as a standalone to reintroduce Blofeld and SPECTRE outright, instead of using Quantum as a surrogate, because the situation had changed in that time regarding the legality issues. Seems logical. On the other hand, rereading what was quoted above by 'Guy Haines' in the newest SFX regarding that topic... hmm. It read like a confirmation the first time, the opposite the second, and now I can't decide. Guess we'll find out soon enough. If they don't bring him/it back this time, I hope they start making plans to do so, it would be a shame not to.

[Zographos]

There's nothing wrong with remakes, it's just hipsterism that says otherwise.

I wouldn't mind seeing a modern From Russia With Love without the inaccessibility of dated special effects, fashion, and politics. Hell, make in 3D - that'd be a heck of a train fight! I know that's "blasphemous" or whatever and that I shouldn't dare support a remake unless it's a black and white period piece for television, but I don't wring my hands over what casual audiences are liking.

[Joey Bond]

For me, even though the earlier Connery films are gonna be the ones that age the most, they're too classic and too damn good to be remade.

"THUNDERBALL" was remade in the early 80s. And I can think of at least two early Connery films that don't seem that good to me.

However, I would prefer if adaptations of the Gardner and Benson novels were made, instead of remakes of the Fleming titles.

When I said "early Connery" films I meant Dr. No, From Russia with Love and Goldfinger. Thunderball is actually one of my least favorite Bond films, I just find the underwater sequences so boring so I wouldn't mind a remake.

[SecretAgentFan]

Since every Bond film is kind of a remake of themselves I don´t think they need to be remade.

The idea of remaking just the Fleming-based films might seem intriguing - just to get the progression of the literary character on screen. Then again, the books - as they were written - would not work as mass entertainment. One would have to probably do them as a mini-series (HBO?).

But I´d rather see new Bond films on the big screen.

[S K Y F A L L]

A HBO mini-series would be a great idea IMO. They will never remake a Bond film because they are always set in the present and it would be a step backward but I mini series of just the Fleming novels in a period piece would be delightful. It could be something they do between films if they happen to take another long break.

[00Twelve]

I don't see them doing a remake. I think they have enough respect for original works to let them stand instead of mining them again. I would personally love it if they took the buried treasure money laundering scheme from LALD that has still never been adapted for film, but seeing as they haven't even taken that opportunity, I don't think they're interested in anything that could even be misconstrued as a remake.