1017 replies to this topic

[Toxteth_OGrady]

This report makes it sound a bit more promising...

http://jamesbondradi...fred-picorelli/

[Orion]

Nice to hear Craig talk about the aspects he enjoys about the role. They should have that guy do the press interviews for Bond 25, Craig is clearly far more at ease than when he does film promotions normally.

[Dustin]

Sound being the operative word here. Actual bones - never mind the flesh - is still not to be found. At a guess I'd say we are perhaps still a year away from hearing about progress on BOND 25.

[Matt_13]

Seems like the door is wide open for a return.

[Orion]

I think, provided the mgm issues are dealt with in reasonable time, we'll get a 5th Daniel Craig Bond, but I agree with Dustin, it'll probably be a while before we get any proper movement on Bond 25.

[sharpshooter]

Seems like Bond 25 won't happen for a while, and Craig is enjoying this time doing other things. But he could easily come back for one more.

[Dustin]

If it should turn out to take much longer than a year Craig's age might become an issue again. But at least for the moment he's still the most likely option for Eon, provided he wants to do it. Craig on the other hand doesn't just tell there's nothing about BOND 25, he also comes across as if he's still got plenty of time to make up his mind.

Perhaps this is also what keeps MGM from making a move, they simply know Eon is not going to trouble themselves while they still have other things on their minds. Getting the distribution deal wrapped is hardly feasible without being able then to get down to business with BOND 25 shortly thereafter.

[sharpshooter]

Bond 25 could be delayed by several years or more and Craig's age wouldn't be an issue. Like Craig said, Bond believes driving away from MI6 at the end of SPECTRE is 'the end'. Meaning his retirement. And that retirement can last for any period of time before Bond is reawakened.

[SecretAgentFan]

So - the good news:  Craig is not emotionally finished with Bond.  At least he is still in damage control and wants to lay those "slash my wrist"-comments to bed.  Craig seems not to have severed his ties to Barbara Broccoli either since she produces his upcoming "Othello".

 

The bad news: There is no movement on BOND 25, neither regarding the distribution deal nor any actual production ideas.  Everybody seems to be tired of Bond and involved in other things.  

 

Interesting: Craig confirms that Bond at the end of SPECTRE really believes that he has quit the service.  Which does not mean, of course, that he will not come back (Bond).

 

Conclusion: All the rumours from "sources" about EON being fed up with Craig have either been untrue or referring to a situation that has been reversed in the meantime.  The Hiddleston-casting sessions also seem to be either made up or without consequences, especially the rumour about a concrete offer being made to Hiddleston.

 

BOND 25 will in theatres in 2018 at the earliest, more likely 2019.

[Mr. Somerset]

1991 all over again.

[SecretAgentFan]

I´m probably overreacting... but do I detect a lack of interest in Barbara Broccoli to do Bond films?

 

She seems to feel the urge to branch out, do other things in between.  Which on the one hand is not surprising, on the other hand...   Cubby never felt that Bond was not enough.

 

Michael G. Wilson is nearing retiring age and has worked for so long on Bond films that I would understand that his desire to move the Bond machinery forward is not that big anymore.  I would also understand if Barbara Broccoli has enough of the whole enterprise and would prefer to concentrate on other, smaller projects.   So, this is not my attempt at blaming them for a wish to look for what life has to offer elsewhere.

 

Yet, I do get the feeling that during the last years Bond films have become more of a burden for EON.  It takes them longer to produce them.  They rather want arthouse directors and A-list acting talent.  And they rely on their main actor now much more than Cubby and Harry Saltzman ever did.

 

My question is this: has EON reached a point where it would be better for the franchise to be handed over to someone else?  Like George Lucas did with "Star Wars"?

 

Is the stalling and silence on EON´s part maybe even connected to the bombshell that they are looking for someoine to take over?

[Toxteth_OGrady]

http://www.dailymail...8315/index.html

[Dustin]

My question is this: has EON reached a point where it would be better for the franchise to be handed over to someone else? Like George Lucas did with "Star Wars"?

Is the stalling and silence on EON´s part maybe even connected to the bombshell that they are looking for someoine to take over?

Strange, I actually thought the very thing this morning...

Two things come to mind. Firstly, Broccoli and Wilson are now in the game longer than their father was - and they didn't actually have a choice about their gig. After Saltzman jumped ship the production side of the enterprise became very much the family business, with all that entails. As far as I know their own kids, too, are now involved in the production. But what if neither heir shows interest to take over the reins? I mean, it's a very different thing to become a film producer - or to effectively produce one film over and over again. That too may be interesting, but hardly what a creative mind would set out to do on a regular basis for decades of their working career.

So on balance I could actually understand if they were ready to bow out of the whole thing, provided their kids don't want to take over. In that case a studio might actually settle for a lot more than just a distribution deal with MGM.

[DavidJones]

I'd like to go to a different company, just so there will be fewer of these giant gaps between films.

[Orion]

As the gaps are from MGM's side (and they own Saltzman's share of the rights) You're having these gaps no matter who owned the Broccolis' half.

 

Besides, whilst I'm sure BB wants to do things other than Bond (and indeed has), getting rid of Bond to do that is throwing the baby out with the bath water, she can do whatever she likes between Bond films currently, Like A Steady Rain, Othello and Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool, things that can struggle to find funding and an audience, because the Bond films, and her association with them, bring in the money and attention those sort of projects might not otherwise get.  

[Red_Snow]

I´m probably overreacting... but do I detect a lack of interest in Barbara Broccoli to do Bond films?

 

She seems to feel the urge to branch out, do other things in between.  Which on the one hand is not surprising, on the other hand...   Cubby never felt that Bond was not enough.

 

But is it wrong to want to branch out and do other things? Obviously, every other project will take time away from focusing on Bond, but isn't working with other people on different projects a good thing? Yes, she is very experienced and good at what she does, but working with new people on other projects is a constant learning experience, and anything BB picks up outside of Bond, has the potential to make her a stronger producer.

[Surrie]

 

I´m probably overreacting... but do I detect a lack of interest in Barbara Broccoli to do Bond films?

 

She seems to feel the urge to branch out, do other things in between.  Which on the one hand is not surprising, on the other hand...   Cubby never felt that Bond was not enough.

 

But is it wrong to want to branch out and do other things? Obviously, every other project will take time away from focusing on Bond, but isn't working with other people on different projects a good thing? Yes, she is very experienced and good at what she does, but working with new people on other projects is a constant learning experience, and anything BB picks up outside of Bond, has the potential to make her a stronger producer.

 

 

I happen to agree with this. Time away from something is sometimes a good thing. Just because Cubby didn't tire of Bond doesn't mean this is always going to be the case for BB. Plus, just because she's exploring other films does not mean she is uninterested in Bond in the first place. 

[S K Y F A L L]

I can't remember the quote exactly but didn't Cubby once mention regarding Saltzman's side projects and leaving the franchise how with Bond you have to be 100% invested?...

Maybe BB is thinking of selling. 

[Dustin]

I agree that it's surely not a bad thing in itself. But since no Bond film is currently even cogitable without her at the helm of it all it's food for thought.

She was the one - together with her brother - who kept the series in business after her father's death, she - again with her brother - started it up again after the first hiatus and made it a considerable money earner with Brosnan in the role. And she was the one who risked a lot with going back to square one and pushing for Craig against massive opposition.

All in all in the industry the Bond series now is BB. And when that central force of the whole show seems more invested outside it makes people wonder. It would be different if the next generation was already showing they'd be willing to take over.

[univex]

Well, Gregg did show up in some SP podcasts, seemed like he was game, very enthusiastic about the whole shebang.

 

http://www1.pictures...hnzCl8o8fZl.jpg

 

 

Speaking like a main producer in that interview; very diplomatic, very secure. Grooming, this exposure, wouldn´t you say?

[Dustin]

Yes, Gregg is indeed somebody who doesn't sound tired of it - but does he actually want to invest his entire career in Bond? Doing a film promotion interview and doing the actual work are two very different things - and even I as a fan would think twice about it. Doing a Bond film every few years is already an effort. Doing it for forty years as your sole calling...I could understand if that wasn't a dream job for everybody.

[plankattack]

To paraphrase others, it's not a concern to me that BB has other interests. And IMHO, the fact that Cubby didn't believe in it is a decent case in itself that branching out can't possibly hurt the series. To be really harsh, Cubby only did Bond and produced pretty much the same thing every other year for a couple of decades. An achievement sure, but not exactly the apex of creativity.

Like it or no, Bond now is a different animal with a different place in the cinematic field than 40 years ago. Babs and Mike relaunched the series, took it to financial heights not reached since the 60s, and, whether we're comfortable or not, been around when the films have regained critical respect, and with it financial success. And in a modern film market where there are what feels like a gazillion franchises vying for attention, no mean feat.

I believe the bar is higher for the franchise - the days of trotting out another variant of the same old thing just won't cut it now - so by extension if EON have to go about their business differently, then that's their call, and the box office since '95 endorses their modus operandi.

I tend to believe that the franchise is in a better place if the producers are dipping their toes into other projects, and getting exposed to other ideas and other people. What's that old saying - if you want to be a good writer, read other authors?

[DaveBond21]

Babs and Michael sounded very excited at the SPECTRE premiere saying they want to keep Daniel for as long as they can. This was just 11 months ago. There is nothing to suggest their enthusiasm has changed since then.

[SecretAgentFan]

To clear up what I said:

 

I´m not against branching out.  Nor against BB producing other things.

 

I also, however, don´t think at all that Cubby Broccoli produced films that were always the same (they definitely weren´t) or of a lower standard than the Bond films of the last two decades.  

 

I do believe that to invest yourself creatively in a series of films you have to go all in.  Kevin Feige does just that with the Marvel films.  And regardless of what some here might think about those it is hard to deny that Feige built up a box office force out of nothing and changed the industry with it.  

 

I also believe that the Bond films need firmer planning.  The attempt at tieing the whole Craig era together in SPECTRE would have worked if it had been laid out beforehand, not as an afterthought.  And I simply posed the question whether BB and MGW right now are producing the films with the passion they had when they did CR - or whether they are distanced from it.  When producers and the main actor repeatedly say they are tired and that the whole enterprise takes so much time and energy it feels weird to me.

 

I never got the feeling that Cubby Broccoli, Sir Roger or even Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan said after having finished one Bond film: oh, I´m so fed up with it right now, we all need a rest.

[Orion]

This thread is reminding me of Chicken Little...

 

 

How long before a tabloid writes about Bond rights being sold after some journalist for the sun reads this thread? 

[SecretAgentFan]

The current state of "entertainment journalism" would probably allow that.

[DavidJones]

As the gaps are from MGM's side (and they own Saltzman's share of the rights) You're having these gaps no matter who owned the Broccolis' half.

 

Maybe if MGM sell their half as well. Is that likely?

[Mr. Somerset]

Well, Gregg did show up in some SP podcasts, seemed like he was game, very enthusiastic about the whole shebang.

 

http://www1.pictures...hnzCl8o8fZl.jpg

 

 

Speaking like a main producer in that interview; very diplomatic, very secure. Grooming, this exposure, wouldn´t you say?

 

 

Great interview. I would hope though, that the next entry begins production sooner than later. Give Gregg a chance to have a film that tops SPECTRE as his favorite.

[Orion]

 

As the gaps are from MGM's side (and they own Saltzman's share of the rights) You're having these gaps no matter who owned the Broccolis' half.

 

Maybe if MGM sell their half as well. Is that likely?

 

Bond is the only good source of income MGM have (hence the search for a backer after every other Bond movie) at the moment so probably not. 

[SecretAgentFan]

Exactly.  The only chance of MGM selling their rights to Bond would be if the studio were completely dissolved.  And as long as Bond films (new ones and the back catalogue) make money, MGM will stay afloat.

 

That´s the irony here.