182 replies to this topic

[The Girl With The Golden Gun]

well kevrichardson, do you have an idea of who should come next? its like choosing the new Bond actor, isn't it? haha

[kevrichardson]

Originally posted by The Girl With The Golden Gun
well kevrichardson, do you have an idea of who should come next? its like choosing the new Bond actor, isn't it? haha

You should watch that . I just might happen sooner than you think . Nothing last forever in Hollywood.

[Roebuck]

Originally posted by kevrichardson
Look i am not trying too be sacastic . But do you have any one in mind to replace Benson .

Depends on what you're meaning by 'have in mind'. If its just blue sky thinking you're looking for I could come up with dozens of names. Most of us could. But it wouldn't matter who got the gig if IFP aren't willing to support the author and publicise the work.

Mind you, a thread on purely hypothetical replacements for Benson (on the assumption he has left the series for good) might be interesting.

[zencat]

Originally posted by kevrichardson
...Nothing last forever in Hollywood.

Except James Bond.

[The Girl With The Golden Gun]

Originally posted by kevrichardson
You should watch that . I just might happen sooner than you think . Nothing last forever in Hollywood.

watch what? i was merely making a (tenuous!) link between the two. i'm not sure if brosnan will make a new Bond, but almost as testament to this, there are CBn threads on who should be the next bond after him. i know its only creative speculation, but its something to think about...

the issue of hollywood is a difficult one.

on one hand, as money makes the world (read Hollywood) go round, i can see them churning out endless movies in the style of pointless sequels (sorry to bring up Hitch again, but psycho had about 3 shoddy sequels during the 1980's and early 1990's, and that was only for purposes of competeing with the other shoddy sequels and slasher movies of the decade). on the other hand, Bond has to be treated differently, or else fans will be lost and the whole money making machine will fall to pieces.

yes, i am aware that nothing lasts in hollywood ...the Star trek franchise is on its last legs (i wonder if they will make another film after the flotsam that was "nemesis") and despite the fact that Bond (in movie form) has been around for, ooh, 40 years, however long it will last. like any franchise/film series, eventually it will die out, but with Bond hollywood has to be careful. sorry to sound naieve but i think they will eventually take the hint if both critical, financial and popular success hits an all time low. Bond is somethinhg that has become part of the global vocabulary and culture, largely enjoying sucess. judging by the financial success of DAD (and, in parts, the critical successes too)i think ppl may agree with me in that there's life in the old dog yet (which is perhaps more than can be said for Trek - 3 major characters lost, i mean come on!!).

[The Girl With The Golden Gun]

Originally posted by zencat

Except James Bond.

i want to believe you!

half of me does, and half of me doesn't! of course, as a fan of many years i want Bond to succeed and continue to gain new fans as well as inspire old ones. Bond is also a HUGE asset to the economy :cool:
thats why i got kinda worried when DAD came out to mixed reviews...of course it wasn't perfect, but at the time it seemed to me that i had read more negative reviews than good. that was on my seeing it the first time, however, and on seeing it a further 3 times my views on the film changed each time. (i'm still gonna buy the DVD tho, no question about that!!)

however, as i have previously stated, hollywood has a tendency to produce endless sequels which in the end, are neither finanially or critically successful (another example wouid be halloween, i know that was generally perceieved to be rubbish but i have no idea how much that made worldwide) and if these factors work against Bond, then i can sense the series' popularity waning. not in this lifetime, though...

but then again, there's another side of this fan which knows that something like bond, which has been going for nigh on 40 years, will never die, as zencat rightly stated. i just think its sad how the literary bond has (temporarily????) come to an end, and what possible repurcussions this could have on the filmic bond, if any. (i say start filming the post-fleming novels, but thats beside the point!!). indeed, it is like the 6 year wait between LTK and GE...we know bond will return, but in what shape?

[zencat]

Dracula is doing a pretty good job of lasting forever in Hollywood.

[BONDFINESSE 007]

Originally posted by BONDFINESSE 007
someone who might write bond and could write bond is sam claney

lets try that again, i was saying i thought sam clancey could right james bond, what do you all think of that idea, not that it will happen

[Mister Asterix]

Originally posted by Truman-Lodge (edited)
No offense to any [fan fiction] writers here, but I don't think they're quite up to scratch.  Besides, they'd get the same psychotic hate mail as Benson got.  Who would want that?

None taken by me. I'm a rank amateur.

However, I would certainly love to see a writer of the calibre of Jim or clinkeroo continue the series. I don't really want to get into a fan fiction discussion in this thread. But take a look at either of their work and I think most people would find that at least the writing portion of the literary Bond would be in pretty good hand if by some stroke of good fortune either of these fellows take over the book series.

(Please do not respond about fan fiction in this thread however. Please say anything you want to about these stories in the appropriate thread in the fan fiction forum.)

[Xenobia]

OK...let me play with this idea:

Why would the literary Bond be dead if he is published online? He is still being published, with only the medium, but not the content, changing.

Yes Loomis, I too, and probably a lot of other fans here, woudl rather have a book in our hands. But with the Net now being accessible via PDAs and laptops lighter than a week's worth of groceries, online books will be accessible everywhere.

Bond is immortal, but, to borrow a metaphor from another franchise, he will drop out of the game for a while from time to time. And like the hero of that other franchise, one Duncan Macloud, Bond will return.

-- Xenobia

[Loomis]

Originally posted by Xenobia
Why would the literary Bond be dead if he is published online?  He is still being published, with only the medium, but not the content, changing.

Yes Loomis, I too, and probably a lot of other fans here, woudl rather have a book in our hands.  But with the Net now being accessible via PDAs and laptops lighter than a week's worth of groceries, online books will be accessible everywhere.

I know where you're coming from, Xen, and I can't really disagree with you. I've nothing against online fiction, and I don't say that new Bond adventures shouldn't be published on the internet. That would rule out my being able to read your work, clinkeroo's work, Jim's work.... And, no doubt, sites would be able to prove whether the material was "successful", estimate how many people had read it, even make a few bucks if there was a charge....

Maybe this is just purism talking, but I'd be worried if this was the ONLY future for the "official" literary Bond. While it's anyone's guess as to how the internet will develop during our lifetimes, I'm sure that books will continue to be published. If the literary series became an online-only affair, I personally would take that as a sign that Glidrose (or Ian Fleming Publications, or whatever the controlling outfit is calling itself these days) had thrown in the towel and admitted that new Bond fiction had become so "niche" that there was no longer any kind of market for it to exist as printed matter sold in shops. And then they'd surely stop caring about quality altogether. Would they still pay for an author like Benson to trot the globe in the name of research if the material was online-only? Would newspapers and magazines review that kind of work? Perhaps they would the first time out, for curiosity value, but from then on there'd surely be zero interest or comment outside fandom, at which point the series would probably die a natural and permanent death.

I'm not sure that anyone other than an already committed fan would pay to access new Bond fiction online, and even many such people, myself included, would stop short of doing that. Maybe if Ian Fleming Publications were to revamp its website, charge for it, and then throw in new fiction "free".... Maybe that would be viable. But would we be talking thousands of subscribers, enough to pay for an author and his/her expenses, enough to secure the services of an editor, etc.? Wouldn't younger people without credit cards be ruled out, the next generation of Bond fans who in days gone by would have happened on a Fleming or Benson novel at a friend's house or a car boot sale?

Let's by all means have online fiction, but also a new book every few years, promoted to the best of Ian Fleming Publications' ability.

[Blue Eyes]

Why would the literary Bond be dead if he is published online? He is still being published, with only the medium, but not the content, changing.

I believe it would be dead. It's the context of the medium. Online fiction just hasn't worked at all really.

I don't think I'd personally pay for an e-book at this stage. The real book is a far superios product and I just wouldn't accept an e-book.

[Roebuck]

Originally posted by Blue Eyes
I don't think I'd personally pay for an e-book at this stage. The real book is a far superios product and I just wouldn't accept an e-book.

I know what you mean. Probably it is the way of the future, but I still have difficulty accepting online fiction as 'real' books.
And how would you go about publicising an e-book to the general public?

[Xenobia]

I think online publishing will take off eventually...it just needs more time to build interest.

I also think it won't be the only future for any great series of books, Bond, Potter, etc. I think the folks who want to read it online will, and those who want the hard text in bed with them will have that too.

Now let me ask the question that is sure to get this thread all nice and angry. And please try to answer with some objectivity:

Will the literary series end if a woman takes over writing Bond?

-- Xenobia

[Loomis]

Originally posted by Xenobia

those who want the hard text in bed with them will have that too.

But that's just the problem. The way things are going, it doesn't look so certain that we will.

As for a woman writing Bond, why not?

[Jim]

Originally posted by Xenobia
nice and angry.  And please try to answer with some objectivity:

Will the literary series end if a woman takes over writing Bond?

-- Xenobia

No

I've said it before - PD James would write a fantastic Bond

[marktmurphy]

Originally posted by Xenobia
I think online publishing will take off eventually...it just needs more time to build interest.

I also think it won't be the only future for any great series of books, Bond, Potter, etc.  I think the folks who want to read it online will, and those who want the hard text in bed with them will have that too.

Good point- any online business quite often needs the hook of a 'real world' brand to generate interest and customer trust in the new technology. An e-book would certainly be an interesting future development.

[marktmurphy]

Also Bond would need a cheap/high profit way of publishing any new books due to the previous unprofitability of the series. The net would be a good safe way of testing the water and generating interest before commiting to an expensive new full print run.

[The Girl With The Golden Gun]

Originally posted by Jim


No

I've said it before - PD James would write a fantastic Bond

could i just briefly say that i agree with you wholeheartedly!

[Xenobia]

PD James...that's not a bad idea at all! In fact that is a great idea Jim!

-- Xenobia

[The Girl With The Golden Gun]

mind you, one would have to be careful with these sort of speculations. PD James has her own genre, and i wonder how much of that would inform on if she wrote a Bond.

[kevrichardson]

Originally posted by The Girl With The Golden Gun
mind you, one would have to be careful with these sort of speculations. PD James has her own genre, and i wonder how much of that would inform on if she wrote a Bond.

Not that i cared for Benson one way or the other . But PD James is just all wrong . And it's that kind of author that got us in this trouble any .

[The Girl With The Golden Gun]

Originally posted by kevrichardson
Not that i cared for Benson one way or the other . But PD James is just all wrong . And it's that kind of author that got us in this trouble any .

???? in fairness to Benson, after writing in a certain style for so many years, its time for a breather! heck, even i do that! i've been working on the same piece of fiction for about a year and half and i've had to take a break, largely owing to outside pressures, studies etc, etc.

[kevrichardson]

Originally posted by The Girl With The Golden Gun

???? in fairness to Benson, after writing in a certain style for so many years, its time for a breather! heck, even i do that! i've been working on the same piece of fiction for about a year and  half and i've had to take a break, largely owing to outside pressures, studies etc, etc.

I understand that . Hey may be Benson is adpating his "Casino Royale " stage play for EON . It only a hope !!

[The Girl With The Golden Gun]

well i hope its good, cos its about time justice was done to CR instead of that mess that was the Peter Sellers/David Niven version! apologies to any fans, a fun piece of fluff though it is, it doesn't add anyting to the Bond canon tho, does it?

however, if benson is bowing out from bond, i doubt he'll be adapting a stage play any time soon!!

[mccartney007]

Originally posted by kevrichardson
I understand that . Hey may be Benson is adpating his "Casino Royale " stage play for EON . It only a hope !!

I can promise you that you won't EVER see a James Bond stage play as long as Michael and Barbara are around.

[marktmurphy]

I don't know- they produce Chitty Chitty Bang Bang you know.

[Coop]

>>they produce Chitty Chitty Bang Bang you know.<<

Although there is a big difference between a one-off kids film and an ongoing and highly lucrative franchise.

That said, I'd LOVE to see a Casino Royale stageplay. Just as long as Bond keeps his clothes on during the torture scene. The sight of my hero's goolies hanging down from a wicker cair and being spanked with a carpet beater would scar me for life.

And it wouldn't do the actor any favours either.

[marktmurphy]

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a big-budget stage musical in London's west end:
www.chittythemusical.co.uk
For which Barbara accepted a Variety Club award last week.

[kevrichardson]

Originally posted by mccartney007

I can promise you that you won't EVER see a James Bond stage play as long as Michael and Barbara are around.

well i was thinking alone the lines of adapting it for the big screen . Since if the rumors are correct and it will be the plot of Bond 21 .The work title reported "Royale Flush" sucked.