The future of James Bond

silliussoddius

Was Ioan Gruffudd in the running at one point?

Agent Coulson

Amazon for you.

Maybe they should do a reality tv show to find the next Bond after this reality show.

Bond Factor you have lost your licence to kill, next contender please.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-h2q8gvSmk

Sleepy

Owen gave us a glimpse of what his Bond could have been like in his role as The Professor in The Bourne Identity...

I remember thinking at the time that it was his way of throwing his hat in the ring for the role of Bond.

saabsaab

Wasn't Aidan Turner in the running?

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121198380#Comment_121198380

Jaysus that service is determined to píss its budgets away on the biggest load of aul tosh. This, the LOTR show, that Russo bros spy show nobody remembers, etc etc.

Yet they cancelled Paper Girls. Grr.

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121198462#Comment_121198462

Looked good in a tux in Croupier too!

pixelburp

So sounds like the Broccolis haven't even started the process of figuring out the new Bond yet.

Producer Barbara Broccoli said there is “a big road ahead” before the character was “reinvented for the next chapter”, and that executives “haven’t even begun” the process of modernising the franchise.

She added that the next film would have to reflect the way the world has changed in the two decades since Craig was confirmed as the sixth 007 and pointed out that Bond has often been reinvented.

“I go back to GoldenEye when everyone was saying ‘the cold war is over, the wall is over, Bond is dead, no need for Bond, the whole world’s at peace and now there’s no villains’ – and boy was that wrong!” she said, adding that modernisation is necessary whenever a new actor plays the part.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/oct/21/work-to-reinvent-james-bond-for-post-craig-era-hasnt-begun-yet-says-producer

loyatemu

they've somewhat painted themselves into a corner with the last movie. It was easier in the past when there wasn't much continuity between the films but even then they never killed him off.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121273618#Comment_121273618

Aye. Not many places to go when you've killed off your character; simply reseting all that, even if it's an entirely new "universe" might just flop through redundancy.

~Rebel~

I don't see the ending of the last one being any issue at all really. I don't think it's a series that people are too worried about 'redundancy' in. It's James Bond. It's been resetting for 60 years.

Much more important is that they allow it to just go away for a good while (as they're doing), and then come back with a shakeup and a new feel to it, which it sounds like is their plan.

After all, it's a series that couldn't have looked more exhausted and dead after the Brosnan run, but just allowing a nice gap for people to miss it, and then changing it up with a very different tone, brought back the interest.

ArmaniJeanss

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121276736#Comment_121276736

Gap from Brosnan's last to Craig's first was 4 years. Even if we put No Time To Die at 2021 (and technically it was ready to screen in early 2020 but Covid) then it's 100% going to be a bigger gap as 2025 is clearly impossible. The 6 years between Daltons last and Goldeneye, mainly caused by legal issue, will almost certainly be beaten.

So we are into territory not seen before, and it could be problematic. If not careful they could get to a situation where a large part of their target market (late 20s to early 30s) have no concept of handing over money for the 'Bond Cinema Event' as it's just old films they glance at on ITV4. Leaving the cinema screening to the dwindling nostalgia audience (part of The Dial of Destiny problem). Or maybe they eventually kick it out of the park Goldeneye/Casino Royale style and get a hit. But arguably the stakes for the next film are as high as they've ever been. Could easily be the last.

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121276817#Comment_121276817

I think Bond's general cultural significance is big enough that it will weather any sort of a gap at all really. You'll even have parents taking kids to their first Bond movie - speaking of, I think you need to significantly widen your target demo there (there's a reason they make bloody sure their movies get a PG13 rating), it's going to be a target of 13 to 45, with plenty older than that going too, having grown up with Bond.

Your 6 year example is a good reference of what we may expect - there was huge excitement and anticipation for Goldeneye and the return of Bond, and it was a big financial success.

Think around 2027/2028 would be about right for the next release. Provided they do a good job of bringing something a bit different to the tone of the franchise, it'll be fine.

Agent Coulson

I think Alex Pettyfer is just about the right age 33 now that they could get 4/5 movies out him as Bond.

Electric Nitwit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121276907#Comment_121276907

A blond Bond? That'll never work 🤣

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121276817#Comment_121276817

The potential problem with a younger Bond I wonder is: is that gonna conversely appeal to the older demographic used to a version of Bond older and more experienced? Will audiences wanna watch Gen Z Bond? I'd speculate if that's the big discussion happening ATM and nobody has a silver bullet idea that they feel confident can work.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121276736#Comment_121276736

I don't see the ending of the last one being any issue at all really. I don't think it's a series that people are too worried about 'redundancy' in. It's James Bond. It's been resetting for 60 years.

I think No Time To Die pulled an Avengers: End Game. They closed the book on a character's story and in the case of the MCU, has struggled to justify their ongoing existence by dint of audiences having watched the titular end game. Same with Bond: James Bond died, the book closed on his story.

ArmaniJeanss

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121276873#Comment_121276873

To clarify - I didn't mean that 25-35 was their only target market. Merely that it was one of their markets, but it's a lucrative one with money to spend before life/commitments get in the way. And if they get out of the habit of going to the Bond Cinema Event then it creates a long-term problem. Because 10/15 years later they won't be passing down Bond to their kids.

So if the gap is too big (looking like 2027/28 at the earliest as you said), and subsequent gaps stick to the 3/4 years of the Craig films (I miss the regularity of one every 2 years in the Moore years) then it causes a long-term problem imo. The nostalgia audience, and I'm slap bang in that market, only sustains you so long.

JohnFalstaff

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121277207#Comment_121277207

It has been suggested that the 'James Bond' moniker is a code name akin to the 007 number assigned to the character. Any future outings could chart MI6's search for the next James Bond and set up the subsequent run of films.

Sleepy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121277257#Comment_121277257

That's only an issue if the marketing people involved in the product placements are idiots and while I generally hold marketers in low regard, I can't see that being the case here. The brands featured in Bond movies lean heavily towards the aspirational (Aston Martin, Omega, Tom Ford, Boliinger). That our generation watched Bond wearing Omega watches throughout Dalton and Brosnan's run has undoubtedly lead to many of us buying them decades later and while the 25-35 market may be a good target for brands like Heineken or Sony to chase, it won't be until they're in their fifties that some of them will be in a position to start considering buying an Aston....

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121277519#Comment_121277519

It's been suggested, but Skyfall fairly killed the idea.

The next movie will have to be a re-set. Ideally I'd love to see that done as a cold-war era period piece starting with Bond being recruited to MI6 by a Desmond Llewelyn-like Q. That would bring it's own challenges for production costs, product placement and attracting the Gen-Z audience however so it seems unlikely. There's implications throughout the Brosnan era (and all the way back to Connery's time) that Bond was identified for recruitment at a young age and perhaps moulded towards that aim by schoolmasters at Eton & Fettes but starting with that timeline in the modern era could really run the risk of having the new Bond film become a mimic of the Alex Rider series.

Actually, if I were tasked with writing the next film, I think that's where I'd start it: a pre-credit montage (a la Up) that begins with Bonds parents death in a spectacular skiing accident, followed by scene of a young Bond dressed in tails at the funeral, perhaps being watched by an older man in a dark suit, a series of scenes of him being shepparded through a private education, showing him target shooting with the cadets in Fettes, attending University in Geneva, skiing and mountain climbing with Oberhauser etc. with glimses of that older man throughout and culminating with the man in the dark suit approaching a young Bond in a naval officers uniform to imply his recruitment. Strike the music and roll the credits before introducing us to the adult Bond.

It'd be a great way to indicate that this is a new telling of Bond's story or, if you didn't imply that this was his first mission as a double-O, could roughly weave this, and subsequent movies, into the same timeline of Bond as played by Craig. The opening scene of Skyfall showed us that Bond had been on missions we haven't seen between the events of that film and it's predecessor Quantum of Solace so there's room to tell new stories between that and his later death without upsetting the timeline (assuming they care about the timeline and aren't simply starting over).

salmocab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121277914#Comment_121277914

I had mentioned here before that I’d like to see it go back in time and be a period but set round the Cold War era, as you say plenty of financial reasons for that not to happen but I think story wise it would be great. I feel it will just reboot in much the same vein as the Craig movies with big set pieces and explosions.

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121277207#Comment_121277207

I think that's a good example - where Marvel have had trouble is trying to reinvest people so soon. People weren't ready yet, and it's felt like the MCU are shoving content down our throats. Which is why I think it's a big positive for Bond that they're going to allow it to go away for long enough that people have a chance to miss it, and build excitement over its return in a whole new guise. The fact that a total reset every generation is baked into the fabric of the franchise is a big boost for them too.

AMKC

I don't know if this thing is in anyway really related to Bond or not but it has the bond name in it?

007: Road to a Million (2023)

Anyone here watching it do.

I am planning to watch but have not got to it yet.

As for a new Bond I think someone Bald would be great.

silverharp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121279462#Comment_121279462

I wonder about the generations thing, I sort of think you have the movies you grow up with and then you bring your kids to see the film characters you liked as a kid, but your kids start getting removed form it. Mission Impossible is my Son's "Bond" whereas from his point of view Bond is something over 50's get excited about.

A new Bond movie in ~5 years time wont bring back childhood memories for lots of likely cinema goers? and you'd have to do something special to get a new group of teenagers and kids excited about the franchise?

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121364501#Comment_121364501

It is an official tie in reality adventure game show. Contestants have to complete Bond type challenges with chance of a million pound prize.

Anchored by actor Brian Cox.

Thread here on it.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058322084/007-road-to-a-million

Sleepy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121364501#Comment_121364501

I've been watching it, the experience alone would have been worth taking part in it tbh!

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121364501#Comment_121364501

Bald! How would he rub back the hair after straightening his tie when he finishes a tangle with a henchman?

Mr Crispy

Of course, we've already had a bald Bond.

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121373838#Comment_121373838

??

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121389000#Comment_121389000

Sean Connery wore a piece; not sure when his balding got too much it required a wig, though am fairly sure Diamonds are Forever involved one?

loyatemu

he was certainly wearing a rug in Never Say Never Again.

j2

The obvious choice is a black Bond, that's a given, but who best fits the role? Jada Pinkett Smith could do a decent job, and bring a kind of sassy energy which would revitalise things a bit, spice it up. I'd also be up for a change in direction and go for a more body positive image, which would bring the likes of Lizzo or even Gabourey Sidibe into the mix. People might not be ready for Laverne Cox, but she's Bond to the Bone in my opinion.