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It could be possible that Hodge still posses Moral IP Rights, which would give him a degree of control over commercial exploitation should he think there was a risk of damage to his reputation. Maybe it was the stumbling block that led to Hodge and Boyle walking away, if Hodge objected to EON 'interpreting' his script
Exactly one continuous arc which lead to Blofeld. If Blofeld and Madeline isn't in Bond 25, then its standalone, not continuous...
CR
QoS
Skyfall
Spectre
Shatterhand
Why?
We get to see a different side to Craig's Bond in each of the movies, and maybe there's something of an arc of him fully becoming "James Bond" (the classic one from the old movies), but I think the first 3 at least work pretty well on their own as well. SP's retconning served no purpose other than to make its plot/villain feel more big and tie together Craig's previous films (needlessly).
If Blofeld does indeed return, he'll be played by Waltz in a follow-up to SP (highly unlikely IMO) or Blofeld won't make another appearance in a Bond film for quite some time.
@FoxRox I agree. But like it or not the four films are connected.
If Waltz isn't returning, then Bond 25 is likely a standalone story, so why is it a problem if someone else plays the character? They did this many times during the sixties and seventies.
@bondjames I don't let the connections ruin the previous entries for me. It is a vague retcon after all, and really, if you think about it, Craig's 4 films aren't connected much more than Connery's 5 SPECTRE EON films. But yes, the retcon itself was vague and poor.
Although SF was meant as a standalone at the time, it was made so that it could very well fit into the same universe as Craig's previous two entries (note Bond's "I know when a woman is afraid and pretending not to be"). I'd imagine B25 would be made in a similar fashion, but having another version of Blofeld would not only disconnect the film from the previous four, but be extremely contradictory as well. As if the events that took place between CR to SP had never happened.
To me, it's exactly the opposite. After Spectre I found re-watching CR (and its sequel) as an even richer experience...
Exactly.
The Craig films in contrast are rooted in a harder reality. If they want us to believe something, we generally do because that's the tone. They went out of their way to hammer home that connection in SP (including the infamous hanging photos). What can I say - it worked, sadly.
As I said, it's White that poses the biggest problems for me these days. If he wasn't in CR I would enjoy the film far more but he is a large presence (even if his screen time is limited) in CR, QoS and SP, and this is what pulls those films together.
As you said, SF is still the pure standalone, despite attempts to connect it.
Blofeld was played by many different actors during Connery's tenure. It wasn't a strick one Blofeld per Bond rule before, so why now? If Bond 25 is a standalone film, unconnected to the rest, there's no reason why we can't have a standalone Blofeld, just like they used to do in the past.
It’s slightly more unlikely, I think, but not impossible. It’s also worth remembering Blofeld looks significantly different in each of the three Fleming novels. I don’t think they’d cast a ‘different’ Blofeld, but tapping into his shape-shifting nature could work if done effectively. Casting an actor who isn’t a ‘big name’, would go some way to achieving that.
Sam Smith also denied he was involved in SPECTRE and his friend Ellie Goulding even tweeted "Live and Let Die" to send us off track.
But the benefit of a standalone film is that it doesn't need to fit with a larger continuity, a standalone by definitition cannot contradict previous installments.
The title artist denying involvment is quite different than a lead actor doing the same thing.
It's exactly why there is no reason Blofeld couldn't show up in a different form. There were multiple Blofelds that faced the same Bond actor in the past, so there's no reason why we couldn't see a standalone film with a different Blofeld now.
I'm glad they did, I'd rather that dreadful film not have a theme by one of my favourite bands, their theme was in another class to Smith's awful wailing rubbish.
To be honest RH were on the job first and their first submission called Man of War would have been one of the best Bond themes in years, it had such a Bondian feel. Although it got rejected as it wouldn't have been eligible for an Oscar as the band had been playing it live for many years before.
The finished Man of War now exists on the OK Computer 20th Anniversary release
Although like I say I'm glad their work is not attached to such a film, SPECTRE got the song it deserved.
Hopefully Bond 25 will have some quality although I think it's more likely that Ed Sheeran will be doing it as EON are now obsessed with having big commercial hits, I'm prepared for it, as long as the film is great I'll live with it.
Would love to see something of high quality but I don't see, the late great Chris Cornell's collaboration with David Arnold is still the high watermark of the DC era in my view.
B25 could still be a sort of standalone but in doubt they'd treat it as totally separate. there'd be some sort continuity at the very least.