No Time To Die: Production Diary

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  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 9,509
    I agree with what some have already astutely said: Dan wanted a break from Bond, not acting. Doing different kinds of roles, reading different sorts of scripts and meshing with different talent in the form of actors/actresses and directors will only make him a better actor and help him to further develop his craft going into Bond 25 or anything beyond every project he wraps. Dan loves his job, and really enjoys being involved in things beyond just acting. Any chance he can get to see other filmmakers do their thing teaches him new things he wouldn't have learned otherwise about the art form. Acting is a learning experience for him, not just a paycheck. And the work/parts he picks, often projects strong in character studies and interpersonal drama, display this rather well.

    This all being said, if there was ever a time for a bit of a break to happen in Bond films, it's now. With how SP ended, with Bond seemingly going into retirement with Madeleine, all the time between this point and when we get Bond 25-if Dan does return-only adds credibility to Bond being away. Time will have passed in our world, as it will have in his, and when we find him again in the next film, a year or more will likely have passed and we'll feel like we're seeing a familiar face again after a while away. Kind of like seeing a friend over Christmas.

    I'd love to see Bond's new life explored in detail in Bond 25, featuring a Bond a year or so out of the service, trying his damnedest to make his new life work, but just being bored by the quiet of where he and Madeleine are situated. He has nightmares of SPECTRE/Blofeld, and worries about the vengeance in Ernst's heart, paranoid of what he may do if he still holds control in the organization. I'd love to see a scene where Bond and Madeleine are going out in the village/town they're at and every once in a while, Bond thinks he's being watched by SPECTRE, but can't be sure. He sees a shadow behind him, a flash of a face around a corner, but it all turns out to be his paranoia. Until it isn't, and he finds his work is far from over, as his location is tracked and his life and that of Madeleine's is put in danger.

    I would like it even more to see Bond 25 open with Bond and Madeleine's wedding, seeing M, Moneypenny and Q along with everyone else at the service enjoying Bond's big day, before the movie then settles into Bond's quiet life. It would be interesting to even see an opening gun barrel begin with a Bond in a tux walking out, and he stops, making you think he's going to shoot his gun towards the viewer, but really he's got a bottle of champagne and shoots the cork out of it, beginning the film in a slightly fresh way. The final shot at the wedding could be a close up of Bond smiling and really getting a kick out of things, then the next shot is of him, shadowed, sitting in their house and looking miserable now that all excitement has left his life, and in its place, nothing but banality.

    If Bond 25 doesn't use the opportunity to really examine Bond post-MI6, which we haven't see anything like that before, I'll be extremely disappointed. People shout all the time about their desire to see the series explore original and fresh things with the character. Well, this is the moment.

    I'd be very down with this!
  • Posts: 11,425
    Domestic life with Madeleine? Kids? Kitchen sink? Bring back Mendes!
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    Getafix wrote: »
    Domestic life with Madeleine? Kids? Kitchen sink? Bring back Mendes!
    Heck, I'd want Brosnan back before any of this.
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    edited August 2016 Posts: 5,131
    Getafix wrote: »
    Domestic life with Madeleine? Kids? Kitchen sink? Bring back Mendes!

    Madeline doesn't need to feature, she could have left Bond like Tiffany in the FRWL novel or alternatively she can die in the pre-title sequence.

    Bond is NOT Bourne.
  • It would be interesting to even see an opening gun barrel begin with a Bond in a tux walking out, and he stops, making you think he's going to shoot his gun towards the viewer, but really he's got a bottle of champagne and shoots the cork out of it, beginning the film in a slightly fresh way.

    You have got to be having a laugh.
  • Posts: 16,147
    How about Bond 25 make no reference whatsoever to Madeline? I thoroughly enjoyed Goldfinger without worrying what had happened with Tatiana. In fact, Tatiana never once entered my mind during Goldfinger.
  • mcdonbbmcdonbb deep in the Heart of Texas
    Posts: 4,116
    ToTheRight wrote: »
    How about Bond 25 make no reference whatsoever to Madeline? I thoroughly enjoyed Goldfinger without worrying what had happened with Tatiana. In fact, Tatiana never once entered my mind during Goldfinger.

    Agreed
  • Posts: 16,147
    I think the concept of a continuing story arc in the Craig era worked better for QoS, since it came out 2 years after CR. It was still relatively fresh in audiences minds. After that ALL the Craigs should have been standalone. Being as right now, we're in a Bond era with much longer gaps between entries, it makes no sense to continue from the previous film. I would bet my blu-ray of OHMSS (and be stuck with a pan and scan VHS if I lost), that by the time B25 came out, MOST general audiences won't really remember much about Madeline Swann. Not enough to really care that is or be emotionally drawn in. I'd even go as far to say that referencing M and SkyFall in SP with that video clip just barely worked after 3 years. Had it been a 4 year gap no way. I think it was even too late to acknowledge Vesper again by the time SP came out. The general audience who doesn't watch the films hundreds of times like us fans do- would have vaguely remembered the love story in CR, but by SP would have been like "uh...was Vesper the one with the tarot cards?".
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,957
    Well regardless of how any of us feel, Dan is either returning or he's not, so time will tell. I just can't shake the feeling that he's been done for a while.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    I'm with you @Creasy47. I'm 99% sure he's done. I think he was done prior to SP being released and prior to that press conference to announce the film as well.

    This is just one long drawn out game until they get details on the distributor and start moving forward with the new film. Then the announcements will come thick and fast.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    It would be interesting to even see an opening gun barrel begin with a Bond in a tux walking out, and he stops, making you think he's going to shoot his gun towards the viewer, but really he's got a bottle of champagne and shoots the cork out of it, beginning the film in a slightly fresh way.

    Jesus.
  • mcdonbbmcdonbb deep in the Heart of Texas
    Posts: 4,116
    Binder's gunbarrel was a masterpiece in its conception and simplicity. Tired of it being f'uped just to be different. CR yes fine worked with the story. SP was the worst and really IMO just Mendes ashamed to let SP just be a Bond movie.

    No silly gunbarrels.. just a traditional gunbarrel at the start done properly.

    But considering B25 might be awhile no sense fretting now.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,957
    @mcdonbb, that's one of the Bond staples that needn't be messed with in any way; sure, the opening to CR was both unique and incredible, but after a while, I just want to see a Bond movie start off like it always does. To think that we still haven't had a proper gunbarrel entrance the whole Craig era is upsetting; SP nearly had it, but I would've preferred seeing it pan out to the scene, rather than jump to the foreshadowing text.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited August 2016 Posts: 23,883
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    To think that we still haven't had a proper gunbarrel entrance the whole Craig era is upsetting; SP nearly had it, but I would've preferred seeing it pan out to the scene, rather than jump to the foreshadowing text.
    Which is another reason, along with not having a 'straight' assignment during his tenure, that I believe the Craig era is over.

    I also believe that he wanted it to be a self contained reboot era (a sort of parallel universe definition/redefinition of Bond's history and that of his arch nemesis).
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,957
    Hopefully they've dabbled in this 'reboot era' enough to go with some straight-forward assignments from here on out.
  • Posts: 16,147
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    @mcdonbb, that's one of the Bond staples that needn't be messed with in any way; sure, the opening to CR was both unique and incredible, but after a while, I just want to see a Bond movie start off like it always does. To think that we still haven't had a proper gunbarrel entrance the whole Craig era is upsetting; SP nearly had it, but I would've preferred seeing it pan out to the scene, rather than jump to the foreshadowing text.

    My sentiments exactly! I know a lot of people are indifferent about the gunbarrel, but to me it's as much a tradition as Halloween being on October 31st is. It should never have been messed with in the first place. Putting it at the end of the Bond films is like waiting until after New Years Day to put up a Christmas tree. Who does that? I'll concede that structurally working it into the PTS of CR was smooth and many liked it. However, origin or no origin, I would have preferred a traditional no frills GB in that film, too.
    Makes me wonder: Is there no respect for Maurice Binder's genius in the 21st century? It's like it's trendy to screw the smallest things up for the sake of being different. Even that astonishingly stupid "Dead are Alive" card in SP. Ugh! It would have been so simple and much cooler to have the circle open on the skull.
    There have been numerous Bond films that tried different things, and maintained tradition without tiring out the formula. Pop in OHMSS and LALD, for example. TB and TLD, etc etc.
    I want BOND 25 to be as traditional and classic as TSWLM, yet as different from SF and SP as TSWLM was from, say, LALD if that makes sense.
  • Posts: 787
    mcdonbb wrote: »
    ToTheRight wrote: »
    How about Bond 25 make no reference whatsoever to Madeline? I thoroughly enjoyed Goldfinger without worrying what had happened with Tatiana. In fact, Tatiana never once entered my mind during Goldfinger.

    Agreed

    x3. Many, many films have ended with the trope of Bond switching off the radio (or ignoring the rescuers or whatever) so that he could curl up with another woman. I don't really think that anyone believed Bond was going to quit the service and run away with Christmas Jones, and I don't really understand why people think Spectre has to signal the end.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited August 2016 Posts: 23,883
    octofinger wrote: »
    mcdonbb wrote: »
    ToTheRight wrote: »
    How about Bond 25 make no reference whatsoever to Madeline? I thoroughly enjoyed Goldfinger without worrying what had happened with Tatiana. In fact, Tatiana never once entered my mind during Goldfinger.

    Agreed

    x3. Many, many films have ended with the trope of Bond switching off the radio (or ignoring the rescuers or whatever) so that he could curl up with another woman. I don't really think that anyone believed Bond was going to quit the service and run away with Christmas Jones, and I don't really understand why people think Spectre has to signal the end.
    You have a point, but I believe the reason some feel this way is because the Craig era has been somewhat different, with a connective tissue intentionally running through it. To break with that tradition after the fourth film (when the actor himself probably has one more in him at best) seems unlikely, although I agree that it's possible.
  • We need to deal with the Bond 25 news?
  • //! I know a lot of people are indifferent about the gunbarrel, but to me it's as much a tradition as Halloween being on October 31st is. //

    I suspect the filmmakers don't agree. Rather that simply say, "Times have changed," we had a series of explanations why the gunbarrel wasn't at the start. Finally, it went to the start of SPECTRE, but you got a feeling the filmmakers' heart wasn't in it (including Craig wildly swinging his right arm to show he'd holding a gun and isn't remotely trying to hide it).

    Your mileage may vary.
  • Birdleson wrote: »
    I don't think that I've found anyone on here who is indifferent about the gun barrel.

    Nobody here is. Eon is.

  • Birdleson wrote: »
    Yes, I was just referring to your opening line.

    Ah. Sorry.
  • Posts: 1,970
    Im one to believe Craig is not done with the role and will be back for Bond 25
  • fjdinardo wrote: »
    Im one to believe Craig is not done with the role and will be back for Bond 25

    My problem, increasingly, is I'm finding it harder to care if he is or not.

    If he is, we can look forward to more stories from the actor describing the agony -- A-GONE-EE (as Bugs Bunny would pronounce it) -- of doing a James bond movie.

    If he is not, we can look forward to more stories about Eon is "going back to Fleming," regardless of whom is chosen to be Bond No. 7.



  • fjdinardo wrote: »
    Im one to believe Craig is not done with the role and will be back for Bond 25

    Of course he will.
  • edited August 2016 Posts: 676
    double post
  • edited August 2016 Posts: 676
    It would be interesting to even see an opening gun barrel begin with a Bond in a tux walking out, and he stops, making you think he's going to shoot his gun towards the viewer, but really he's got a bottle of champagne and shoots the cork out of it, beginning the film in a slightly fresh way.
    Would the cork hit Bond's would-be assassin, leading to the blood drip? Maybe champagne could drip down the screen instead. It would also be interesting to see Bond walk in the gunbarrel, stop, drop to one knee and propose.
    ToTheRight wrote: »
    I would bet my blu-ray of OHMSS (and be stuck with a pan and scan VHS if I lost), that by the time B25 came out, MOST general audiences won't really remember much about Madeline Swann.
    I'd bet most general audiences didn't remember Swann the day after seeing the film. "I wouldn't recognize you anywhere." Spectre's a strange beast - it builds upon an intimate familiarity with Craig's three other films, which ends up confusing general audiences who were never asked to understand Bond films as anything but standalone. Does anyone recognize bearded Mr White as the shady guy whose last appearance was halfway through a Bond film in 2008? And if you do understand all the references, the reward is Brofeld claiming credit for the previous films' events and crushing them into meaninglessness. I didn't think EON would be boneheaded enough to do another direct sequel after QoS, but here we are.
    My problem, increasingly, is I'm finding it harder to care if he is or not.

    If he is, we can look forward to more stories from the actor describing the agony -- A-GONE-EE (as Bugs Bunny would pronounce it) -- of doing a James bond movie.
    To be fair to Craig, he seriously injured his knee in Mexico and kept filming. A sequence that was almost entirely walking and running - likely over and over for the tracking shot. Must have been grueling.

  • edited August 2016 Posts: 1,661
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    Well regardless of how any of us feel, Dan is either returning or he's not, so time will tell. I just can't shake the feeling that he's been done for a while.

    It's over eight months since SPECTRE, Daniel Craig has got new work in the pipeline. Surely he would know 100 percent if he wants to return? Over eight months is enough time to know if you want to come back. I reckon so. The lack of any news from Craig would suggest he isn't coming back. But then again he could come back. ;))
  • Posts: 1,631
    A lack of news from Craig, or anyone from EON for that matter, doesn't really mean anything with regards to Bond 25 at this point. It's still, at best, 2+ years away, so neither side really needs to say anything about it at this point. Craig might have an idea about whether he wants to return or not, but why make that known now? His feelings on it might change a year from now, so there's no reason to burn that bridge right now.
  • Posts: 1,970
    Craig is waiting to see the script before he decides. I bet my bottom dollar thats what he is doing. Im mean why say no before you see the story that Bond 25 could be? And Eon should 100% be working on a script right now. Theres 0 reason they shouldnt be.
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