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BUT, regardless of whether thse are official, I think he's probably done.
I rarely comment on this site, but read it religiously every day, several times a day. I respect the opinions of all, but, I think we can all agree, Daniel Craig took this character, turned it on its head, and made the franchise better for it.
Although I enjoy SPECTRE, I do believe it failed as a complete film. I lay that at the feet, unfortunately, of Sam Mendes.
I believe the director had all good intentions, however, he seemed to indicate something sweeping and romantic, from the trailers (that re-called Barry's OHMSS theme), to the love ballad that Sam Smith sang.
He didn't give us this, and, I think, the audiences from around the world were waiting for this, and easily something Daniel Craig could have delivered.
Saying all of this, I just re-watched SPECTRE on Blu-Ray last night and I found much to love, much to play with (as a continued story line), but especially, looking at Craig, his superiority within the role. He is that good. It's almost unfair to think any other actor could take over at this point. They can't. They will fail. It's sickening to have anyone else play the part. He is the blunt instrument that Fleming wrote about; in SPECTRE, he hunts down Scalia, relentlessly, in the PTS, to his defiance of M, to his seduction of Scalia's widow, to the man who faces ofF against Blofeld and admitted, "I came here to kill you".
Daniel Craig sincerely owns this role. He's brilliant.
Where can Bond 25 go from here? Many places. As a published writer, and a produced screenwriter, I have many ideas. I will not post them, since they're mine (rubbing palms together gleefully), but rest assured, any screenwriter worth his or her salt will not be backed into a corner by SPECTRE, and can continue a great story of 007 (Craig) taking on Blofeld (Waltz), while coming up with a B-plot with Madeline that neither sees her break up with Bond, or killed, but gives us a tragic and heartbreaking end to their relationship that will be unique, original, and something the audience never would have seen. It is there, my friends. It is there.
P
Wish you would share!
I find it completely boring and a poor send-off, to be frank. Dan deserves a real conclusion, one burdened with a sense of poignancy and emotion. I like to quote Mr. and Mrs. Smith at times like this: "Happy endings are just stories that haven't finished yet."
Bond doesn't do happy endings. Attempts at it fall flat, just like I don't think campiness should have a place in the franchise. The ending to Craig's era as Bond should connect it to the themes that've already been explored before: the last glimpses we get of his Bond should show us him still questioning his place in the world, his purpose and his identity. Maybe he's at a cross roads, with Madeleine (if she's still alive at this point) and retirement down one fork of the road, the job with both its dangers and its delights down the other. No decision of his should be easy, just like the conclusion shouldn't be easy. Having Bond gallop off into the sunset just doesn't feel true to the era we've had so far. It needs to be far deeper and troubled than that. That's why I feel that having an ending with Bond still ruminating on his life, job and identity, preparing to make one choice or the other would be far more interesting than what we got in SP. Show him thinking about life with Madeleine, or returning again to MI6, but don't show us what he decides. I'm usually not a fan of open ended conclusions, but done right I think this would be effective and sensible for the tone the films have had.
In the SP ending there's simply no drama. There's no depth or human complications or a connection to the themes of death, endurance and relevance we've seen previously in the movies. All I saw during the last two minutes of SP was EON setting up the real final chapter, with Bond v. Blofeld, with a shot of 007 and Madeleine in the DB5 to hold us over; the calm before the storm. I would be devastatingly disappointed if Dan's time as Bond just ended there. As I said, it's an unworthy conclusion to all he has managed to do with the series thus far, and unworthy to those who've followed his films with enthusiasm from the very beginning.
Have I tinkered with an outline that rolls up just behind SPECTRE? Yes, I have. There are ways out of it, yet not ignore what has happened before (all the while never, ever, mentioning the step-brother reference, ever again).
I continue to massage this outline, and yes, I'd love to have my people get in touch with the big players to present this potential story to them. This may be a futile effort on my part, yet I continue and need to do this, to get it off my "writer's chest"! But I will not reveal anything until it's as perfect as I can make it. And, yes, I think one must plow the words of Ian Fleming, so my outline is based on a TMWTGG, YOLT and modern terrorism reality.
As a side, I also wrote a 50th anniversary tribute to the franchise in my national newspaper. You can read it here:
http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/peter-sheldrick-why-james-bond-remains-the-worlds-favourite-secret-agent
It will have to damn well be a strong, character driven script, especially after the weak Spectre. It still bothers me too how Spectre were behind the Silva plot. I digress however. Even if they do come up with something great on paper (or at least say they have something great written), it doesn't mean that the final product we end up seeing on screen will be any good.
I like to see it that SPECTRE simply helped Silva along, providing logistics to his maddening plan. I'm very much in the same boat as you, though. I kind of wish SF's plot was left unconnected in any fashion to the organization and left as Dan's one-off, a la Sean and GF. But, I must digress as well.
Just to be clear, that was a quote from the BBC summarizing what was reported this weekend, not an endorsement by me of their content.
It's strange, I feel that only a few weeks ago he was supposed to be making 2 Bond films back to back. You gotta love tabloid journalism.
so then a whole new script has to be produced?
If EON dont want to risk that situation, they could just go for a whole new storyline and offer it to DC , in which case, if he takes t, its fair enough for punters to ask about what happened to MS,
the pure logic is that if you are going to produce a script that really begs being carried over into a second movie, you really need to line up your leading actor so he is committed (legally and emotionally) to keep going.
Well, originally Blofeld was going to be an African warlord in Spectre, so maybe they can churn a few out ...
Exactly this. That script originally had Pushkin returning.
Don't worry, I know that ;) I was making fun of BBC.
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I firmly will not judge Bond 25 (or the new Macgyver show or any new Yes project) Untill at the very least I see a poster pic (or hear a song) for me I will travel the road to the next project with joy and excitement as remember and Fleming once wrote "it is better to travel hopeful the. It is to arrive"
Er... Bond does save the world, defeats the good guy, stops the villain's evil plan, rescues the girl in virtually every Bond film. Kinda feels like a happy ending to me! Not sure you're correct there.
Yeah I know what he's getting at, but I'd say there's a happy ending in about 20 of the 24 movies, at least. The romance of it is part of what I love about on-screen Bond.
Indeed. Hell, I'd even say that QoS' ending was somewhat happy, despite the film being the gloomiest in all of Bond.
The TWINE ending feels like they were trying to do a TSWLM/MR type ending.
I completely agree. I love that we got at least 4 films from Craig but this SP ending is no ending. He needs anther go at Blofeld and some gritty, hard to watch send off, because that's the Bond he's been. Hard choices for a hard man. Anything less is unworthy.