The What if NTTD is the last EON produced Bond film? page 62

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  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 14,557
    A couple of other things:

    The BSA Lightning motorcycle Volpe rides was not produced until 1965, meaning different bike or other vehicle in the chase.

    Poster for 1962's Thunderball would not claim 'Here comes the biggest Bond of all!'.
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,404
    Yes the marketing would have been decidedly different!

    On to another What if, submitted by @MaxCasino

    There have been rumors and in one case I believe some work went into developing a spin off movie for a character in a Bond film. I am of course talking about Wai Lin and Jinx.
    I have heard that there was serious interest for a Jinx spin off movie after DAD. Would Pierce appear in the film? Not sure. But when you see how heavily featured Halle was in the advertising and marketing of DAD you can tell the studio was interested in having her return.

    The case of Wai Lin is a bit murkier. Not sure there was ever serious interest, but fans have often wondered if Ms. Lin could have starred in her own movie.

    so dear community members what say you...what if Wai Lin and Jinx got spinoff movies?
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,606
    thedove wrote: »
    Yes the marketing would have been decidedly different!

    On to another What if, submitted by @MaxCasino

    There have been rumors and in one case I believe some work went into developing a spin off movie for a character in a Bond film. I am of course talking about Wai Lin and Jinx.
    I have heard that there was serious interest for a Jinx spin off movie after DAD. Would Pierce appear in the film? Not sure. But when you see how heavily featured Halle was in the advertising and marketing of DAD you can tell the studio was interested in having her return.

    The case of Wai Lin is a bit murkier. Not sure there was ever serious interest, but fans have often wondered if Ms. Lin could have starred in her own movie.

    so dear community members what say you...what if Wai Lin and Jinx got spinoff movies?

    I know Michael Madsen would have returned for Jinx. He said so himself.
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    edited July 2023 Posts: 3,787
    Both are interesting, but there shouldn't be any spin offs in the Bond Franchise in my opinion, yes, not just Wai Lin and Jinx but to any other characters that's not Bond, I think (there are even some humors regarding a Nomi spin off).

    Although the closest that I'm seeing a decent spin off was through Felix Leiter, and that's because of the Dynamite comics that I've read about him (but still I don't want them to get filmed), I'm not even interested in those Moneypenny Diaries and that's because I knew Moneypenny so well that I don't need to read more about her.

    But just give me Bond films instead of spin offs.

    So is it somehow a good thing that it never happened? I think so.

    I'm just interested more in the Bond character than the other characters in the Franchise.

    So my guess here was if it's really put on fruition, then assuming the Jinx spin off would've likely to come out in 2004, I mean, It would've likely to interrupt with the production of Casino Royale given the budget and the staff and crews who would worked on that spin off film (for sure it would've been likely the same set), the same for a Wai Lin spin off that would've even make the productions of the standard Bond films more complicated and as a result, there would be a lot more gaps in between the Bond films and it's because of those spin off films (imagine the Wai Lin spin off that would've been likely to get released in 1998 or possibly 1999, then the production for TWINE would've been more complicated, I mean, for sure, it would've affected the Bond film productions).

    These Wai Lin and Jinx Spin offs would've likely to affect the Bond production.
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 14,557
    I certainly would've checked out such a spin-off, but have doubts about their critical and commercial success. I don't think their existence would've had much affect on the *direction* of the series proper leading up to CR - I think a reboot was inevitable - but as mentioned above, we might've got CR later than 2006, and as we know, waiting 4+ years for a new film... That's preposterous!
  • Posts: 15,106
    A Jinx or a Way Lin spinoff would have been like the Solo Star Wars movie: disappointing BO results and hurting the original franchise by being a waste of creative energy and financial resources. CR would have been postponed because they'd be in the same continuity and if Jinx would have had the same level of sci-fi as DAD, then I suspect it would have received lukewarm reviews at best.
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    edited July 2023 Posts: 3,147
    Yeah, I agree with Ludovico - chances are a spin-off would've been a one-and-done due to disappointing box office, tbh. I'd've watched it, but more as a curio really. Unless Salma Hayek actually had been cast as Jinx, obvs...
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    edited July 2023 Posts: 3,787
    Venutius wrote: »
    Yeah, I agree with Ludovico - chances are a spin-off would've been a one-and-done due to disappointing box office, tbh. I'd've watched it, but more as a curio really. Unless Salma Hayek actually had been cast as Jinx, obvs...

    And that's the same with Wai Lin, unfortunately, I don't think it would've been successful either, more of a disappointment too.

    And imagine this, if we've seen TWINE like that (the issues given in that film) what more if given a low budget due to that spin off? I think we could've seen TWINE in a lot more worse possible 😅.

    Of course, the budget that would've been for TWINE would be half allotted for that spin off, then an interruption in the Production, and it would've created a more lesser result.
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,404
    Lets move on to another interesting thought posed by @MaxCasino who wrote me to ask, What if Christopher Wood had been commissioned to write the continuation novels and not John Gardner. I realize this may bother @Dragonpol as he is a fan of Gardner's work. I haven't read the novelization of Spy or MR for quite some time. From what I remember both were well written and hit the right tone.

    So my dear literary fans of Mister Bond. What it Christopher Wood had been commissioned to write the continuation novels in the 80s?
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    edited August 2023 Posts: 4,606
    The only thing I can think of for sure is that they wouldn't have been as campy. His novelizations are fairly serious in tone, compared to their actual movies.

    Some other information I found out.
    http://www.tikit.net/panfans/2015/11/09/bits-and-pieces/ 5

    After mentioning Christopher Wood and ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ last week I received the following comment from Mike Pretty “A little Christopher Wood footnote for you. I used to work for Jonathan Cape (and Pan, but that’s another story) and I edited The Spy Who Loved Me for publication. I can’t remember why, but it was decided that the girl who was going to be eaten so graphically by a shark needed a name. I was about to get married, so I inserted my fiancee’s maiden name just as a placeholder until we talked about it. Wood wasn’t bothered either way, so in she stayed. Luckily Kate was amused!” Mike married Kate Chapman who sadly died all too young of cancer.

    Mike Petty adds that he had “previously worked at Jonathan Cape, and Sonny [Mehta] claimed he hired me because I was presumably able to cope with Tom Maschler, which he couldn’t. I like to think I had other talents, though!”

    FWIW, Christopher Wood also loathed Jonathan Cape chairman Tom Maschler. “Sometimes I would gaze up at the Corcovado peak and wonder if the statue of Christ the Redeemer on its summit with arms spread wise was in fact Saint Peter measuring the Pearly Gates to see if they were wide enough to receive Maschler’s head”.
  • Posts: 15,106
    I haven't read the continuations novels, except Carte Blanche and Trigger Mortis, so cannot comment, but I remember reading Christopher Wood's The Spy Who Loved Me as a teenager. Before I watched the movie or read Fleming. What struck me is how serious and grounded (for lack of a better word) it was, in spite of the outlandish plot. My bet is that had he continued the novels they would have been closer to pastiches than fanfics, if that makes sense.
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    edited August 2023 Posts: 3,787
    Why Christopher Wood didn't make a novelization of You Only Live Twice? It's very different from the book, but why he didn't make a novelization of it?

    Oh, I guess because he's the scriptwriter of both TSWLM and MR, but it would be interesting had there been a YOLT novelization based on the film script by Dahl.

    I wish Christopher Wood at least made a novelization of it.
  • Posts: 1,916
    Wood had a style that worked and was different from the films they came from, so I'd have definitely been in favor of his doing more, especially further adaptations of the films. As a teen Bond fan, his adaptations went down easier than some of Fleming at the time for me.
  • Posts: 15,106
    SIS_HQ wrote: »
    Why Christopher Wood didn't make a novelization of You Only Live Twice? It's very different from the book, but why he didn't make a novelization of it?

    Oh, I guess because he's the scriptwriter of both TSWLM and MR, but it would be interesting had there been a YOLT novelization based on the film script by Dahl.

    I wish Christopher Wood at least made a novelization of it.

    Was novelization a thing at that time?
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,264
    thedove wrote: »
    Lets move on to another interesting thought posed by @MaxCasino who wrote me to ask, What if Christopher Wood had been commissioned to write the continuation novels and not John Gardner. I realize this may bother @Dragonpol as he is a fan of Gardner's work. I haven't read the novelization of Spy or MR for quite some time. From what I remember both were well written and hit the right tone.

    So my dear literary fans of Mister Bond. What it Christopher Wood had been commissioned to write the continuation novels in the 80s?

    Thanks for the mention, @thedove, and for posing this interesting "what if" question by @MaxCasino. Christopher Wood is rightly considered as one of the best Bond continuation authors and is at a level similar to that of Kingsley Amis. He got the literary Bond in a way few others have and could successfully ape Fleming's writing style and discreetly update it for the late 1970s film novelisation audience. It is quite a skill to take two very outlandish Lewis Gilbert directed Bond films and turn them into acceptable literary Bond stories. That is exactly what Wood brought to the table. Of course it would've been nice to see Wood write some original Bond novels in the 1980s but at the same time I'm glad that we got John Gardner's take on James Bond in the 80s and 90s. There'd be no Never Send Flowers or Dragonpol otherwise. Ultimately I don't think I'd want to trade that for some original Wood Bond novels in the 1980s. I'm sure you wouldn't expect me to say anything else, though. :)
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,404
    An interesting suggestion from @SIS_HQ who posed this interesting "what if". They say and I quote:

    Back in 2012, a Bond reunion was set to happen, even Roger Moore himself touted of the idea that they would be having a Bond Reunion Movie a la The Expendables, although, joked that he would be needing some stuntmen when performing action scenes, but it never happened.

    Now I can't vouch for what @SIS_HQ details above. Never heard of a movie where all the Bond actors would star together. However I recall some talk around a round table discussion with all the Bond actors gathering for a discussion about the series and the impact on their lives.

    You can either talk about a movie where all the Bond actors come together like Expendables OR what might a round table discussion with the Bond actors might have looked like.

    In both cases I think it's safe to say that Sean would be the toughest to get to participate but since this is fantasy, lets say he was on board!

    So the what if is obvious in here, what if it happened? What do you think it would've looked like? How would it fare? What do you think would've happened? And would it affect the Bond Franchise, and how?
  • TheSkyfallen06TheSkyfallen06 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
    edited August 2023 Posts: 1,098
    thedove wrote: »
    An interesting suggestion from @SIS_HQ who posed this interesting "what if". They say and I quote:

    Back in 2012, a Bond reunion was set to happen, even Roger Moore himself touted of the idea that they would be having a Bond Reunion Movie a la The Expendables, although, joked that he would be needing some stuntmen when performing action scenes, but it never happened.

    Now I can't vouch for what @SIS_HQ details above. Never heard of a movie where all the Bond actors would star together. However I recall some talk around a round table discussion with all the Bond actors gathering for a discussion about the series and the impact on their lives.

    You can either talk about a movie where all the Bond actors come together like Expendables OR what might a round table discussion with the Bond actors might have looked like.

    In both cases I think it's safe to say that Sean would be the toughest to get to participate but since this is fantasy, lets say he was on board!

    So the what if is obvious in here, what if it happened? What do you think it would've looked like? How would it fare? What do you think would've happened? And would it affect the Bond Franchise, and how?

    Had it happened, it's pretty obvious to say it would have divided the fandom, one half would be pleased to see the previous Bonds join forces together, and the other would instantly hate it since it would canonize the Codename Theory.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,606
    thedove wrote: »
    An interesting suggestion from @SIS_HQ who posed this interesting "what if". They say and I quote:

    Back in 2012, a Bond reunion was set to happen, even Roger Moore himself touted of the idea that they would be having a Bond Reunion Movie a la The Expendables, although, joked that he would be needing some stuntmen when performing action scenes, but it never happened.

    Now I can't vouch for what @SIS_HQ details above. Never heard of a movie where all the Bond actors would star together. However I recall some talk around a round table discussion with all the Bond actors gathering for a discussion about the series and the impact on their lives.

    You can either talk about a movie where all the Bond actors come together like Expendables OR what might a round table discussion with the Bond actors might have looked like.

    In both cases I think it's safe to say that Sean would be the toughest to get to participate but since this is fantasy, lets say he was on board!

    So the what if is obvious in here, what if it happened? What do you think it would've looked like? How would it fare? What do you think would've happened? And would it affect the Bond Franchise, and how?

    I always thought that Roger Moore could have interviewed some Bond alumni for the 50th anniversary, namely Ursula Andress, BECAUSE of Dr. No.
  • edited August 2023 Posts: 1,971
    I would not have wanted to see the Bond actors in a film together. The Exp(a)ndables fairly suggests what such a film might look like. As for the round table, it would have been interesting had we had some assurance what we'd hear was completely honest. I've heard enough of Bond was a wonderful experience, etc. I am interested why SC tired of the role. How playing a role over and over impacts one's sense of artistry. How adoring fans believe you are the character rather than the raw material playing the role. Why Craig wanted Bond to die. Did Lazenby regret his decision? Who they did and did not like starring with. How and why being a star can be a drag. How did Moore honestly feel about taking over for Connery. What strengths and weaknesses in themselves as actors did they perceive. Their favorite Bond film and perhaps their least favorite. Disagreemets over directing and writing.
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,404
    Thanks for the links! That helps me a lot.

    I wish you could have hosted the round table @CrabKey those are topics very worthy of discussion!
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    Posts: 3,147
    But they were all in a film together...


  • TheSkyfallen06TheSkyfallen06 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
    Posts: 1,098
    Venutius wrote: »
    But they were all in a film together...
    I know, right?
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,404
    As Elliot Carver once said "This just in..."

    https://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/pierce-brosnan-first-approach-for-james-bond-1983?fbclid=IwAR2YXLFpqgYXTjx2Tua6_E3cfOyKNj3z2_CHBp-qsuJ9m_Sodvtysv2fdmQ

    Looks like Cubby was a fan of Pierce before TLD and way before GE. It seems to be coming out that Pierce screen tested for the role in late 1983 to take over as Bond in AVTAK. Wow, one wonders how a new Bond would have improved AVTAK. Can we imagine Pierce and Walken sharing a screen? Or even Pierce and David Bowie (who was rumoured for the Zorin role).

    This would have altered things quite a bit from what we got had it happened. One wonders if Dalton would have lost his chance to become Bond and whether Brosnan would have added 3 more films to this run. What happens with LTK? Could Pierce pull that off? Or would a return to Fleming be put on hold for a tone more in line with Brosnan's other Bond films?

    What say you Mi6? What if Pierce Brosnan had starred in AVTAK?
  • TheSkyfallen06TheSkyfallen06 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
    Posts: 1,098
    thedove wrote: »
    As Elliot Carver once said "This just in..."

    https://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/pierce-brosnan-first-approach-for-james-bond-1983?fbclid=IwAR2YXLFpqgYXTjx2Tua6_E3cfOyKNj3z2_CHBp-qsuJ9m_Sodvtysv2fdmQ

    Looks like Cubby was a fan of Pierce before TLD and way before GE. It seems to be coming out that Pierce screen tested for the role in late 1983 to take over as Bond in AVTAK. Wow, one wonders how a new Bond would have improved AVTAK. Can we imagine Pierce and Walken sharing a screen? Or even Pierce and David Bowie (who was rumoured for the Zorin role).

    This would have altered things quite a bit from what we got had it happened. One wonders if Dalton would have lost his chance to become Bond and whether Brosnan would have added 3 more films to this run. What happens with LTK? Could Pierce pull that off? Or would a return to Fleming be put on hold for a tone more in line with Brosnan's other Bond films?

    What say you Mi6? What if Pierce Brosnan had starred in AVTAK?

    Brosnie would have undoubtedly been better recieved than Timmy, audiences were so used to Bond being lighthearted escapism than Timmy's portrayal felt out of place, as much as i love both of them.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 6,277
    thedove wrote: »
    As Elliot Carver once said "This just in..."

    https://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/pierce-brosnan-first-approach-for-james-bond-1983?fbclid=IwAR2YXLFpqgYXTjx2Tua6_E3cfOyKNj3z2_CHBp-qsuJ9m_Sodvtysv2fdmQ

    Looks like Cubby was a fan of Pierce before TLD and way before GE. It seems to be coming out that Pierce screen tested for the role in late 1983 to take over as Bond in AVTAK. Wow, one wonders how a new Bond would have improved AVTAK. Can we imagine Pierce and Walken sharing a screen? Or even Pierce and David Bowie (who was rumoured for the Zorin role).

    This would have altered things quite a bit from what we got had it happened. One wonders if Dalton would have lost his chance to become Bond and whether Brosnan would have added 3 more films to this run. What happens with LTK? Could Pierce pull that off? Or would a return to Fleming be put on hold for a tone more in line with Brosnan's other Bond films?

    What say you Mi6? What if Pierce Brosnan had starred in AVTAK?

    The skinny snowboarding double would have been a *lot* more believable.
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,196
    Too young...
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    Posts: 3,147
    GE had to be Brosnan's first, really.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited October 2023 Posts: 16,344
    I’ve long thought that Pierce would have made TLD more of a hit, but it’s hard to imagine him in a Roger, I must admit. I can’t imagine enjoying it as much with him in the lead, plus with Macnee etc it does feel tailored around a slightly older 007. It’s weirdly easier to picture him in FYEO than AVTAK.
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,404
    I often thought that AVTAK would have been great launch for a new Bond. Not sure why maybe the fact that the main villain was going to be a younger foe for Bond? I am not sure that Pierce at this time in his career would have been able to go toe to toe with Walken on screen, maybe later down the road. Dalton I could always envision being able to be a good Bond against Walken.

    As for future films, TLD was not yet fully tailored to Dalton so I can see Pierce in that film, I can't see Pierce pulling off LTK and I am not sure they would even go that direction. LTK was written to play to Dalton's strengths and not Pierce.

    Funny how the casting of an actor for one movie spills over for many other interesting and different choices down the road.
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