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Seriously though, I don't care how many albums Madonna has sold or whatever ridiculous "awards" she has won. She is not a particularly good singer and she is definitely not a good song writer. Marketing can get you anywhere it seems...
Vocally, she's average at best. I think she's more like a star than a singer, if that makes sense, all about attitude and branding. In any case, I don't think she's right for Bond.
I'm not sold on Billie Eilish's song either but I'm willing to give it a chance to see how it plays over the titles. We've only seen snippets of the film and for now, I have a hard time seeing how the theme song matches with the film.
Yes, I'm familiar with your views on the Bond continuation novels, @Ludovico. You're certainly not alone in Bond fantom in thinking that they are unnecessary or mere pastiches from a Fleming purist point of view. While I of course don't agree with that position I do respect it as after all Fleming is the firm tried and tested bedrock on which the whole Bond franchise ultimately rests.
As such, if Fleming didn't feel the need to delineate spin-off characters and novels then we probably shouldn't be countenancing such a thing either. James Bond is the main character and focus and, as you say, so unlike the Marvel and DC universes etc. where spin-offs are part of the open expanded universe of the American comic book tradition. On the contrary, Bond has a literary base and tradition that is much more closed in nature and in which the idea of a spin-off focusing on what are essentially peripheral characters would (thankfully) be viewed as very much alien.
It's a big fat slice of cheesy adult contemporary schmalz, but seems to want to be a pop song. All Time High fully embraces what it is and is a smooth, perfect, loveable, even cool! example of the style, but FYEO is just dorky pop. They should have gone with some sleazy sax.
Don't know if that makes sense to anybody.
Exactly. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. RELAX. If EON is behind it, there should be some quality anyway.
+1
I prefer DAD to AWTD. Like you said, the vocals on the latter are horrendous.
And I appreciate when the Bond song tries something new. When it works, the result can be amazing (LALD, NDIB). When it doesn't work, hey, at least they tried (TND, DAD).
But both of those films are adaptations of novels from Elmore Leonard's universe. Out of Sight is not a spin off of Jackie Brown. It's not really any different to Felix Leiter appearing in more than one James Bond film in this case (minus the change of it being made by different studios - in which case it's more like Leiter turning up in NSNA).
And that's the crux of it: Bond is in a closed universe with him at the center of it. Elmore Leonard characters are in an "open" universe with an "ensemble" gallery of characters, where they sometimes show up as peripheral characters in other works.
I just find it funny when people suggest a Felix Leiter spinoff (for instance). What does he do that Bond cannot do? What does he bring as a character that cannot be explored in a Bond movie? Or indeed any non Bond thriller? So he's American, just like how many action heroes? Whatever he can do, he'll be a poor man's Bond, without the name recognition.
+1, the only other title song that even comes close to that level of awfulness is The Man With The Golden Gun, but as bad as that is, at least it suits the tone of the film. For Your Eyes Only is a revenge film in a sense, and the song doesn't remotely suit the tone of the film.
This is a very close minded approach. He wouldn’t be a poor man’s Bond because he ISN’T Bond, he’s Leiter. I think the first hook they would need is to get an actor that can carry a film and has already appeared as Leiter. From there on, take what we know of Leiter and expand on that.
Just because Leiter would get his own spin-off doesn’t take away from Bond, because Bond will ALWAYS have his own set of films.
That's a realistic approach. If there was a character that was worth a spinoff, we would know about him or her by now. There's plenty of actors that can carry a film, whether a character can carry a film is an entirely different matter altogether. What's the appeal of a Bond movie? James Bond, at its core. All the rest matters, but as peripheral. Bond girls, villains, they are all extremely important, but their status is defined by their relationship with the protagonist. Fleming himself did a novel where Bond is not the main character and while I think he did well trying something different (and keep in mind I'm in the monitory here), I don't think TSWLM could carry a franchise of its own, in fact that the novel is seen as one of the weakest if not the worst of Bond novels makes me think even a standalone spinoff would not work. You can build a multiple franchise with Marvel, but with Bond, it would look like pressing a lemon.
Must admit I am not a fan of modern films/tv series where every character has their own spin off. And as I have said before, we can't even watch James Bond in action at the moment (even without the pandemic it had been five years). Maybe it's the lack of the real deal which is prompting these discussions of spin offs.
the ONLY Leiter that would deserve his own spin off series and thus enhance his brilliant portrayal of Felix is the legend that is John Terry.
Recast him as Leiter and audiences would flock to his adventures.
I'm not keen on the idea of a Bond multiverse, but I do see how they could do a villain's origin story--a young Goldfinger falling in love with gold, etc. But it would probably end up as pastiche. And the audience would be wondering: where's Bond?
And that is why spinoffs is a bad idea: they need to focus their energy on the main attraction.
Also, to whoever wants spinoffs, how can it be done to be successful? Don't say with the right script and the right idea, explain what is the right script, what is the right idea.
You're talking about the former football player John Terry, right? ;)
Hahaha!
Now that would be controversial casting! :)
@mattjoes — bang on!… I’d also take a bet that is EoN’s fear as well.
If Amazon grabbed a chunk of Bond to spin TV shows (at the moment, that’s not ever going to happen), that would water-down the main man of the series…. If this happened, that’s when I see Broccoli selling…. and not a second before.
I like the film and the title sequence and even how John Barry adapts it to make a decent score, but I don't like the song, not because it's slow though (I don't know why). Not sure if this is a controversial opinion. I guess for me it's just because it was between LALD and NDIB which I think are two excellent songs.
With Amazon behind MGM and EON now, it won’t surprise me if they did what Disney and Lucasfilm did with Star Wars. Build a new trilogy for a new actor, with a spinoff in between Bond led stories.
It would be a terrible idea.
I agree considering the gaps between Bonds anyway. NTTD followed six years later by a Moneypenny movie, then another 5 years for B26, then 4 years later a Tanner origin story and another 6 years for B27.
No thanks. Just stick with Bond.