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Speaking of the script, I know the last we heard was that it was almost done, so would it be safe to assume that it's completed by this point in time or no?
It is my least watched Craig film, and I really have no desire to do so anytime soon, so I suppose Skyfall is my least favorite Craig film as well. I, too, was initially disappointed. I didn't like Naomi Harris until the final scene, I didn't like the score, I didn't like how the film almost completely ignores Bond (he's like the grumpy kid in the corner in the kindergarten class most of the film.. I want to hear him talk, depressed or not), I didn't like the blatant 'remember the good'ol'days' references (except for the exploding pen quip)... so to make this simpler.. I like about half of what Mendes was directly responsible for, and hated the other half he brought.
Yes and no. They're trying to get actors on board, which means they may go back and re-write some scenes to better help whoever they're trying to swoon fit the part. It may also change during location scouting, to adapt to some new ideas Mendes and crew get while out and about. The basic idea and structure should be done. If not, I fear what is coming..
Come to think of it, we got video blogs last time they were out scouting locations. I hope those come back.
Yeah, I know that SF is my least favorite Craig film, and after four years of waiting for the film, I'm ashamed to admit that after I first saw it, I felt conditioned to like it, as if I wasn't allowed to be disappointed in it because of how long I waited and how much I was anticipating one phenomenal movie, but alas, things happen. It does have lots of moments I enjoy, but that also comes with lots of complaints, as well.
@jwestbrook. You certainly make some valid points. Especially taking into account when Mendes agreed to take the helm of Bond 24 in July 2013. While it is common practice to write and rewrite scripts in pre-production and during production wasn't the overall story/plot of Bond 24 more or less done before Mendes came back on board and wasn't there talk of Mendes and Logan working on the story just after SKYFALL was released. With Mendes on board since July 2013 it makes sense that he would want to reshape the screenplay to fit in with his style but how much of the "original" story has been changed as you state that they threw out a script and started again.
We don't, and probably won't, know. They had a two picture story planned and Mendes agreed to come back for only one film, so they had to change the story to a one film deal. Whether they just simply tore out the second half of what they had, reworked the material, or indeed went in fresh with Mendes is unclear. Whether or not he was actively working on ideas while unattached also may add time to the script writing. If he knew where he wanted to go day 1, I'm sure it wasn't hard for him and Logan to iron it out. If he waited until they agreed to do just one more for him to start brainstorming, I'm sure it took him some time.
I'd say it will probably end up between 60%-70% of what they originally planned. Either way, I don't think they got much done in the year they were head-hunting directors. Still safe to say they only had a set plan starting July 2013.
This and your whole comment is utter nonsense. Mendes was officially announced as the director of Bond 24 about 27 months before the release date. He was announced to direct Skyfall about 22 months before the release of the movie and first rumored about 34 months before the premiere. Either way, the production timeline of Bond 24 is not much shorter than the production timeline of Skyfall. We are talking about 7 months maximum!
Thrown out a script? Says who? The script of Bond 24 was never thrown out as far as we know, on the other hand we know for sure that the first script/treatment of Bond 23 was thrown out by Mendes and/or the producers.
I don't belive the production is any shorter this time and even if it is, it's shorter just by a couple of months.
You should have kept reading. I back-tracked on my 'thrown out the script' comments. It is unclear how much has been kept, but I can assure the script from late 2012 to early 2013 is not the same script they are working with now. I over-exaggerated the possibility of the state of the writing process, but to be fair it is unknown to all. It could be nearly identical to Logan's original, or all new from Mendes.
Mendes, Logan, Broccoli, and Wilson have all confirmed that the script was altered to get Mendes attached. We do not know how much. There are conflicting comments about Mendes' involvement in the script. Early rumors in late 2012 / early 2013 were that Logan and Mendes had outlined a plan for Bond 24. Then it was reported that Mendes was not attached, and a two-film storyline was being planned and a new director was being scouted. Then the two-film plot was denied by everyone involved. Following that, it was announced Mendes was back in talks, and then it was finally confirmed. With Mendes' confirmation and attachment, Logan then confirmed that there was, but would no longer be, a two-film arc, which Mendes requested.
So I have no clue what was kept throughout that, but why would Mendes work with Logan on the script on the coattails of Skyfall, then leave the project only to come back and request that the original plot be altered. It doesn't make sense.
And Mendes was attached as a "consultant" on Skyfall way back in 2009/2010, where he worked with Logan and the producers unofficially on the film until everything became official in mid-2011 as MGM got back on its feet. Work started on Skyfall in 2009 and didn't stop. Three years. Mendes and Logan had been working with Purvis and Wade throughout the bankruptcy, the just couldn't be officially attached because the studio supposedly had no money.
With Bond 24, work was done on a film starting late 2012 up to July 2013. Following in late 2013 and earlier this year, Logan confirmed that the script was still in process and being re-worked to whatever extent with Mendes. Recently, Mendes confirmed he was still working on the script in May, ensuring there were 'no holes in the boat'.
So Skyfall: Late 2009 - October 2012
The current version of Bond 24: Mid 2013 - October 2015.
Yes, Mendes was only officially confirmed to be directing Skyfall from 2011, BUT he was brought on as director I mean consultant during the MGM shutdown in 2009 & 2010.
Going from Mendes working on something for 3 2 years (2009 for Skyfall) before shooting started to 1.5 years (July 2013 for Bond 24) before shooting started is a big decent difference.
You might be getting old, JWESTBROOK. My memory is still sharp and i do remember that it was Peter Morgan who was announced to co-write Bond 23 back in 2009 and not John Logan. Morgan's script/treatment was thrown out. If you claim that work on Skyfall started in 2009 then I have to say that work on Bond 24 started in 2012.
Mendes started working on Skyfall very late 2009 the earliest. Don't forget that he also was working on theater projects until summer 2011. I doubt his work on Skyfall between very late 2009 and summer 2011 was any more substantial than his work on Bond 24 leading up to this summer.
We are not going from Mendes working on something for 3 years before shooting started to 1.5 years before shooting started. There are 2 years between very late 2009 and late 2011 and not 3 years! We are going from 2 years of pre-production (of which the first year was not official and very under the radar) to 1.5 years of pre-production.
And if the big hook from Peter Morgan's treatment was M. dying, then we are assuming Logan and P&W adapted it into their script. Based on that knowledge, it may be more probable that we will simply be getting a similar story to what Logan had planned pre-July 2013 but adapted for Mendes.
The fact remains that 2 years out from premiere, Skyfall was farther along than Bond 24 for whatever reasoning. Mendes departure and subsequent return only added pressure to the production.
When we look at Bond 24 in a void, with the film being released October 2015, and Mendes being attached in July 2013, do we classify it as a two-year production?
If yes, and it works out, why have the producers been claiming it to be nearly impossible to get a new Bond every two years? That is ultimately the point I'm trying to reach. I simply mucked it up a bit on the way with numbers.
For Bond 25, Logan is already attached, Craig is contracted, and there is still the possibility of a story thread to be continued come the end of Bond 24. I think what 24 will prove is whether or not the two year time frame is plausible enough to maintain a quality product.
June 12, 2009: Peter Morgan announced as Bond 23 writer along with Neal Purvis and Robert Wade.
Sample story:
http://filmonic.com/peter-morgan-hired-write-bond-23
Press release says Morgan won't start on Bond 23 until he finishes up other projects. Portion of the press release is here:
http://commanderbond.net/6302/neal-purvis-robert-wade-and-peter-morgan-to-write-bond-23.html
December 2009: Morgan says he worked on Skyfall from July to October when project suspended because of MGM financial issues. In October 2010, Morgan says he never got beyond the treatment phase and never actually wrote a script.
http://hmssweblog.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/peter-morgan-007-fans-hardly-knew-ye/
(includes embedded video from interview)
Jan. 5, 2010: Mendes reported to be considered to direct Bond 23.
http://www.deadline.com/2010/01/exclusive-sam-mendes-about-to-be-hired-as-consultant-on-bond-23/
Jan. 6, 2010: Mendes' publicist confirms the director is indeed in talks to direct the film:
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/jan/06/sam-mendes-james-bond-film
Jan. 15, 2010: Wall Street Journal runs story where Mendes denies it, saying it's only "speculation." (Evidently the WSJ scribe didn't do a clip check and spot The Guardian story on Jan. 6)
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704281204575002903586342296?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704281204575002903586342296.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird
Dec. 4, 2010: It's reported Bond 23 will have a November 2012 release date.
http://www.deadline.com/2010/12/is-next-james-bond-skedded-for-nov-2012/
Early 2011: Bond 23 is back on. Announced writers are now Purvis, Wade and John Logan. The fall 2012 release date is confirmed (October in the U.K., November in the U.S.)
In early 2012, after being nominated for an Academy Award, Logan says he has been working on Bond 23 for "about a year." If literally true, then Logan hadn't been working for very long before the 2011 announcement about Bond 23.
October 2011: Fusible website runs story on how Skyfall and variants of that name have been registered as domain names.
January 2011: Deadline Hollywood reports Javier Bardem offered a part.
February 2011: Daily Mail reports Ralph Fiennes is in the cast.
June 2011: Now defunct News of the World says Naomie Harris is in the cast.
Late September 2011: Berenice Marlhoe reported to be in the cast.
Late October 2011: Albert Finney reported to be in the cast.
Sometime in 2011: Harris will be the new Miss Moneypenny. I'm not sure of the first such story, but here's an example from December 2011:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2074882/A-New-Age-healer-mother-obsession-raw-food-Naomie-Harris--A-modern-Miss-Moneypenny.html
Personally, I think the three-year time frame also stems from the fact that the Eon principals simply want to do other things in between Bond films (stage productions, other movies).
Dates and such for Bond 24
Oct. 26, 2012: Deadline Hollywood reports John Logan signed to write Bond 24 and Bond 25, which will be a two-film arc.
http://www.deadline.com/2012/10/gladiator-scribe-john-logan-to-write-next-two-james-bond-films/
Nov. 12, 2012: Barbara Broccoli denies that Logan has been hired or that Bond 24 and Bond 25 will be a two-part story as part of an interview on an entertainment website called Crave:
http://www.craveonline.com/film/interviews/199687-the-spoiler-interview-barbara-broccoli-and-michael-g-wilson-on-skyfall
Nov. 16, 2012: MGM CEO Gary Barber confirms on an investor conference call that John Logan has been hired to write Bond 24 and Bond 25:
http://hmssweblog.wordpress.com/2012/11/16/mgm-may-bend-on-bond-24s-schedule/
Feb. 14, 2013: Daily Mail reports that Sam Mendes is again a possibility to direct Bond 24 and the two-film story plan has been scrapped.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2278914/Sam-Mendes-James-Bond-sights-Skyfalls-phenomenal-box-office-success.html
July 2013: Mendes is announced as Bond 24 director, with a fall 2015 release date.
April 10, 2014: Mendes, on The Charlie Rose Show, confirms the plan had been to have a two-part story but that notion was ended when he agreed to come back for Bond 24.
non-story. but bond 24 gossip.
Because he said once he'd love to play a Bond villain.
That would be TOO good, that's why I don't see it happening. If they announced that, I'd need a new change of underwear. It'd be a nice balance to the negative of Deakins not working on B24.
It all depends how he says it really. If he refuses to talk, or simply say no, then yes, he may be playing said role. That is why the Chiwetel Ejiofor rumour has some grounds: he had been pretty quiet about it, not saying a clear and unambiguous "no". Kevin Spacey seems far more adamant and also a bit irritated. For me,this rumour is based on two things: 1)he once said he'd love to play a Bond villain and 2)he worked with Sam Mendes before.
I love Spacey as an actor and I like the fact that he expressed his interest for a Bond villain rather than Bond himself, but I cannot see him as a Bond villain, for some reason.
Yes, Spacey does seem rather irritated in that interview, but then again, he's an actor. He gets paid to play many different roles. Again, I'm not trying to find reasons why this is a credible rumor, nor am I saying that it's still a possibility - though anything is possible - but I just don't really trust actors anymore when they deny roles. I'll just wait for a confirmation.
I do agree on Ejiofor, he was very mum about the whole rumor and he went on to compliment the Bond franchise, so he's more than likely going to end up playing the villain, if his other projects allow it, though I'm sure at this point, he (or someone else) has already been locked in to play the main villain in B24. It's just a short matter of time before that information is released.
Ejiofor is a more credible rumor, but I don't know enough about him to be happy if he was to be cast. I do find him a bit young. A few years ago, Simon Russell Beale was rumored for Bond 23. I don't know how seriously he was considered, if he was considered at all, but this is one rumor I wished would resurface and be true.
I'm waiting for them to reboot the Grant character - DC loves FRWL - I'm sure he'll get his man v man Bond film....wtmfs.
Why reboot what was already perfect?
That said regarding Keyser Soze, this type of character would work beautifully in a Bond movie. It could be used for Blofeld or General Grubozaboischikov.
Red Grant was killed by Bond on the Orient Express in 1963 :)
http://en.mediamass.net/people/charlotte-rampling/james-bond.html
She played a "M-esque" character in the thriller CLEANSKIN with Sean "006" Bean.
This is one great nominee for Strangest Bond 24 Rumor in the forthcoming MI6 Awards. What a load of...