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I think dialogues are his main strength. Maybe his only strength actually. Take away the dialogues in Gladiator and you have a very boring movie, basically an action movie with swords and sandals (I mean it was an action movie with swords and sandals, but then people wouldn't find it smart without the dialogues). It is his plotting that often gets muddled up.
Better not either, but I don't see it happening with Mendes. Or Craig, for that matter.
When Mathieu Amalric was asked about the difference between Quantum of Solace and the typical French auteur film he usually plays him, he answered : I'll rather talk about the similarities : there were changes almost every day, there was some young guy writing the script on set, there was an atmosphere of improvisation.
Exactly! Sometimes you have to stray from the script and give room for the ideas of the day.
Harsh but perhaps fair. In the 7 films of the post Cubby era, only two films have impressed me - CR and QoS. Cubby used to have an almost 50:50 hit to miss ratio during his later years. Babs and MGW have come a long way in the last decade, but they really need to find some way or running things more smoothly. The production of the next Bond movie should never have been delayed in order to accommodate the director.
They had an extra 12 months to fine tune a script, and this happen. Ok sure. This would not be happening on Cubby's watch.
They can hand the rains to someone else if they not up to it. Drop the whistle blower Edward Snowden story and focus on Bond, the time is now and Daniel Craig not getting any younger.
None of us are.
And why hire two writers who have a proven track record of terrible dialogue to do a dialogue revision? Why not hire a cheeky UK stand up comic? This is another botched decision.
Not quite sure, I can agree, as much as I would like to ;)
I do believe, they had quite the talent ensembled during DC's 3 and its different times (reg. the directors) I don't think, its common thing, they have one for several pics in a row. It happens, but not very often plus I do believe, that's a good thing. Keeps it fresh, even if there might be a miss among them.
As for the script problems - I see it as far from normal still. Not on this scale with such a delay. I am afraid, parachute isn't all wrong and now, MAYBE Logan just left, threw his contract right into their faces and they had no other choice then to rehire W & P. In a sad way, to me, this is the only explanation. Logan left and the script wasn't ready.
Then again, can something like that being kept under wraps? Dunno..
Honestly, re-writes which push back a schedule are very common in filmmaking. In fact I am on a pretty big tv show right now and we have had to push back 2 weeks - which on a tv schedule is a lot believe me, because of story and script issues which we had not foreseen. Bond 24 is being pushed back 2 months - that's a fair bit, but far from a disaster. They have plainly carefully considered what they need to do and have correctly and wisely adjusted the schedule for that very reason. As I have said, this is very, very common in filmmaking. Because it's a Bond film it gets more press like in Baz's Daily Mail "exclusives", but if every feature film (even blockbusters) were reported like a Bond film in the normal press you would realize this is very usual in filmmaking. I have been in the film business 30 years, and I have seen and experienced this kind of re-writing and re-scheduling many, many, many times. Hope that helps ease your concerns GL.
I'd love to be at ease, believe me ;) and thanks so much for trying to put me into that position. So ok and this is the last I will say about this (I try :D ) Obviously something FORCED them to bring back N & P, which was not at all on the agenda. They had a perfectly fit writer in Logan. He was under contract to write the damn thing alone. Now this seems to be old news. This one question remains - why isn't he doing the necessary rewrites? Why hiring a pair of writers to polish the script of the "main writer"? For all we know, it was ALWAYS the other way around.
Very quickly because I have to shoot out now, but again, it is common for writers to step back or be replaced for re-writes. This doesn't mean fighting or arguments with the producers etc, it's just that screenwriting is an incredibly intense process - and quite exhausting. Sometimes, after months and months of intense work it becomes hard to remain objective about the material, the story, characters etc. - a writer simply needs to step back. (I have had the luxury of having a year away from a script I have written which goes into production in November - and because of the time delay I have come back to the script with a clear and objective eye and as a result I am making HUGE improvements which I simply could not have seen before due to being so close to the material.) So, what usually happens is that a writer wisely steps back to allow fresh eyes on the material. Again, this is very common, and writers' contracts have clauses which protect both themselves and the producers if a new writer or writers are brought onto a project at any stage - so everyone is ALWAYS prepared for this.
I don't think John Logan through his script in the air and stormed out. Most writers are too experienced and too professional to act like that and they know all too well when it is time for them to step back.
I wish that changeover had happened a bit earlier. But anyway, things are moving and I do hope the delay in filming is the last one.
My concern is not about John Logan's script being rewritten. I would not have given him free reign over a Bond movie, not since Star Trek Nemesis. I am concerned that P&W are back, as they never were outstanding and if they were asked to rewrite the dialogues (which I take with a huge pinch of salt) it was never they strong point. That said, I understand the devil you know is better than the devil you don't and they have been capable of better things.
http://murthaagency.com/client_resume_content.cfm?client_id=71
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
BOND 24 MGM Sam Mendes
With working on Terminator 5 for July 2015 release date, it whas the quistion or he have time to return for Bond. But for 2012 he not only did Skyfall he also did Safe House.
Very good news and expected. Is there really anyone else?
They've been shooting T5 for months now.
excellent news. the second unit work on SKYFALL was outstanding. In the list of his work the agency lists Neal Purvis as the director of CASINO ROYALE!?!
This a version only from those who think everything is black or white. You can depart also very nicely on one projet and continue working on others with the same people. Ironically, the hearsay I got at the end of May was this kind of catastrophic, but my source sees everything in black or white on such topics, but well, they work or they do not work in the end :)
Now, I pity a bit P&W, they just can't win : everything fine in Bond 24 will be because of Logan, and everything awful will be because of them. They're the only big common point between CR and SF along with Craig, but even those who like these two seems to find ok to "hate" them...
It is incorrect to say that OHMSS did not get a script polish - Simon Raven was brought in for just that purpose.
When it came to plots, I never thought he ever had many ideas. He wrote great dialogues, sometimes great characters, but the plots are hardly his forte.
Hence the return of Purvis and Wade?
Well, I certainly hope that is the reason. I find it strange they'd be asked to rework the dialogues. Of course if you modify the plot some dialogues will be modified. But Logan's dialogues writing was never a problem. Not even in Nemesis, which was the only thing that was sometimes good.
I agree. Logan's stories are derivative and weak. But that is what makes this even more disturbing. Had they been bringing in Logan to polish a P+W story it would have made more sense. But can you really come in at a late stage and polish the story? I suppose it's possible but it suggests more fundamental problems.
Also, surely polishing was included in the original production schedule, therefore this delay is something beyond the anticipated and entirely routine polishing that always takes place.
Maybe there will be some sort of news via deadline or even EON by tomorrow.