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Can we Petition to Encourage Daniel Craig to stay as Bond?
Give him as much creative control as need be. He will regret leaving Bond years after. Pierce Brosnan's heart broke when he realized he hadn't stood up for more creative control and paid attention to the series.
Dalton would truly would have loved to do one more after LTK, rather than what the studio demanded of him.
George Lazenby, obviously regrets not doing another one.
And the only reason Roger Moore left the role is because he realized he was older than the mother of Stacy's actress. He would have stayed with the role and continued to use its appeal to help raise money for UNICEF.
Sean Connery couldn't get more creative control and when he did, it was within the confines of the TB story, due to legal constraints involving Kevin McClory. But he did one more his own way when he was older than Daniel Craig is now.
Craig still has the chance to be Bond and to make movies that are not as action-centered but focus on being character-driven. He can get creative control and also get some guarantees in his contract to finance other passion projects.
Dalton would truly would have loved to do one more after LTK, rather than what the studio demanded of him.
George Lazenby, obviously regrets not doing another one.
And the only reason Roger Moore left the role is because he realized he was older than the mother of Stacy's actress. He would have stayed with the role and continued to use its appeal to help raise money for UNICEF.
Sean Connery couldn't get more creative control and when he did, it was within the confines of the TB story, due to legal constraints involving Kevin McClory. But he did one more his own way when he was older than Daniel Craig is now.
Craig still has the chance to be Bond and to make movies that are not as action-centered but focus on being character-driven. He can get creative control and also get some guarantees in his contract to finance other passion projects.
This discussion has been closed.
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Comments
Daniel Craig and Sean Connery were the only actors to be fed up of playing Bond.
I agree wholeheartedly! DC’s been an okay Bond, but I’d like to move on.
Same here. Ready to move on as well.
I seem to recall a 'boycott' for CR by a group of disgruntled fans. Got a lot of publicity at the time, and believe it or not, they're still going.
Adamant Craig would do one film, two at best. Well how wrong could they be.
I don't know if a fan petition is going to have any weight as to whether Craig stays of goes. To be honest I think most fans are ready for a change.
That’s the goal: leave with the audience asking/wanting more.
I’ll be sad to see him go, but if this film hits the mark I wouldn’t want him to come back (and I have a feeling that the conclusion will be a definitive end for him).
Without any care for the quality of the film, if the series goes back to repeating the same old movie, same old story, I'll just stop watching the new ones as I already feel like I wasted money on most of the Pierce Brosnan associated movies.
With the old series before DC, they had 40 years to work kinks out and yet you still have fans wondering what would have happened if George Lazenby had come back or if simple decisions by the producers were made to help the series give more depth to flawed characters who would be despised by audiences....such as if Paris was an actual Bond girl from a past movie, rather than a pop-up character who imitates a recycled caricature from one of the films.
By going back to stand alone films, the series will become a parody of the Connery films rather than as originals or films which stay true to the literary work of Ian Fleming.
It will divide audiences and lose a lot of money at the same time. There's no way I'd want to go back to watching a stand alone Bond film that emphasizes gadgets, shallow characters, and provides too much humor. Even the fans of having more humor and gadgets will watch the darker/serious Bond films which flex the limits but the money doesn't follow the opposite end.
Another example is MR which cost the entire series a lot of money and left many fans disappointed such that they wouldn't trust the series going on into the 80's in which each subsequent Bond film had a decreasing budget with each feature. That's why strong stories like LTK appeared to have a tv-movie like production style to it.
I disagree that going back to standalone adventures would be a misstep, although I'm not sure they will go that direction. There will be a lot of excitement and perhaps controversy surrounding the next actor because Craig has been Bond for a record amount of years.
I'm hoping that NTTD is great, but either way, I think it's time to move on.
A bit of doom and gloom. Going back to stand alone films would have no bearing on the quality of the movie. Saying that they would just become a copycat of the Connery films is a bit shortsighted.
The novels (which are the basis for his tenure) are mostly standalone as well with only a few ties to the previous outing.
Standalone movies don't necessarily require that the films take the MR/DAD approach. But the series still exists because of its ability to go from FRWL to YOLT, MR to FYEO and DAD to CR.
I'd also like to point out that DAD was huge success at the box office. Making another DAD was not a gamble for the franchise, CR was.
Daniel Craig's EON Productions Presents
Daniel Craig
as Daniel Craig's James Bond 007 in
No, Bond needs to move on, sooner rather than later.
Dalton quit. Nothing to do with the studio. He always struggled with the fame of the role and said that he felt really free when he saw the GE poster with Pierce. Doubt he has any regrets. He did what he set out to do perfectly and then quit while he was ahead.
Brosnan I'm sure would have loved to do one more but don't know why you had to slip a dig in about him not paying attention (what does that even mean?) and not "standing up" for more creative control because all the information we have suggests that's bollocks. He's on record as saying he did suggest going darker and make specific suggestions (e.g. Belluci as Paris), but was ignored at every turn. He's said that the producers "never took me out to dinner" or something along those lines. He was Cubby's choice. Craig has more creative control because he was Barbara's choice and she loves him. Isn't fair to pin the lack of creative control Brosnan had on him. He's an actor. He turned up and did the best he could. He can't help it if the producers won't take his ideas on board.
And aside from that, no, sorry. You can love a job to bits and still know that it's time to call time on it. Craig is in his 50s and has been Bond for 15 years. It's a series that thrives on change. Fresh blood is desperately needed after NTTD and Craig strikes me as a bit of a perfectionist anyway, I think he's probably very aware of the dangers of staying too long like Moore did and tarnishing his run. I genuinely think the only reason he's doing this one is because he wasn't happy with SP (he's never outright said so but there were rumours of arguments with Mendes, it obviously wasn't as well recieved as CR/SF, and he said this time he wanted to "go out on a high). He's ridiculously rich and he's a big, big star now thanks to how big his era has been. He could get whatever passion projects he wants off the ground. And he's been Bond for ages. Time to let someone else have a go and for him to stretch himself doing other things more often. Plus Craig, like Dalton, is a private person, and he's got another kid now. He strikes me as quite a down to earth guy, I reckon he'll want that kid to have a reasonably normal (by celebrity standards) upbringing. Hard to do that if you're James Bond.
And his films have been very character focused anyway so I'm not sure what one more with less action would achieve. He's already had a nice story arc. I'm not sure what else there is to explore about his take. Time for a new one.
I think this will be his last one and that it could be the last we see of him in big budget blockbusters for a while. Probably more stuff like Knives Out and Logan Lucky but I'm really hoping he does more British stuff at some point too.
It’s a fun point: I think Lazenby and Moore were the only other ones to actually choose to go though, and I think in Roger’s case it was probably a mutual decision between him and the producers! :) Brosnan got essentially dumped and I don’t think the studio wanted Dalton back.
Connery and Craig are probably the only ones the Bond producers would have liked more of than they got!
Like @shardlake, and now yourself, I agree that we're about to see the next chapter in this man's artistic life. Surely a return to stage (has he done this after every Bond since QoS? I think so...); maybe that Purity series will be picked up again. Knives Out is a huge hit on a forty million dollar budget, and these are the types of films, if done smartly, with continued excellence in story and casting could become a tight, neat series of films.
As you said, Craig's a very wealthy man. It will be interesting to see how he wields his new freedom (and exceptional reputation). Exciting times for him, and for fans like us.
Where Daniel IS concerned though, it's time for him to move on. He's held his age together well for this picture but I would hate to think of the type of hours in the gym that would have required at his age. The minute gravity takes over a lot of people would question if he was right to stay on. I think that time is coming soon and so does he. In that sense, I really believe he's doing the best thing for the franchise and for you as a fan.
General folk are fickle and very black and white in their thinking. Some say they would yearn for him to come back after this one and I have to agree with that thinking but the minute he does come back and they discover that age is being unkind then they would flip-flop. I think that could potentially be negative to the next film in the series.
Alas, all good things must come to an end... But the arc seems to have run a natural course and I'm keen to see which direction they will go in next. It's exciting.
My suggestion? Enjoy the run in until April!
(Apologies if this post is a little weird. I've had a few tipples tonight.)
I am fearful that there's truly no one yet worthy of trying to fill Craig's very big shoes, BUT, ironically, this doesn't matter. What matters is tying up his arc in the best way possible and letting him leave with grace, and also, as he's always said, leaving the franchise in a good position to continue on without him.
It sounds like they're on the road to completing this mission.
And he has to leave with this last film (which pains me to say; however, once the dust settles, and if NTTD is as good as they think it is, then we will have an amazing era to always return to).
And I love your suggestion. After all, this is like a lovely ski trip. The vacation is almost at an end. The slopes are about to close. But you still have this one, incredibly thrilling run to complete before packing up your skis and going back home... Enjoy every second of it!!!
Dalton wanted to do one more movie but the studio was trying to force him to sign off on a three-movie deal. The producers were good friends with Dalton and still remain close however the studio kinda forced him to leave the role as he was wrongfully
not forgiven for LTK's box office. They wanted him to leave. A lot of people including bands who were offered the part of singing the theme song (ie Ace of Base, which was popular at the time) all didn't think 007 would remain relevant and yet GE made a lot of money given Pierce Brosnan was like the People's Choice actor and also the prior 007 film (LTK) left you wondering how the characters were doing (namely 007) who went rogue and had a very personal mission. GE was originally written with Dalton coming back for one more go in mind, which is why the director removed a line referencing his return to the secret service at the beginning.
@peter People wanted to see that moment, where 007 would lounge by the beach (we actually see that in the Cuba scene of GE) since pretty much every main character of LTK was seen at their most brutally intense moment throughout the film.....also likewise QOS, being Craig's darkest Bond flick in which the whole film carried an air of melancholy throughout, was followed upon by a scene of him enjoying his life after the service in the first quarter of SF....Craig was even quoted as wishing his character would be lounging by the beach during an interview for QoS at the premiere.
In any case, continuity helps.
It's the different between sequels like DAF (which disappointed) in not just this franchise but also others like Fast and Furious....the series wouldn't have survived without bringing back the original characters (including Vin Diesel) and making a respectful sequel. That series was almost dead when the early sequels were just completely different films.
Franchises like the 007 franchise, which we'll keep the subject to, have had unnecessary hurdles in the past which would not allow it to move onward as easily in today's harsh markets....do you all really go to the movie theatre as often as you used to? Probably not. If the franchise returns back to formulaic writing and direction, then why waste your money simply because it has the 007 label on it?
Prior 007 actors each have insight and experience worth considering when they have feedback advice to help guide the series. Sean Connery certainly would have loved to have done a film like OHMSS.
Daniel Craig has written pretty much half or more than half of his 007 movies without being billed officially as such but he's fine with that. He was allowed to tailor the character to him.
You can't replace his 007 with a bad actor, but with the formulaic films like TND for example or DAD you could easily see any other actor play the same part similarly....I'm not saying Brosnan was bad, he just wasn't used to his potential to make a better impact. Studios don't just allow as much room for failure any more.
I think that having the assurance that the lead actor has paid attention to details and cared for the role such as Daniel Craig's example so far, makes it worthwhile for the audience and allows studios to be rewarded with large box office returns to keep the series fresh.
Yeah I can totally understand why they went for a new Bond for GoldenEye: they were essentially relaunching the series, and you don't get buzz for a brand new series by bringing back the old guy*. You got audiences wanting to see the new Bond.
*Well, you can do that if it's Sean Connery :) . But Dalton just never really set the world on fire.
Honestly, I don't know. Brosnan was never the greatest actor in the world, but he did have movie star charisma and in something like DAD, which is a big movie, he's still visibly standing at the centre of it all, and that's not something every actor can do. In fact, much as I love something like Living Daylights, I'd say it's arguable that Dalton kind of slightly disappears amongst it all. Or Lazenby is another good example: he's kind of... not there.
From the 20 movies (include 4 mini series) with Brosnan i haven't seen 4 and i watched a couple of other movies with him on tv over the let we say 25 years (1994-2019) that i not collect. Mrs Doubt Fire is only none Bond i have seen in cinema in 1994.
I have mixed feeling with how fast i whant to watch Daniel Craig in none Bond movie. I have seen two none Bond with him on tv first befofe buying on BD. I haven't seen any none Bond with him in the cinema.
Tomb Raider
Layer Cake
The Golden Compass
Munich
Flashbacks of a Fool
Defiance
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
Dream House
Enduring Love
Sylvia
The Invasion *
Sword of Honour
One Life (Voice) *
Cowboys and Aliens *
Road to Perdition *
6/15 with The Golden Compass was last one.
The * collect on BD.
I whant to keep it special (it trick some of fantasy too) and afraid that some of his none Bond work with rune that and for some others it is not my time yet to watch them. I am curious what Daniel Craig wil do next. Personaly i hope /expect a 6th Bond movie with him, but more because i think it partly it faild with ansers and Spectre created new ones. I like what i see in trailer of NTTD, but not accepted that Lucia wil not comeback after that more open end then Madeline.
I can’t imagine the training DC has had to put in for the last few years. Anyone on here around his age will know that mid40s onwards your metabolism basically packs up completely. Ok I’m sure he’s got nutritionists and dieticians boring him to death but you can’t game anno domini.
Yeah I'm hoping Knives Out will give his career a bit of a kick start: his stuff in that was very well-received. Because outside of Bond his career has sort of stuttered quite a bit: I don't think he even made a film between the last two Bonds, did he? I know he does big stage work and had a child, so maybe he's not looking for too much movie work but I'd like to see him stay in films.
I can see the series is, maybe, indeed of reinvigorating. But, looking at the potential, fey, hipster suitors, keep Craig for one more movie at least.
Trust my words!
He has very very consciously avoided to confirm that it is his very last one in every interview and statement I have seen. If he was 100% sure that it was his last, he would definitely say so. Also he seems to having enjoyed shooting NTTD much more than SP
I'm glad we're getting someone new, someone with a bit more fun I hope.
But that's how some, if not many, people felt about Roger Moore being Bond but that doesn't mean his last Bond film wasn't the worst, plus TLD was written with Moore in mind.