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He won’t settle for anything less than total creative control and I can’t see him doing the next Bond actors second or third outing.He would want to be there from the beginning just like Batman.
You’re so right @007HallY … shooting action is a skill unto itself and these guys are specialized in their field. They’re the best of the best, and they make remarkable action for us.
Nolan’s action, especially in recent “thrillers” like Tenet (his last attempt at this genre), was duller than the color grey…
@talos7 , no problem… I’ve sniffed around my friend after I replied to you— haven’t heard back as of yet, but his last update a few weeks ago left me understanding that EoN leadership is hunkering down and just not ready to “go out” to anyone.
I’d be as happy as anyone to hear tomorrow that the script is in shape to attach a director and auditions are starting next month.
But I fear we are weeks, if not months away from this announcement.
And even then
It’s another sports analogy coming up: I’m obsessively reading the best of hockey insiders to see what trades are being cooked up, what trades are about to happen, what contracts are being sorted with players and their agents (hullo Willy Nylander); these guys are the best in the business, but like Bond rumours, they’re only correct with the forecasts about 10% of the time, if that.
In reality, hockey clubs and EoN are very similar. They’re air tight and only really speak to a handful of people INSIDE their organizations.
EoN would be very careful who they speak to, especially at this delicate time. So whoever these “sources” are that claim talks with Nolan broke down, would, in reality, be only a handful of people INSIDE of Eon. They’d be quickly exorcised and be out of a job (anyone involved are all on NDAs, so this would be an instant firing).
Don’t listen to the noise. Most will be clickbait until Eon is good and ready to make a grand announcement— and that’s what it’ll be: big and grand.
After all, this announcement will be the start of a brand new era of James Bond.They’re not going to let anyone spoil it for them if they can help it (the media went so far as tricking Daniel Craig’s mother talk the last time out; I doubt the new 007 actor’s mum, dad, wife, third uncle, will be chatting with any media this time out)
Excuse the rant.
I’ll step off my soap box.
But EON knows that Nolan is interested and available. The know that he is probably the hottest director on the planet right now, is a huge Bond fan and has loads of experience directing big budget movies. In other words, they know that as long as they see eye to eye, he would be perfect. And they know that he writes his own scripts.
Given all that, it would be totally crazy not to at least contact him before doing anything else.
It wouldn’t be totally crazy though… I don’t know how you think the film industry works, but the producers and their team will come up with the story they want to tell; once they establish that, then they’d go and speak to interested directors.
The directors will set a meeting (thru their reps), after they’ve been invited to read the working script (under NDAs).
These directors will lay out their vision. Some may also want changes to the script and writers they’d hire. It may come out of these meetings that they start building a better story off the back of the working script.
I don’t think Nolan will direct a Bond film, but if he does, it’ll be through Eon’s process, not his.
Another route he can take is write an outline, on spec, and pitch it to Eon. If they think it’s a story worth pursuing, then they’ll commission him to write it.
But it will always be EoN’s call whether to contact Nolan, or for Nolan to pitch his idea for them to accept or decline.
But no one is handed a tentpole film via coronation.
I can never see EON opting for a period piece, Bond film. Even if the continuity has been a bit askew over the years, each film is set in the period in which they were made. Sure this has dated the films over the years, some more than others. But Bond has always been set in the present. Nolan's apparent idea of making a period piece Bond film would not work for EON's James Bond series.
And EON knows that. So why not contact him before trying to come up with a story?
Exactly! That's all I am saying EON should do. They should contact Nolan, but do that before doing anything else.
No problem @Benny, and thank you ; I’m on a project that’s 1 millionth the size of Bond (although we take it as seriously as Bond, 😂), and the methods we play on a small scale, they’re playing the same, just on a far larger scale…
@Colonel_Venus , producers of Eon’s ilk really know what they’re doing. They really do. You and me, or anyone may not agree with their choices, but they really know their job. They know how to do this. Maybe they pick Nolan, maybe they won’t. But they will make their decision based on what’s best for their vision. And we have no control over that.
Most of his films are based in an heightened reality, or borderline sci fi.
His biggest weakness concerning scripts is he cannot seem to write for women. That would be a huge hurdle to get over when it comes to Bond.
He’s also so so when it comes to action sequences.
Most of them are homages to other films, including Bond.
He might be able to come up with a story to work off of, but for Nolan to deliver on all facets of filmmaking, I don’t see it, or EON backing him.
EON's scripts are not better.
In fact many of them are so obnoxious it's best to do the opposite.
Nolan's scripts have been pretty solid in the past when he has to be more stripped back - Following, Batman Begins, Insomnia and Memento are good examples of this. From TDK onwards I find he gets a bit bogged down with plot contrivances which for me stick out to the point where it takes me out of the films (no idea why Gordon in TDK has to fake his own death or how this is even possible in the context of the story for example). I don't find his female character very interesting as has been said. Still have no idea what's going on for a good chunk of Tenet. I'd personally take some of the recent Bond scripts over some of his recent efforts - QOS, SF, TND and even NTTD especially.
His brother is the screenwriter, and his brother’s wife is a screenwriter.
Nolan is not.
@007HallY , he could write an outline on spec to pitch, and/or he could do an oral pitch, which sounds like the route Boyle took where they presented some “golden” idea (it was when they put that idea in script form where everything broke down).
I was always under the impression that it was EON who approached Boyle in that scenario. In fact I assumed he was even hired at that point just going from what I've read (I don't know how accurate any of that is in practice incidentally). They certainly had the broad story beats of NTTD down to the point where they're pretty much the same in Boyle's version (from what's been revealed about his script) as in the film we got (ie. a retired Bond going on a last mission and dying at the end).
Edit: and they were commissioned to write that golden idea, so
EoN does own the rights to what Hodge wrote and he can’t change the character into another one and shop that story around town.
Sorry for double posting: @007HallY … Boyle approached them with a golden idea.
He and Hodge did the pitch.
They were hired at that point.
And no, Boyle’s script was vastly different than Purvis and Wade’s original draft. And it was vastly different to NTTD.
The only plot points that existed in all three: Bond was retired, in some drafts he had a child, in all three he died.
But these were vastly scripts/stories and when Fukunaga came on board, he used the P and W outline/first draft, not Boyle/Hodge.
And then Cary did a page one rewrite.
He hired Burns to punch up action.
Cary went back and did another draft.
PWB was hired to punch up characters and dialogue.
Then she was kept on to make the “science” manageable for audiences.
And she and Cary did the polishes.
Now THIS would make me happy. The guys have been doing some good work and some not-so-good work. But wherever we stand on them, they've been going for 25 years, with or without others polishing their stuff up, so it's time to bring in fresh blood.
I don’t think so @jobo … Last I heard was that the two writers would at least be used to get ideas and outlines and maybe even a first draft.
Other writers will be hired.
But at least late last year, I even think Barbara and Michael both stated they would discuss ideas to their long-term writers first.
But, rest assured, other doctors will be brought on to punch-up the script and polish the shooting draft (and then on set there’ll be more organic rewrites).
I don’t understand why people don’t like these two? We’ve probably never read one of their unedited, un-script-doctored scripts before. Probably anything of theirs that we’ve read had already gone through at least script notes from the producers; or at least I’ve never had the opportunity to read one of their untouched drafts before …
Ah ok. The way it always read to me was the pitch was done under EON's watch (ie. they may have met beforehand or even approached him in order to gauge his interest in directing - which would make sense considering of course he's technically directed for Bond- albeit a short film/skit from the 2012 Olympics - and presumably knows Craig and possibly even the producers to some extent). I always presumed that in order to pitch they'd have had to know beforehand what EON wanted from the story (again it always seemed to me that not only were those broad plot points always in place even if the script itself was very different to what we got, but there was always going to be overlaps in terms of tone, theme, and scale of the film, some of which I always presumed was part of the reason they decided to go with a director like Boyle).
But obviously at the end of the day I really don't know and any information I have or have inferred is very much second hand. So it is interesting.
I love seeing how stories come together so really kept a close eye on it.
My assumption, and it's solely mine, is that when they arranged a meeting with EON, and AFTER they pitched their golden idea (I still have no idea what it is, and that's killing me), EON obviously loved it, and that's when I assume they said, "love the idea, BUT, we are making this Daniel's last. We want Bond brought out of retirement, and we want him to die at the end. Can this be massaged into your story?"
This would be the type of request I've heard in my own, lesser meetings. The project I'm on now, when my producer came on board, she had a bunch of notes for me to massage into the script (that at first seemed kind of nutty, but once I executed them, it did elevate the script, making it more marketable for her to sell (and she's already presold to five markets based on the script, our director and our cast; this is why I have such respect for producers, and people like Broccoli and Wilson)).
Makes sense. Like I said, very interesting, and I suppose there’s always going to be a sense that we won’t know fully what was said behind closed doors.
You're right about that last statement. I'd love to be a fly on the wall for these script pitches/meetings.
I'd love to hear what this "golden" idea was that Holdge brought to Boyle, and Boyle and Hodge pitched to them (and won't be surprised if it shows up in some 007 adventure down the road).
Thanks for the breakdown, that's rather fascinating.
Great summary! I think there were also sets being built during the Boyle era that they worked into the script--the Russian missile silo and the Cuba set.
Wasn't the "golden idea" that Bond died?