No Time To Die: Production Diary

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  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    As I said earlier, if Soderbergh is the director then it makes sense why Craig was not announced a few days back. Then it makes sense to wait until after the LL press tour so as not to steal its thunder. Moreover, he is a big name who can create buzz (unlike this McGuigan chap who I think is highly unlikely).

    If it's not Soderbergh however then I just can't understand why they didn't make the announcement of Craig a few days back along with P&W (if he has in fact finally made his decision). After all, he has been almost as involved behind the scenes as those two. It almost feels like they threw him under the bus, given he will be the one having to answer endless questions about the rumours in a few weeks.

    Unless of course the director is still not locked, and the date announcement was just made to 'mark territory' out of concern that a ubiquitous Marvel / DC heavy hitter would be announced after Comic Con (eg. Wonder Woman 2 was just announced for Dec 2019).

    Moreover, given the script first draft apparently hasn't yet been finalized, I wouldn't be surprised if Craig is still on the fence (after the SP fiasco) and there is no director in place.
  • edited July 2017 Posts: 19
    If the rumours of an Danjaq/EON sale turn out to be true, then I would be amazed if MGM do not have the right of first refusal to buy it.

    Any other buyer would have a real problem, in that they would not control financing/distribution of any film they wished to produce, due to MGMs stake in the franchise.



  • Mendes4LyfeMendes4Lyfe The long road ahead
    Posts: 8,452
    If the rumours of an Danjaq/EON sale turn out to be true, then I would be amazed if MGM do not have the right of first refusal to buy it.

    Any other buyer would have a real problem, in that they would not control financing/distribution of any film they wished to produce, due to MGMs stake in the franchise.

    Unless someone buys MGM maybe?
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited July 2017 Posts: 23,883
    If the rumours of an Danjaq/EON sale turn out to be true, then I would be amazed if MGM do not have the right of first refusal to buy it.

    Any other buyer would have a real problem, in that they would not control financing/distribution of any film they wished to produce, due to MGMs stake in the franchise.

    Unless someone buys MGM maybe?
    True. We shouldn't forget that MGM wasted a year trying to sell to the Chinese (a plan which ultimately failed due to a change in foreign investment rules).

    I can forsee a situation where the Bond rights can be packaged and sold off separately from the rest of MGM. After all, it is the crown jewel and there could be a studio willing to pay big money for the IP without the rest of MGM. Babs and EON would have to agree of course. There are many ways to structure a deal if all parties are on side.

    I've always felt that the MGM business end is a big driver of what is and has been happening here. Hedge funds run that place and money talks.

    Also, if MGM eventually goes public there will be a lot of pressure on them to make money from Bond, & that is where there is a risk of brand dilution due to overexposure with crappy spinoffs and what not. In such a scenario, another, more stable & diversified studio may be a better bet.
  • Posts: 4,412
    In a rather unusual move (especially with everything that is going on in the world), The Times paper has decided to put Bond on the front-page. It seems a tad odd, especially as the film was announced on Monday and most papers reported on it yesterday (on page 6 or something).

    _97079724_times.jpg

    What provoked them to regurgitate some old news in such a prominent fashion is unknown. There seems to be no “hidden agenda” – maybe they wanted to ramp up circulation.

    Here’s my predication….

    • Bond 25 will be the last EON Bond film (I suspect they’ll sell the production company to a massive studio on the proviso that Barbara keeps producing them – essentially she’ll be the Kevin Feige/Kathleen Kennedy running the outfit. However, EON will be owned by a large multinational).

    • For this reason Craig and Mendes will return. It’s a theoretical and “symbolic” final film.

    • The movie will have a “Logan”-esque feel. Don’t be surprised if it’s Fiennes, Whishaw and Harris’s final film as well.

    • Big reboot at the hands of a massive studio (probably Warner Bros with their AT&T money). Expect word of “cinematic universes” and theme parks, etc. I suspect Barbara will be the driving force but there will be a lot of voices in the mix.

    If my predication squares up – I‘m genuinely unsure how I feel about it. But I’m willing to put money on this being the case.
  • Posts: 1,162
    bondjames wrote: »
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    Where's this sudden panic that EON is going to sell the rights coming from? They're sitting on one of the most secure franchises in the world. Why sell?

    So was George Lucas with Star Wars. For him, $4 billion ($2 billion in cash and $2 billion in Disney stock) convinced him to sell.

    I'm not saying the Broccoli-Wilson clan will sell. I'm just saying everybody has a price. For some the price is a LOT.
    Babs has been on record as saying "for the time being" she can't see making a Bond film without Craig. Well, Craig won't be around forever. So if she still feels that way after he's gone, there's a reason to sell.

    In itself a ridiculous statement,especially from the point of view of a producer, who is practically telling his star: "demand whatever you want I pay it and be glad for it "
    Wouldn't have happened to her father!
  • Posts: 1,162
    TripAces wrote: »
    On a separate note: DC is most definitely going to have a say on the director.

    Ooowh absolutely @TripAces. See the oped from Soderbergh above. But on the whole many fans in here have underestimated Craig's secondary role within the Bond franchise: He's a co-producer. It's too easy to say that's a 'gift' from Babs and Michael, to let him stay onboard. But we all know Craig's role and influence on his Bond films have been much bigger. I mean, he was the facilitator/initiator of a new director after QOS. That eventually was Sam Mendes. Since they knew each other from "Road To Perdition". But Craig's role as co-producer goes beyond that. We know he assisted in writing with QOS during the writer's strike. And on set of SF and SP he very much behaved like Mendes' assistant director. Basically, what Sir Sean Connery always wanted (and we know that he tried to have a greater writing influence on "Goldfinger", trying to make it more serious like his two predecessing Bond films), Daniel Craig eventually got.

    There are obviously many risks involved in giving so much 'creative control' to a leading cast member. But IMO it paid off and so far made the quadrilogy of Bond films, CR, QOS, SF and SP, one hell of an exciting narrative 'tour-de-force'. And I don't mind if we continue this 'Craig-Universe', albeit slightly less tightly connected with the previous Bond films story-wise. And that Bond #25 will become again a step more 'stand alone', in which Craig portrays an even more fully-rounded 007 who has got his emotions in check and who now carries out a mission like he's supposed to do as an employee of MI6. As long as the Bond #25 story is top notch!

    My guess is that Steven Soderbergh could pull this off, as he has some great ideas for a Bond film. And his film "Logan Lucky" could be as pivotal as an inspirator as other movies Daniel Craig starred in, like "Layer Cake" (Craig's stepping stone into Bond) and "Road To Perdition" (Craig's affinity with deeper drama, as we saw in SF). Having said that, Bond #25 could very well be an even funnier Bond film than SP, and could very well be more streamlined story-wise than its predecessors. And I am starting to think that therefore Steven Soderbergh could really be the main Bond #25 director candidate. Co-producer Daniel Craig and director Steven Soderbergh: I'm all in for it!

    Many many reasons to never give a star that much power again.
  • SirHilaryBraySirHilaryBray Scotland
    Posts: 2,138
    bondjames wrote: »
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    Where's this sudden panic that EON is going to sell the rights coming from? They're sitting on one of the most secure franchises in the world. Why sell?

    So was George Lucas with Star Wars. For him, $4 billion ($2 billion in cash and $2 billion in Disney stock) convinced him to sell.

    I'm not saying the Broccoli-Wilson clan will sell. I'm just saying everybody has a price. For some the price is a LOT.
    Babs has been on record as saying "for the time being" she can't see making a Bond film without Craig. Well, Craig won't be around forever. So if she still feels that way after he's gone, there's a reason to sell.

    In itself a ridiculous statement,especially from the point of view of a producer, who is practically telling his star: "demand whatever you want I pay it and be glad for it "
    Wouldn't have happened to her father!

    Sorry I have to correct you, she was answering a question on whether a woman should play Bond, while promoting Spectre

    “It's like Hamlet, who has been played by a variety of different people, including women. So presumably Bond could be.

    “But do I want to be making a Bond film without Daniel Craig? No, absolutely not!

    “He's so integral to the whole process that I'm in denial about anyone else playing Bond. Genuinely.”


    She didn't really want to discuss a future beyond Craig as quite rightly in her eyes Craig returned Bond to it's Golden Era of global interest. I don't think Dan is driven by money, in fact he said himself Bond has made him wealthy and given him freedom to make choices on the creative aspects alone, and what takes his interest. Money won't be what drives Craig to return. It will be whether the story is good, is the supporting cast good, and whether the Director is someone he's wanted to work with.
  • Posts: 4,619
    Can someone please list all the children of Barbara Broccoli and all the children of Michael G. Wilson?
  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    Posts: 2,722
    Many things will come to pass if Bond is to last another 50 years - EON selling off the rights, remakes of Dr No and Goldfinger, female Bond, black Bond, Bond in Space (...oh wait...)
    Many fans will walk away alienated, many fans will be created. That's the circle of life. You'll always have Dr No up through to wherever you thought the series lost its way to console yourself with.
  • Posts: 22
    realistically speaking, Who are the probable buyers if they do end up selling the rights ?
  • Posts: 1,985
    Im still sating its gonna be Soderbergh as the director for Bond 25
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    Hats off to those still holding out hope for a fresh start. I'm already expecting the worst on this one. Bringing back Craig this late might sound strange, but to be quite honest I think they are desperate. Micheal can't really do it anymore, Babs seems a bit distracted and no one else is remotely ready to take the reins. I don't think they want to make any decisions right now that will affect the next 10 years, like hiring a new Bond. Right now, I think they just want to put a Bond film out without the pressure of designing a whole new era from the ground up.

    That being said, if anyone is still believing we will see the start of a new era in 2019, that's encouraging to hear. I certainly hope you're right.

    Well I don't call a new era plodding on with P&W no matter who is playing Bond.

    Never thought I'd say it but if EON sold up to Nolan and his company then I think that might be best all round.

    MGW has given his all for over 40 years and can't really be criticised. Babs seems like she'd rather be doing other projects or messing around with rubbish like diversity quotas and without either of them there's no one at EON I couldn't live without.
    In a rather unusual move (especially with everything that is going on in the world), The Times paper has decided to put Bond on the front-page. It seems a tad odd, especially as the film was announced on Monday and most papers reported on it yesterday (on page 6 or something).

    _97079724_times.jpg

    What provoked them to regurgitate some old news in such a prominent fashion is unknown. There seems to be no “hidden agenda” – maybe they wanted to ramp up circulation.

    Here’s my predication….

    • Bond 25 will be the last EON Bond film (I suspect they’ll sell the production company to a massive studio on the proviso that Barbara keeps producing them – essentially she’ll be the Kevin Feige/Kathleen Kennedy running the outfit. However, EON will be owned by a large multinational).

    • For this reason Craig and Mendes will return. It’s a theoretical and “symbolic” final film.

    • The movie will have a “Logan”-esque feel. Don’t be surprised if it’s Fiennes, Whishaw and Harris’s final film as well.

    • Big reboot at the hands of a massive studio (probably Warner Bros with their AT&T money). Expect word of “cinematic universes” and theme parks, etc. I suspect Barbara will be the driving force but there will be a lot of voices in the mix.

    If my predication squares up – I‘m genuinely unsure how I feel about it. But I’m willing to put money on this being the case.

    Happy to take your money on Mendes coming back.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    Happy to take your money on Mendes coming back.
    I wonder what he's up to these days. Perhaps he would be up for the challenge in 2019.

    Bottom line is over half the existing characters are his creation and I've always wondered why anyone worth his (or her) salt would want to pick up his mess midstream and run with it. Moreover, he (along with Craig) has been the vision for Bond for almost a decade.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    bondjames wrote: »
    Happy to take your money on Mendes coming back.
    I wonder what he's up to these days. Perhaps he would be up for the challenge in 2019.

    Bottom line is over half the existing characters are his creation and I've always wondered why anyone worth his (or her) salt would want to pick up his mess midstream and run with it. Moreover, he (along with Craig) has been the vision for Bond for almost a decade.

    True they may have no option but to get Mendes back because no other director will touch this clusterf**k with a bargepole.
  • edited July 2017 Posts: 386
    Big fan of Craig but he'll be Harry Houdini if he gets out of his fifth movie on a triumphant note.

    The last two installments have made bank but ballsed his run.
  • Posts: 4,619
    because no other director will touch this clusterf**k with a bargepole.
    Maybe no director will need to. They could easily write a final movie for Craig without even mentioning Blofeld, and I do think this is what they are planning if Craig is back. Why continue a not so well received movie 4 years later? All a 5th Bond movie with Craig would need to acknowledge is the existence of Swann.
  • edited July 2017 Posts: 386
    I don't think audiences are super invested in the whole Blofeld-Spectre-Swann thing. They want Bond on a tense mission in exotic locales.
  • Mendes4LyfeMendes4Lyfe The long road ahead
    Posts: 8,452
    bondjames wrote: »
    Happy to take your money on Mendes coming back.
    I wonder what he's up to these days. Perhaps he would be up for the challenge in 2019.

    Bottom line is over half the existing characters are his creation and I've always wondered why anyone worth his (or her) salt would want to pick up his mess midstream and run with it. Moreover, he (along with Craig) has been the vision for Bond for almost a decade.

    I kinda want Mendes for Bond 25 now actually. They already have P+W and Craig coming back, we know how this will end up, might as well try and push it over into the "so bad it's good" category. If this is EON's last film, Let's really go out with a bang! ;)

    For once, I'll live up to my alias. Mendes for Bond 25! You can do it EON. :)
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    bondjames wrote: »
    Happy to take your money on Mendes coming back.
    I wonder what he's up to these days. Perhaps he would be up for the challenge in 2019.

    Bottom line is over half the existing characters are his creation and I've always wondered why anyone worth his (or her) salt would want to pick up his mess midstream and run with it. Moreover, he (along with Craig) has been the vision for Bond for almost a decade.

    I kinda want Mendes for Bond 25 now actually. They already have P+W and Craig coming back, we know how this will end up, might as well try and push it over into the "so bad it's good" category. If this is EON's last film, Let's really go out with a bang! ;)

    For once, I'll live up to my alias. Mendes for Bond 25! You can do it EON. :)
    I have no problem with Mendes returning 'if' it's Craig again. They can clean up their mess together and perhaps could redeem themselves.

    Otherwise give me a full clean slate please.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    edited July 2017 Posts: 9,117
    bondjames wrote: »
    bondjames wrote: »
    Happy to take your money on Mendes coming back.
    I wonder what he's up to these days. Perhaps he would be up for the challenge in 2019.

    Bottom line is over half the existing characters are his creation and I've always wondered why anyone worth his (or her) salt would want to pick up his mess midstream and run with it. Moreover, he (along with Craig) has been the vision for Bond for almost a decade.

    I kinda want Mendes for Bond 25 now actually. They already have P+W and Craig coming back, we know how this will end up, might as well try and push it over into the "so bad it's good" category. If this is EON's last film, Let's really go out with a bang! ;)

    For once, I'll live up to my alias. Mendes for Bond 25! You can do it EON. :)
    I have no problem with Mendes returning 'if' it's Craig again. They can clean up their mess together and perhaps could redeem themselves.

    Otherwise give me a full clean slate please.

    Or end the series.

    Turns out M, Q, MP and Tanner were also fostered by the Oberhausers and we end up the 4 of them and Bond sneaking round the Garden of Death in ninja clobber as they get their final revenge on Blofeld.

    Tragic for Babs if after another Mendes debacle she tries to sell and the best offer she can get is a pair of used white Reeboks and a bag of Quavers
  • Posts: 386
    no to Mendes. just re-watched Spectre and the static artiness really grates.

    he got away with it in SF but SP is just so f***king inert.

    if we don't want to burn a "new" director you could do worse than the marc "speeding bullet" forster.

    just tell him to slow this one down a few notches. he knows how to raise the pulse and he can handle the action.

    already a vast improvement on Mendes.
  • SandySandy Somewhere in Europe
    Posts: 4,012
    I would be very excited if Sodenbergh was brought in for B25. He's one of my favourite directors, a huge Bond fan, his work has both quality and style which is pivotal for a successful Bond film. So what he's an American? I never got why some people don't want an American directing Bond.
  • Posts: 386
    soderbergh would go alright. not sure he'd want to unravel the mess though.
  • Posts: 4,619
    GetCarter wrote: »
    soderbergh would go alright. not sure he'd want to unravel the mess though.
    What is there to unravel? Blofeld is defeated, and Spectre (the organization) is O-V-E-R.
  • jake24jake24 Sitting at your desk, kissing your lover, eating supper with your familyModerator
    Posts: 10,592
    Well it's true!

    Somebody will be like, can we please change the word "Fall" in the thread title to "Autumn" so as not to offend my British sensibilities?

    And @jake24 will just reply:

    rs_634x829-160624073045-634.blake-lively-gossip-girl.62416.jpg
    Haha!
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,331
    GetCarter wrote: »
    soderbergh would go alright. not sure he'd want to unravel the mess though.
    What is there to unravel? Blofeld is defeated, and Spectre (the organization) is O-V-E-R.

    Overly Vicious Enemies to the Realm? Again a new organisation?
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    GetCarter wrote: »
    soderbergh would go alright. not sure he'd want to unravel the mess though.
    What is there to unravel? Blofeld is defeated, and Spectre (the organization) is O-V-E-R.

    Overly Vicious Enemies to the Realm? Again a new organisation?
    They have people everywhere you know. EVERYWHERE!
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    GetCarter wrote: »
    soderbergh would go alright. not sure he'd want to unravel the mess though.
    What is there to unravel? Blofeld is defeated, and Spectre (the organization) is O-V-E-R.

    So they fought Mclory for close on 50 years for that?

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