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I am on the flipside, getting rid of all my physical media. I have ripped all of my Bond DVDs, including all of the "extras." I have also ripped most of my other movies, too, and converted them to MP4s--quality is top notch. (There is a way to do this through Handbrake, but I won't tell.) In the trash those discs have gone. I have streamlined and love it.
I keep everything on a server (Plex) through which I can access and stream all of my collection from anywhere.
'The Man With The Golden Gun'- a prequel series set in the 60s/70s following Francisco Scaramanga as he travels the world, living the high life and basically acting like James Bond, bedding beautiful women and driving fast cars, as he builds his business of being the greatest assassin in the world. Taking on jobs for the KGB, eliminating his most dangerous competitors (maybe even coming up against Spectre as well as MI6 or the CIA), and generally being sardonic and supercool. He's sort of like Bond without being Bond and can be a bit more ruthless and nasty occasionally so would be a fun subject for a high quality TV show because he can be really morally dubious- even losing sometimes. Plus he's got his iconic golden gun and isn't averse to a gadget or two so it would feel like Bond's world and you'd have a substitue for 007 who can be just as charismatic and interesting as Bond himself.
He could be a baddie one episode and a good guy the next (depending on his target), plus as he's not really a Fleming character anymore the makers could could characterise him however they want. And as it's a period production you could even adapt the odd Fleming moment here and there.
I'd watch that :D
Me too. But of course then they have to remake the film....
Yeah, that is kind of what this - very good idea - runs up against, I feel. Is it the origin story of the Christopher Lee version? Is it the literary version? Is it a new amalgamation that is a set-up for a major Bond film or do it the other way around where the film re-make comes first and then, if the character works there, they do a prequel series?
Any which way you slice it, a defining decision producers and writers would have to make is how much the eventual end of the story factors into it at the beginning. We all know that - like all bad guys - Scaramanga exists as a fictional character so that Bond can kill him. That is a heavy shadow to hang over a show that would have to balance light and dark anyway.
Now that I am thinking about it, this could be an interesting way to bridge the gap between Literary Bond and film Bond, where the one is absolutely aware and informed by the fact that his job is probably going to kill him quite early, whereas that is not really something that is considered all that much in the films, I think. But then you lose the fun, sardonic, supercool anti-hero thing that kind of makes the idea worthwhile in the first place. Maybe I have just talked myself into a competely seperate strawman of a show :-?
As a more general note: I don't think we really know yet how intertwining TV (streaming) shows and blockbuster film franchises really works. Everyone is pointing towards the MCU, but they have only this year started to do TV shows with (kind of) main characters from the films and we have yet to see a film - I think - that builds on developments from a TV series. Star Wars may be further along, but I am not really deep into both of those franchises and follow it more on a meta-level from the sidelines. As far as I understand it, The Clone Wars did a great job of basically filling out and re-explaining all of the stuff that didn't really make sense in the prequel films. So maybe that is a way to go: If something doesn't work (say they reveal that you're big bad is not only behind all of the plots of the previous three films but also your protagonists former foster brother. Just as a random idea), you can go back and flesh it out and explain it more. On the other hand, that is a bit of a downer creatively I would imagine. If they came out tomorrow and said: First project is "Brofeld Begins", I don't think our reaction would be all that positive :))
Interesting that even after his experience with the series, both good (SF) and bad (SP), that he would be public in his support of EoN and the way the series is run. Good on him I say.
Oh it's the Chris Lee version (although recast in the same way you recast Bond- not worrying about the likeness too much), and then after that you just don't worry about it too much! :) No need to remake the film, although if there was a Bond film which didn't live up to its potential it's that one.
But the benefit of the Chris Lee version is you can slide some elements of Fleming's Scaramanga in if you want because he's not really all that well-defined in the movie. You can basically do whatever you want with him- and Bond continuity is lax enough for him to not need to even end up where the film starts anyway. I just think if you have to have a Bond TV show which doesn't feature Bond, you may as well have the anti-Bond who still does all of the things we like watching 007 do. And the Golden Gun is a really strong bit of iconography which people still recognise.
Imagine doing a golden gunbarrel sequence! The guy walks in from the left, framed by the golden gunbarrel, gets to the middle and turns, and he's shot dead. The camera zooms out of the gunbarrel to see Scaramanga blowing the smoke from it :D
Thanks for sharing mate. That was a really interesting read, I like hearing John's perspective as he has been one of the key people in the room. Clearly he is a talented guy
...and after all, he did write one of my favourite shows, and the one that I think is one of the best written out there - Penny Dreadful.
They already tried with Boyle and it didn’t work out. If NTTD will be well received they will try to bring Fukunaga back, imo.
If I'm being honest, I was much more excited when Cary was announced because he seemed to understand what makes Bond tick, perhaps more so than Boyle
Oh, you know how I like to worry too much and overthink things ;-)..
I had no idea who John Logan was. I had heard the name in conjunction with SF and especially SP, but had no idea until right now what his list of credits looked like. Wow.
I wouldn't mind giving him a shot at the re-invention of Bond for the next actor, but he slams the door on himself with that Op-Ed, doesn't he?
As for the content of the piece, I fear I don't agree with him on all points. To simply position the Broccolis as these careful family artisans who throw everything into the wind for an artistic vision is much too simplistic, isn't it? "They [the Bond films] were never created with lawyers and accountants and e-commerce mass marketing pollsters hovering in the background." I mean, try creating an artistic masterpiece without the proper licence and see what happens.
As for bowing to audience pressures, it is very well documented how Bond films have changed to adapt to current action and blockbuster film trends of their various times.
There is of course a kernel of truth to this general argument. All things being equal, Eon is mainly focussed on what maximizes the Bond-brand, whereas Amazon is interested in maximizing the Amazon-brand. But sometimes a new, outside voice in the room can help, too. For every "Silva should come on to Bond a bit" there is a "Bond will watch Tanner kill himself", which - as far as I know - was a Logan idea for SP that got thankfully nixed by Sony execs...
John Logan.
It was written by John Logan who co-wrote Skyfall and Spectre.
They'll probably turn up at some point in a future Bond film then. If the history of the Bond films has taught us anything it is that nothing is ever really thrown away unless it is a terrible idea like making Dr No a monkey.
The major paragraphs were excerpted in an earlier post.
I share Logan's concerns only to a point.
As I have noted earlier, Amazon won't mess with a good thing. That's bad business, and Amazon didn't get where it is today by making stupid business decisions. Disney's purchase of Marvel is similar. To the best of my knowledge, Marvel maintains creative control.
That's the thing about brainstorming--a writer should be encouraged to pitch wild ideas and be paid to write treatments, etc. Wild ideas might lead somewhere good.
A writer who pitched "M dies" in 1975 might have been laughed out of the room.
But in 2009...
I agree.
Yes, given the wildly divergent range in styles and tones of Bond films from 1962 onwards it's a good idea not to throw out what may seem like wild ideas at the time. They could be revisited in a later Bond film of a different style and tone which can come along soon given the oscillations even within the same Bond actor's films and certainly between actors's films.
Still would love to see his script for Bond 25.
Posting anyway. The aim does seem pretty true.
As would I