It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
I could picture an adaptation of Quantum of Solace with Benedict Cumberbatch as Philip Masters.
If we get a Bond film like Spectre every 6 years I'd rather they didn't make anymore at all. ;)
(Seriously, I love it)
And let's just say for argument's sake that you have Bond movies and spinoffs every few months or so, with TV series on top of that, just like Marvel. How can it be sustained without being repetitive? We don't have decades of original comic book content to work on. It's already tricky finding new ideas for Bond, given the limited quantity of source material and the number of years the franchise has run on. Heck, even superhero movies get repetitive!
I love NSNA. I watch it fairly often and find it to be quite solid. Many of the Craig movies seem influenced by NSNA, especially SF: Bond having to deal with a new M who doesn't quite appreciate his relevance, an older Bond having to get back into shape before returning to duty, etc.
Here's another potentially controversial opinion: the instrumental version of DAD is lovely. I don't know what's with the stereo panning in this video but have a listen:
Simple, you DON’T try to do the Marvel approach. That never even occurred to me when discussing this idea of spin-offs.
If I wasn’t clear in previous posts, I do not want to see multiple films set in Bond’s universe come out every year. That’s fine for comic books, but that never worked for anything else.
If I was hired by Amazon to work out an expanded universe for the rest of this decade, my suggestion would to just do only one film at a time, one for each year.
2023: Bond 26
2024: Leiter
2025: Bond 27
2026: Wai Lin
2027: Bond 28
2028: J.W. Pepper (j/k)
2029: Bond 29
One rule I’d employ is that each film be relatively standalone. I don’t want to impose crossovers on the filmmakers but rather have them focus on making the best possible film. If there is any crossover material, it’s at best minimal and only an Easter egg for the fans. I want each film to feel unique to allow the filmmakers do what they want without having to get bogged down to what other filmmakers are planning. The weakest thing about Marvel is that it feels homogenized, and I want to avoid that as much as possible.
Not all spin-offs may stick. If Leiter proved to be a massive hit, I’d consider making a follow up and canceling any of the other spin-offs to make room.
Also, no TV spin-offs. I’d have to be fired before that ever happens.
I agree with you 100%.
Ah, I missed that ;))
Personally I'd like a Mrs Bell spinoff
Klaus Hergesheimer in:
G SECTION
Kidding of course, no spin-offs please. Just Bond films would do fine for me.
... but as far as the Bonds go, I say no. A good Bond film every few years is all I crave. I don't think any other character in the books or movies can carry an entire movie in isolation. I'm afraid that whatever "myth" gets thrown in the mix to fill up all the blanks--and there would be many--would feel "off" from the Bonds.
Risico
Octopussy(showing the actual story of Smythe)
From a View to a Kill
Hildebrand Rarity
For Special Services (Bond on Bismarques Ranch made for a decent thriller)
Would I like to see it, not particularly since they have done a decent enough job taking elements from the Fleming short stories and weaving them into a Bond film
Even without multiple spinoff movies and TV series, your model is still a light version of the Marvel, DC and Star Wars model. A model that can only work in an open universe with vast amount of source material to work on. That's why I used the Arthurian Legend as an example of how it can be used successfully. You need a preexisting source where such model is already in use.
Now so far you gave us a list and an hypothetical timetable, but no plan whatsoever. It's the how and the what questions that needs to be answered, not the when. What, for instance, would bring a Felix Leiter spinoff series, how would it work, how would you make it fresh and original and yet linked to Bond? How would you reintroduce and maintain a Bond film every two years keeping it fresh and original after decades of Bond movies AND now a spinoff series? How do you avoid saturation? How to you keep the creative team on the ball? What about the tropes of Bond movies: the larger than life villain, the evil plot, the Bond girls, the exotic locations? Do we keep them in that Leiter movie? Then it's a pale copy with Leiter instead of Bond. If they are taken off, then it's a watered down Bond movie.
Do we want that, though?
It's definitely not necessary, but if they were to ever go that route, it would be nice to see certain elements presented. However, Spectre did something similar with White's suicide
I’m not chasing Marvel/DC/Star Wars, I’m just making Bond films with a few potential spin-offs here and there. Luckily there’s plenty of source material for Bond, they’re called continuation novels.
The only link would be the actor playing Leiter, as for the rest I leave that up to the writers.
I hire writers with winning pitches, before snorting some blow.
You mean “over-saturatation” right? I only make Bond films every other year, in between those being spin-offs/one-offs. They don’t need to connect, as I’m not chasing Marvel’s interconnecting story structure.
By keeping them focused on their own projects. I already said crossover material isn’t necessary.
Easy, I work to establish Leiter’s own unique iconography and tropes rather than just copy Bond’s. That’s how all successful spin-offs work.
I meant saturation ("to a very full extent, especially beyond the point regarded as necessary or desirable") "over" is repetitive. I'm all for a Bond film every two years, if it's still possible (it's a big machine to put in motion nowadays), but comes a point when you just squeeze a lemon.
As for leaving it to the writers and keeping them focused on their project... well, that's a bit of a cop-out isn't it? You give a writer a project only if you have some ideas of what you want to do with it and its viability. When someone at my old job was telling me "I'll leave it to you" , it meant "I can't be bothered to work on this project or do that research and see if what I'd like to do is even possible or suitable, so you'll do it and if it goes south I know who to blame." You leave it to the writer when you know what you want them to work on.
And you still haven't explained how and why a Felix Leiter would be relevant or original in the first place. If I want to make a King Arthur franchise, I have a pretty good idea how to do it: first let's establish Arthur and his reign first. Then we can do spinoffs on some knights of the Round Table, each with their distinctive backgrounds and personalities. Lancelot? Perfect knight, loyal to Arthur but tragically and desperately in love with Gueneveer. Gawain? Beloved nephew, a flirt, well rounded and balanced, but thus limited from true greatness. Percival? Young, raw, naive, but naturally talented and fearless. That's what I'd say to my writers, that's what I'd expect them to work on. Oh and if things go well, I'll commission them a Merlin prequel.
As for a Felix Leiter spinoff, I recommend using the Dynamite Comics storyline. It would a great starting point for a possible series. I’m somewhat surprised that Dynamite didn’t let the writer finish his trilogy.
The issue I see with this is that the actors playing Leiter, Wai Lin, etc. have gotten a lot older. If they were going to do spinoffs, better to strike while the iron was hot right after CR or TND. (Kind of like what they were planning with Jinx.) Otherwise, you end up with a younger actor playing Leiter or Wai Lin and then, what's the point?
Felix Leiter can be recast. After DC, he will be. As for a Felix Leiter spinoff, I recommend using the Dynamite Comics storyline. It would a great starting point for a possible series. I’m somewhat surprised that Dynamite didn’t let the writer finish his trilogy. As for Wai Lin, Jinx and other more popular characters, they can always be recast and reused. It’s just a treat for Bond fans, a fun fact for the causal viewer.
And I'd add that it's the same for Felix Leiter: he's a secondary character in a very popular franchise, his importance is relative to his role in a Bond film. Make a Bill Tanner spinoff and it would have just as much chance of succeeding as a Leiter or a Jinx spinoff. And for any of these spinoffs to hope for some success, they'd need to up the connection to Bond to eleven, so they can distinguish themselves from these other franchises you mentioned. Not play it down for only the Bond fans to recognise. At this point, why not make a Bond movie instead, since he's the most recognisable brand.