Sam Mendes to direct Bond 24?

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  • The percentage drops of 'Skyfall'....should be compared with movies like 'The Dark Knight', 'Inception'.

    Well if you really want to, here are the drops for these movies during Thanksgiving weekend :

    Dark Knight : -7%
    Inception : -22%

    The weekends before and after Thanksgiving, the drops are in the "usual" -35/-60 zone.

    Incredible. I think that if we were tracking here any movie the week end before Thanksgiving, everyone would say "well, next week the drop should be quite soft thanks to Thanksgiving". Now people are looking at some lists of figures years later, and they totally forget that, and now they have to overanalyze with other parameters to fall back on one's feet !
  • edited June 2013 Posts: 388
    The percentage drops of 'Skyfall'....should be compared with movies like 'The Dark Knight', 'Inception'.

    Well if you really want to, here are the drops for these movies during Thanksgiving weekend :

    Dark Knight : -7%
    Inception : -22%

    The weekends before and after Thanksgiving, the drops are in the "usual" -35/-60 zone.

    Incredible. I think that if we were tracking here any movie the week end before Thanksgiving, everyone would say "well, next week the drop should be quite soft thanks to Thanksgiving". Now people are looking at some lists of figures years later, and they totally forget that, and now they have to overanalyze with other parameters to fall back on one's feet !

    Yeah, I'm really comparing CR, QoS, SF with similar films like @Gustav_Graves is. Very interesting to compare the actual same weekend each year with different films like you have done but the real relevance - for me - is the drop between the first two weekends.

    @Gustav_Graves, Dark Knight dropped by about 50% between first two weekends and Inception dropped by about 30%. Sorry - don't have exact figures in front of me at the moment but it was about that (Inception had great word-of-mouth and reviews.
  • edited June 2013 Posts: 2,015
    Yeah, I'm really comparing CR, QoS, SF with similar films like @Gustav_Graves is. Very interesting to compare the actual same weekend each year with different films like you have done but the real relevance - for me - is the drop between the first two weekends.

    Then you're left with nothing much to compare CR to in the recent years (which is IMO not a bad point though, box office comparisons are meaningless for me, it's so easy to forget what really happened when you're left only with some figures :) ). But really, IMO you should take into account that CR's second week end was Thanksgiving weekend before concluding that the -25% drop is the sign that the word of mouth was exceptional. For me you're looking at the wrong exception (here the exception would be the release date, Thanksgiving being very often the lowest drop of many movies - and don't forget I've not listed the animated movies, that have even lower drops there).

    For me the best example of the Thanksgiving effect if you want to stay to similar movies but go further in the past are... GE, DAD and TWINE that all lose about 30/33% between weekend #1 and Thanksgiving weekend #2. I don't know if Will Smith's Enemy of State is something you can compare to, but it also had this pre-Thanksgiving spot, and lose less than 10% on week end #2. Also National Treasure is also an adventure movie that can be compared to Bond IMO, and it lose also less than 10% on week end #2.

    I dont think anyone thinks it meant an exceptional of very good word of mouth prevented them from loosing the usual 50/60% of most other weekends. Because Gothika only lose 30% too in this spot :)
  • edited July 2013 Posts: 1,661
    Apologizes if this has been mentioned before but I think Sam Mendes is a wee bit of a hypocrite. After the release of Skyfall he said:

    "Was I willing to go back into a room with a writer and start work on the same set of characters and the same scenarios as I've been working on for the last three years?” He asked himself. “The idea made me physically ill."

    "“I say to them, my life is not a democracy. It's not up for discussion. What? 'Maybe I should go to one of the [Bond] chat threads and change my mind?' I don't think that's going to happen."


    http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/sam-mendes-says-he-felt-physically-ill-at-prospect-of-skyfall-sequel-20130426

    This quote is well-documented. If you type into Google

    Sam Mendes Bond Physically Ill

    you get lots of links referring to his quotes.

    I think the reality is Sony/MGM made him an offer he couldn't refuse but it's obvious he's only doing it for the cash, not out of an inherent desire to make another Bond film. If the prospect of doing another Bond film made him feel physically ill I can't imagine he's doing Bond 24 for anything but the cash. Fair enough, we all do things for money, but I don't think his earlier comments will endear him to some Bond fans. It's patently obvious he wanted to make one James Bond film and then move on with his career.
  • Posts: 4,408
    I understand where Mendes was coming from absolutely.

    Just look how diverse his filmorgaphy is. He went from a black comedy about suburban life to making a gritty crime family drama to a gulf war movie etc.

    He likes to switch things up and do different things all the time. This is even more evident in his theatre work, he's gone from Shakespeare to Chekhov and now to Willy Wonka.

    He clearly mastered Bond in SF and there was little need to return as everything he felt he wanted to do with Bond he found himself doing in that movie. So inevitably he declined the invite to return. I really doubt money was the big factor in Sam returning, he's a creative sort who has to be turned on by the project opposed to merely chasing a paycheque. Personally I think he had no intention of returning, only recently to find out more about Logan's script (which we know he devised the story for in the first place), likely realised that the film was actually his movie all long and that he wanted to make it. I think it's a testament to what they have cooking for the next instalment which gets me very excited indeed.
  • edited July 2013 Posts: 2,015
    I really doubt money was the big factor in Sam returning
    Really ? Even if he had success in the past, it's IMO possibly the first time his paycheck and the advantages his agent probably asked with it, are a guarantee he and his family won't have any problems for half a century. Don't forget the influences of agents nowadays. Why are almost all movie posters nowadays designed like ads for their lead actors ? Because their agents need to promote them...

    Also the big paycheck day are over in the movie industry now, except possibly for him in this case, so he won't have another opportunity like this I'm afraid. Name another blockbuster that did so much more than planned. The Avengers perhaps ? And yet it was expected to be #1 somehow.

  • Posts: 11,119
    Sam Mendes it is then. Can I say something? This is the first time in MY life that a director does two Bond films in a row. Terence Young did FRWL after DN. And Guy did a LOT of them in a row. John Glen did 5 in a row. Now we can actually compare two Mendes' Bond films.....and see how good SF's follow-up will be.

    My expectations? I guess another 'origins' story. This time not about Bond (CR & QOS) or M, Q and Moneypenny (SF). But this time a good 'origins' story about Bond's antagonist. I have a gut feeling we will see a slow introduction of Blofeld and how QUANTUM evolves into SPECTRE. All adjusted to today's political environment.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    edited July 2013 Posts: 6,275
    JJMC wrote:
    Risico007 wrote:
    doubleoego wrote:
    Sorry, not buying any of that for a second. Sounds like you're giving excuses for those involved to not get on and do their jobs, as if engaging in hard work is some impossible task. Working hard is obvious and EoN do that, the question is, how smart are they working? One can work smart and achieve the best possible result in the shortest amount of time than one who works hard and spends more time doing it.
    @doubleoego, you're pretty clearly someone who hasn't worked in the film business. Getting a film made "in the shortest amount of time" is not the goal for Eon, MGM or Sony (or, for that matter, Craig, Fiennes, Wishaw, Harris, Logan or Mendes - should he direct.) And talking about "working smart" is just spouting vague platitudes.

    Well, I haven't studied moviemaking. You are right about that. But I do see that big budget films, like the Marvel-series, DC-Comics-series, franchises like Trek have longer gaps:


    'Iron Man 2' (2010) - 'Iron Man 3' (2013) --> 3 year gap
    'James Bond 20: Die Another Day' (2002) - 'James Bond 21: Casino Royale' (2006) --> 4 year gap
    'Star Trek' (2009) - 'Star Trek Into Darkness' (2013) --> 4 year gap
    'Batman Begins' (2004) - 'The Dark Knight' (2008) --> 4 year gap
    'Avatar' (2009) - 'Avatar 2' (2015) --> 6 year gap

    And:
    'Fast And Furious 5' (2011) - 'Fast And Furious 6' (2013) --> 2 year gap. But, uhm, quality wise this stuff is as good as 'Die Another Day'.

    2 points

    1. Batman Begins came out summer 2005 so the gap was 3 years between Begins and Knight not 4
    2. Your Iron Man example is null and void as we got the Avengers in 2012 which focused plenty on Iron Man (in fact more so then in Iron Man 3 but that is another discussion)


    I also have a few points
    1. Fast and Furious (4) 2009-Fast 5 2011, 2 year age gap and a massive step up.
    2. Fast and Furious 6 may not have the script of previous films and any Bond film, but the direction, editing and action are all great. This film has IMO better action than SF it's not a better film but the set piece action is on a bigger scope and more impressive. This film produced on a 2 year gap couldn't be improved with the script it has (which is fairly awful).

    TBH I think they should strike when the iron is hot, with or without Mendes.

    Ladies and gentlemen, I give you QoS. There are certainly things to admire in it (Gianni), but if there had been more time for the screenwriters to develop Greene's character and plot, it would have been a superior film.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 6,275
    JJMC wrote:
    Risico007 wrote:
    doubleoego wrote:
    Sorry, not buying any of that for a second. Sounds like you're giving excuses for those involved to not get on and do their jobs, as if engaging in hard work is some impossible task. Working hard is obvious and EoN do that, the question is, how smart are they working? One can work smart and achieve the best possible result in the shortest amount of time than one who works hard and spends more time doing it.
    @doubleoego, you're pretty clearly someone who hasn't worked in the film business. Getting a film made "in the shortest amount of time" is not the goal for Eon, MGM or Sony (or, for that matter, Craig, Fiennes, Wishaw, Harris, Logan or Mendes - should he direct.) And talking about "working smart" is just spouting vague platitudes.

    Well, I haven't studied moviemaking. You are right about that. But I do see that big budget films, like the Marvel-series, DC-Comics-series, franchises like Trek have longer gaps:


    'Iron Man 2' (2010) - 'Iron Man 3' (2013) --> 3 year gap
    'James Bond 20: Die Another Day' (2002) - 'James Bond 21: Casino Royale' (2006) --> 4 year gap
    'Star Trek' (2009) - 'Star Trek Into Darkness' (2013) --> 4 year gap
    'Batman Begins' (2004) - 'The Dark Knight' (2008) --> 4 year gap
    'Avatar' (2009) - 'Avatar 2' (2015) --> 6 year gap

    And:
    'Fast And Furious 5' (2011) - 'Fast And Furious 6' (2013) --> 2 year gap. But, uhm, quality wise this stuff is as good as 'Die Another Day'.

    2 points

    1. Batman Begins came out summer 2005 so the gap was 3 years between Begins and Knight not 4
    2. Your Iron Man example is null and void as we got the Avengers in 2012 which focused plenty on Iron Man (in fact more so then in Iron Man 3 but that is another discussion)


    I also have a few points
    1. Fast and Furious (4) 2009-Fast 5 2011, 2 year age gap and a massive step up.
    2. Fast and Furious 6 may not have the script of previous films and any Bond film, but the direction, editing and action are all great. This film has IMO better action than SF it's not a better film but the set piece action is on a bigger scope and more impressive. This film produced on a 2 year gap couldn't be improved with the script it has (which is fairly awful).

    TBH I think they should strike when the iron is hot, with or without Mendes.

    Ladies and gentlemen, I give you QoS.
  • Posts: 11,119
    So it'll be 'Devil May Care' according to Dutch sources:
    http://www.nu.nl/film/3525451/nieuwe-james-bond-heet-devil-may-care.html
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    So it'll be 'Devil May Care' according to Dutch sources:
    http://www.nu.nl/film/3525451/nieuwe-james-bond-heet-devil-may-care.html

    Obviously it won't.
  • edited July 2013 Posts: 12,837
    The only thing I could see them using from DMC is the title.

    I just don't get why they'd bother adapting one of the continuation novels, especially after hiring Logan.

    Although I've only read the Fleming books (well, I say that, I still need to read the short stories), so I can't judge whether the book is good enough or not (although I've read nothing but bad things on here).
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,195
    I think all involved are too talented and smart enough to try to duplicate. I expect they will build on what has been established but will present something that is very different in tone than Skyfall.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,959
    I love the title, but I, too, doubt they'll adapt the novel. I'm sure they'll go for something original.
  • edited July 2013 Posts: 9,843
    I don't mind Devil May Care as a rumor but I highly doubt it will be the title or plot of Bond 24.

    IF those rumors are true I would be nervous but interested
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,480
    So unconfirmed but I do like it as a title only, not if they go by the book. I could see them using the title for a Bond movie. And apparently it was one of Fleming's favorite phrases.
  • Posts: 11,119
    I am now up-to-date with the news.......well, a SPECTRE-Blofeld-origins story is still in the pipeline then ;-).


  • This may prove interesting listening for any Mendes or American Beauty fans out there.

    I really understand and appreciate Conrad Hall's comments about most director's operating on a story level and maybe understanding the films subtext, but Mendes works maybe 3 or 4 levels deep and really understands and mines everything out of his films.

    It's why SF is such a rich movie thematically.
  • Posts: 9,843
    I am hoping Sam does a brighter movie.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,480
    I think Mendes will not want to repeat himself. I think he will want a strong story, though. So I am hopeful for Bond 24. ]]

    It should be brighter/lighter in some regards, bringing more joy and gentlemanly aspects to Bond's character. Yet still kickass and brutal at times.
  • Posts: 1,970
    IMO I think Sam Mendes wants to do a classic Bond film. No more stories about Bonds character or family, A stand alone story where Bond just focuses on the mission, and the girls
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