Bond back in action

[GT Pro]

http://flicksided.com/2010/07/bond-23-gets-the-axe/

Bond 23 Gets The Axe

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As a huge James Bond fan, this news depresses the hell out of me. According to the Mirror, the newest chapter in the spy series has been shut down due to MGM’s ongoing financial woes. The studio, which has been home to 007 since the beginning, is drowning in debt and in need of a life preserver. Sadly, no one is coming to their rescue. Daniel Craig will likely never driving an Aston Martin again, at least for a salary. Depressing.​

The as of yet untitled Bond 23 was to be directed by Sam Mendes, but it’s likely he’ll pursue other projects since the flick is in limbo. Too bad. It would have been interesting to see how someone of Mendes’ talents would approach the Bond universe.​

So, for now, the franchise is dead. As are all of MGM’s properties, including the much discussed The Hobbit, which is suffering from its own set of delays and problems. Perhaps some kind soul with a heart of gold and a bank account to match will ride in on white steed to save the day. But until that day comes, we’re all left to wonder.​

I dig Craig as Bond and was eager to see how he tackled the role his third time out. Casino Royale was brilliant, while Quantum of Solace fell a bit flat. Word is it could be years before 007 resurfaces. Ugh. I need a drink. Shaken, not stirred, of course.​

This was some of the most depressing news I had received in a long time. I was one of the people who were initially sceptical about Craig's role as the new 007 and the full-circle the direction of the film was to take, but nonetheless came to be extremely fond of the unprecedented badassery and raw-edge that sold Bond 21 and 22. It was only a minute after that I realised that this series makes too much money to die so easily (see Saab and Spyker), and that it will be bought up by a company in less time than it takes to travel to Russia with Love.
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[Terronium-12]

Oh, eff that. It's kind of ironic as I'm listening to Another Way to Die right now.

I'd bet my sack (of potatoes; the hell were you thinking?) that if MGM isn't back on their feet before year's end, another film company will buy the likeness rights and all rights associated with it.

I was looking forward to this, too.

 

[Northstar]

Frankly I say it's about time, really, how many times can you tell the exact same story?(Apparently 22, but that's not the point)


[Puts up flame shield]

 

[Terronium-12]

Frankly I say it's about time, really, how many times can you tell the exact same story?(Apparently 22, but that's not the point)


[Puts up flame shield]

No shield needed.

Seriously though, they only just started to re-tell the stories as they felt it was time for a fresh start (despite there still being a wealth of stories they could modeled the movies after). If you mean the same story as in what Bond does, then you could apply the same reasoning to every movie, well, ever.

 

[Solid Lifters]

Frankly I say it's about time, really, how many times can you tell the exact same story?(Apparently 22, but that's not the point)


[Puts up flame shield]

I think he's the worst Bond, ever. I'm glad they're done. For now.

I don't mind the 'story' so much as what direction the Bond character has gone. Horrible.

 

[Famine]

I think he's the worst Bond, ever.

I think he's the best Bond ever. But the two films have been amongst the worst.

 

[Prince.M5]

It is indeed sad to see the franchise gone down.. at least for a period. In my opinion, he had done a great job being a Bond, though I think not as good as like of Sean Connery or Roger Moore or probably my favourite Pierce Brosnan. The Last 2 movies, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace was the worst so far. I thought that Never Say Never Again was the less exciting but Casino Royale was such a let down. I think I should say Quantum of Solace seems fair a bit.

 

[Mark T]

This doesn't just effect the Bond movies. The two Hobbit films could also suffer delays due to financing problems.

Obviously the LOTR franchise was a massive success and the Bond films have always done well at the box office. Hopefully someone will give them the financing they need to get the projects back on track.

 

[TheCracker]

It is indeed sad to see the franchise gone down.. at least for a period. In my opinion, he had done a great job being a Bond, though I think not as good as like of Sean Connery or Roger Moore or probably my favourite Pierce Brosnan. The Last 2 movies, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace was the worst so far. I thought that Never Say Never Again was the less exciting but Casino Royale was such a let down. I think I should say Quantum of Solace seems fair a bit.

The trouble with Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace is that the writers/directors/producers and studio execs had all been watching too many Bourne films before hand. I know they've consciously moved away from the Moore/Brosnan era of gadgetry and tried to inject some early Sean Connery rough-around-the-edges Bondness with Daniel Craig in the lead role, but the latest two Bond films have been a little too derivative for my liking.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I have been following Bond pretty closely - I'm a member of both MI6 Forums and CommanderBond.net - and I can tell you this so-called story is written off a tabloid release. The Mirror is absolutely notorious for spinning falsehoods; during filming for QUANTUM OF SOLACE in Panama, they claimed that production had been interrupted by a violent gang war that they inadvertently started when the production crew paid a street gang to watch over their stuff in another gang's territory. This was a blatant lie; the only thing going on in the city at the time was a peaceful rally protesting against workplace-related issues in Panama. Yet the tabloids blew it way out of proportion, causing a lot of difficulties for the families of the crews. They can get away with it because the maximum a tabloid can be fined is something like a hundred thousand pounds (or maybe dollars) and the effort involved means it would be a pyhrric victory for the person suing them. They also have a habit of doing what the Spanish tabliods did with Alonso going to Ferrari - they seem to think they can influcence the direction the film (or in Ferrari's case, the team) takes. They repeatedly print articles trying to get Shipla Shetty into the film; they tried at least four times for SOLACE, even going so fer as to slip her name into a list of tertiary actors (David Harbour, Stana Katic, etc.) who would be appearing in the film. Shetty, according to the tabloids, would be playing the role of "Devi", Dominic Greene's Indian mistress. So you can see how they can be interfering. James Bond-related stories have always been a money-spinner for them, usually because they can start rumours about the Page 3 girls appearing in the film.

That said, BOND 23 is in trouble. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer own half the rights to the franchise, and they're in serious trouble financially. They're in danger of bankruptcy, yet they've decided that none of the bids to buy them out are high enough. BOND 23 has been put on hiatus, but it has not been cancelled as The Mirror "reported". From reading The Mirror's article and from following the issue closesly, it is pretty clear that whoever wrote the article has confused MGM's problems for EON's. The film is in jeopardy and it will remain in limbo so long as MGM executives (having just requested their sixth debt extension) keep doing their best to kill the studio.

 

[G.T.Ace]

I think he's the best Bond ever. But the two films have been amongst the worst.

I agree, actually from what I've read about the original books, he is pretty close to the original Bond Fleming created back then (except maybe for the look). Anyway, I still haven't seen Quantum of Solace, found Casino Royale absolutely boring after the first half of the movie (Poker... *yawn*) and I wasn't looking forward to the new movie at all. Still sad news, because of the franchise itself.

 

[astrosdude91]

I actually enjoyed Casino Royale and Quantum. I thought Casino was actually one of the best Bond films yet! I'm sure as soon as the MGM execs realize they can't hold back the debt anymore, someone will snatch these franchises right up.

 

[DK]

Real shame. I hope Michael Bay doesn't buy the rights to it. The last thing I need in a Bond movie is crappy plots and explosions which would rival a nuclear detonation.

I actually enjoyed Casino Royale and Quantum.

Same here. My favourite is "Die Another Day", mainly because North Korea are the villains, and the story's good too. You don't see THAT in 24, do you?

(Personally I would have loved to see a North Korean villain in 24.)

 

[Famine]

They had one once. But he left because he got ronery.

 

[ItsHim]

That's a real shame. I felt they finally got it right for the 21st century with Craig. I did listen to a few abridged Fleming books, and they were quite strong stuff compared to the Moore era movies. But then I'm more the Connery chap and even grew some very impressive chest hair. How about that

Especially the opening scene in Casino Royale almost triggered the same emotions I first felt with Hardboiled and other blood opera flicks from Hongkong.

Dash it all I say!

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I hope Michael Bay doesn't buy the rights to it.

He can't. MGM only own half the rights to the films - the other half are owned by EON, the people who actually make the film. Michael Bay can't buy the rights to the films without EON's approval. And if anything, EON will want to buy back more of the rights from MGM to give them the majority of control over the entire franchise.

My favourite is "Die Another Day", mainly because North Korea are the villains, and the story's good too.

It's funny you should say you don't want Bay buying into the films, then. DIE ANOTHER DAY is universally considered the single worst James Bond film in the franchise's entire history because it strayed so far from the source material, the dialogue is incredibly bad (for example, most of the film is single-entendre sexual innuendo), the characters are usually morons (M doesn't bother doing a simple background check on Miranda Frost) and the bad CGI. About the only good thing in the film is the sword fight. DIE ANOTHER DAY continually appears on the bottom of "Top 20" (or, in Bond's case, "Top 22") lists. Some people will even rank the non-canon NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN and CASINO ROYALE (1967) films ahead of it. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, on the other hand, is a real Bond film.

 

[PureAwesomeness]

Same here. My favourite is "Die Another Day", mainly because North Korea are the villains, and the story's good too. You don't see THAT in 24, do you?

(Personally I would have loved to see a North Korean villain in 24.)

You have got to be kidding. The scene where Bond's Aston becomes invisible had me searching for something to throw at my TV.

 

[Radracing]

Worst Bond for me was Roger Moore pretty much the last ones he did was too cheesy. It was like watching William Shatner do Captian Kirk. Best Bond will always be Sean Connery for me and Daniel Craig came pretty close to being a badass as Sean. Although I wasn't too keen when they first pick him over Clive Owen. Wasn't sure if they were going to turn Bond to a blond dude would work.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I wasn't too keen when they first pick him over Clive Owen.

I'd have given the role to Mike Myers before I gave it to Owen. Seriously, I saw him in CHILDREN OF MEN a while ago - he was supposed to be acting depressed at the imminent catastrophe facing humanity, but he spent most of the film looking bewildered. And then in THE INTERNATIONAL, where he was clearly trying to be James Bond but over-acted it so much that he was an utter joke.

 

[Neal]

They had one once. But he left because he got ronery.

Well I thought it was funny

 

[Christhedude]

i think its sad that 007 has been put onto a hold.

Even though i must say that the newers Bond's weren't anything like the old ones. I adore the old one's!
Just last night i watched "a view to a kill" and it was brilliant!

I dont know but for some reason after "The world is not enough", the movies started to be kinda... "funny" i say.

None the less, im looking forward to a new Bond... whenever it comes out 👍

Chris

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Well, while MGM faff about, Daniel Craig has signed on for David Fincher's Hollywoodisation of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. Normally, I'd be apprehensive about any Hollywoodisation, but the source material is excellent and Fincher has proven himself as an excellent director. The only possible bump in the road here is that Kristen Stewart has been rumoured to play Lisbeth Salander. And while Fincher worked with her on the under-rated PANIC ROOM, she also piqued there.

So yeah, it's been put on hold for a while. But I've also heard that MGM have settled on some kind of arrangement with Lionsgate or one of the studios bidding for it. They seem to have asked for another debt extension to work out the specifics of the deal.

 

[Neal]

Daniel Craig as Blomkvist in TGWTDT could work but I'm not sure about Kristen Stewart as Salander! IMDB still has Carey Mulligan (from An Education) as Salander which I think would work much better in the remake.

Hopefully when Bond does resurrect itself it'll be along the same lines as the last two films.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Ellen Page has also been linked to the roll. And I think it would be a fitting casting choice - Juno Skinner is probably one of two characters that I think would be close to Lisbeth (the other being Abby Scutio, but that would be a parody of Lisbeth more than anything else).

 

[Neal]

Ellen Page would be good too as Lisbeth but she would have to show her dark side a hell of a lot more, she would definitely have the right appearance as she looks young and is tiny.

 

[YSSMAN]

Well, until we have a new film (assuming MGM shakes their current economic woes), we'll just have to play the game(s)...

James Bond 007: Blood Stone

Its being done by one of my favorite game studios, Bizarre Creations, and it looks like it will be quite the story. I look forward to playing it.

 

[Golfman]

Ok, before I comment on Bond, I want to know why the hell 'The Hobbit' was snapped up by MGM? Surely New Line(the Lord Of the Rings Studio) should have been in control of this from the minute it was concieved?

Anyway, thought Quantum Of Solace was a bit of a let down. Daniel Craig is good in the role, and Casino Royale was a good action film, but not really Bond. For the franchise to be successfully brought back, we need to go back to the values that made past Bonds so good. Pierce Brosnan was good as well, but for me Timothy Dalton was the best post-Connery/Moore Bond. He successfully blended the hard edge of Connery with the humour of Moore. The Living Daylights was one of the best Bond films, and also stands out as a great action movie in it's own right.

 

[Northstar]

Ok, before I comment on Bond, I want to know why the hell 'The Hobbit' was snapped up by MGM? Surely New Line(the Lord Of the Rings Studio) should have been in control of this from the minute it was concieved?

They originally were, the rest is extremely complicated, amazing it has even made it to pre-production.

Link (Read the "Development" section.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Reports are flooding in that Spyglass Entertainment will acquire MGM and MGM's debts will be erased for it. Hopefully Bond will be able to get back on his feet in no time.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Well, it's finally back on. MGM have been saved from financial doom, and the film has been given a release date of December 9th, 2012. Sam Mendes (who worked with Craig on ROAD TO PERDITION) will direct, while regular writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade will be joined by John Logan (GLADIATOR, THE LAST SAUMRAI, SWEENEY TODD).