You are Kevin McClory (only not dead)

[Kristatos]

This was inspired by my reply to Former Bond Fan about his Robbie Williams/Uwe Boll/Kenny G Bond film. So, let's say you somehow have the rights to produce a non-EON Bond film. Who would you hire as your key cast and crew? Here's the rules:

1) All personnel must be able to make a film starting now, ie no dead or otherwise incapacitated people and no "Sean Connery as he was in 1965" etc.
2) No-one who is currently working on the EON series.
3) No casting yourself. I'd love to write a Bond film, but I'm not going to give myself the screenwriter job, for example.

Here's my list:
James Bond: the most difficult decision to make. Part of me says to do what McClory did in NSNA and cast a past Bond (namely Brosnan), even though he may be too old to be convincing in the role, to make the contrast with the EON series less sharp. The other half of me says to cast the best person for the role, but is conflicted as to who that might be. Christian Bale or Hugh Jackman would bring star power, and might be best from a commercial point of view. James Purefoy and Sam Worthington are strong contenders who came thisclose (sic) to landing the part. On the whole, I'm leaning towards Bale, but I might change my mind on that tomorrow.

The Bond girl: Keira Knightley, cos I like her.

M: Richard Wilson. The sight of an irate Wilson giving Bond one of his regular dressings-down would be most entertaining.

Q: Jeremy Clarkson. Just because.

Moneypenny. Nobody obvious springs to mind. I'd want her to be in the movie, for the sake of tradition, but at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter who plays her. I don't know whether Samantha Bond will return in the EON series, so i won't pick her to avoid possibly violating rule 2.

Blofeld: Ben Kingsley. Predictable, I know, but there's a reason everybody picks him.

Music: I'm sure no-one who's familiar with my posts will be surprised to find that I'll do whatever it takes to get John Barry back on scoring duties. I know he turned down NSNA out of loyalty to EON, but now that the loyalty has been shown to be strictly one-way, with EON kicking him off Goldeneye when he asked for more money, he might change his mind. I won't comment on who should sing the title song, as I suspect that one of his conditions would be that he gets to make that decision, not me. That was his other bone of contention with Goldeneye, besides his salary.

Director: I was tempted to say Christopher Nolan, but if I went with Christian Bale, then hiring the director and star of Batman Begins/The Dark Knight might be over-egging the pudding somewhat. I'd want a British director, I think. it may seem odd to think of a TV director, but Graeme Harper's work on Doctor Who makes me think that he could make the transition to a big-budget franchise movie. His episodes of Nu Who are some of the most cinematic in the series.

Writer: Andy Diggle, writer of the DC/Vertigo comic book The Losers, has said that he wants to write a Bond film, and I think I'd let him. If you haven't read The Losers, I highly recommend it (you should be able to find the trade paperback collections fairly easily). Diggle's blend of hi-octane excitement and murky, post 9/11 politics would be perfect for a 21st century Bond film.

Main title design: Dave McKean, cover artist for the first few Titan books collections of the James Bond newspaper strips, has since moved into films, directing the Neil Gaiman/Jim Henson fantasy Mirrormask and designing the Dementors for the Harry Potter films. I think he could provide some distinctive-looking main titles, as he did for an earlier Gaiman fantasy, the TV series Neverwhere.

Production designer: Lou Romano. PD on The Incredibles. Director Brad Bird is a huge Ken Adam fan, and he hired Romano. Says it all, really.

[007]

Assuming it's a one-off I'd go for Clive Owen as Bond. He was linked to the role constantly for a long period but I don't think he ever really fancied doing it. A one-off 007 film would probably appeal to him and I think, without the future of a franchise or working for Barbara Broccoli for several years hanging around his neck, he'd have a lot of fun in the role just like he did in Shoot Em Up. Not sure about Q and Moneypenny, there are countless British actors floating around who would be interested and pleasant in these roles. I'm firmly in the unoriginal 'Tom Wilkinson for M' camp. Thandie Newton maybe for the Bond girl. For director I'd pick Guillermo del Toro. He's made award winning ambitious films and fun popcorn nonsense like Blade II. His James Bond film certainly wouldn't be dull however it turned out.

[Kristatos]

I've never really understood the appeal of Owen. Yes, he looks the part, but that gorblimey voice of his strikes me as most unBondlike.

[Terry]

I'll be predictable and go for Nolan and Bale as director and 007. I'm pretty sure that Nolan (a big James Bond fan) would have come up with something more exciting than Eon are capable of.

[carl stromberg]

I'd make a counter revolutionary over the top Bond film celebrating the cinematic James Bond.

Hugh Jackman would be fine as James Bond. Ricky Gervais would make a great Q. Brian Cox would have to be M, but maybe that would not be so much fun after his Bourne role.

[James]

I would cast Daniel Craig's identical twin brother Alan as James Bond. Just as a joke on myself.

[Kristatos]

I would cast Daniel Craig's identical twin brother Alan as James Bond. Just as a joke on myself.

In a remake of Operation Kid Brother?

[FormerBondFan]

Either Hugh Jackman, Clive Owen, or even Gerard Butler would be fine as Bond.