Sam Mendes to direct Bond 23

[katied]

in the the end Mendes may pass on it, with the leak there wasn't the universal praise he might expect

He's pretty think skinned if he lets fans keep him from doing a Bond film.But they can be pretty brutal.

Lee Tamawhorey,anyone?

[Mazer Rackham]

in the the end Mendes may pass on it, with the leak there wasn't the universal praise he might expect

He's pretty think skinned if he lets fans keep him from doing a Bond film.But they can be pretty brutal.

Lee Tamawhorey,anyone?

He couldn't give a ratass about the Bond fans, nor could Craig or the wonder twins running, rather ruining, Eon. It was the industry that had the bad reaction to it. Perhaps the only reaction that matters. The spin was obvious, Bond meets the man with the golden globes, adulation should have followed unquestioningly, but the negative tone might make him reconsider a commitment. A big payday might be king though. It certainly is true for Craig.

In a way I hopes he does it, between his and Craig's desires for dense symbolist claptrap it will be the most bloated piece of s**t out of Hollywood for ages. Stir in Babs disdain for all things Bond along with her political leanings and her desire to please the theater crowd she adores this movies will be cram-packed with meaningless symbolism. Probably tanking like all of Mendes recent projects.

[katied]

In a way I hopes he does it, between his and Craig's desires for dense symbolist claptrap it will be the most bloated piece of s**t out of Hollywood for ages. Stir in Babs disdain for all things Bond along with her political leanings and her desire to please the theater crowd she adores this movies will be cram-packed with meaningless symbolism. Probably tanking like all of Mendes recent projects.

I don't have a problem with Mendes..he would be preferrable to all the usual names mentioned.

Cubby would be horrified by what his daughter has done to the Bond franchise(that's putting it mildly!).It's more about *her* than anyone else(especially Bond fans! ) Want to know why her brother Mikey has threatened to walk several times? Just look at the last couple of stories that have come out. He's basically just sitting there and nodding his head.

[007]

They should hire an action/adventure director and remember that Bond is supposed to be fun.

Where do you get these crazy ideas?

I honestly think Eon have forgotten how to make Bond films.

[Mazer Rackham]

They should hire an action/adventure director and remember that Bond is supposed to be fun.

Where do you get these crazy ideas?

I honestly think Eon have forgotten how to make Bond films.

Whatever problems with Bond 23 will be it is not going to start with or be fixed by Mendes. As you guys are saying it the problems primarily originate with the producers intent.

Mendes is just a name, an image of gravitas. Which is a problem when you hire people based on that, like a writer to add "credibility" to the script. Looking at who they go after and who they want is just about anybody that gets a buzz in the right Hollywood circles. Which isn't necessarily good for the movies they are supposed to be making.

The producers are lost wondering the wilderness of their own hubris.

[katied]

The credibility issue is also why I have a problem with fans suggesting some well known director..like that(or any other gimmick-like 3D-is going to fix what's wrong with the Bond franchise.As if!

[Omega]

Bringing on a good director and writers are not bad for Bond. But the last one the same thing was done and they really sucked at it. Get their head right and game tight they can make a decent movie. Although I will not hold my breath waiting for it.

[The Sweeney]

The credibility issue is also why I have a problem with fans suggesting some well known director..like that(or any other gimmick-like 3D-is going to fix what's wrong with the Bond franchise.As if!

What do you think needs fixing to make Bond films better? Better scriptwriters?

[Kristatos]

The credibility issue is also why I have a problem with fans suggesting some well known director..like that(or any other gimmick-like 3D-is going to fix what's wrong with the Bond franchise.As if!

What do you think needs fixing to make Bond films better? Better scriptwriters?

Speaking for myself, I'd say regime change at EON and the franchise back in the hands of people who actually care about Bond. Babs' obvious disdain for the character didn't begin with the Craig era, either. Looking back at the Brosnan films with the benefit of hindsight, you can see that they are peppered with little snarks like M's infamous "sexist, misogynist dinosaur" speech from Goldeneye and Q's new-found catchphrase of "grow up, 007". Let her do the middlebrow, Oscar-chasing films she so obviously wants to make and leave Bond to somebody who likes him.

[katied]

Speaking for myself, I'd say regime change at EON and the franchise back in the hands of people who actually care about Bond. Babs' obvious disdain for the character didn't begin with the Craig era, either. Looking back at the Brosnan films with the benefit of hindsight, you can see that they are peppered with little snarks like M's infamous "sexist, misogynist dinosaur" speech from Goldeneye and Q's new-found catchphrase of "grow up, 007". Let her do the middlebrow, Oscar-chasing films she so obviously wants to make and leave Bond to somebody who likes him.

This. It shouldn't be *too* hard to appeal to someone to get Babs out of there. Actually effecting it would be another deal entirely. She feels like that is HER job and she was born into it(which she was. but she's screwed it up.Badly.)

[Gary Seven]

The credibility issue is also why I have a problem with fans suggesting some well known director..like that(or any other gimmick-like 3D-is going to fix what's wrong with the Bond franchise.As if!

What do you think needs fixing to make Bond films better? Better scriptwriters?

Speaking for myself, I'd say regime change at EON and the franchise back in the hands of people who actually care about Bond. Babs' obvious disdain for the character didn't begin with the Craig era, either. Looking back at the Brosnan films with the benefit of hindsight, you can see that they are peppered with little snarks like M's infamous "sexist, misogynist dinosaur" speech from Goldeneye and Q's new-found catchphrase of "grow up, 007". Let her do the middlebrow, Oscar-chasing films she so obviously wants to make and leave Bond to somebody who likes him.

It's quite amusing that Cubby Broccoli created the bond franchise then left it in the hands of a left-wing woman in Barbara Broccoli. She did an ok job with the Brosnan era. When Dana Broccoli died, MG Wilson took a back seat and Barbara had the chance to cast a new Bond, she rebooted the series with Daniel Craig as Bond showing her disdain for her father's work.

It's a pity that Barbara Broccoli cannot work with others in producing regular Bond movies whilst pursuing other more artistic projects.

[Kristatos]

It's quite amusing that Cubby Broccoli created the bond franchise then left it in the hands of a left-wing woman in Barbara Broccoli.

I have no idea what Cubby's politics were, and they're actually pretty irrelevant, since he saw himself as creating purely escapist entertainment. The issue is not BB's politics per se, but the fact that she seems to have decided to use the Bond films as her own personal soapbox.

[katied]

It's a pity that Barbara Broccoli cannot work with others in producing regular Bond movies whilst pursuing other more artistic projects.

Nah, she would just prefer to use the Bond films as an outlet for her "artiness" and her political views.

[Harvey Wallbanger]

The Bond Movies and Fleming were never very political - until CR

I posted years ago about the letter she wrote Bill O'Reilly blindly defending Cindy Sheehan -which was popular at the time.

[The Sweeney]

The Bond Movies and Fleming were never very political - until CR

I posted years ago about the letter she wrote Bill O'Reilly blindly defending Cindy Sheehan -which was popular at the time.

You could say they became political as far back as GE, with the change of a female M instead of a male M.

[Kristatos]

You could say they became political as far back as GE, with the change of a female M instead of a male M.

It depends how loosely you define the word "political". The change to a female M was inspired by the promotion of Stella Rimmington to head of MI5, so it's not really a political statement. If you class that as political, you could say that the Bond films have always been political in that Bond never questions the superiority of the capitalist West to the communist East, but that's rather overstretching the definition of what constitutes a political film.

[John Drake]

Bond is a politically incorrect male fantasy. If you move away from that you miss the whole point.

[katied]

Rimington was definitely a inspiration for the female M-and IMO there is a certain resemblance-though only a slight one- between Dame Judi and Stella Rimington.

[Omega]

The credibility issue is also why I have a problem with fans suggesting some well known director..like that(or any other gimmick-like 3D-is going to fix what's wrong with the Bond franchise.As if!

What do you think needs fixing to make Bond films better? Better scriptwriters?

Actually I don't think scriptwriters would help, they have brought in two of the best to work on the scripts. I predict that will not matter either for Bond23

Looking back a Casino Royale it has a bunch of junk that is just laughable, problem being that was trying to be deadly serious.

The need to think out side the box and get over themselves as an entity, they are too self aware. This is obvious from way back, even to Die Another Day's where its second half was ruined by the self adulation & self serving homages.

What have Hulk, Iron Man, Batman, Star Trek, get smart, done successfully that Bond hasn't ? Not reboot and it recast. They have gone back to the source book and movies and shows and came away with a wealth of martial to work with.

What the producer have done in Casino Royale is not reboot the series but retard it, now I hear the Beavis And Butthead chuckle , he said retard, stop for a moment think about it.

What the producer did was to switch tank like in a van with dual tanks, instead of running on premium octane they are running on recycled fast food fry oil, they are marked buy what they are not doing as compared to what they used to do instead of finding the best way forward.

They made James Bond movies for 40 years and then switch to using negative of that image without any of the trappings that marked the character, so much that they go out of the way to avoid putting Craig in them, what they do try to reuse is very warn and very tired.

They will not commit to the negative image that they created perusing that to more creative stories and they will not go back to the Bond becoming Bond junk they stated with. Star Trek and Batman will be visiting the best of their old villains, Bond will not, Star Trek will be working up to Spock dieing, Batman getting his back broke by Bane, Bond is going to continue to more around looking for the next fad, he isn't going to meet his wife anymore than he will stare down Blofeld or meet Honey Ryder then get acquainted with Solitaire or best Mr Big and go after Goldfinger. Bond was got no where to go but running in increasingly smaller circles retarding down till he is left but the Name and producers.

To me it is necessary hat they take time to completely reevaluate their whole approach, they have the all the resources need in the 40 or more years book and movies.

They need new template and new bible to go by, and probably start fresh with 20 year plan.

[John Drake]

They dug themselves into a hole by talking up a trilogy which they obviously had no plans or storylines for beyond cribbing elements of Fleming's first novel. QoS exposed the hubris, incompetence and Basil Fawltyesque social crawling inclinations of those in command, desperate for a BAFTA and some sort of acclaim when their job is to entertain people. If I go to watch a James Bond picture I want a colourful escapist adventure as a refuge from harsh reality not a pretentious morose mess from people who think they are making Wild Strawberries.