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If you are wrong (which I'm 100% convinced you are), then will you dare show your face on here again after making such ludicrous bold statements, and then a different actor is cast?
We finally get some proper news and this is the reaction! OK you're allowed to not like him for whatever reason, though I'd love to know who people think would have been a better choice? I can't really think of many directors at the moment who would be higher on the wishlist of most film producers. We also know he's a genuine Bond fan, has affection for the character and early years. He is fairly indisputably a great director.
Please noone say Martin Campbell and expect to be taken seriously!! This pick at least shows Amazon's direction and that they are taking this seriously. They've hired a proper director who will want and presumably have s fair amount of control. He has a good amount of time to prepare it. They haven't hired a hack to shoot a generic script they've had no involvement with. These are all extremely positive signs for the future of the series under Amazon. I was resigned to Amazon essentially destroying the franchise, churning out lowest common denominator films to appeal to the Marvel crowd. This news is assurance that isn't their plan which should please everyone
So who will Villeneuve cast as Bond and will he have final say in the matter? I'm sure the choice will ultimately belong to David Heyman and Amy Pascal with Villeneuve advising the dynamic duo on their final choice.
As most of the old forum members are aware, I haven't been around that much due to a total lack of interesting Bond 26 related news. After all, there's only so many times I can wax lyrical about Connery, Lazenby, early Moore films and John Barry's fantastic musical scores.
That said, I do feel it's only right that I put forward my final contender for the role.
Drum roll, please...
That honour now belongs to Jacob Elordi. Yes, I know he's an Australian actor but so what? He's the right age, right height, and has the right dark, brooding good looks to carry it off. He's also a pretty damn good actor to boot.
I haven't looked through all the recent Bond contenders lately so forgive me if his name might have already cropped up and caused disagreements amongst you. I know you can be a rather strange and salty lot sometimes.
Anyway, I just thought I'd give my two cents worth on Villeneuve and Bond 26.
Onwards and upwards.
Hopefully Purvis and Wade won't be around for that bad writing. Fresh writing blood is a better risk than rehiring old (and clearly past their expiration date) talent. I wouldn't want certain other writers to come back either (namely Paul Haggis or Cary Fukunaga).
Unpopular opinion: I still consider American Beauty by Sam Mendes one of my top 20 favorite movies. Despite it's themes and Kevin Spacey.
Remember, David Heyman also helped Quentin Tarantino out with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. And that was one of his best movies, even better than the one Harvey Weinstein tried to cut up. So the positives do outweigh the negatives (as of now). Plus, I'd rather the Nolan brothers write the script than direct.
One last thought occurred to me: Could Villeneuve be directing 2 movies back to back similar to what he did with Dune? Amazon has the money, and he has made a decent sequel fairly fast. Plus, Bond makers like to get the second Bond movie of an actor out as fast as possible.
Same here.
Villeneuve is also the most expensive director to hire out of the most recently leaked list. Based upon reports, it seems that list of directors under consideration was legit. I think Empire even pulled their reporting on it soon after they posted it. I suspect the choice was already made and the studio didn’t want leaks. But I digress.
Is Villeneuve signed onto multiple films? His quote in the press announcement could be taken that way. If Amazon is willing to wait until after Dune 3 for Villeneuve to direct Bond 26, would they want to go through the process of finding and hiring another director for the one after. If Bond 26 is pushed to 2028, I can’t imagine that they’d want to wait another three or four years for Bond 27. Unless Bond 27 is going to be a Bond streaming show (hopefully not).
I just wonder whether or not they were able to get a multi-film commitment out of Villeneuve. And, if so, was that the deciding factor in not picking Nolan. I mean, could we get two Bond films made simultaneously? Would Amazon rather wait for two (or three) Bond films from Villeneuve than just one from any other director?
My hypothesis (and it's just that): Villeneuve's vision might have been more akin to what Amazon and before them Eon wanted for Bond. Also, I suspect that Villeneuve is a more "discreet" director, if that makes sense. Nolan now pretty much makes Nolan movies. Villeneuve has a somewhat more workman like approach. That's how I felt about his Dune anyway: he directed it with a genuine respect for the source material, which took the center stage.
I think Purvis & Wade are definitely out, and based on Wade’s comments back in January, I think it’s possible they were already out before EON gave control to Amazon.
Who that “fresh blood” in the writing room will be is the next guessing game. There’s really no shortage of capable writers out there who could do the job, and while it may be easy to expect Villeneuve to go for someone he’s previously worked with, thus far the Dune films mark the only time in his Hollywood career he’s worked with the same writer more than once, so for now I expect he’ll carry on as before and work with a new writer for Bond.
I think we could have a big announcement on Global James Bond day this year? What those are? Only time will tell?
All I can say is bring it on!!!!! :-bd
Yeah, Bond could say:
"The Ramans do everything in threes (and so should we)" before bedding the Surgeon-Commander Laura Ernst!
Seriously, while I think that Villeneuve is capable of doing a good job on Bond 26, I'm a bit sad since this news means that the film adaption of the novel will be delayed - yet again.
RwR is a hard sell anyway because there are no answers, iirc. It’s great as far as I remember (I must have read it 40 years ago), but it has no satisfying conclusion. How are they going to make that work?
Nolan can get whatever he wants made after "Oppenheimer". Villeneuve does not have that level of commercial clout. It's possible this is a paycheck job, so that either Amazon MGM funds one of his riskier projects in development or that he makes a Bond 26 so well received and buzzy that another studio funds one.
I personally do not want Chalamet as Bond. Nope. But that's a personal preference I can say without using childish slurs that seem to be coming from deep personal rage at current culture.
I think I'm pretty happy if Zimmer returns. I'd like a different tempo/style of theme song this time, though. I'm still fond of David Arnold, to be honest.
Also - I'd like to see Purvis and Wade dangled in the media as possible writers (even if not hired), just to see this forum explode for a bit. Cheap thrills, I know ... ;)
Here are my random thoughts:
Also, we’re overlooking the pitch itself. Multiple directors were reportedly in talks, and Villeneuve’s vision is obviously what impressed Amazon the most. I’m 100% sure he’s not doing this for as a favour to them, he’s earned it as a creative.
It's what we do here isn't it?
In any case using someones previous work as a guide to what they might produce in future is at least an "educated" guess rather than a "wild" guess. It forms a significant part of any reputable job interview process. Denis wouldn't have got in the door without it, then he obviously impressed the producers in the face to face as well.
Try reading Dune the book and realise that Dune the movie is a dumbed down, shallow version of it.
I agree, it will be lush.
"Gritty" is just one of the words people use to describe a movie that attempts to have at least a veneer of "realism" or appearing to be more "grounded" in reality, less glamourous, less fanciful and often less humorous. We may all choose different words to convey the meaning but all know what we are getting at. It's not to say that Craig-Bond didn't have scenes of opulence and luxury, or ignore that Conney had a "gritty" fight in an elevator in DAF, it's a matter of balance and the overall impression.
I agree NTTD achieved an improved standard of humour to some of Craig's previous outings, while still looking "grimey" and "dirty" rather than "smooth" and "shiny", but abiding memory of the mood couldn't really avoid being somber with Bond being killed off at the end.
"Slow pace" is subjective like most aspects of movies. The original Ridley Scott "Bladerunner" wasn't "fast paced" either, neither was "Alien", but I didn't mind, it didn't distract me to the point where I was conciously thinking about how slow it was while I was watching.
On the other hand "2049" seemed a bit too slow, and "Dune" also, that's just how I felt. In the same way M. Night Shyamalan's films always seem painfully slow to me, even while I'm enjoying other aspects of them.
Good point, Martin Campbell also directed "Green Lantern"...
Crikey, I just noticed that Terrence Young directed a movie called "No Time To Die" in 1958!!!
Starring Victor Mature as...
So could Budapest end up being one of the locations of Bond 26, especially if they are looking for new locations not seen in Bond movies yet?