BOND SCRIPTS

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  • RemingtonRemington I'll do anything for a woman with a knife.
    Posts: 1,532
    Gotta say. It was great finally being able to read the full Bond 17 script. Would've been Dalton's TSWLM.
  • It's very nice indeed to be able to read Ruggiero & Wilson's screenplay and go beyond their first treatment. I have yet to finish my read but it is interesting to note that the PTS is about Bond infiltrating a fortified military-industrial complex in a foreign country (and not in a nuclear facility in Scotland like in their treatment) and that the first act setting has already been moved from Japan to Canada (so it's in the mountains close to Vancouver that Bond have a ski chase with Connie Webb). Nan, Sir Henry's android is however still here.
  • RemingtonRemington I'll do anything for a woman with a knife.
    Posts: 1,532
    That second draft though...
    Dear me. That was awful.
  • Posts: 2,887
    The one with the rodeo? I hope no one at EON considered doing anything with that script besides throwing it out.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
    Revelator wrote: »
    The one with the rodeo? I hope no one at EON considered doing anything with that script besides throwing it out.

    I could, however, see them picking up on the Western theme if they ever did a faithful or semi-faithful adaptation of Fleming’s Diamonds are Forever (1956). There's a lot of good stuff still to adapt there and the Spang Brothers remain the only Bond novel main villains not to have made it to this big screen yet.
  • Posts: 613
    I haven't read the Osborne/Davies script but did read the synopsis in Mark Edlitz's book -- and it sounds like there's some brilliant (and hilarious) stuff in there. My guess is it was shot down by MGW because of the overly comic tone.
  • Revelator wrote: »
    The one with the rodeo? I hope no one at EON considered doing anything with that script besides throwing it out.
    It's really surprising that Eon went from Ruggiero & Wilson's screenplay to that. I like some ideas from Osborne/Davies (Sir Henry using a Chinese general, to have Bond's age been reflected, Moneypenny's engagement), but overall the comedic tone seems really out of the place and is an incomprehensible creative decision, especially associated with Dalton's tenure and initial plans for Bond 17.
  • Posts: 2,887
    My guess is that EON/MGM would have retained some elements of the Osborne/Davies script but would have hired a new writer to rework it and the Ruggiero/Wilson screenplay, followed by yet another writer. As with GoldenEye, the final draft would have been a patchwork by many hands, several uncredited--as usual with almost every post-LTK Bond film (and some earlier entries like TSWLM).
  • Revelator wrote: »
    My guess is that EON/MGM would have retained some elements of the Osborne/Davies script but would have hired a new writer to rework it and the Ruggiero/Wilson screenplay, followed by yet another writer. As with GoldenEye, the final draft would have been a patchwork by many hands, several uncredited.
    It makes sense. I'm still shock by the gap between Ruggiero/Wilson screenplay's tone and Osborne/Davies's. It's all the more frustrating that Ruggiero/Wilson's script was, while far from perfect, a solid base. An additional draft could have removed the character of Nan, add some Fleming's elements (something that Dalton's Bond 17 really lacks IMO) and it could have been a good material for a director.
  • Posts: 2,751
    I love reading these first drafts. I think had the series not taken its hiatus/have done another with Dalton, Bond 17 would have likely been different than these scripts, perhaps closer to Goldeneye in plot and tone. They clearly wanted something lighter/more in the vein of TSWLM, probably due to LTK. It's something of an overcorrection, but it's interesting in the sense that the GE we got is a mixture of that lighter tone alongside these more serious, weighty ideas.
  • edited July 2022 Posts: 613
    007HallY wrote: »
    I love reading these first drafts. I think had the series not taken its hiatus/have done another with Dalton, Bond 17 would have likely been different than these scripts, perhaps closer to Goldeneye in plot and tone. They clearly wanted something lighter/more in the vein of TSWLM, probably due to LTK. It's something of an overcorrection, but it's interesting in the sense that the GE we got is a mixture of that lighter tone alongside these more serious, weighty ideas.

    Based on what I read about the Osborne/Davies script in Edlitz's book, I think it was probably all wrong for Dalton but perfect for Brosnan. One of the things that bothers me about the Brosnan era is Bond's humorless characterization (beyond a few badly-written quips), a creative decision that does not play to the actor's strengths. If you've seen Remington Steele, you must have noticed that Brosnan excels at playing wisecracking heroes who are, at times, comically unsure of themselves and flying by the seat of their pants. He actually (to me, at least) becomes far less interesting when he's given material in which Bond is harder-edged. The Osborne/Davies script sounds like something that would've drawn out Brosnan's best qualities as an actor and given his Bond a unique dimension.
  • Posts: 1,879
    Escalus5 wrote: »
    007HallY wrote: »
    I love reading these first drafts. I think had the series not taken its hiatus/have done another with Dalton, Bond 17 would have likely been different than these scripts, perhaps closer to Goldeneye in plot and tone. They clearly wanted something lighter/more in the vein of TSWLM, probably due to LTK. It's something of an overcorrection, but it's interesting in the sense that the GE we got is a mixture of that lighter tone alongside these more serious, weighty ideas.

    Based on what I read about the Osborne/Davies script in Edlitz's book, I think it was probably all wrong for Dalton but perfect for Brosnan. One of the things that bothers me about the Brosnan era is Bond's humorless characterization (beyond a few badly-written quips), a creative decision that does not play to the actor's strengths. If you've seen Remington Steele, you must have noticed that Brosnan excels at playing wisecracking heroes who are, at times, comically unsure of themselves and flying by the seat of their pants. He actually (to me, at least) becomes far less interesting when he's given material in which Bond is harder-edged. The Osborne/Davies script sounds like something that would've drawn out Brosnan's best qualities as an actor and given his Bond a unique dimension.

    I agree with this take. I actually was anxious that had Brosnan followed Moore directly he'd have become a Moore-lite and relieved and rewarded when Dalton got the work when Steele was renewed. While I was surprised when Brosnan did get the role his being able to project toughness fairly well, being closer to Steele may have made him stand out more than being a hybrid of Moore and Connery he became.
  • RemingtonRemington I'll do anything for a woman with a knife.
    Posts: 1,532
    Bond making two Star Wars jokes in a row during the PTS of the Osborne/Davies script is the moment I began to lose hope in it lol.
  • Remington wrote: »
    Bond making two Star Wars jokes in a row during the PTS of the Osborne/Davies script is the moment I began to lose hope in it lol.
    A scene I nonetheless like in this draft is when Bond visits Q in his lab as it is about to be closed by Yupland. It's maybe too close what is in NSNA but, with Dalton, and with a more serious tone, the exact same scene could have been quite emotional, especially after LTK. Even Moneypenny's scene is quite good.
  • zb007zb007 UK
    Posts: 85
    Wow thanks for those links very interesting stuff
  • edited July 2022 Posts: 613
    I have to give Osborne and Davies credit for writing Bond as a guy who is not unflappable, but doing the most dangerous things imaginable and who is clearly scared sh*tless while doing them, to a humorous degree. As I mentioned already, that's a unique take on the character, one that is not consistent with what Dalton had established but probably better suited to Brosnan.

    The scene where Bond expresses his disbelief at having survived his jump from a speeding airplane into a swimming pool (!) sounds hilarious, like something out of a Shane Black script.
  • TheNumberOrTheCipherTheNumberOrTheCipher Raoul Silva did a little trolling
    Posts: 82
    Don't think it has been posted here before: I came across a Google Drive that gathers several Bond movies scripts, including three for Dalton's third movie (Wilson & Ruggiero's serious treatment; its screenplay adaptation and Osborne & Davies's comedy-oriented screenplay).
    https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1J-DC6C6DE_szKocVYUE6la6K4XviuWwr
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sMfbM1MeVSJ5SGemifvgQd0AYshmZ84W/view
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Tb_lJGf2pzeFjMM4CIkQe3n6cU6pdgfv/view

    Here is the guy who made them available:

    Haha, I've been checking on this thread for a bit. Great to see they've been found! Really appreciate it man thank you for this!
  • This is the mother load. I can't believe we found someone who has all these scripts and has posted them all, free of charge. Some of these scripts (like the Dalton drafts) I've been waiting to read for twenty years!
  • One other thing...
    Has anyone taken a look at the Skyfall script? I’m wondering if it’s genuine, for two reasons: the first is that it’s EXACTLY in line with the movie. Every beat, every line of dialogue, is the same. That almost never happens. But the second reason actually hit me the moment I started reading. It never says “IRIS OPENS ON” or “GUNBARREL OPENS ON” at the start of the script, which it always would. The decision not to have the gun barrel at the start of the film was, as we all know by now, made in post-production by Sam Mendes, who fell in love with the opening shot and wanted to open with it. If the script were real, it wouldn't omit it.

    Anyway, I just wondered if anyone else thought the same thing. I think it’s a fake – extremely well done, with great attention to detail, but a fake nonetheless.

  • I hope more of these scripts/drafts end up getting released online. To read any of the early drafts of OHMSS or DAF would be like a dream come true.
  • I hope more of these scripts/drafts end up getting released online. To read any of the early drafts of OHMSS or DAF would be like a dream come true.

    I second this!
  • MalloryMallory Do mosquitoes have friends?
    Posts: 2,036
    One other thing...
    Has anyone taken a look at the Skyfall script? I’m wondering if it’s genuine, for two reasons: the first is that it’s EXACTLY in line with the movie. Every beat, every line of dialogue, is the same. That almost never happens. But the second reason actually hit me the moment I started reading. It never says “IRIS OPENS ON” or “GUNBARREL OPENS ON” at the start of the script, which it always would. The decision not to have the gun barrel at the start of the film was, as we all know by now, made in post-production by Sam Mendes, who fell in love with the opening shot and wanted to open with it. If the script were real, it wouldn't omit it.

    Anyway, I just wondered if anyone else thought the same thing. I think it’s a fake – extremely well done, with great attention to detail, but a fake nonetheless.

    It wont be the shooting script. It will be the final film script, which mirrors the finished film word for word. This is then used for dubbing, subtitles and translation of the film. So not to say its fake, just not the shooting script.
  • Mallory wrote: »
    One other thing...
    Has anyone taken a look at the Skyfall script? I’m wondering if it’s genuine, for two reasons: the first is that it’s EXACTLY in line with the movie. Every beat, every line of dialogue, is the same. That almost never happens. But the second reason actually hit me the moment I started reading. It never says “IRIS OPENS ON” or “GUNBARREL OPENS ON” at the start of the script, which it always would. The decision not to have the gun barrel at the start of the film was, as we all know by now, made in post-production by Sam Mendes, who fell in love with the opening shot and wanted to open with it. If the script were real, it wouldn't omit it.

    Anyway, I just wondered if anyone else thought the same thing. I think it’s a fake – extremely well done, with great attention to detail, but a fake nonetheless.

    It wont be the shooting script. It will be the final film script, which mirrors the finished film word for word. This is then used for dubbing, subtitles and translation of the film. So not to say its fake, just not the shooting script.

    Gotcha. I guess I never realized the difference. Thanks for the explanation!
  • ChriskarrChriskarr Spain
    Posts: 46
    Don't think it has been posted here before: I came across a Google Drive that gathers several Bond movies scripts, including three for Dalton's third movie (Wilson & Ruggiero's serious treatment; its screenplay adaptation and Osborne & Davies's comedy-oriented screenplay).
    https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1J-DC6C6DE_szKocVYUE6la6K4XviuWwr
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sMfbM1MeVSJ5SGemifvgQd0AYshmZ84W/view
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Tb_lJGf2pzeFjMM4CIkQe3n6cU6pdgfv/view

    Here is the guy who made them available:

    Finally we can read the first long draft screenplay of Bond 17 and the other Bond 18 written by davies and Osborne.
    Thank you very much, Herr_Stockmann for find and share this.
  • TheSkyfallen06TheSkyfallen06 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
    Posts: 975
    So, I found this 2001 article that supposedly talked about the "leaked official" plot for Die Another Day (Back then known as Bond 20), which was called Final Assignment.
    https://www.thefreelibrary.com/THE+007+SECRETS;+Plot+for+new+Bond+film+Final+Assignment+'leaks+on...-a077391364
    And after analizing it for quite a bit i wondered if there were other supposedly official plot leaks from other Bond films, and so i'm here ¿Ever saw anything like this?
  • edited January 2023 Posts: 2,887
    Some exceedingly interesting information on the script history of Diamonds Are Forever...

    A fellow named Tom Mason managed to read Richard Maibaum's early treatments of the film and has discussed them on the Licence to Queer podcast:



    For the benefit of those who digest information faster by reading than listening, here's the interesting stuff:

    All three Maibaum treatments open with Bond depressed and reeling from the death of Tracy. In the first treatment we're even told that Bond has been to a psychiatrist. The first two treatments open with Bond walking his dog on a desolate moor, possibly Scotland or Suffolk. He's described as living like a hermit and has a framed photo of Tracy in his house, which we see as melancholic instrumental of "We Have All the Time in the World" plays. While Bond is out walking a voluptuous skydiver drops from the heavens and reveals herself as Tiffany Case.

    The pre-title sequences of all three treatments feature an attack by Irma Bundt. In the first treatment there's a long chase sequence with Bond on a motorcycle being chased by someone in a land rover. It crashes and Bond discovers the driver is Irma Bundt, disguised as a man and with diamonds on her person. The third treatment forgoes the moor setting and features a chase on the London Underground.

    The third treatment shows a girl named Sandra breaking into Bond's house and hints that Bond is not able to "perform" as he usually does. All three treatments hint that Bond is so depressed he's less interested in sex; he doesn't flirt with Moneypenny in the first treatment, though he sleeps with Tiffany a few pages later.

    The treatments were likely written with Lazenby in mind. Only one has a date--October '69, a few months before the premiere of OHMSS. Locations differ in each treatment; the second treatment has a sequence in Barcelona, with a chase through Parc Güell, but most of the action is set in Bangkok. There's also protracted sequence in Bond's home, described as a mews house in Chelsea, where Bond and Tiffany are attacked by several goons. The third treatment is partially set in India and features an Oxford-educated field agent described as a "brown-skinned day David McCallum." None of the treatments is set in Las Vegas!

    In an echo from the Fleming novel Rufus B. Saye runs a diamond shop, though he's now a Spectre agent and appears in a six-person group meeting. The third treatment has M sending Moneypenny on a mission in the field, and there's an uncharacteristic scene of her being prudish around erotic carvings. Later on M is captured and held hostage by Blofeld in a hippie colony!

    Q also goes into the field. In the first two treatments Bond takes the diamonds found on Bundt to Q for verification and sourcing. Afterwards Q is seen carrying a briefcase full of diamonds while Bond carries a similar one for paperwork. Bond swaps the briefcases and steals the diamonds.

    In the second treatment M believes Bond has gone insane and sends 006 and 008 to capture him. When they find out Bond is on the level they team up with him for the final assault on Spectre. In the third treatment Bond joins Spectre, which accepts him after 006 and 008 make an attempt on his life. Bond and another Spectre agent then join forces to overthrow Blofeld.

    Marc-Ange Draco returns in all three treatments. He has retired from the Union Corse and is living in an estate with Che Che, Toussaint, and Rafael as his butlers and valets. They've grown sick of civilian life, so when Bond reappears they're eager to help him. In the first two treatments Draco is dramatically revealed at the end of the first act; in the third he's randomly on the phone with Bond in the pre-titles. Draco is killed by an elephant stampede in the third treatment.

    Wint & Kidd appear and are referred to in the treatments as "two American f*gs"; Wint is described as looking like Terence Stamp. There is less affection between them than in the film, though in the third treatment Wint comforts Kidd, who is afraid of flying.

    The third treatment includes Tiffany's gang rape backstory from the novel, but "amped up" and somehow dramatized. The second treatment also has a sequence, after the diamonds have been evaluated, where Bond follows Tiffany to a restaurant and sits down with her. They have a conversation where he implies he knows what she's doing and fakes being drunk.

    Maibaum was "utterly obsessed" with Blofeld being in a neck brace in all of the treatments. In all of them Blofeld tears the brace off "like a wild animal" before engaging Bond in a fist fight. In the second treatment Blofeld is killed by a tiger, which Maibaum calls poetic irony since Ernst likes cats. In the third treatment Blofeld is killed by six white kittens that Bond has somehow learned to command and sic on their owner. And in a later script (not a treatment) Bond and Tiffany find themselves in an escape pod with Wint, Kidd and Blofeld; they eject the bad guys, who are eaten by sharks.

    All of the treatments have a shipboard sequence where Wint and Kidd come in as waiters and tell Bond he has a phone call. After he leaves they try to kill Tiffany with boiling oil. As in the novel, Bond abseils the outside of the ship and enters through the porthole.
  • TheSkyfallen06TheSkyfallen06 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
    edited January 2023 Posts: 975
    Revelator wrote: »
    Some exceedingly interesting information on the script history of Diamonds Are Forever...

    A fellow named Tom Mason managed to read Richard Maibaum's early treatments of the film and has discussed them on the Licence to Queer podcast:



    For the benefit of those who digest information faster by reading than listening, here's the interesting stuff:

    All three Maibaum treatments open with Bond depressed and reeling from the death of Tracy. In the first treatment we're even told that Bond has been to a psychiatrist. The first two treatments open with Bond walking his dog on a desolate moor, possibly Scotland or Suffolk. He's described as living like a hermit and has a framed photo of Tracy in his house, which we see as melancholic instrumental of "We Have All the Time in the World" plays. While Bond is out walking a voluptuous skydiver drops from the heavens and reveals herself as Tiffany Case.

    The pre-title sequences of all three treatments feature an attack by Irma Bundt. In the first treatment there's a long chase sequence with Bond on a motorcycle being chased by someone in a land rover. It crashes and Bond discovers the driver is Irma Bundt, disguised as a man and with diamonds on her person. The third treatment forgoes the moor setting and features a chase on the London Underground.

    The third treatment shows a girl named Sandra breaking into Bond's house and hints that Bond is not able to "perform" as he usually does. All three treatments hint that Bond is so depressed he's less interested in sex; he doesn't flirt with Moneypenny in the first treatment, though he sleeps with Tiffany a few pages later.

    The treatments were likely written with Lazenby in mind. Only one has a date--October '69, a few months before the premiere of OHMSS. Locations differ in each treatment; the second treatment has a sequence in Barcelona, with a chase through Parc Güell, but most of the action is set in Bangkok. There's also protracted sequence in Bond's home, described as a mews house in Chelsea, where Bond and Tiffany are attacked by several goons. The third treatment is partially set in India and features an Oxford-educated field agent described as a "brown-skinned day David McCallum." None of the treatments is set in Las Vegas!

    In an echo from the Fleming novel Rufus B. Saye runs a diamond shop, though he's now a Spectre agent and appears in a six-person group meeting. The third treatment has M sending Moneypenny on a mission in the field, and there's an uncharacteristic scene of her being prudish around erotic carvings. Later on M is captured and held hostage by Blofeld in a hippie colony!

    Q also goes into the field. In the first two treatments Bond takes the diamonds found on Bundt to Q for verification and sourcing. Afterwards Q is seen carrying a briefcase full of diamonds while Bond carries a similar one for paperwork. Bond swaps the briefcases and steals the diamonds.

    In the second treatment M believes Bond has gone insane and sends 006 and 008 to capture him. When they find out Bond is on the level they team up with him for the final assault on Spectre. In the third treatment Bond joins Spectre, which accepts him after 006 and 008 make an attempt on his life. Bond and another Spectre agent then join forces to overthrow Blofeld.

    Marc-Ange Draco returns in all three treatments. He has retired from the Union Corse and is living in an estate with Che Che, Toussaint, and Rafael as his butlers and valets. They've grown sick of civilian life, so when Bond reappears they're eager to help him. In the first two treatments Draco is dramatically revealed at the end of the first act; in the third he's randomly on the phone with Bond in the pre-titles. Draco is killed by an elephant stampede in the third treatment.

    Wint & Kidd appear and are referred to in the treatments as "two American f*gs"; Wint is described as looking like Terence Stamp. There is less affection between them than in the film, though in the third treatment Wint comforts Kidd, who is afraid of flying.

    The third treatment includes Tiffany's gang rape backstory from the novel, but "amped up" and somehow dramatized. The second treatment also has a sequence, after the diamonds have been evaluated, where Bond follows Tiffany to a restaurant and sits down with her. They have a conversation where he implies he knows what she's doing and fakes being drunk.

    Maibaum was "utterly obsessed" with Blofeld being in a neck brace in all of the treatments. In all of them Blofeld tears the brace off "like a wild animal" before engaging Bond in a fist fight. In the second treatment Blofeld is killed by a tiger, which Maibaum calls poetic irony since Ernst likes cats. In the third treatment Blofeld is killed by six white kittens that Bond has somehow learned to command and sic on their owner. And in a later script (not a treatment) Bond and Tiffany find themselves in an escape pod with Wint, Kidd and Blofeld; they eject the bad guys, who are eaten by sharks.

    All of the treatments have a shipboard sequence where Wint and Kidd come in as waiters and tell Bond he has a phone call. After he leaves they try to kill Tiffany with boiling oil. As in the novel, Bond abseils the outside of the ship and enters through the porthole.

    Sounds pretty interesting AND better than we had with Connery (Except for the hippie colony and the elephant stampede).
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 5,921
    I seriously can't get my brain around M at a hippie colony, although there was that time in Tokyo.
  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    Posts: 12,914
    Very interesting descriptions @Revelator.

    Not sure I'm ready for Bond walking a dog, but okay.

  • Posts: 2,751
    Revelator wrote: »
    In the third treatment Blofeld is killed by six white kittens that Bond has somehow learned to command and sic on their owner.

    What? :))
This discussion has been closed.