Should Carte Blanche be made into a film?

edited February 2013 in Bond 26 & Beyond Posts: 352
I read Jeffrey Deaver's "Carte Blanche" and found it to be a very satisfying Bond novel. It had Daniel Craig written all over it.

Does anyone else feel that it should be made into a movie?
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Comments

  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,459
    Well, personally I really did not like this book. I would not want it to become a film, nope.
    And I guess this maybe needs to go under a different thread ... literary Bond? Gen. discussion?
  • edited February 2013 Posts: 1,661
    Nah, I don't think it's a good idea.

    Most Americans won't understand the title:

    "Who the heck is Carte Blanche?"

    :D
  • Posts: 7,653
    fanbond123 wrote:
    Nah, I don't think it's a good idea.

    Most Americans won't understand the title:

    "Who the heck is Carte Blanche?"

    :D

    Why the idea that the average American is thick, carte blanche is an expression that ,ight be French originally but is not that unknown in the US.
    So your reasoning makes you come across as a bit of a generalist that dislikes Americans.

    I think the movie can easily be made with DC, throw in a bit of personal mental suffering and the 007 du jour might get a good movie out of it.

  • Don't know about anyone else, but saw a younger Alan Rickman aka Die Hard as Hydt the entire book.
  • Posts: 40
    Its not a bad book, I could see the story working as a movie.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    I could actually see a guy looking like Silva play Hydt. A guy you passed in the street and just knew he was a little off.

    It would have been great to get a scene in Skyfall where Silva expresses his pleasure over seeing dead bodies in front of Bond and to his disgust. It would have really added to his menace.
  • Agent007391Agent007391 Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start
    Posts: 7,854
    SaintMark wrote:
    fanbond123 wrote:
    Nah, I don't think it's a good idea.

    Most Americans won't understand the title:

    "Who the heck is Carte Blanche?"

    :D

    Why the idea that the average American is thick, carte blanche is an expression that ,ight be French originally but is not that unknown in the US.
    So your reasoning makes you come across as a bit of a generalist that dislikes Americans.

    I think the movie can easily be made with DC, throw in a bit of personal mental suffering and the 007 du jour might get a good movie out of it.

    I think he's harkening back to the reason License to Kill was renamed from License Revoked. The reason was that, supposedly, Americans wouldn't know what the word "revoked" meant.

    Plus, we had a Daniel Craig Bond film that had most of the usual Bond stuff, a personal story, and hints at Bond's past in it. It was called Skyfall.
    MrWhite wrote:
    Don't know about anyone else, but saw a younger Alan Rickman aka Die Hard as Hydt the entire book.

    I've never read the book, so I'm just assuming Hydt is the main villain, but I love the idea of Rickman in a Bond film. "You disappoint me, Mr. Bond. Now, you should, die."
  • mdo007mdo007 Katy, Texas
    Posts: 259
    I would love to see Carte Blanche to be adapted for Bond 24. When I read Carte Blanche I could imagine it as a movie potential. As a matter of fact, I imagine Bond as Daniel Craig when I read it. I always thought Carte Blanche could fit into Craig's Bond continuity.
    fanbond123 wrote:
    Nah, I don't think it's a good idea.

    Most Americans won't understand the title:

    "Who the heck is Carte Blanche?"

    :D

    I don't think American are that stupid nowaday because they can access Wikipedia and various James Bond resource online to find out where Carte Blanche came from.

  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    edited February 2013 Posts: 28,694
    mdo007 wrote:
    I don't think American are that stupid nowaday because they can access Wikipedia and various James Bond resource online to find out where Carte Blanche came from.

    Gee, thanks for the lovely comment (eye-roll). Well, I for one only just managed to dress myself this morning. It was a bit of a hassle getting my jacket over my head, but after really burning my brain cells, focusing and pacing myself, manage it I did. :-L

    There are infinitely better spots than the unreliable Wikipedia to go for if you are in an information crunch.
  • Posts: 14,799
    I don't think that's a good idea, on principle. There is enough Fleming material left for the basis of a few more movies, at least when it comes to characters.
  • DoctorKaufmannDoctorKaufmann Can shoot you from Stuttgart and still make it look like suicide.
    edited February 2013 Posts: 1,261
    mdo007 wrote:
    I would love to see Carte Blanche to be adapted for Bond 24. When I read Carte Blanche I could imagine it as a movie potential. As a matter of fact, I imagine Bond as Daniel Craig when I read it. I always thought Carte Blanche could fit into Craig's Bond continuity.
    fanbond123 wrote:
    Nah, I don't think it's a good idea.

    Most Americans won't understand the title:

    "Who the heck is Carte Blanche?"

    :D

    I don't think American are that stupid nowaday because they can access Wikipedia and various James Bond resource online to find out where Carte Blanche came from.

    Well, probably NOT that thick. But then the movie version of Alan Bennett's "The Madness of George the Third" was renamed to "The Madness of King George", because Kenneth Branagh told a nice story, that when his adataption of "Henry VI" got released, people asked him, what had happend to "Henry Part 1 to Part 5."
  • I actually imagined a guy that looked like the shock jock Howard Stern to be the character of Hydt.
  • StrelikStrelik Spectre Island
    Posts: 108
    SaintMark wrote:
    fanbond123 wrote:
    Nah, I don't think it's a good idea.

    Most Americans won't understand the title:

    "Who the heck is Carte Blanche?"

    :D

    Why the idea that the average American is thick, carte blanche is an expression that ,ight be French originally but is not that unknown in the US.
    So your reasoning makes you come across as a bit of a generalist that dislikes Americans.

    I think the movie can easily be made with DC, throw in a bit of personal mental suffering and the 007 du jour might get a good movie out of it.

    I think he's harkening back to the reason License to Kill was renamed from License Revoked. The reason was that, supposedly, Americans wouldn't know what the word "revoked" meant.

    Plus, we had a Daniel Craig Bond film that had most of the usual Bond stuff, a personal story, and hints at Bond's past in it. It was called Skyfall.
    MrWhite wrote:
    Don't know about anyone else, but saw a younger Alan Rickman aka Die Hard as Hydt the entire book.

    I've never read the book, so I'm just assuming Hydt is the main
  • StrelikStrelik Spectre Island
    Posts: 108
    I think he's harkening back to the reason License to Kill was renamed from License Revoked. The reason was that, supposedly, Americans wouldn't know what the word "revoked" meant.
    Odd. Almost every American teenager who learns to drive is solemnly told by a pestiferous official: "Watch out or your driver's license will be revoked."

    And the phrase "Carte Blanche" is often used in American parlance... usually in reference to our CIA and their drone strikes.
  • LicencedToKilt69007LicencedToKilt69007 Belgium, Wallonia
    Posts: 523
    Why not ? ... for Bond 24 or 25.

    It'd be very hard to imagine and watch, but it's Daniel Craig and Timothy Dalton 1989 tailored made. Bad ass.
  • I think Deaver set it in the present cos he was hoping EON would pick it up and make it into a film.

    But the whole marketing thing for EON are the surprises a new film can spring on an audience. With an established book, it nixes that. It's almost the equivalent of painting by numbers. Plus Deaver gets a load of cash they'd rather have.

    Also the whole thing with Deaver is the big twist. But once the book is out there, and read, the film won't offer that surprise. Otherwise, not too enamoured with the rubbish tip plot and setting.
  • Posts: 138
    There are a lot of good things in Carte Blanche that could make it a good movie, but I think it would need to be quite heavily rewritten for a film.

    By the way, I don't think there is really that much original material left in the books. Daniel Craig's Bond has had several big Bond story lines - Casino Royale's origin story, the introduction of Q and particularly Money Penny - so I think they should concentrate on finishing off the Quantum story line over the next couple of films. And then there is a book and a character I would like to see resurrected for a possible 6 Daniel Craig film if he was to continue for one more film.

    The return of Blofeld and Spectre should be saved for the next reboot.
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    CB IMO as a whole would make an awful movie. Just felt so generic and detached from what Bond is supposed to be. Although, I do picture Dr.Hanson from Holby city as Hydt.
  • I don't mind Carte Blanche being turned into a Bond film. However, I would much prefere Property of A Lady to be turned into a Bond film. (IMO)
  • MrWhite wrote:
    Don't know about anyone else, but saw a younger Alan Rickman aka Die Hard as Hydt the entire book.

    I imagined a fat Alan Rickman! :) I thought the book was great, and would make for a serious new bond style film.
  • WalecsWalecs On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    Posts: 3,157
    I would love to see Carte Blanche as a movie, starring Craig.
    I don't mind Carte Blanche being turned into a Bond film. However, I would much prefere Property of A Lady to be turned into a Bond film. (IMO)
    We already had that in Octopussy.
  • Posts: 14,799
    I haven't read it yet, when I do it will be the first continuation novel I will have read, and maybe/probably the last.

    And about the OP, the answer is no. Not any continuation. There is actually still a lot to adapt from Fleming, bits of plot, characters, settings, etc. And, more importantly, adapting directly continuation novels is one step away, at least, from the source material.
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    Posts: 5,080
    SaintMark wrote:
    fanbond123 wrote:
    Nah, I don't think it's a good idea.

    Most Americans won't understand the title:

    "Who the heck is Carte Blanche?"

    :D

    Why the idea that the average American is thick, carte blanche is an expression that ,ight be French originally but is not that unknown in the US.
    So your reasoning makes you come across as a bit of a generalist that dislikes Americans.

    I think the movie can easily be made with DC, throw in a bit of personal mental suffering and the 007 du jour might get a good movie out of it.

    I think he's harkening back to the reason License to Kill was renamed from License Revoked. The reason was that, supposedly, Americans wouldn't know what the word "revoked" meant.

    Plus, we had a Daniel Craig Bond film that had most of the usual Bond stuff, a personal story, and hints at Bond's past in it. It was called Skyfall.
    MrWhite wrote:
    Don't know about anyone else, but saw a younger Alan Rickman aka Die Hard as Hydt the entire book.

    I've never read the book, so I'm just assuming Hydt is the main villain, but I love the idea of Rickman in a Bond film. "You disappoint me, Mr. Bond. Now, you should, die."

    It was not because Americans did not understand what "revoked" meant, it was just that over there, it was used in a different context, as you rightly said, as getting your driving licence taken off of you.
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    So, EoN's marketing thought Americans wouldn't know how to contextualise the word, revoked? Either way, whatever the reason, it still comes off as wish-washy to me and it's a shame the intended title was never used because not only is it actually fitting to the plot but it just sounds infinitely better and not to generic.
  • If only all questions had such an easy answer.
    HELL, NOOOO!!!
    I mean,what would be the point? A pseudo thriller consisting only of laughable twists featuring a metrosexual calling himself James Bond. Really bad idea!
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    Posts: 5,080
    doubleoego wrote:
    So, EoN's marketing thought Americans wouldn't know how to contextualise the word, revoked? Either way, whatever the reason, it still comes off as wish-washy to me and it's a shame the intended title was never used because not only is it actually fitting to the plot but it just sounds infinitely better and not to generic.

    Licence to Kill was also used as to avoid confusion (by Americans, Brits and all) with the 1981 John Gardner Bond novel "Licence Renewed".
  • Posts: 14,799
    Gus82 wrote:
    The return of Blofeld and Spectre should be saved for the next reboot.

    Do you mean the next actor? A reboot may not happen in the next fifty years or so. It would be a good starting point for Craig's successor. I mean Craig had CR, the origins and Vesper as a starting point to establish his tenure, Blofeld could be a great starting point to establish the next Bond actor. But this is off topic.
    Matt_Helm wrote:
    If only all questions had such an easy answer.
    HELL, NOOOO!!!
    I mean,what would be the point? A pseudo thriller consisting only of laughable twists featuring a metrosexual calling himself James Bond. Really bad idea!

    Boy, this doesn't make me want to read it. I find continuations novels to be glorified fanfics.
  • Given that there's quite a few "loose ends", if you will, with the current movies of DC perhaps an expanded adaptation or interwoven story can be done for one of his last two films.

    The way this story plays out and uses the essence of DC to drive it through, it seems like a book equivalent to the originality that you'd find in Bloodstone. Carte Blanc and Bloodstone are perhaps the last two pieces in which DC's portrayal of Bond was more new and quick. Skyfall dealt with his aging and it seems like Sam Mendes just wants a classic Bond. Carte Blanc is a classic-style but it's just too standalone to either take route of the SF story setup or the CR/QoS which appears to be forgotten about.
  • What about Hillebrand Rarity????
    No deals Mr. Bond had good story lines too.
  • I think all of the recent 'literary' Bond novels have been failures. They just don't get bond. So, no Cart Blanche should not be made into a film.
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