Worst plot in the entire franchise?

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Comments

  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 8,243
    the way of the world, @w2bond -- if there's a buck to be made, more people want a piece of the pie! And film and television has always been collaborative.

    And that's the thing: Barbara, or Kevin Feige, are figureheads, but they have to answer to so many powers-that-be...

    But we fan-boys will say it's all Bab's fault...; behind the scenes, there's 20 executives giving notes to Babs to deliver to her writer and director.
  • WalecsWalecs On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    edited March 2018 Posts: 3,157
    TripAces wrote: »
    Walecs wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Blofeld should actually be well-planned and thought-out. Eon has yet to deliver the perfect Blofeld. I wish they could cast Vincent Cassel in the role as he awfully looks the part. If only that'd be a reality which only they can grant.

    I agree that it was rushed. Maybe they should have waited for the next Bond actor. Blofeld would have been a good "hook" to start his tenure. I think bringing back Blofeld was a strong wish but they didn't know how to do it when they got the rights.

    That said not sure Cassel would have worked. Too French for the role. If it had been me I'd have someone like Ciaran Hinds or Brendan Gleeson. Large and could easily be thuggish looking.

    Which is ironic, since they got the rights because Logan and Mendes desperately wanted to use Blofeld in first place.

    Source?
    I doubt Logan and Mendes were the ones to want to use Blofeld, if I'm honest. That sounds more like a corporate ambition (a miss!) rather than the decision of either the writer or the director.


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  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    Thanks for that, @Walecs.
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    edited March 2018 Posts: 4,548
    Walecs wrote: »
    TripAces wrote: »
    Walecs wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Blofeld should actually be well-planned and thought-out. Eon has yet to deliver the perfect Blofeld. I wish they could cast Vincent Cassel in the role as he awfully looks the part. If only that'd be a reality which only they can grant.

    I agree that it was rushed. Maybe they should have waited for the next Bond actor. Blofeld would have been a good "hook" to start his tenure. I think bringing back Blofeld was a strong wish but they didn't know how to do it when they got the rights.

    That said not sure Cassel would have worked. Too French for the role. If it had been me I'd have someone like Ciaran Hinds or Brendan Gleeson. Large and could easily be thuggish looking.

    Which is ironic, since they got the rights because Logan and Mendes desperately wanted to use Blofeld in first place.

    Source?
    I doubt Logan and Mendes were the ones to want to use Blofeld, if I'm honest. That sounds more like a corporate ambition (a miss!) rather than the decision of either the writer or the director.


    10pwz0y.jpg

    That is awesome! Thank you! This sort of flies in the face of what Field and Chowdhury reported in Some Kind of Hero, which I (rightfully or not) consider my Bond Bible. At the same time, Wilson also indicates that they (he and Babs) thought it was time to bring back Spectre, too. I wonder when they thought this and if those 'thoughts" predated Mendes and Logan saying, "Hey, we want Spectre and Blofeld back in this." My suspicion: Wilson and Babs had private thoughts on this, but never really shared it with anyone; then along came Mendes and Logan, and that's when it came together.

    What still remains interesting is that Mendes/Logan had ideas on Blofeld, but it would seem that Mendes let Logan run with it. Hence, the script Logan delivered was deemed unacceptable, and in came Purvis, Wade, Butterworth.

    In short, the story OF Spectre is more compelling than the story IN Spectre.
  • Posts: 533
    For me, it's a tie between "Goldfinger" and "Skyfall".
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    peter wrote: »
    the way of the world, @w2bond -- if there's a buck to be made, more people want a piece of the pie! And film and television has always been collaborative.

    And that's the thing: Barbara, or Kevin Feige, are figureheads, but they have to answer to so many powers-that-be...

    But we fan-boys will say it's all Bab's fault...; behind the scenes, there's 20 executives giving notes to Babs to deliver to her writer and director.
    Who are all these executives who get to call all the shots? Surely it's Babs and Amy Pascal who get the final say in key decision making, the rest are just employees aren't they? Are we saying the blokes from Omega and Aston Martin get to have their voices heard as they are putting up a chunk of money?

    But I'm happy to agree thst it's no one person's fault and file a suit of corporate negligence in the case of the SP script as even the boy who makes the tea had a duty to speak out that the script is terrible.

    Clearly you've read a lot more about the leaks than me @peter. I've only scanned a few emails. Can you please send me your link as I think it's time I informed myself fully of who said what.
    TripAces wrote: »
    Walecs wrote: »
    TripAces wrote: »
    Walecs wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Blofeld should actually be well-planned and thought-out. Eon has yet to deliver the perfect Blofeld. I wish they could cast Vincent Cassel in the role as he awfully looks the part. If only that'd be a reality which only they can grant.

    I agree that it was rushed. Maybe they should have waited for the next Bond actor. Blofeld would have been a good "hook" to start his tenure. I think bringing back Blofeld was a strong wish but they didn't know how to do it when they got the rights.

    That said not sure Cassel would have worked. Too French for the role. If it had been me I'd have someone like Ciaran Hinds or Brendan Gleeson. Large and could easily be thuggish looking.

    Which is ironic, since they got the rights because Logan and Mendes desperately wanted to use Blofeld in first place.

    Source?
    I doubt Logan and Mendes were the ones to want to use Blofeld, if I'm honest. That sounds more like a corporate ambition (a miss!) rather than the decision of either the writer or the director.


    10pwz0y.jpg

    That is awesome! Thank you! This sort of flies in the face of what Field and Chowdhury reported in Some Kind of Hero, which I (rightfully or not) consider my Bond Bible. At the same time, Wilson also indicates that they (he and Babs) thought it was time to bring back Spectre, too. I wonder when they thought this and if those 'thoughts" predated Mendes and Logan saying, "Hey, we want Spectre and Blofeld back in this." My suspicion: Wilson and Babs had private thoughts on this, but never really shared it with anyone; then along came Mendes and Logan, and that's when it came together.

    What still remains interesting is that Mendes/Logan had ideas on Blofeld, but it would seem that Mendes let Logan run with it. Hence, the script Logan delivered was deemed unacceptable, and in came Purvis, Wade, Butterworth.

    In short, the story OF Spectre is more compelling than the story IN Spectre.
    Bizarrely it's P&W who we should be grateful to it seems for salavging as much as they could and they almost emerge from the whole mess without a stain on their character.
  • w2bondw2bond is indeed a very rare breed
    Posts: 2,252
    I'm assuming it's people with a financial stake in the movie
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 8,243
    @TheWizardOfIce if you go to https://wikileaks.com/ and type in sony email hacks. It's an amazing read. And, Pascal, although a savvy producer is certainly eccentric-- she emails notes to her self IN ALL CAPITALS, and then sends emails to her team in ALL CAPITALS...

    And yes, I do think P&W came in and saved the day-- up until they came on board, everyone was really down on the drafts being submitted.

    When P&W came on board, the first one hundred pages were celebrated. The final act is where everyone fixated their attention in the last couple of months leading into principal (as an outside observer, I think this was a mistake since; it's my belief that they kept re-working and re-working and re-working a story that was never holding together; but business being business, they plowed ahead).
  • Posts: 14,797
    The more I know about Amy Pascal the less I like her. I'd put the blame on her.
  • Posts: 1,162
    Sorry, but in my opinion the buck stops with EON. After all it's their baby and their name that stars on top of the posters and in front of the movie. In the end someone has the responsibility and he or she is called producer.
  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    Posts: 23,102
    The back end (pun intended) of TMWTGG was lazy writing, the plot was driven by Goodnights incompetence and hot ass.
  • 00Agent00Agent Any man who drinks Dom Perignon '52 can't be all bad.
    Posts: 5,185
    The back end (pun intended) of TMWTGG was lazy writing, the plot was driven by Goodnights incompetence and hot ass.

    Which is more than enough for some.
    I gotta say i enjoy TMWTGG a lot :D

  • Posts: 14,797
    The back end (pun intended) of TMWTGG was lazy writing, the plot was driven by Goodnights incompetence and hot ass.

    As beautiful as it's useful.
  • edited March 2018 Posts: 6,682
    Ludovico wrote: »
    The back end (pun intended) of TMWTGG was lazy writing, the plot was driven by Goodnights incompetence and hot ass.

    As beautiful as it's useful.
    Then I must add it to my cellar.
  • WalecsWalecs On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    edited March 2018 Posts: 3,157
    peter wrote: »
    @TheWizardOfIce if you go to https://wikileaks.com/ and type in sony email hacks. It's an amazing read. And, Pascal, although a savvy producer is certainly eccentric-- she emails notes to her self IN ALL CAPITALS, and then sends emails to her team in ALL CAPITALS...

    Thank you. There is one email by Amy Pascal which is especially interesting. She notes that Oberhauser (who was still named Stockmann back then) feels like a petulant kid, and the whole brother angle doesn't mean anything to us because it doesn't impact Bond any how (like many of us have been saying for 2+ years). I don't get why the writers nor the producers still decided to have it in the movie and even expand it by introducing it as early as the Rome meeting scene (since originally Bond and the villain's relationship was only revealed at the latter's lair).
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    Walecs wrote: »
    Thank you. There is one email by Amy Pascal which is especially interesting. She notes that Oberhauser (who was still named Stockmann back then) feels like a petulant kid, and the whole brother angle doesn't mean anything to us because it doesn't impact Bond any how (like many of us have been saying for 2+ years). I don't get why the writers nor the producers still decided to have it in the movie and even expande it by introducing it as early as the Rome meeting scene (since originally Bond and the villain's relationship was only revealed at the latter's lair).
    It's interesting that you mention that because for me the film begins to rapidly collapse on itself at that very Rome meeting (it was much lauded here upon release, but I've just always found that entire sequence tiresome and ever so boring. It's almost as though Mendes thought he was being smart by evoking TB but lost all touch with pacing - it just goes on and on and on, and the "cuckoo" revelation at the conclusion is particularly pathetic). Up until then the film is tolerable.
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    Posts: 4,548
    DRush76 wrote: »
    For me, it's a tie between "Goldfinger" and "Skyfall".

    TBH, most of the SC Bond films operate under ridiculous plots. FRWL is by far the best of those plots.

    DN is ... so so.
    GF, TB, and YOLT are beyond ridiculous.
    Thing is: who cares? GF and TB are in my top 5, and I overlook the plots.
  • Posts: 19,339
    TripAces wrote: »
    DRush76 wrote: »
    For me, it's a tie between "Goldfinger" and "Skyfall".

    TBH, most of the SC Bond films operate under ridiculous plots. FRWL is by far the best of those plots.

    DN is ... so so.
    GF, TB, and YOLT are beyond ridiculous.
    Thing is: who cares? GF and TB are in my top 5, and I overlook the plots.

    Exactly...it's Bond !!

  • Posts: 1,879
    I don't see how TB's main plot is ridiculous. One of the most world-wide fears for decades has been a terrorist group hijacking bombs, which is also realistic and frightening in a film.

    Now if you want to throw in a cloned Derval, the coincidence of Bond being at Shrublands at the same time the hijacking is about to go off and his being in the Bahamas where the whole thing is unfolding, sure, that's twisting things in a big way.

    Otherwise, having a terror group hijacking bombs is certainly more plausible than knocking rockets off course, irradiating the gold in Fort Knox, hijacking space capsules in space and launching a diamond-powered satellite, etc.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited March 2018 Posts: 23,883
    I think with film it really comes down to direction. If the direction is really good and inspired it can paper over plot flaws. It's an audio-visual medium after all, and the director can create tension out of something very mundane with the right approach. Early Spielberg always comes to mind in this regard. Duel for instance - simple premise - a man in a car being chased by a truck. I always find that film very tense. Same goes for the puddle of water vibrating in Jurassic Park as the T-Rex approaches for the first time. It's all in the anticipation and build up.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    Sorry, but in my opinion the buck stops with EON. After all it's their baby and their name that stars on top of the posters and in front of the movie. In the end someone has the responsibility and he or she is called producer.
    Yeah I'm afraid I struggle to apportion enough blame elsewhere to exonerate EON.

    After all Babs had enough clout to force the casting of Dan through when pretty much nobody (including Martin Campbell) wanted it but here she's being portrayed as a helpless victim of circumstance? Credit for the good decisions but no criticism for the bad ones? Can't have it both ways.

    I take @peter's oft repeated point that the start of filming was due and postponing the release date is simply not an option on projects of this size but, given Paul Duncan states above (in an EON sanctioned publication) that Logan submitted his notes for SP in 'December 2011', I still find the fact that in late 2014 they are scrabbling round for a serviceable script as extremely poor leadership. It's all well and good saying there's loads of people chipping in but at some point somebody needed to grasp the bull by the horns and make a decision because when it all goes tits up all those executives will disappear into the ether and EON will be the ones left getting slated on here.
  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    Posts: 23,102
    00Agent wrote: »
    The back end (pun intended) of TMWTGG was lazy writing, the plot was driven by Goodnights incompetence and hot ass.

    Which is more than enough for some.
    I gotta say i enjoy TMWTGG a lot :D

    TMWTGG is a fun film I agree.

    e84GEkK.gif

    Vs

    latest?cb=20130203142623

    The former is considerably more talented ;))
  • Posts: 14,797
    Walecs wrote: »
    peter wrote: »
    @TheWizardOfIce if you go to https://wikileaks.com/ and type in sony email hacks. It's an amazing read. And, Pascal, although a savvy producer is certainly eccentric-- she emails notes to her self IN ALL CAPITALS, and then sends emails to her team in ALL CAPITALS...

    Thank you. There is one email by Amy Pascal which is especially interesting. She notes that Oberhauser (who was still named Stockmann back then) feels like a petulant kid, and the whole brother angle doesn't mean anything to us because it doesn't impact Bond any how (like many of us have been saying for 2+ years). I don't get why the writers nor the producers still decided to have it in the movie and even expande it by introducing it as early as the Rome meeting scene (since originally Bond and the villain's relationship was only revealed at the latter's lair).

    Okay I was wrong she's not to blame for that and indeed brings good points about it. I think Blofeld introduced early on is a good idea. It's the stepbrother thing that is useless and tacked on. I agree with @TheWizardOfIce that it could have easily been taken out without any difficulties.
  • WalecsWalecs On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    edited March 2018 Posts: 3,157
    bondjames wrote: »
    Walecs wrote: »
    Thank you. There is one email by Amy Pascal which is especially interesting. She notes that Oberhauser (who was still named Stockmann back then) feels like a petulant kid, and the whole brother angle doesn't mean anything to us because it doesn't impact Bond any how (like many of us have been saying for 2+ years). I don't get why the writers nor the producers still decided to have it in the movie and even expande it by introducing it as early as the Rome meeting scene (since originally Bond and the villain's relationship was only revealed at the latter's lair).
    It's interesting that you mention that because for me the film begins to rapidly collapse on itself at that very Rome meeting (it was much lauded here upon release, but I've just always found that entire sequence tiresome and ever so boring. It's almost as though Mendes thought he was being smart by evoking TB but lost all touch with pacing - it just goes on and on and on, and the "cuckoo" revelation at the conclusion is particularly pathetic). Up until then the film is tolerable.

    I totally agree. I didn't like the fact that so many people just happened to meet themselves in a giant room, especially if the very head of the organization is there. Compare it with Quantum's meeting in Austria. That really felt like a spy meeting, with only the heads of the organization being there and not actually meeting by person. Rome's meeting felt like any casual person could simply walk in. In my opinion the Eyes Wide Shut-like meeting, with people wearing Carnival of Venice masks was much better. Also, I liked how Bond, after SPECTRE's leader mentioned his name, took out his gun and aimed at another masked man shouting: "There! Do not move!". Here Bond creates a diversion, takes advantage of it and escapes using his wit rather than simply punching Peppe Lanzetta in his face.

    Also, I felt that Blofeld should not show up until very late in the movie. Dr. No and Silva didn't, and both felt like truly menacing and out of reach, as if Bond had to work a lot before he could finally get to them.
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Walecs wrote: »
    peter wrote: »
    @TheWizardOfIce if you go to https://wikileaks.com/ and type in sony email hacks. It's an amazing read. And, Pascal, although a savvy producer is certainly eccentric-- she emails notes to her self IN ALL CAPITALS, and then sends emails to her team in ALL CAPITALS...

    Thank you. There is one email by Amy Pascal which is especially interesting. She notes that Oberhauser (who was still named Stockmann back then) feels like a petulant kid, and the whole brother angle doesn't mean anything to us because it doesn't impact Bond any how (like many of us have been saying for 2+ years). I don't get why the writers nor the producers still decided to have it in the movie and even expande it by introducing it as early as the Rome meeting scene (since originally Bond and the villain's relationship was only revealed at the latter's lair).

    Okay I was wrong she's not to blame for that and indeed brings good points about it. I think Blofeld introduced early on is a good idea. It's the stepbrother thing that is useless and tacked on. I agree with @TheWizardOfIce that it could have easily been taken out without any difficulties.

    Perhaps that's some poor wording on my part. Blofeld was introduced early on in the first scripts, but the "Moneypenny, research all files about Oberhauser" stuff was not in the script, and the fact that Bond and the villain knew each other was only revealed in the third act.
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 8,243
    Sorry, but in my opinion the buck stops with EON. After all it's their baby and their name that stars on top of the posters and in front of the movie. In the end someone has the responsibility and he or she is called producer.
    Yeah I'm afraid I struggle to apportion enough blame elsewhere to exonerate EON.

    After all Babs had enough clout to force the casting of Dan through when pretty much nobody (including Martin Campbell) wanted it but here she's being portrayed as a helpless victim of circumstance? Credit for the good decisions but no criticism for the bad ones? Can't have it both ways.

    I take @peter's oft repeated point that the start of filming was due and postponing the release date is simply not an option on projects of this size but, given Paul Duncan states above (in an EON sanctioned publication) that Logan submitted his notes for SP in 'December 2011', I still find the fact that in late 2014 they are scrabbling round for a serviceable script as extremely poor leadership. It's all well and good saying there's loads of people chipping in but at some point somebody needed to grasp the bull by the horns and make a decision because when it all goes tits up all those executives will disappear into the ether and EON will be the ones left getting slated on here.

    @TheWizardOfIce, I get what you're saying, and success and failure rests on the shoulders of the figureheads. But what we don't see behind the scenes, is that filmmaking is a collaborative industry. There are many players. Many voices. And yes, the leaders have to lead. However, and this point is not to excuse, but to clarify: there was an exceptional list of major issues during the development of the script. And, from what I have seen, foster-brothers was perhaps near the bottom of this very long list-- yes, some noted their issues with it; it seemed not to register at all for others.

    But, during various stages, there were enormous and glaring weaknesses to the entire script (as I pointed out in a previous comment: one executive wrote another saying the latest draft was even worse than the previous one-- that would mean that there weren't just a few really crappy scenes, but the ENTIRE thing was reading as shit).

    Most here don't like the foster-brother angle. I get that. But, my theory is, there were bigger issues with the script than this one d-plot; that as they tried to fix the bigger issues, this thing kept slipping through into draft after draft...

  • Posts: 14,797
    @Walecs Oh this is so frustrating because I have always wanted a masquerade in a Bond movie! And that would have been so perfect!
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    peter wrote: »
    Sorry, but in my opinion the buck stops with EON. After all it's their baby and their name that stars on top of the posters and in front of the movie. In the end someone has the responsibility and he or she is called producer.
    Yeah I'm afraid I struggle to apportion enough blame elsewhere to exonerate EON.

    After all Babs had enough clout to force the casting of Dan through when pretty much nobody (including Martin Campbell) wanted it but here she's being portrayed as a helpless victim of circumstance? Credit for the good decisions but no criticism for the bad ones? Can't have it both ways.

    I take @peter's oft repeated point that the start of filming was due and postponing the release date is simply not an option on projects of this size but, given Paul Duncan states above (in an EON sanctioned publication) that Logan submitted his notes for SP in 'December 2011', I still find the fact that in late 2014 they are scrabbling round for a serviceable script as extremely poor leadership. It's all well and good saying there's loads of people chipping in but at some point somebody needed to grasp the bull by the horns and make a decision because when it all goes tits up all those executives will disappear into the ether and EON will be the ones left getting slated on here.

    @TheWizardOfIce, I get what you're saying, and success and failure rests on the shoulders of the figureheads. But what we don't see behind the scenes, is that filmmaking is a collaborative industry. There are many players. Many voices. And yes, the leaders have to lead. However, and this point is not to excuse, but to clarify: there was an exceptional list of major issues during the development of the script. And, from what I have seen, foster-brothers was perhaps near the bottom of this very long list-- yes, some noted their issues with it; it seemed not to register at all for others.

    But, during various stages, there were enormous and glaring weaknesses to the entire script (as I pointed out in a previous comment: one executive wrote another saying the latest draft was even worse than the previous one-- that would mean that there weren't just a few really crappy scenes, but the ENTIRE thing was reading as shit).

    Most here don't like the foster-brother angle. I get that. But, my theory is, there were bigger issues with the script than this one d-plot; that as they tried to fix the bigger issues, this thing kept slipping through into draft after draft...
    You misunderstand me slightly I think. The whole script is all over the shop but I merely mention brothergate as this is merely the poster child of SP's flaws. The fact it made it into the shooting script is appalling but so is the whole bungled handling of Blofeld and SPECTRE going from never having been heard of to being vanquished in one film, Madeline falling in love with Bond after 5 mins, the terrible retconning of the whole Craig era, the magic ring, the lack of threat from the villain's plan, Bond suffering absolutely no ill effects after having his head drilled, the pointlessness of smartblood etc etc.

    You say that brothergate slipped through while they were busy fixing other issues. As far as I can see they fixed nothing. If this is the 'fixed' script how dismal was the one described as 'a mess'? Is that version of the script online for the masochists amongst us?
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    edited March 2018 Posts: 4,548
    BT3366 wrote: »
    I don't see how TB's main plot is ridiculous. One of the most world-wide fears for decades has been a terrorist group hijacking bombs, which is also realistic and frightening in a film.

    Now if you want to throw in a cloned Derval, the coincidence of Bond being at Shrublands at the same time the hijacking is about to go off and his being in the Bahamas where the whole thing is unfolding, sure, that's twisting things in a big way.

    Otherwise, having a terror group hijacking bombs is certainly more plausible than knocking rockets off course, irradiating the gold in Fort Knox, hijacking space capsules in space and launching a diamond-powered satellite, etc.

    Yes, that it is what I would be getting at, not to mention that the facial reconstruction surgery angle was 100% unnecessary, given that Spectre had Domino under its thumb. Blackmailing Derval into doing what they wanted was a far simpler, more realistic approach. I am always reminded of Thomas Harris's brilliant thriller Black Sunday, which takes a better/more practical approach to getting a pilot (played by Bruce Dern in the film) to act as political martyr.

  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 8,243
    There are a few drafts available online, @TheWizardOfIce. All I know is that it was one of the Logan drafts.

    I understand your frustration, and in a perfect world this would have been scrapped and re-started.

    They reworked and reworked and reworked a story that wasn’t working from its earliest inception.

    I don’t know why, other than the stubbornness of trying to capture lightning in a bottle again— which is, I can only imagine, what all of us would do. Afterall, Logan was a big part of SF. So was Mendes. And Logan, as his credits prove, was/is a big A list writer. Producers weren’t being negligent letting the man have space as he and his director (a man he had worked with before SF), whipped up their magic.

    And when they saw the direction of the script was going off the rails, there was a collective belief that they could right the wrongs, again with the two men who delivered SF.

    Much of filmmaking is taking educated gambles, and they lost on this last bet. They couldn’t turn it around.

    And with a start date fast approaching, they hired and went back to two writers from their recent past to salvage what they could.

    I really do believe the take away from all of this, and also from reading the reactions from development: everyone went into filming with eyes wide open. No producers in their right mind would want to repeat these steps again.

    And as I said before, I think we’re seeing that payoff: EoN has a P&W script ready to go. But they put it to the side to listen to a pitch. A pitch that sounds like it’s radically different than what they already have. And now, since there is time, they have commissioned this script to be written.

    Which means they are giving themselves choices— a luxury they didn’t give themselves last time out.

  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 8,243
    @TheWizardOfIce , I was just reading about Peter Munk, a very famous Hungarian-Canadian, who just died.

    He was a businessman extraordinaire and renowned philanthropist. He was nothing short of the definition of "success", in the largest possible meaning of the word.

    But he had some tremendous stinkers. Stinkers in risks and investments that came closing to wiping him out, several times over.

    And this is what his daughter said of him:

    "To my father, deals that went south, share prices that collapsed, companies that went bust were merely blips on the path to success. He never doubted he would make it all back, and then some."

    And, that's how I see great producers: no one is batting .100 in the film industry, the business community, nor in life. The challenge, though, is not to have our mistakes devour us, and use it instead to learn and create success from failure.

    And this is EoN's story. They have had blips, and they usually come back stronger than ever before... They will rise to high standards for B25, not only because that's their job, but it's because they- like all business people- are driven and are addicted to success, the success of overcoming all the obstacles laid in front of them, and making something that was worth two years of their life, that now others (their audience), will flock to see and enjoy, and, for two plus hours, forget about their own lives and be swept away on this journey in front of them...
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