October
2015 : Spectre , the 24th official film in the
series blasted on the screens worldwide .
And
although not praised as much as its immediate predecessor ( at least
, by 007 purists ) , the box-office financial returns were more than
enough to ensure an obligatory follow-up .
Which
should have started production this year ( or early 2017 at least )
for a proposed 2018 release date , except this well oiled scenario
derailled along the way for several reasons .
What
happened – and , more important , when exactly will the next film
appear ( IF there's a next one ) ?
Reason 1
: the current 007 incarnation very own mood . Everybody read the tired ' never
again ' Daniel Craig assertion during the Spectre promo
campaign around the world .
The
actor was understandably a bit shaken & stirred from the shooting
( having injured himself more than once during the globe-trotting
scheme ) . Hence , some not very promising and stern comments about
his own future as agent 007 . Ok , when you spend more than half a
year on the shooting of a single one movie , fatigue can get in .
Normal reaction . No reason to panic ( yet ) .
NO
casting has been officially announced by Eon , nor MGM , for the part
– and , if the producers do keep their words , Daniel Craig STILL
is James Bond .
( Ah .
But wasn't it exactly the same with dear old Tim Dalton in the early
90s ? ) .
Reason 2
: The Broccoli other Movies affair .
Meanwhile
, the always hyper active Barbara Broccoli ( who already helped
producing several non 007 small films and some theater plays as well
) engaged herself in 2016 in the production of ' Film Stars Don't
Die in Liverpool ' ( a fictionalized version of actress Gloria
Grahame 's life . Movie status is currently ending post production .
Miss
Broccoli also intends to produce a stage version of The
Kid Stays in the Picture about
movie executive and producer Robert Evans ( the man behind Polanski's
Chinatown )
( She
already produced in the past the very successful version of the Ian
Fleming based Musical ' Chitty chitty Bang Bang ' ) .
Meaning
, of course , Bond25 could be potentially entering pre-production
only by mid 2017 ( even if Eon is working permanently on new ideas
and synopsises for future films )
Reason 3
: The Production Imbroglio
I don't
know about you , but I always thought it was some kind of (
repetitive ) miracle the Bond films managed to get produced and
issued with so many different parties involved ( Eon, MGM , the Ian
Fleming Publication company , Sony or whatever other world-wide
distributor .... ) .
Well it
seems this time , this carefully oiled clockwork might be one of the
reason the next film is in limbo for the present time .
Sony
pictures – the distributor of all the latest Daniel Craig James
Bond movies – was supposed to be out with Spectre .
Understanbily , all major
Hollywood companies were said to be on the look-out to grab the most
profitable franchise of Cinema history .
And
what happened so far ?
We
do not have a clue ! No statement whatsoever has been released by any
of those giants .
THE
only comment came from MGM CEO Gary Barber who listed the Bond films series two
weeks ago during a conference call for MGM investors “premium
franchise titles” that “we expect to release over the next few
years.” .
Uh
oh , wait : ' next FEW years ' ?
Meaning
: any date from 2018 till Eternity ?
That's
not a very encouraging prospect indeed ...
Meanwhile
, the Ian Fleming Publication estate is fretting with new projects .
Announcing
Anthony Horrowitz's second Continuation novel for 2018 ( hooray ) -
and licencing Ian Fleming's characters to US based Dynamite Comics
company .
I'd
be extremely cautious about the whereabouts of those new
interpretations of 007 in Comics form – if only judging from their
first venture into the field .
VARGR
( not a Swedish type insult , be assured ) , the first Dynamite
installment , being a rather poor taste story of classical
megalomaniac wanting to erase the human race through a deadly drug (
to be able to test his very own vaccine against it . Yes , this one
sometimes seems to lightly borrow from Fleming , Gardner , and also
from Eon's Bond – the alias ' Peter Franks ' does appear , as well
as a Naomie Harris type Moneypenny , a John Cleese like Q , etc, etc
...
But
the most disturbing thing about that Graphic novel ( the more
legitimate appellation of Comic books these days ) is its extreme
violence ( explosive dum dum bullets exiting from the back of the
head of a bad guy , fingers sliced and cut in close ups , that sort
of things ) .
The
writer of this piece is not a chicken , but I felt slightly puzzled
with all this blood & gore displayed at virtually each encounter
between Bond and any bad guy .
It's
almost as if the writers decided to try to enhance Daniel Craig's
already very physical interpretation of the character – making him
some sort of Charles Bronson Death Wish killing machine .
Gloomy
is really about the only adjective which can describe correctly that
story
Nothing
is retained of the authentical Fleming mood ( and famous sweep
) , there's no characterisation and no empathy for any of the
cast appearing .
Add
to that some strange , sometimes almost Manga-like – drawnings and
you'll sorely miss Mike Grell's unique ( if a bit crazy – but fun
) Serpent's tooth own Comics James Bond variation .
And
even more the Ian Fleming inspired Daily Express newspaper 1950s
strips .
Let
us hope Dynamite will rectify things with their upcoming Felix
Leiter creation . The very first sequel inspired by a Fleming
character ...
I'm
wondering if Barbara Broccoli has optionned those Dynamite titles as
well ?