Daniel Craig is the new James Bond

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MK
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Daniel Craig is the new James Bond

Postby MK » Wed Apr 06, 2005 4:34 pm

I think he was in Road To Perdition (a disappointing picture, BTW), and he's been cast as the next Bond. Here's a picture Yahoo gave:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s ... sbb_photo0

He's 37-years-old and it's supposed to be a ten year commitment. Has the acting credentials, unlike, say, Lazenby, but still, he doesn't really look like Bond. I wish Pierce would do one more picture, one more stab at the best Bond possible. The last one started GREAT, but after he escapes and gets cleaned-up, it rapidly falls apart.
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MK
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Postby MK » Wed Apr 06, 2005 4:36 pm

Here's the story:

British actor Daniel Craig picked as new James Bond

Wed Apr 6, 7:49 AM ET Entertainment - AFP

LONDON (AFP) - The producers of the hugely successful James Bond film franchise have chosen British actor Daniel Craig to take over the role of the suave super-spy, a report said.

AFP/Getty Images/File Photo

The 37-year-old has been offered a three-film deal by Bond producer Barbara Broccoli and is expected to sign up formally in the next few weeks, The Sun newspaper reported Wednesday.

Craig, a tough-looking character actor who has mixed up appearances in many art-house titles with roles in blockbusters such as "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider", just beat fellow Briton Clive Owen for the role, the report said.

Craig would be the sixth Bond in the official series of films based on the novels by Ian Fleming, following Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and most recent incumbent Pierce Brosnan.

According to The Sun, Owen -- nominated for an Oscar this year for film "Closer" -- had told casting agents he did not want the job, although Broccoli was already favouring Craig.

While Craig remains relatively unknown outside Britain, he is well respected as an actor and also has the necessary reputation for being something of a Bond-esque ladies man, having recently dated supermodel Kate Moss.

Citing an unnamed "movie source", The Sun said that staff working at Eon Productions, which makes the Bond movies, had been told Craig would star in the next films.

"Daniel is the new 007. He is going through the deal with his lawyers. It's a big commitment for a minimum of 10 years, but he has indicated he will take the job," the source said.

Brosnan's last film as Bond was "Die Another Day" in 2002. Since then a string of possible replacements have been mooted, including Britons Jude Law and Ewan McGregor and Australian actors Hugh Jackman and Eric Bana.

Fleming's novels chronicling the adventures of the British spy codenamed 007 were first turned into a film in 1962, with "Dr No".
"When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war." – Dwight D. Eisenhower



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dudelsack
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Postby dudelsack » Wed Apr 06, 2005 4:37 pm

Wow. Really going in a different direction with this one. Now, if they could get some directors and scripts that are better than bland...last one was entertaining, I agree, until sometime in the middle.

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Postby MK » Wed Apr 06, 2005 4:46 pm

Apted was an interesting choice. I think they should follow the early Star Wars/Raiders model of going after unconventional choices that actually have experience with action-type pictures.

They got Philip Kauffman ("Right Stuff"), Leigh Brackett (wrote for Howard Hawks), then you have Spielberg and Kasdan ("Body Heat")...Kauffman's lost it, Brackett's deceased, Spielberg wouldn't do it anymore, and Kasdan wouldn't work, but I'm not talking about them specifically, I mean choices made in that same spirit.
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Postby Rspaight » Wed Apr 06, 2005 9:08 pm

I fully agree about the last picture -- it looked like it was going to be amazing until they gave up on the whole "a betrayed Bond survives on his wits alone" arc and reverted to tired form. I thought Brosnan was a fine Bond, but was never given a killer script -- TND was pretty good, though.

I could never really accept Lazenby -- he just looked too thuggish to be Bond. (Yes, I know Bond *is* a thug, but he shouldn't look like one.) OHMSS might be the best Bond movie anyway -- definitely would have been with Connery. Oh, well.

Last I heard, the next one was going to be "Casino Royale," now the Eon finally got the rights back.

Ryan
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MK
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Postby MK » Wed Apr 06, 2005 9:42 pm

Yeah, there should've been a whole lot more with Bond in that last one. They set it up so well: they make it clear they don't want to trade for him, the lay out possible suspicions that Bond talked, even reminding him that he didn't commit suicide with a cyanide capsule, etc. I figured it was a rogue agent, but still, it was so blah after that.

Some say "The World Is Not Enough" is one of the great Bonds: it definitely starts off great, too, and it was pretty solid, despite the ridiculous notion of having Denise Richards cast as a nuclear physicist (but then again, it's a nice tongue-in-cheek gag, I suppose; they had to have been aware of it).

OHMSS could've been so much better. It had the best Bond girl in Rigg, in terms of character, performance, etc.
"When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war." – Dwight D. Eisenhower



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Postby krabapple » Thu Apr 07, 2005 1:01 am

Clive Owen would have *owned* Bond.
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Postby MK » Thu Apr 07, 2005 1:55 pm

I can't believe he PASSED on it. Then again, from the interviews I've read, he doesn't like to be tied down by contractual obligations like that, but C'MON! We're only talking about three or four movies over ten years!
"When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war." – Dwight D. Eisenhower



"Neither slave nor tyrant." - Basque motto

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Postby MK » Fri Apr 08, 2005 1:28 am

Okay, apparently the Sun may have been bullshitting the public, and Yahoo! was too quick to pick up the story.

From AFP:

Shaken, not stirred: James Bond identity remains top secret

Thu Apr 7, 5:23 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The identity of the next British superspy James Bond remained a tightly-guarded secret, as rumours swirled in Hollywood over who will take over the role of the world's most dashing covert agent.

A day after a British newspaper reported that British actor Daniel Craig had been chosen to take on 007's mantel from Pierce Brosnan, Hollywood media suggested that Brosnan may not be turning in his Walther PPK pistol after all.

Industry bible Daily variety quoted US sources as saying that the 37-year-old Craig was "no more of a certainty than other candidates" that reportedly include British actors Clive Owen and Dominic West.

The daily instead cited rumours that Bond producers had "patched things up with former 007 Pierce Brosnan and were negotiating a two-picture 40-million-dollar deal for him to reprise his role as the dapper spy."

But it also cited further speculation that Brosnan had only signed on to make one more Bond film to give producers a chance to find a new star.

Producers and distributors of the hugely-successful Bond franchise however declined to comment.

"Nothing official has been announced yet," said Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studios spokesman Peter Peterson. "We are in the same position as you," he told AFP.

Brosnan's publicist Jennifer Allen also declined to confirm any of the conflicting stories surrounding her client.

No announcement of the next Bond is likely to be made until Sony Pictures completes its take-over of MGM later this month, industry sources said.

The 52-year-old Irish actor Brosnan announced last July that he would abandon his starring role as Bond after four smash hits as the suave spy.

Bond producers, Eon Productions, and distributors MGM launched a worldwide search for the next Bond.

The names of Oscar-nominated British actor Clive Owen, Britons Jude Law and Ewan McGregor and Australians Hugh Jackman and Eric Bana soon hit the headlines, but no star was announced.

Variety suggested Brosnan may have been dissatisfied with his last Bond paycheque for "Die Another Day," which raked in 350 million dollars at the box office.

While Brosnan received a total of around 20 million dollars, the figure dwarfed the cash received by "Matrix" star Keanu Reeves and "Mission Impossible's" Tom Cruise who also got a share of box office profits, it said.

Britain's Sun newspaper on Wednesday cited an unnamed "movie source" as saying that Eon Productions had been told Craig would star in the next films.

But website Darkhorizons.com said Craig had denied being asked and that Brosnan was very likely to return as Bond. It said all the talk of him quitting was a negotiating ploy.



Plus interesting history/rumors in the last few months behind Casino Royale, documented here:

http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hp&cf=prev&id=1808476049
"When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war." – Dwight D. Eisenhower



"Neither slave nor tyrant." - Basque motto