007 Tweets of note from Jeremy Duns, Anthony Horowitz

On Sunday, Jan. 25, two rather interesting posts on Twitter emerged related to the world of James Bond.

The first was from journalist and author Jeremy Duns. He came across a 1963 story in the Daily Express indicating that, at one time, Bond co-producer Harry Saltzman was interesting in having actor-playwright Robert Shaw script a 007 film.

Apparently, Harry Saltzman asked Robert Shaw to write a Bond film but he turned it down to appear in a Pinter play: pic.twitter.com/FSghXM5hpF

— Jeremy Duns (@jeremyduns) January 25, 2015

Shaw, of course, played Red Grant in 1963’s From Russia With Love. There are no details about what Bond project this might have been for.

Generally speaking, screenwriter Richard Maibaum was close to Albert R. Broccoli, the other Bond co-producer. Saltzman was always on the lookout for other scribes, including Len Deighton (who did uncredited work on From Russia With Love), Paul Dehn (Goldfinger) and John Hopkins (Thunderball).

Duns previously has detailed the work screenwriter Ben Hecht did for producer Charles K. Feldman’s ill-fated 1967 Casino Royale film. Duns researched how Hecht had a more serious take in mind. Duns has a e-book on the subject, ROGUE ROYALE.

The other Tweet came from Anthony Horwitz, writer of the next James Bond continuation novel coming out this fall.

OMG. The Man with the Golden Gun is not good.

— Anthony Horowitz (@AnthonyHorowitz) January 25, 2015

The author, as it turns out, was watching the 1974 movie on television. On Jan. 15, HE TWEETED he had delivered his Bond novel. On Jan. 22, HE TWEETED that he had seen the cover, calling it “perfect.”

Just seen the cover of the new James Bond novel. It's perfect. Orion Books really working overtime.

— Anthony Horowitz (@AnthonyHorowitz) January 22, 2015

UPDATE: Horowitz later engaged in a dialogue with other Twitter users.

One commented to Horowitz that the Golden Gun novel isn’t one of Fleming’s best novels. Horowitz’s reply: “True. But that rubber nipple? Oh dear.” In a separate response, he said of the 1974 movie’s car jump: “Great stunt. But the sound and the sheriff? Oh dear.”

He was then informed by freelance writer and author Jeffrey Westhoff, “Slide whistle was John Barry’s choice, which he later regretted. But director, etc. could have nixed it.” Horowitz’s reply: “That’s a very interest piece of movie trivia!”

SPECTRE silly season under way

No question — we’re now well into what we’ll call the “silly season” for SPECTRE.

Production on the 24th James Bond film produced by Eon Productions has been underway since early December. There are fragmentary bits of information. Some photos of location shooting in Austria here (such as THIS IMAGE which has been seen various places including the BOND 24 WEBSITE). Some developments becoming public there.

For all that, there’s not enough information to really get a sense of how things are going or if the movie will be any good or not.

One of those fragments IS A STORY IN THE U.K. MIRROR TABLOID NEWSPAPER that says the production may have been thrown a major curve ball about a scheduled location in Rome. Here’s an excerpt.

Filming for the new James Bond movie has been thrown into chaos after a row over a historic site in Rome.

Producers had planned to shoot key scenes for Spectre on the 15th century Ponte Sisto bridge…But religious campaigners are furious as the bridge holds special significance, with links to Pope Innocent X — prompting protests to authorities in the Italian capital.

There are more details if you click on the link above. If you do, there is a bit of a spoiler about the planned sequence.

Anyway, this potential setback comes after officials in Rome vetoed a location for a car chase. (CLICK HERE to read a Jan. 9 story on the MI6 James Bond website.) Still, does this really amount to “chaos” the way the Mirror characterizes it?

For now, we’re mostly going to get teases from official 007 social media, like this Jan. 22 Tweet:

From Sölden to Q Stage #SPECTRE pic.twitter.com/1JKCN4QCNy

— James Bond (@007) January 22, 2015

In other words, interesting visuals, not much context. The same applies to the periodic clapperboard shots.

Thanks to the Sony hacking, we know a more than usual compared with production of other 007 films. That information includes memos, draft scripts and the fact SPECTRE’s budget may exceed $300 million, making it one of the most expensive movies ever made. For context, thought, that won’t come until another day.