Some basic facts about Craig being cast as 007

Here is some basic math about the 2005 casting of Daniel Craig as James Bond.

Daniel Craig’s 007 enjoys a few (hic) Vespers.

Daniel Craig, born March 2, 1968, was cast as James Bond in October 2005. He was *37 years old* at the time. He was 38 when Casino came out in theaters.

Matthew Belloni, a former editor at the Hollywood Reporter and now at the online news outlet Puck, had this line this week concerning possible future Bond actors.

(Eon will) commission a script, decide on a filmmaker, and start meeting with actors, likely younger than even Craig was when he took over the role at 34.

Thirty-four? No.

Belloni’s story also had this passage:

(MGM owner) Amazon, which isn’t used to the lack of control over a major asset like this, would love to alter the relationship, to expand the franchise and better incorporate it into Prime Video, and there have been rumors that the company is prepared to write Barbara and Michael a massive check to make that happen. I’ll believe it when I see it. 

Meanwhile, I’ll believe it when hot-shot entertainment journalists can do basic fact-checking and basic math.

Broccoli says Purvis & Wade will probably work on Bond 26

Robert Wade, left, and Neal Purvis. (Paul Baack illustration)

Barbara Broccoli, boss of Eon Productions, said on an Empire magazine podcast that writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade will probably work on Bond 26.

Toward the end of the podcast, Broccoli talked about the challenges of casting a new Bond actor.

“That’s something we’ll do probably with Rob (Wade) and Neal (Purvis),” Broccoli said 49 minutes into a 51-minute podcast with Empire.

Purvis and Wade have worked on the Bond series starting with 1999’s The World Is Not Enough. The scribes have scaped up bits from Ian Fleming’s stories for Eon’s film series since that time.

Die Another Day (2002) was the one Eon Bond film with the scribes as the sole writers. Purvis and Wade shared The World Is Not Enough screenwriting credit with Bruce Feirstein; with Paul Haggis on Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace; with John Logan on Skyfall and SPECTRE; and with Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Cary Fukunaga on No Time to Die.

Cinema Bond at 60

A one-time avatar for Eon’s Twitter feed

The cinema James Bond is a few days from its 60th anniversary. For Eon Productions, it has been a run of 25 films, starting with Dr. No through No Time to Die.

Eon has spent most of 2022 celebrating that run. At the same time, there’s uncertainty what happens now.

We all know that Eon boss Barbara Broccoli feels Daniel Craig is the best Bond. She made that clear in multiple interviews. A year ago, when No Time to Die came out, Broccoli said she just wanted to celebrate Craig’s run. That celebration continues this year.

Broccoli and Eon have made clear they’re in no hurry for post-Craig films. Broccoli has said it will be at least two years before Bond 26 starts filming. At least two years. That implies it could be longer.

Eon also is making a big deal about a new Bond actor having to make a 10- to 12-year commitment. At the same time, Eon isn’t making commitments to how many films it intends to make during that time. Three? More? If so, how many?

That’s something to be determined later. Bond — despite various studio issues, including a 2010 MGM bankruptcy — has had a long run. It’s no longer 1965 — when Bond dominated global popular entertainment — but 007 (despite being killed off in No Time to Die) still makes an impact.

Happy anniversary, Mr. Bond.

MGM watch: Epix to be renamed MGM +

MGM logo

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s Epix premium TV channel will be renamed MGM + in early 2023, various outlets reported, including Deadline: Hollywood and Variety.

Epix originally was formed in 2008 as a joint venture between MGM, Paramount and Lionsgate. MGM eventually acquired all of Epix.

The Variety story had this passage citing Michael Wright, president of Epix, commenting how things have changed since Amazon acquired MGM.

“The good news is, Amazon has increased investment in content,” says Wright, who declines to get into specifics on how much that means. But, he contends, the new owners are “really helping us to grow this thing. So, we’re doing more of the same with, I will say, a greater emphasis on and celebration of MGM. We’re not going to be exclusive to MGM, we’re still going to be acquiring films from other studios. But a celebration of the MGM brand is a is a bigger part now of the service.”

MGM is the studio home to the James Bond film series produced by Eon Productions.

Is it 60 years of Bond or 15 years of Craig?

This week, the official James Bond feed on Twitter promoted two projects: A Decca Records release of reimagined Bond movie themes and a documentary about the music of James Bond.

The promos have one thing in common. The visuals for both promos only show movie clips from the Daniel Craig era of Bond films (2006-2021).

Here is the tweet about the Decca Records release.

Bond 25 is released today on @DeccaRecords and brings together #60yearsofBond themes reimagined by the @rpoonline.

Available at https://t.co/P3Cv3iGiMS. pic.twitter.com/1x20SH7XaD

— James Bond (@007) September 23, 2022

Here’s the tweet about the music documentary. There’s a lot of talk about Bond music but only images from Craig’s appearance in Skyfall.

A preview of the upcoming documentary The Sound of 007, premiering exclusively on Amazon Prime Video on October 5th.

Directed by BIFA and BAFTA-nominee Mat Whitecross, the film pulls back the curtain on the remarkable history of six decades of James Bond music.#60yearsofBond pic.twitter.com/aRORY5QMG3

— James Bond (@007) September 22, 2022

All of this is in connection with the 60th anniversary of the Bond film series produced by Eon Productions. While Craig accounts for 15 years of that history, he did five movies, less than Roger Moore (seven) and Sean Connery (six, not counting the non-Eon Bond film Never Say Never Again). Also, Craig’s year total gets inflated because of gaps of 2008-2012 and 2015 to 2021.

A joke I’ve seen on social media is that Eon Productions boss Barbara Broccoli, whose admiration for Craig is well known, did the editing herself for these promos.

Craig’s run as Bond ended with 2021’s No Time to Die. But Broccoli said more than once she was in denial that the actor’s time as Bond was coming to an end.

Bond 26 questions: The Variety interview edition

A previous Image for the official James Bond feed on Twitter

So, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson gave an interview to Variety. The Eon Productions duo again said James Bond won’t return to theater screens soon and they’re looking for the next actor to make a long-time commitment.

However, there were other interesting tidbits. Naturally, the blog has questions.

How many Bond films will get made during an actor’s “10-, 12-year commitment”?

That’s the kind of commitment the Eon pair said they’re looking for from a new Bond actor. But at the current rate of production, that might only be three films. The Eon series had only two entries — Skyfall and SPECTRE — during the entire decade of the 2010s.

Yes, there were external factors, including Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s bankruptcy in 2010 and COVID-19 in 2020. But some of the gaps were self-imposed, including putting off the development of what became No Time to Die to try and get Daniel Craig back for another movie.

Will Bond 26 with a new actor really be that much different than Craig’s run?

One passage in the Variety story suggests not.

Both Wilson and Broccoli, who is a director of the U.K. chapter of women’s advocacy org Time’s Up, have left their mark on Bond, particularly in humanizing the once-womanizing spy and ensuring more fulfilling, meatier roles for the female stars of the franchise. These are qualities that will continue in the next films, says Broccoli. (emphasis added)

What are they up to in the interim?

Barbara Broccoli is one of the producers of Till, a fact-based film about the lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955 and its aftermath. It’s due out next month. Wilson “has written a TV show that the duo are looking to set up,” according to Variety. And both are involved in producing an Amazon streaming show 007’s Road to a Million. That is currently in production, Variety says. Amazon also owns MGM.

Producers talk to Variety about casting next Bond

Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson

The next James Bond actor has to be in it for the long haul, producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson told Variety in an interview.

“And when we cast Bond, it’s a 10-, 12-year commitment,” Broccoli said. “A lot of people think, ‘Oh yeah, it’d be fun to do one,’ Well. That ain’t gonna work.”

Wilson told Variety: “It’s a big investment for us, too, to bring out a new Bond.”

Eon’s most recent Bond actor, Daniel Craig, was cast as Bond in 2005 when he was 37. His five-film run as Bond ended with 2021’s No Time to Die. That film ended with Bond being blown to smithereens in a sacrifice play for his wife, Madeline Swann, and daughter.

Variety conducted the interview in late August. At one point, the producers said it’s early days for the search. Broccoli again said Bond 26 won’t go into production soon. “(I)t’s going to be a couple of years off.” 

There was also this exchange:

Even in this interview, when asked whether (MGM owner) Amazon might ask for a narrative Bond TV show, Wilson notes, “We’re trying to keep it theatrical,” and Broccoli swiftly retorts: “Well, we’re gonna keep it theatrical. We’re not going to try; we’ve got to do it. It’s just a theatrical franchise.”

Happy 89th birthday, David McCallum

David McCallum in a Man From U.N.C.L.E. publicity still

Today, Sept. 19, is David McCallum’s 89th birthday.

He’s almost the last man standing from The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Robert Vaughn is gone. So is Norman Felton, the producer who met with Ian Fleming in 1962. So is Sam Rolfe, who took the Felton-Fleming ideas and put them into a script. Many of the actors are gone, including Leo G. Carroll.

Other contributors such as directors Richard Donner and Joseph Sargent as well as director of photography Fred Koenekamp have passed away in recent years.

There’s not a whole lot that needs saying. McCallum had a great career. He still has many fans who admire him. Happy birthday. We’ll leave it at that.

IFP teases an announcement for Oct. 5 (err, 5-Oct.)

Ian Fleming Publications today teased an announcement for Oct. 5 (or 5-October, if you prefer).

Early today, U.S. time, the company that controls the literary Bond, said on Twitter there would be an announcement on Oct. 5, 2022. That’s the date of so-called James Bond Day. That matches up with Oct. 5, 1962, when the film adaptation of Dr. No debuted.

But the tweet soon disappeared. The first version used the U.S. version of dates (month-day-year). There was a response (I forget from whom) objecting that it should be the international system (day-month-year).

I have no idea if that was a factor, but a new IFP tweet soon appeared with the international dating system.

👀👀👀

See you on James Bond Day! #007 pic.twitter.com/RR0PX0iBhP

— Ian Fleming (@TheIanFleming) September 15, 2022

“James Bond Day” goes back to 2012 as a way by Eon Productions to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Dr. No’s premiere. Fans have subsequently embraced it. There is often fan speculation each year if there is a big announcement coming related to 007.

IFP has just launched a new trilogy by author Kim Sherwood set in the present day (or near future) featuring new 00-agents. Bond himself is missing and may be dead. Naturally, fans are curious about what IFP has in mind with this upcoming announcement.

As usual, we’ll see.

Mendes muses to Baz about Bond films

Sam Mendes

Sam Mendes talked to Deadline: Hollywood’s Baz Bamigboye for a feature story that included a few musings about James Bond films.

–Making Bond films is as much being an engineer as being a director. “It’s like erecting scaffolding and building an entire world…It’s exhausting, in a different way.”

–“I don’t envy (Eon Productions boss) Barbara (Broccoli) having to follow Daniel’s [Craig] five movies. He reinvigorated the franchise but the franchise is so huge that it’s very difficult for a younger actor to step into that.”

–“I think that the actor playing Bond is going to evolve, the director has to evolve. I think it would be wonderful to see a woman directing Bond. I think it would be wonderful.”

Earlier in the story, Mendes said: “I don’t think they’d want me anymore.” He was asked if he had actually been told that. Mendes then said, “Let me rephrase that.” The comment about the director having to evolve followed.

Mendes directed Skyfall (2012) and SPECTRE (2015). Bamigboye formerly was at the Daily Mail, where he often wrote about Bond films.