Why nobody should be surprised that ‘nothing is happening’

Naomie Harris in Moonlight

Naomie Harris caused some buzz in 007-land this week after giving an interview with Total Film that got summarized in the UK tabloid Mirror.

According to the story, the actress wanted to find out from Eon Productions what was going on with Bond 25. Here’s the key excerpt:

Even though she is part of the 007 franchise, Naomie admits she has equally been drawn into speculation about who will be Bond in the next film, though producers have insisted to her they are not even thinking about the project yet.

(snip)

“I met them recently and said, ‘What’s going on guys? Because everybody keeps asking me.’ I was believing the hype. I was like, ‘Is it Tom Hiddleston? What’s going on?’ They were like, ‘Naomie, nothing is happening.’ Because they’re doing another film at the moment. They were like, ‘We are focusing on this film. We have nothing to do with that.’ “

Nobody should be surprised. Why? Because if we were within a year of production starting, more would be happening.

Some recent history. The Deadline: Hollywood website first reported in January 2010 that Eon was considering Sam Mendes to direct the then-untitled Bond 23.

The project got delayed by the bankruptcy that year of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Bond’s home studio. But the movie was a go again by January 2011 — 10 months before it began filming.

Later THAT SAME MONTH, Deadline reported that Eon was considering casting Javier Bardem in the film. Baz Bamigboye of the Daily Mail reported in February 2011 that Ralph Fiennes was in talks to join the cast. Harris’ own casting in the film was reported by the now-defunct News of the World in June 2011.

In other words, months before filming began, news about the director and cast began to appear. The story was similar with 2015’s SPECTRE, which had an announced writer in November 2012 and a release date and director (Mendes again) announced in July 2013.

With Bond 25, there’s no director, no script (as far as anyone knows) and no cast, including a confirmed James Bond. Daniel Craig, who turns 49 in March, has said he’d miss playing Bond but hasn’t actually said he’ll do it again.

Oh, and there’s no studio to release Bond 25. MGM is too small to distribute Bond films and has no studio partner lined up yet. Sony Pictures has released the past four 007 films.

Many fans are hopeful that Bond 25 can make a fall 2018 release date. But there are no signs Eon is gearing up. Eon boss Barbara Broccoli produced Craig’s now-concluded Othello play. She is working on a non-Bond film (Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool) and another play, based on the life of studio mogul Robert Evans.

At this point, there is no sign of the kind of activity that precedes a Bond movie. So the quotes from Harris ought not be surprising. If Eon and MGM showed more urgency a 2018 release date could still happen. But there’s no sign of such urgency.

Groundhog Day: 007, U.N.C.L.E. fan comments

Daniel Craig in SPECTRE teaser poster

Like the movie Groundhog Day, some things in spy fandom happen over and over.

In the James Bond world, even though Daniel Craig was cast as 007 almost a decade ago, you can still find fan debates about the 47-year-old actor.

For example, a story IN THE U.K. MIRROR reported Honor Blackman said that Craig, and not Sean Connery was now the best film Bond.

“I’m sorry to say he’s a better actor – but I think Sean would acknowledge that,” the Mirror quoted Blackman, who played Pussy Galore oppose Connery in Goldfinger. “I think Dan is terrific. He’s capable of so much more.”

Naturally, on social media, Craig fans and supporters noted the story and got into it with critics of the actor.  It happens the other way round, of course, when someone famous — say Ursula Andress in a DAILY MAIL STORY — says Craig isn’t the best Bond (“‘Hes a great actor, but not James Bond.”) Fan critics seize on comments such as that and try to rub it in the nose of Craig fans.

Then again, maybe this shouldn’t be surprising. There are still 007 fans who harshly criticize Roger Moore — who hasn’t done a Bond movie in 30 years — for taking too light a tone with his Bond films.

At the same time, Blackman’s comments were totally comfort food for 007 fans.

“Now it’s no longer like Ian Fleming, it’s more like The Bourne Identity,” Blackman said about current Bond movies. “It’s a different kind of film.” A lot of Bond fans don’t like the comparison with the Bourne films.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. teaser poster

Meanwhile, fans of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. continue to have variations on a the same theme: Namely, should a movie version of the 1964-68 spy show have been made at all?

There are some fans of the original show who never wanted it made in the first place and view it as garbage four months before it’s due out in theaters.

Among the reasons: it changes the U.N.C.L.E. timeline (the movie depicts the beginning of U.N.C.L.E. in 1963, whereupon in the show it began sometime shortly after World War II); there’s no way the stars (Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer) can possibly compare to Robert Vaughn and David McCallum); and the movie has lost the “everyman” dynamic of the show because it with two leads over 6-feet tall, including the 6-foot-5 Hammer as Illya Kuryakin, originally played by the 5-foot-7 McCallum.

As details dribble out, such as the movie Solo has a history as an art thief, that debate intensifies.

Nevertheless, other U.N.C.L.E. fans, having gone without an official U.N.C.L.E. production since a 1983 television movie, are looking forward to the film and want to give it a chance.

Both are spy entertainment’s version of Groundhog Day. No doubt somebody will again gear up one or the other debate sooner than later.

SPECTRE: recovery time from knee surgery

SPECTRE teaser poster

SPECTRE star Daniel Craig has had knee surgery because of an injury during filming, THE MIRROR reported. The question is how long it will take him to recover fully.

Reader Mark Henderson passed along THIS LINK from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, which includes this passage:

Unless you have had a ligament reconstruction, you should be able to return to most physical activities after 6 to 8 weeks, or sometimes much sooner. Higher impact activities may need to be avoided for a longer time. You will need to talk with your doctor before returning to intense physical activities.

The website of Johns Hopkins presents similar information AT THIS LINK.

It typically takes about three weeks to recover fully for routine daily activities, but it may be two to three months before one can comfortably return to sports.

The Mirror report didn’t have a lot of medical detail about Daniel Craig. It said his injury originally occurred during location shooting in Austria and it was aggravated during an action scene at Pinewood Studios. Here’s an excerpt.

Craig’s operation was carried out last week by specialist medics in New York, where he lives with his wife Rachel Weisz, 45, in a penthouse in Manhattan’s East Village.

He was seen on Monday morning with a weekend bag, apparently ­leaving for the clinic where he was due to have surgery.

(snip)

While he recovers, studio filming and location shots in Mexico City in which he is not involved in are ­believed to have been brought forward.

The co-bosses of Eon Productions, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, recently talked to reporters in Mexico City. According to A TRANSCRIPT BY IGN, Broccoli said most of the movie’s major locations “are pretty much behind us” until a Morocco shoot in June. That’s near the end of principal photography.

In any event,  it appears Craig could do studio work relatively soon. SPECTRE is set for worldwide release on Nov. 6.

UPDATE (12:35 p.m.): The BBC QUOTES a spokeswoman it didn’t identify by name as confirming the surgery and saying Craig would be back to work on April 22 at Pinewood.

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.

Skyfall is economizing, the Mirror says

Skyfall is cutting back on filming at actual locations to reduce its budget, according to the U.K. newspaper the Mirror.

In a story YOU CAN READ BY CLICKING HERE, the newspaper says the only actual location for the 23rd James Bond movie is Turkey. Here’s an excerpt:

"What do you mean, I have to fly coach?"

James Bond producers have had to slash their budget and are shooting in Bognor Regis after scrapping plans to head for six different exotic countries to make the next 007 film Skyfall.

Instead of distant locations such as India, China and Bali, they are using various UK beaches. Skyfall will also rely heavily on special effects and advanced sets at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire.

A source said: “To say some of the cast and crew are a bit gutted is an understatement.

“Originally six different countries were selected to film certain scenes but after several technical and financial problems, it was decided to scale back and just use Turkey as the sole foreign location.”

Back in November, the bosses of Eon Productions, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, denied there had been any financial cutbacks during a news conference. Later that month, according to the MI6 James Bond fan Web site, Ascot Racecourse was being used as a location, doubling for the airport in Shanghai. The same fan site had a story saying that sequences of Daniel Craig swimming in a pool were filmed in the U.K. but in the film’s story are supposed to occur in Shanghai as well. If the Mirror is to be believed, that trend will continue.

However, it’s not like Eon hasn’t done this sort of thing before. You Only Live Twice’s first unit went to Japan and did the rest of its work at Pinewood. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service did location work in Switzerland and Portugal. From Russia With Love went to Turkey and Dr. No went to Jamaica. Few fans of those films complain about the lack of location shooting. Eon sent a skeleton crew to the U.S. but the exterior of Fort Knox was built at Pinewood and the interior was, of course, a Ken Adam-designed set.

UPDATE: The Daily Mail HAS A STORY but it seems to mostly repeat what the Mirror reported without adding much, if anything, new. The MI6 Web site summarized the Mirror story while accusing the Mirror of fabricating the main quote.

UPDATE II: The Guardian published an essay ON JAN. 19 essentially saying trimming Skyfall’s budget would be a good thing. But the story does nothing to verify the original Mirror story.