Could a James Bond '007' Cinematic Universe Exist, like Marvel or DC?

[M.E.H.Z.E.B]

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/mar/23/james-bond-cinematic-universe-idris-elba-tom-hiddleston-tom-hardy

Why can't James Bond have a 'cinematic universe' of spin-offs?

The dapper superspy is one of Hollywood’s best-known brands, so why not remold the Star Wars and Marvel template to give us multiple visions of 007?

If bookmakers are to believed, the race to replace Daniel Craig as the next James Bond is heating up, with Thor’s Tom Hiddleston now challenging Mad Max’s Tom Hardy and The Wire’s Idris Elba for the keys to 007’s Aston Martin DB10. It’s easy to see why: at Sunday’s Empire Awards in London even Spectre director Sam Mendes seemed convinced that the deeply jaded Craig needs a break, at the very least, if he is ever to star as Bond again.

Might 007 production company Eon be poised to make an announcement? And if so, which way will they go? There have been persistent rumours that the saga might one day return to its 60s roots, while back in the Pierce Brosnan era there was plenty of talk of “Jane Bond” female agent spin-offs. Former Labour leader Ed Miliband even suggested last year that Rosamund Pike would make a great 007.

And why not explore all those possibilities? We are, after all, living in the era of Marvel’s highly successful expanded universe of interconnected movie and TV superhero stories. Star Wars’ take on the concept is moving forward apace, and Warner Bros has 10 films based on the DC Comics back catalogue planned between now and 2020 (if it can convince film fans to look past the rubbish early reviews for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice). There has even been foolish talk of a “Ghostbusters universe”.

But Bond is just as big as any of the above, and right now seems even more suited to being split into multiple strands. Elba fans reckon the Hackney-born Londoner would make the perfect 21st-century 007, while Hiddlestonians see their Eton-educated man as the epitome of traditional Flemingesque toff sophistication. So why not take the opportunity presented by Craig’s mooted departure and give both versions screen time?

Elba’s casting as Craig’s replacement would allow the saga to continue its current trend towards modernisation, reflecting multi-cultural Britain by casting the first black Bond. Spectre married the highly topical issue of data snooping to the return of an established 007 icon, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, but future instalments might flourish by jettisoning Bond’s old-fashioned obsession with 60s-style supervillains altogether. Imagine Elba infiltrating Isis cells, or taking down a Trump-esque American demagogue with a hidden, evil agenda. There are so many genuine threats in the world these days that 007’s writers hardly need to keep inventing fantastical ones.

Meanwhile a second series starring Hiddleston as the perfect suave and sophisticated 60s-era Bond would allow Eon to readapt the original Fleming novels on an annual basis, Harry Potter-style, with an emphasis on remaining true to the text. With Elba-Bond charged with racking up the blockbuster greenbacks, the period take could plump for a mid-budget approach more suited to the material. Our dapper hero isn’t always taking on world-conquering supervillains in the Fleming originals: in the short story version of For Your Eyes Only he avenges a murdered British couple living in Jamaica who were friends of M, while in The Spy Who Loved Me he saves a young woman from being assaulted.

There are more Bond plotlines which have hardly been seen on the big screen. The 1967 Roald Dahl-scripted adaptation of You Only Live Twice borrowed little more than the title and Japanese setting from its 1964 literary source, while fans of the movies might be surprised to learn that Fleming’s 1955 Moonraker novel barely leaves the shores of the United Kingdom, let alone blasting off into space.

Mad Men’s Matthew Weiner (it’s been rumoured before) would make a fabulous director for a 60s-set Bond saga. But there are numerous other candidates including Mendes himself, who would do an equally excellent job. Imagine if Alfonso Cuarón (director of the best Potter movie, The Prisoner of Azkaban) or even long-term Bond acolyte Quentin Tarantino could be convinced to sign up.

And while the idea of Halle Berry playing a female spy rather stalled after Die Another Day proved to be 007’s plumpest critical turkey, there’s surely room for a Netflix spin-off or two based around Bond’s perennial sidekicks. Miss Moneypenny: The MI6 Files has a certain ring to it, perhaps documenting Naomie Harris’s efforts to climb up the spyland ladder in a world which has not changed so much since the sexist 60s. And who wouldn’t stream a few episodes of Q: Gadget Man, with the underused Ben Whishaw artfully explaining the latest technological advances to a slew of lunkheaded 00 agents?

Speaking of which, beyond Goldeneye’s 006 (Sean Bean’s Alec Trevelyan), we’ve only seen glimpses of the other half dozen or so recipients of that famous License to Kill. Who’s up for James Bond: Agents of Her Majesty? The possibilities really are as endless as one of M’s famous scoldings.

 

[M.E.H.Z.E.B]

Which was followed by this gem of an article from April 1, 2016

Netflix Begins Production for 007 spinoff ‘00Nine’


While Tom Hiddleston, fresh from his outing as proto-Bond in BBC One's The Night Manager, has become the new favourite among bookmakers to replace Daniel Craig as 007 on the silver screen, an unknown Asian actor from the North of England has been cast as agent 009, in Netflix’s new spinoff series ‘00Nine’.

It will follow the globe-trotting adventures of lesser known, and as yet unnamed MI6 agent, 009, and his struggles to dismantle a new criminal organisation called Chimera. The thirteen-episode series has been in development for the past year, and production can finally begin, now that Netflix has found its leading man.

Cyrus Varten, 29, an indie filmmaker and actor, based in Durham auditioned for the part in December 2015 and has recently been to Los Angeles for a screen-test. The actor, a graduate of Durham University, was hand-picked by long-term franchise producer Barbara Broccoli, who said: "Cyrus is definitely what we were looking for. Exciting times ahead."

The show will also star Rupert Penri-Jones (Silk, Whitechapel) as M, Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones) as Moneypenny, and Joe Thomas (The Inbetweeners) as Q. John Simm (Life on Mars, Mad Dogs) has been cast as the principal antagonist, Reginald Fitzgerald, a billionaire businessman, with an agenda for world domination.

To date, across the James Bond franchise as a whole, there have been five individuals who have held the number 009, but have never been named on, or off screen. Most recently, in Spectre, Q mentions that an Aston Martin DB10 was designed for 009, but in the course of the film, the car is stolen by Daniel Craig’s 007, and later ditched in a river.

It has also emerged that critically-acclaimed writer Aaron Sorkin will pen at least four episodes of the series, while franchise veterans Neal Purvis and Robert Wade will shoulder the rest.

Release dates are yet to be decided, but Broccoli stated that spring 2017 “could be a possibility”.

Netflix today, released the first official still of Varten, as agent 009, with more images set to debut in the coming weeks.

http://moviepilot.com/posts/3849531

 

[M.E.H.Z.E.B]

James Bond, Another Double O, and An Experiment Gone Too Far

Could a James Bond Cinematic Universe, like those existing in the widely popular Marvel and DC franchises sustain in the current climate of television and film? Is there support for spin-off projects stemming from Bond? We found out a bit about it… the hard way. I never imagined that an April Fool's post would do what it did. To date, the story in question, has amassed a staggering 135,000 reads, with Bond fan groups all over the internet, sharing it, and I, despite being unnamed in the story, have been tracked down by both hate groups and people who have expressed support and kindness. It has been a rollercoaster ride. And, it’s all to do with a fictional 007 Spinoff series.

We all know about James Bond, the suave, sophisticated secret agent, who drinks vodka martinis and saves the world on a biennial basis. However, a lesser known character in the 007 universe — Agent 009, is what we wanted to explore. This is a character who has never even been named (outside of being called 009) in the cinematic universe, and briefly referenced in the literature over the years. Most recently, in Spectre (2015) a vehicle meant for the character was stolen from Q’s workshop and later destroyed by Bond. The most prominent appearance (only by reference), by the same character was in the 1999 film The World is Not Enough, where M (Judy Dench) recounted how 009 put a bullet in the head of the principal antagonist Victor Zokas, aka Renard.

The Guardian ran a story earlier this year, postulating what it would be like to have a Bond cinematic universe, much like successful comic book franchises Marvel, and DC. However, this was something that was on our mind for quite some time now. For years, I have been, much like Ryan Reynolds with Deadpool (2016), trying to get a 009-spinoff project going. To be honest, the idea for the April Fool’s post came from Reynold’s and co. Deadpool benefited from test footage being leaked by the production team, and inciting a reaction from the fans, with the latter bombarding the studio with calls for the movie to be made, ultimately resulting in the feature’s release.

Last year, having tried unsuccessfully for several years, we decided to push forward with a short, essentially, our take on the 009 character, but just without reference to the 007 universe (for obvious legal reasons). We titled the project ‘Spycraft’ and kept shooting bits and pieces, but we needed a sign that fans were interested in seeing the 009 character brought to life. So, on April Fool’s day 2016, we took the Spycraft story, and repackaged it as a spinoff story, put up one of my photos in a suit, and with some fictional casting, and nifty SFX skills, posted a believable story.

The response? Absolutely overwhelming. The story received over 135,000 reads, with countless posts and shares on 007 fan groups all over Facebook. There was actually incredible support for the project emanating from various bases, especially out of South America. Over the years, fans have developed a sympathy for the 009 character, and his story is something that people are interested to learn about. That was the good. The bad, was that the Cyrus Varten character, is from Spycraft, and it has an online presence. I was tracked down by people, and messages were posted. The majority bordered on acceptable but a few were rather nasty. Racism is something that I am used to, so this did not bother me. But, the threats of physical violence were a bit much.

There was however, a lot of anger that I had duped them into believing that the project was real. In a way, their anger is extremely encouraging, as that is proof that there is genuine interest in the project.

The responses got so intense, that the overlords at Moviepilot were forced to put an April Fools disclaimer [the original post contained no such message] at the bottom of the post (after eighteen days). The joke/test had definitely gone too far. Hence, we are making this public.

There is no 007 spinoff called 00Nine (yet), and while the hype is real, the project is not. But, the rights-holders should take notice, and give the fans what they want. As an avid fan myself, I would love to see this being made in my lifetime.

It was always worth experiencing what internet-fame really is, but in this case, it was for a genuine love for a franchise and seeing the possibility in something that could be special.

I feel that I must apologise to Bond fans all over the world, who were disappointed by this, but we are trying to make this happen. Pulling a Deadpool, and expanding the 007 universe is not beyond our reach (hopefully). Think, all the grit of Marvel’s Daredevil, big ideas like CBS’s Person of Interest, espionage in the vein of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and the charm of USA’s White Collar. The possibilities are endless, but it all starts with the fans, and everyone’s overwhelming support has humbled us.

We have reached out to EON Productions, the company that is in charge of the Bond-verse about introducing the 009 character in the next film, and beyond. Spycraft remains as a prototype project which can hopefully illustrate to the powers-that-be of the value of expanding the cinematic universe beyond Bond.

moviepilot.com/posts/3920766

 

[Warhammer]

In the mid-00's, we had the reboot phenomenon. In the mid-10's, we now have the cinematuc universe phenomenon. Ugh.

 

[M.E.H.Z.E.B]

In the mid-00's, we had the reboot phenomenon. In the mid-10's, we now have the cinematuc universe phenomenon. Ugh.

...we still have the reboot culture.

 

[Warhammer]

You're right. I'm just sick of all these articles about cinematic universes. Robin Hood? James Bond? Damn. At least Universal monsters makes sense.

 

[James]

Could it work? Sure, with a perfect storm of great writers, directors and lovable characters. Will it? So unlikely I'd be willing to bet money on it not happening in our lifetimes.

How much interest would there be anyway? M's back story, Q goes off on his own adventure, Money Penny... types memos or whatever for 90 minutes. There's other agents of course, but then how different is that going to be from James Bond? It'll just be another spy movie with a different 00 moniker.

I don't think people really care about the James Bond universe outside of Bond's adventures either. It's not like they created an elaborate world over the years that might be interesting to explore. It's not Lord of The Rings or Star Wars, it's one drunk womanizer running about shooting bad guys in between snappy quips. Robin Hood's got the same problem.

It worked for Marvel because they built things slowly, and it ca work for other franchises because they created larger worlds for their characters to exist in -but when you try to go big right out of the gate, you're going to fall flat on your face.

 

[Silvermoth]

I must admit a movie about Q would be really interesting, basically with brains instead of brawn, ackwardness instead of charm and hunks instead of Bond girls but I don't know. It would be horrible to water everything down