Ways to Mark Bond Day When the Next 007 Is a Secret?
This Sunday is Bond Day, for those who didn't know – the fifth of October is recognized as a international observance focused on all things 007, because of this being the date of the global debut of the inaugural 007 movie, with Sean Connery, back in 1962. Consider it similar to May the 4th, but with less furry aliens and a whole lot more tuxedoed swagger.
A Subdued Observance Now
Yet this time around, the arrival of JBD seems somewhat like a damp squib. It hasn't been since Denis Villeneuve was revealed to direct the upcoming 007 movie earlier this year, and even less time when the screenwriter Steven Knight was brought on board to write the script. Yet there has been scant evidence since then regarding the next Bond being officially announced, and even less sense of where this venerable franchise will proceed. The only information are whisperings on the wind through film industry sources indicating that the producers intend to cast a fairly young Brit, who might be non-white but is not going to be a female actor, an established star, or a person we’ve vaguely heard of.
Bad News for Oddsmakers
Naturally, this is disappointing news for the hordes internet betting sites who have been generating substantial revenue over recent months through efforts to suggest gamblers that it is a race involving Callum Turner, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Henry Cavill, Theo James, Leo Woodall plus the charismatic star in Saltburn with Australian origins.
A Return to Unfamiliar Faces
Interestingly, the previous instance the 007 series chose a complete unknown took place in 1969, as George Lazenby for a short time carried the famous firearm. Earlier, the original Bond certainly wasn’t a star: he performed a few minor film roles and done a bit of stage and modelling work in addition to working as a bodybuilder and milkman in Edinburgh before landing the lead role in the debut movie. The creative heads deliberately avoided an established star; they desired an unfamiliar performer whom audiences would believe as Bond himself, instead of an actor playing Bond.
Trying this approach once more may end up as a brilliant tactic, just as it was back in the sixties.
The Villeneuve Factor
However, bringing in the director Denis Villeneuve means that there's no room for error in any way should the next 007 proves to be a stiff. Dialling up the over-the-top gadgets and innuendo is no longer an option with a director like is an artistic director specializing in cinematic genres renowned for dense futuristic stories where the loudest sound is deep philosophical tension.
A bruiser in a dinner jacket … Craig's debut in Casino Royale.
Fresh Approach for the Franchise
And yet, in many ways, bringing in Villeneuve tells us everything we need to know about the new era after Daniel Craig. There are not going to be stealth automobiles or suggestive jokes, and we probably won’t be getting Sheriff JW Pepper back any time soon. All of this is, of course, absolutely fine for those who prefer the secret agent contemporary in style. But it doesn’t tell us this new version on Britain’s suavest state-sponsored assassin will distinguish itself from the 007s that came before him notably if the upcoming phase opts not to take the whole story back to Ian Fleming’s original 50s and 60s setting.
Transforming Every Period
Craig was instantly distinctive as a new kind of stylish operative as he appeared on the scene in Casino Royale from 2006, a bruiser in a dinner jacket who would never be seen with ridiculous gadgets, or trading sex puns alongside Denise Richards while handling explosives. He made Brosnan's tech-dependent charmer who only a few years previously was viewed by many the top 007 after Connery, look like a copycat version badly reheated. This pattern is familiar. Lazenby (briefly) followed Connery, Brosnan followed the underrated Timothy Dalton, and the campy later Moore came after the intense early Moore. Each Bond period alters the prior, however, every version remains in its unique manner James Bond 007, and worth raising a glass to. It’s just a little weird, while we mark the current 007 Day, that the occasion calls to honor a character that is not yet chosen.
