Where The James Bond Franchise Needs To Go

Amazon/MGM's purchase of the greatest franchise in the history of film- Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson painted themselves into a corner. Judi Dench covered a lot of the sins of the series since 1995. After Skyfall the series seems rudderless. Bloated and waiting for Daniel Craig to make another film when he felt like it instead of the standard "Bond film this year, a different project next year, Bond film the year after."

That was the standard 1965-2008. Quantum of Solace was rushed even with the writer's strike. The film, like every film in he franchise, has good and bad points. It also feels incomplete.

Camille was an inconsequential Bond woman. I recall her being red and little else. Fields was better in the sacrificial lamb role. It was not progress to have James Bond turn monogamous.

When was the last time there were attractive women in the opening credits? The series needs an opening credits sequence opposed to the title and twenty minutes of end credits like most movies currently have.

The next Bond film should maintain the formula from the past sixty years. Keep the gun barrel opening, have an opening sequence that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the rest of the movie, cultivate a theme song with opening credits that feature women in silhouette (it's not too late to have Dame Shirley Bassey sing the next theme song) and open at headquarters where M explains the latest mission.

Did the #MeToo movement hinder the franchise? Except for Sean Connery smacking a woman on the behind in probably the greatest film of the series, not much is cringe. Making James Bond asexual- Madeline Swann became a ball and chain.

Part of the tragedy of the character is relationships do not last. His parents died in a skiing accident. In most of the films he meets two women. One is killed, the other is with him at the end of the film.

Keep the "Violence without gore" and "Sex without nudity". Suggestions these should be R-Rated films would add nothing to the mythos. He could address that relationships do not have a long shelf life as he meets the next woman.

In No Time To Die Q had a more interesting love life than James Bond. The sexual orientations of employees does not need to be known. Implying Q was gay felt like they were trying to check a box.

There should be banter with Miss Moneypenny. M should be female since it seems 007 is more corralled with a female supervisor. The actors who have played M have been very good through the series.

There was a rumor of a comedic take on a female M. That would be a mistake. Ralph Fiennes has played the role well. James Bond needs to be around thirty, over six feet tall and English. Granted, Roger Moore and Daniel Craig were the only English actors in the lead role. The character has to be young and fighting authority figures who are older and feel superior to a neophyte.

That can be traced to Ian Fleming's time at Eton. His trouble with authority figures inspired the character. There should be a movie every other year. Bigger is not always better. They can do a big movie and a smaller one next time. There is no reason to up the ante every time.

The series works best when the women are equals to James Bond and help out. Some of the weaker films like Moonraker and Die Another Day are enhanced by female collaboration. Rosamund Pike in her film debut also covers up CGI so awful they never used it again and the invisible car.

There is good and bad in every film in the franchise. The power of the series is the watchability and repeat viewings. Even Diamonds Are Forever which is weak has good points on repeat viewings.

I watched No Time To Die a second time and never need to watch it again. There is no reason to connect all the films. If the Daniel Craig movies were a series- they started well and ended poorly.

It is fine that Daniel Craig mentioned he did not care who the next James Bond will be. He is an actor who plays many roles. The films should remain British, only filmed at Pinewood Studios and any given location.

Is it really that difficult to make more movies? Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson dawdled so long they were not really interested in moving forward. Find someone who takes the character back to its roots. If Amazon wants alternate programming- shoot adaptations of the books in the order they were printed. They can be period pieces. The book Live and Let Die was somehow more racist than the film.

For that matter, have a Bond film that takes place in New York. Live and Let Die used Harlem and the Westside Highway. They can do a lot more within the city. When Venice was used in Casino Royale no one said "They used this in Moonraker." How many films end up in The Bahamas?

There are many roads they can take. Hopefully they will play to the strengths of the franchise without hindering the characters and having them pick up a daughter of a woman who wore out her welcome at carpool. Break new ground. If it means Martin Campbell will direct- he did very well with the first film of a new lead actor twice. The franchise will go where the lead actor takes it.

Hopefully not to the asexual relationship with Madeline Swann. Vesper Lynd had chemistry. Her character could not survive all that happened in Casino Royale. There was a love story until there wasn't.

It is time for new films. The sooner there are new adventures, the sooner the latest film might seem better by comparison. It has been years since the last adventure. EON Productions- more like eons since there was any news.

As previously stated, the producers seemed to take the "Or Nothing" option of their father's "Everything or Nothing" productions. Let's see who leads the franchise back to the greatest, longest running franchise in film history.

And release the films in cinemas. Amazon has used the dreaded word "Content" to describe what they want. We don't need "Product". We need worthwhile adventures, memorable roles that take many different directions, exotic women with exotic names that don't have to be overtly sexual and something artificial intelligence couldn't spit out.

Peter Morgan wrote a James Bond script. There have to be many floating around. It would not be difficult to polish one off and make a film for a summer 2026 release. The wait has been too long. Make something that will remind us of all that preceded it while moving the franchise forward.