Editorial: An Exploration Of The Delay In Official Information
Day in, day out, literally thousands of people frequent the official James Bond website seeking out official James Bond news on the next James Bond film, Bond 20. Yet all they have found in the past is a singular piece of news, that James Bond will drive an Aston Martin in Bond 20. And that’s all they official James Bond news they’ve found on the site in quite some time, and it’s been there since early August.
The thousand of people continually query, when are they going to get a press release? When are they going to learn the title, learn the cast, learn the plot? The simple answer is that I can’t tell you.
But why is it important to learn the names of the cast, or the crew or even the name of the film? Is it because if satisfies a persons curiosity? Many I’m sure would answer they want to know because they take an interest in the film; because they’re big James Bond fans, and just as the word fan is derived from it, these fans are fanatical. And there is nothing wrong about being fanatical about Bond, everyone has his or her passions and James Bond is a great one.
The question has to be asked as to whether or not is it enough for fans to learn the title from EON Productions? Realistically, what happens to a person after they find out the title? They tell their friends, discuss it with other fans and then… Well what comes next is perhaps further curiosity, a need to more information. It’s no longer about the title of James Bond 20, now people want the plot.
So what happens when they get the plot, does it go further? I’m sure for most people it would. Their curiosity grows and grows and they end up asking for sensitive information about the plot of the film and, as happened with The World Is Not Enough, the script is traded online through thousands of people. With The World Is Not Enough a lot of people had their hands on the script more than a year before the films release. No doubt there are fans out there that want the same from Bond 20.
It seems obvious that there is a danger in knowing information about anything. The human psyche works in such a way that it thirsts for more information, and certain information can be detrimental to particular things. For instance, if I were to tell you the plot of Bond 20 now it would ruin your viewing experience when you see the film. For such reasons all potentially damaging information found on CommanderBond.Net must be highlighted to be read, so that people can read Bond 20 news and not have parts of the film revealed to them unless they want it. There are those people who want to know everything possible and there are those who don’t want to know everything, it is perhaps the latter who best benefit from the current security surrounding Bond 20.
Fans need to place themselves in the shoes of EON Productions and all the other people that are employed as a result of James Bond 20. The films success depends on film sensitive information not falling into public hands, especially at this early stage. While the information that came to light before The World Is Not Enough was released didn’t appear to do the film any damage at the box office, the same can’t be presumed for Bond 20. After all, The World Is Not Enough has a smaller net following than Bond 20; perhaps the producers feel that sites such as CommanderBond.Net have the potential to release much more information.
I recall watching an interview with director Oliver Stone talking about JFK, he believe the film received a lot of bad press as the media were using a very early draft of the films script as a source. As a result, the film was damaged at the box office. No doubt many film studios hold a similar concern. No one wants to bring bad press to James Bond, least of all the fans. For this sole reasons fans need to adopt a level of understanding towards EON Productions.
And for those who argue that the title and the cast of Bond 20 can do nothing but give Bond 20 positive media coverage, it’s simply not true. It’s quite easy to criticise when you’re not in the position yourself. How easily could someone criticise Bond 20 for not having a completed cast list? It currently common knowledge that Halle Berry is still in negotiations to appear in Bond 20, therefore, it seems logical for EON Productions to delay any press release until they have a complete cast list.
As for the title, is it not reasonable to assume that EON and MGM have not decided upon the perfect title for Bond 20? Why rush out an unsuitable title just to appease the fans? Fleming didn’t name his books on the spur of the moment and it’s known that he went through several title changes.
And while fans may argue that they’ve waited so long for Bond 20 and they deserve some information now, have patience. If you’ve waited this long, how far around the corner is January? The cameras will roll for Bond 20 on January the 13th, and undoubtedly by this stage we’ll know at least the cast of Bond 20 as a minimum. That’s only a month away. So in the meantime sit back and enjoy your Christmas holidays.
Who knows, we may still get a press release anytime soon about Bond 20. Now that would be the perfect Christmas Present.
You can discuss this editorial in this thread in the Bond 20 Forums