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Paul Haggis Returns

Casino Royale scribe takes reins of Bond 22 script

Haggis has Bond's number -- again
By Jay A. Fernandez, Special to The Times
May 23, 2007

Paul Haggis, the Oscar-winning writer-director of "Crash" and co-writer of "Casino Royale," is cementing a reputation for ruthless efficiency and resourcefulness as distinctive as 007's. Sony has finally lured Haggis back to work on the script for the "Royale" follow-up, temporarily titled "Bond 22," which is slated for release on Nov. 7, 2008.

Haggis is currently in the editing room finishing up "In the Valley of Elah," a drama inspired by real events that he wrote and directed about a career officer investigating the disappearance of his soldier son after he returns from the most recent Iraq conflict. He has additional projects lined up as producer, director and/or writer, so the Bond producers must have dangled, shall we say, very seductive creative and financial incentives for him to return to the Bond juggernaut.

Haggis has more than earned whatever he's being paid to rework the "Bond 22" screenplay by regular Bond writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade ("The World Is Not Enough," "Die Another Day"). His rewrite of Purvis and Wade's "Casino Royale" script helped to revitalize the aging franchise and give it the edgier credibility it needed to hook a new generation of fans and score the franchise's biggest box office — $588 million worldwide. (Don't cry for Purvis and Wade; they keep getting the Bond assignments and they're writing the new "Barbarella" screenplay that Robert Rodriguez just signed on to direct for Universal on Monday.)

Last year, director Roger Michell ("Venus") and screenwriter Ted Griffin ("Ocean's Eleven") were briefly attached to the "Bond 22" project, and Haggis had turned down the offer to helm it. Now, there are whisperings that four directors are in the final running for the gig — action vets Tony Scott ("Déjà Vu," "Spy Game"), Jonathan Mostow ("Breakdown," "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines"), Marc Forster ("Monster's Ball," "Stranger Than Fiction") and Alex Proyas ("I, Robot," "Dark City").

After 20 years in television, writing for shows such as "The Facts of Life," "thirtysomething" and "L.A. Law," Haggis jumped from the TV gravy train to become the first screenwriter to write successive best picture winners, "Million Dollar Baby" and "Crash." He's pushing hard to deliver his cut of "Elah," which bows in September as a potential Oscar magnet, to Warner Bros. as he prepares to careen back into Bond's world, which is on its own insistent timeline (the producers had to bump the release date once already).

But, like the famed British superspy, Haggis is unlikely to buckle under the pressure — even the heart attack he suffered during the "Crash" shoot slowed him down for only two weeks. In any case, it's nothing some well-shaken martinis and exotic locales wouldn't cure.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/...rack=crosspromo

Great news!

Interesting that Haggis was offered the director's chair (he would have been an interesting choice, though it's easy to see why he would want to turn it down... at least he's writing). I never knew Ted Griffin was attached as screenwriter.

Oh yeah!

Whoa, I missed that on my first read. They offered it to Haggis to direct. Wow.

Does anyone still believe Haggis' only contribution to CR was a "dialogue polish"?

Well this is good news IMO.

Though I have to question this only because of the Ted Griffin name drop that is news to me and Haggis being offered director. I guess neither are outside the realm of possibility, but still.. given Bond rumors. You know...

Nah. I never did. I always figured his contribution was much bigger than many suggested, and I'm sure there's a reason they've fought to bring him back. Now all we need is a return run from a re-energized Campbell...

excellent news. this makes me even more excited for bond 22

Tony Scott knows how to make a movie look real purty, which is what Bond films used to be known for;granted he's a .500 hitter at best but I vote for him. I loved Man on Fire(didn't bother with Domino).

Oh Man, he could make a georgous Bond film.

This is good news. Haggis did a good job on the CR script.

Great stuff...now maybe Haggis' involvement will entice Campbell to come back too!

My thoughts exactly.

Let's hope they keep the winning formula intact the way many of the early films did until it runs out of steam. Part of the problem with the Brosnan era was too many different creative people came and went and there was little consistency from one film to the next. With a box office blockbuster and a critical success in CR behind them, why not continue?

*Crosses fingers for Campbell's return*

The best news I've heard all day.

Bond22 appears to be headed on the right track.

Wow, yes, imagine if this news enticed Campbell to return and continue where he left off with Casino Royale.

Then Bond 22 would be in the same vein.