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  1. Paul Haggis Talks 'Bond 22' & His Vision For 007

    By Matt Weston on 2007-08-26

    Promoting his latest film, In The Valley Of Elah, Oscar-winning screenwriter, Paul Haggis was quizzed by ComingSoon.net about his work on the next James Bond movie.

    Paul Haggis

    Paul Haggis

    While he refused to reveal any storyline or location details, Haggis – who is once again polishing a script by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade – did confess, “It picks up two minutes after the last one, and it’s going to be fun.”

    When asked about his vision of James Bond, Haggis replied, “My Bond is an actual assassin; when he kills someone, he kills them with a knife, they’re bloody and he pays a price. He denies that he pays a price, but he does. When he sees a woman who witnesses something horrific, and he sees her taking a shower, he doesn’t just go in there and f*ck her, like the old Bond would have done. He sits there with her, and she says, ‘I can’t get this blood from my fingernails.’ So he helps her get the blood from her fingernails; that’s what he does, that’s my Bond. So it’s a different guy; it’s a guy who’s much more like these guys, these heroes [in In The Valley Of Elah].”

    Haggis, who also co-wrote the critically-acclaimed Casino Royale, mentioned how rewarding he finds writing the 007 films. “Bond is just pure imagination; you just get to have fun. It’s escapism and it’s fun, but I try to ground him as a human being.”

    Daniel Craig as James Bond

    Daniel Craig as James Bond

    Haggis also mentioned he aims to keep his Bond as close as possible to Fleming’s original creation. “Yeah, I hope so because I really loved his books and his movies. That stuff was really close to his books, and most of them aren’t.”

    The writer denied rumours that Bond 22 would star Carice van Houten. “She’s great, isn’t she – but she’s not going to be in this one.”

    “Everyone says they know what the ending is, and they’re wrong. Everyone thinks they know about the Bond girls, and they’re wrong.”

    (In an interview with Volkskrant Magazine, van Houten herself denied the Bond girl claims.)

    Meanwhile, in a forthcoming interview with CHUD.com, Haggis was asked whether rumours rampant in the British press last month – that Bond 22 would be jokier in tone – were true. “No,” Haggis simply replied, before stating that Bond 22 will be tonally in line with Casino Royale.

    Haggis wrote and directed In The Valley Of Elah, which stars Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron and Susan Sarandon. It opens in selected cities on 14 September.

    Keep watching CBn for all the latest news on Bond 22.

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