Tarantino Wants A Shot At Bond
Quentin Tarantino has told reporters at the Cannes Film Festival (where he is president of this year’s film festival jury) that he will formally approach Eon Productions with his concept of making “Bond 21” a Fleming-faithful adaptation of Casino Royale once he finishes worldwide promotion for Kill Bill – Volume 2.
“I’ve always wanted to do it,” said Tarantino. “I bumped into Pierce Brosnan and we talked about it. He liked the idea. I would like to do the original book Casino Royale 
and do it more or less the way the Ian Fleming book is. I don’t know if they’re going to go for it or not, but I’m letting them know I’m interested.”
This is hardly the first time the director has expressed interest in making Ian Fleming’s first novel into a film. Tarantino first floated the idea in 1996, saying that he’d like to make the movie in B&W, and even use voice over narration so he could incorporate some of Fleming’s original text.
But Eon Productions, producers of the James Bond films, have thus far expressed little interest in a Tarantino directed James Bond film, preferring instead to work with lesser-known, non-American directors. Bringing in an auteur such as Tarantino would certainly bring a dash of revisionist “art” to the Bond franchise, but would also require the old-school producers to surrender more creative control than they are accustomed. This, at the end of the day, might be what keeps Tarantino from realizing his Bond ambitions.
Tarantino’s pitch may also be coming a bit late. Eon has already dispatched screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (The World is Not Enough, Die Another Day) to write the screenplay for the yet untitled “Bond 21”, and MGM Vice Chairman Chris McGurk has stated that the film is on track for a 2005 release and that decisions as to who will direct and who will play Bond will be made “in the next few months.”
The wild card in all this could be the possible sale of MGM studios. According to reports, MGM is in negotiations with Sony Pictures Entertainment, who along with financing partners, have put up a $5 billion bid for the studio. Should the sale go through, Sony executives might have a say in the development of “Bond 21,” making a sudden change of course a distinct possibility.
Back at Cannes, the never press shy Tarantino seems newly embolden by the idea of directing a James Bond film. Likening the big-budget franchise to one of cinema’s hardest to conquer peaks, the director says, “Now is the time to climb Mount Everest.”
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With MGM Vice Chairman Chris McGurk saying that there will be a decision as to who will be James Bond “in the next few months” (
Seeing as Kingdom of Heaven (2005) is currently being filmed… there are two scenarios. If Elizabethtown is filmed in late 2004 / early 2005 and Pirates of the Caribbean 2 is filmed in late 2005, then he probably won’t have time to fit Bond 21 (2005) in. But if Elizabethtown‘s filming doesn’t conflict with Bond 21’s filming and Pirates of the Caribbean 2 is set for late 2006 instead of early 2006 (being filmed in early 2006), then he will indeed have time for Bond 21.
Pierce Brosnan, who has been waging somewhat of a PR war with James Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli over his future as 007, has dramatically tempered his rhetoric in his latest television appearances promoting his new film, Laws of Attraction. While print interviews still contain Pierce’s oft-quoted statements that “The producers are in a state of paralysis,” and “They don’t know what to do,” Pierce all but avoided discussing James Bond in two recent high-profile T.V. appearances on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno (April 29) and The Tavis Smiley Show (April 30).
In an effort to fan the flames—and because I wanted to write about my views on the matter—I present a rebuttal of sorts.