When Will Bond 20 Be Filmed?

This small report, related mostly to The Sound Of Thunder, hints that Bond 20 may film this Summer (Northern Hemisphere Summer). Read through it, it’s a very small mention of Bond 20.

MONTREAL (Variety) – “A Sound of Thunder,” the Renny Harlin-directed sci-fi thriller starring Pierce Brosnan, has been postponed indefinitely as a result of time constraints associated with the possible actors’ and writers’ strikes this summer.

Brosnan had asked for another rewrite of the script, penned by Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer, and the producers decided they didn’t have time to do the rewrite and shoot the picture before the Screen Actors Guild’s July 1 strike deadline.

“A Sound of Thunder” was set to begin shooting in Montreal on April 16, and the filmmakers had already opened a production office in the Canadian city.

Producer Elie Samaha’s Franchise Pictures, the company behind “Battlefield Earth,” has worldwide rights to the $80 million film, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. distribution.

The film is based on a Ray Bradbury’s 1952 short story about a big-game hunter who time-travels to go on a dinosaur safari. But the hunter accidentally kills a butterfly — an event that could change the course of history.

Executive producer Nicholas Clermont (”The Art of War”) said he was confident the picture would still be made, but admitted Brosnan’s availability becomes an issue. Brosnan is set to shoot the next James Bond installment this summer or whenever the strike ends.

“It’s one of those facts of life. You just have to deal with it,” said Clermont. “I’m confident this will eventually go. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. But it’s disappointing.”

Two Unconfirmed Reports

We have two 100% unconfirmed reports for you to feast your eyes on right here and now.

The first comes from Marie R who’s told us that American Movie Classics channel has run a documentry about three weeks ago mentioning future James Bond films.

The producers [of the Bond series were interviewed and] said that Pierce has expressed a desire to stay in the role after his 4th film in
2002. They want him to stay as long as he is willing to stay in the role, because as Michael G Wilson and Barbara Brocolli said “the audience adores him in the role. The audience does not want to see him replaced in the role for a long time. A lot of the audience think he is just starting to look the part, so after his 4th one would not be a good time to let him go. He
actually wants to do 7 films in all to match Sean and Roger’s total. He will become the definitive Bond.”

Again that is 100% unconfirmed. It’s being discussed in the forums here, if you’ve heard anything feel free to let us know.

The second report comes from Renato G from Australia. He sends us this:

A guy I know claims to have watched Pierce Brosnan interviewed on ET on Monday morning 19 Feb (Australian air time) and he let slip several words about Bond 20. He said, “…Bond will go back to it’s roots”. This creates more questions than answers. Does Brosnan mean a return to an Ian Fleming style thriller, or a return to the Connery 1960’s style, or a return to “Casino Royale”?. That novel is the roots of the character. Producer Wilson has discounted the possibility of filming it many times in the past. Could Brosnan’s star power create a change in policy?. Brosnan wants to keep developing 007 into a more meaty role ( a process started in TWINE). CR may not be as far fetched as it sounds.

Renato’s speculation aside it seems an interesting report. If you’ve heard anything be sure to let us all know in the Bond 20 forums, or feel free to e-mail us.

Bond 20 To Be Brosnan's Last Says Samantha Bond

When the 20th James Bond film is release a massive 40 years after the first was released it may just be the last time we see actor Pierce Brosnan donne the tux and utter “Bond… James Bond.” That’s according to actress Samantha Bond who has played Miss Moneypenny in GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and will again in Bond 20.

In an interview appearing on British Teletext the actress said “I think he’ll probably call it a day after the next one. The rest of his career is going so brilliantly he can do that. Last time I saw him he was very happy.”

Sadly Samantha has said that if Brosnan leaves, so will she. “There will be big changes when Pierce goes. I would be reluctant to carry on because that relationship would change.”

Also mentioned is Bond 20 going before the camera’s in January, which to me seems a little inaccurate as it would give them only a few months to edit the film for a November release.

Sad news it seems, though there are the rumours that Brosnan will stay on to do a total of 7 films. Feel free to e-mail us your thoughts on this or to discuss it in the Bond 20 Forums, in particular in this thread where a discussion has already begun.

Just for ease we’ve got the full report here from Teletext:

Pierce Brosnan will do one more Bond movie, then turn his back on 007 for good, says actress Samantha Bond, who has played Miss Moneypenny in the last three films.

She told Big Screen: “I think he’ll probably call it a day after the next one. The rest of his career is going so brilliantly he can do that. Last time I saw him he was very happy.”

The cameras roll on Bond 20 next January. Co-star Samantha, speaking after the launch of new ITV drama The Hunt, said: “There will be big changes when Pierce goes. I would be reluctant to carry on because that relationship would change.”

Samantha first played Moneypenny in GoldenEye in 1995. She loves the role but wishes she was given more dialogue.

She told Big Screen: “I’m a realistic actress and with her you have to remember that she will only ever get 10 lines of dialogue per film. You have to know your limits. I’d love to have more lines, though.”

Brosnan, 48, has agreed to make a fourth Bond movie but is waiting for a good enough script to be written.

He succeeded in getting the first draft of The World Is Not Enough completely revised.

No title has been given for what will be the 20th “official” movie in the most succesful film brand in history.

In his latest film, The Tailor From Panama, he plays another spy.

EON & MGM/UA Debunk Zeta Jones & Beyond The Ice

From JamesBond.com, EON and MGM/UA have posted another message in regards to rumours about Bond 20. This lot of denial comes as no surprise to me. Of course there is the usual denial of the title being “Beyond The Ice” but still no media agencies seem to pay any attention. And the news about Catherine Zeta Jones also doesn’t surprise me as she’d already denied it herself. The official statements flows as such:

“EON Productions and MGM/UA want to confirm that there is no truth in therumour currently circulating in the media that Catherine Zeta-Jones hasbeen screen tested for a role in the next James Bond film. Furthermore,there is no truth in the statement that we are planning to make a film inwhich James Bond will be played by a female actress. We would also like toadd that the title of the next James Bond film will not be “Beyond The Ice”.”

Plain and simple. One interesting thing though, they’re yet to deny that Bond 20 will include a guest appearance by former United States President (I say former cause the new one is a schmuck) Bill Clinton. 🙂

Plot And Location Hints

Apart from todays news on Zeta Jones The New York Times has also reported what they believe is Bond 20’s plot:

“a villain holds the world ransom with some “green house” weapon”

Also they listed some filming locations including Alaska, Ireland, England and Washington. All of which we’ve heard before. We know that Alaska comes from The Mirror’s rumours last year with Edward Woodward. We also know that the Washington rumour comes from earlier speculation of Bill Clinton’s role in Bond 20. Ireland of course comes from Pierce Brosnan’s comments on wanting to film some of Bond 20 there. And England, finally, is just obvious.

Though perhaps nothing we didn’t already know it’s still Bond 20 news.

Zeta Jones Reamerges for Bond 20…

Everynow and then we get some strange reports. This is one of them. Of course just because it’s strange doesn’t means it’s false, but that doesn’t mean it’s true either.

Cindy Adams’ column in The New York Post reports that the producers behind the next Bond adventure want Catherine Zeta-Jones to takeover as the ‘first female 007’ when Brosnan’s contract is up after the next film.

Strange enough angle on the film. Would they really consider a Jane Bond with the series going so well? I personally doubt it.

The column has also repeated the old news that “she [Zeta Jones] tested for ‘Beyond the Ice'” and Kevin Spacey has been rumoured to be playing one of the villains in the film. A source at Eon Productions is also quoted as saying;

“Feisty, independent, beautiful. A deadly combination for a glamorous spy. Schedule permitting, she’s our girl”.

Aside from Cindy Adams’ article on Zeta Jones other media networks have been reporting similair news. Great Britains Channel 4 has the same story but also adds that Zeta-Jones’ audition for “Beyond the Ice” was for the role of 008 but she declined in favour for the title role in the future.

The future may be a long way off for Zeta Jones.

Brosnan Won't Rule Out Staying As Bond

From Ananova.com:

The saga over who will replace Pierce Brosnan as James Bond has taken another twist with the news that he hasn’t ruled out doing more films.

Speculation over who will take on the role after the next film has been increasing over the past few months.

It was believed that Brosnan would call it a day after the next film, which will be when his contract finishes.

But according to the Chicago Sun-Times, sources close to Brosnan are saying he hasn’t ruled out making up to three more Bond films after the one he’s contracted to making.

It had been reported Brosnan wanted $20million to do another Bond film after the next one. But the paper claims sources close to the negotiations say that number is not even close to what he will be paid, should he and the producers agree on a further deal.

Be sure to discuss this in the forums here.

Brosnan Won't Rule Out Staying As Bond

Ananova has reported that the saga over who will replace Pierce Brosnan as James Bond has taken another twist, this time with the news that he hasn't ruled out doing more films.

Speculation over who will take on the role after the next film has been increasing over the past few months. It was believed that Brosnan would call it a day after the next film, currently titled as Bond 20, which will be when his contract finishes.

But according to the Chicago Sun-Times, sources close to Brosnan are saying he hasn't ruled out making up to three more Bond films after the one he's contracted to making.

It had been reported Brosnan wanted US$20 million to do a fifth Bond film. But the paper claims sources close to the negotiations say that number is not even close to what he will be paid, should he and the producers agree on a further deal.

Whitney Houston Reportedly Lined Up for Bond 20

LONDON (Reuters) – Pop diva Whitney Houston is being lined up to star in the next James Bond film, Britain’s top-selling Sun tabloid reported Wednesday.

Houston has agreed in principle to appear alongside Pierce Brosnan, the latest incarnation of British secret agent 007, and is waiting for confirmation from movie bosses, the paper said.

The singer, who appeared in the box office hit “The Bodyguard” with Kevin Costner, is set to follow in the footsteps of actresses such as Ursula Andress, Grace Jones and Denise Richards as a “Bond girl.”

“The movie bosses think Whitney would make a fantastic Bond girl and are desperately working out a deal which will be acceptable,” the Sun quoted an unidentified source as saying.

The final decision will rest with Dana Broccoli, widow of famous Bond film producer Albert Broccoli, who has the last word on everything to do with the 007 franchise, the tabloid said.

It said the movie would be filmed later this year, but did not give its title.

Is what “The Sun” is saying true? It’s not like she hasn’t appeared in a film, because she worked alngside Kevin Costner in the BodyGuard. Well, we’ll just have to wait and see if MGM announce anything via JamesBond.com!

Discuss this topic in the forums here – http://forums.commanderbond.net/UltraBoard.cgi?action=Read&BID=38&TID=86

Bond 20 Production on Hold

The British newspaper, The Mirror had an article in their paper on the 14th saying that “Hollywood…top names…stage walkout”.

It is believed that all the top Hollywood names are going on strike on the 1st of July of this year, and all the Directors are worried that filming will stop on upcoming films such as “Matrix 2”:

“The big earners, including Keanu Reeves, getting $30 million to make Matrix 2”

However, this will all have an affect on Bond 20!

“The action set to cost Tinsel-Town two billion dollars A MONTH, has already put the new 007 movie, Bond 20 and Basic Instinct II on hold.”

Let’s hope that filming goes on!