devilshalo

Three writers sign on for next Bond pic
Peter Morgan joins Neal Purvis, Robert Wade
By Jay A. Fernandez

June 12, 2009, 12:10 PM ET

Bond is back in business.

Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who have co-written the past four James Bond features, will be joined by "Frost/Nixon" scribe Peter Morgan on the latest installment of the franchise for MGM. Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli of EON Productions Ltd. will produce.

The three writers will collaborate on the screenplay for the 23rd Bond film, which will once again star Daniel Craig as Agent 007. The triple hiring fits the pattern of the two most recent pictures, "Casino Royale" and "Quantum of Solace," which saw Purvis and Wade drafting the initial script and Oscar-winning "Crash" writer-director Paul Haggis coming on to augment it.

MGM, which shared "Royale" and "Solace" with Sony, retains full control of the newest edition in the blockbuster franchise. "Solace" grossed $570 million worldwide, "Royale" $588 million. Start of production on "Bond 23" has not yet been scheduled.

Purvis and Wade, who are represented by Endeavor and Casarotto Ramsay & Associates in the U.K., have written on "The Italian Job," "Johnny English" and "Plunkett & Macleane." They have an adaptation of John Le Carre's "The Mission Song" and the sequel "The Brazilian Job" in development.

Morgan, who is repped by UTA and Independent Talent Group in the U.K., has written or co-written "The Last King of Scotland," "The Other Boleyn Girl" and "The Queen," which earned him an Oscar nomination. His scripts for "The Special Relationship" and "Hereafter" are in development at HBO and DreamWorks, respectively.

RocShemp

I know it wont happen but I actually hope the title used will be "Property of a Lady". It just has a nice classy ring to it. Nice addition with Peter Morgan.

benh911

Although I didn't hate Solace as much as a lot of people, I hope it can return more to Royale. Either way, I love Craig as Bond, so I'll be there.

PopcornTreeCt

Good to have some news.

FRwL

I hope they drop the Bourne shakeycam/editing style.

Hokeyboy

I hope they get a quality director who understands the property and the milieu infinitely better than Marc Forester. I don't HATE QoS but I don't like it all that much either.

RichC2

I just hope it goes back to Casino Royale's tone and pacing, that movie was actually gripping.

DRG

I hope they can find a better balance between the serious tone and the Bond elements. I really liked Casino Royale, but I felt they were so anxious to overhaul the franchise that they scrapped some traditional Bond elements that didn't really need to be scrapped. I'm not suggesting they should go for a Moore/Brosnan type movie by any means, but at the same time Bond can have a *little* fun can't he? He was downright dour in Quantum of Solace.

jeffkjoe

I agree.

Marc Forster really dropped the ball on Q of S.

chris_sc77

Its funny cause Casino ROyale is actually about 40 minutes longer than QoS yet CR feels like a better paced, quicker, and less complicated film than QoS.
Anyways Casino ROyale is my favorite Bond Ever and Quantum is my least favorite so needless to say I hope this next Bond is more like SR.

RocShemp

Anyway...

I hope Felix gets more face time with Bond this time around. Although he had an important part to play, he felt kind of like an afterthought in QoS.

And I'm a bit confused regarding the timeline. I get that QoS begins moments after CR ends but how long has it been since and the concluding moments of CR? The first scene with Felix and Beam (when they meet Greene on his plane) always gave me the vibe that it'd been several months since the events at Montenegro rather than a few days. It's just this weird vibe I get.

And where the hell is Villiers during the events of QoS? Wasn't he M's personal assistant?

GoldenJCJ

Sounds good. I enjoyed Quantum of Solace so as far as I'm concerned the new Bond's are 2 for 2!

I wonder if MGM's financial troubles are going to hinder production.


..And for crying out loud, how the hell long is The Brazilian Job going to take to get made?!

RocShemp

+1

devilshalo

You have to think that it took Bond a couple months to recover the torture Le Chiffre gave him. He was still laid up when Vesper entered the code to transfer his winnings. So you probably think, maybe a minimum of 30 - 45 days since then until Bond gets the call regarding the transfer. It's not like Felix was sitting around all that time waiting for Bond. In fact, the only other person to visit Bond was Mathis.

Supermallet

Also seeing as how Felix works in the CIA the other mission he was on was probably going on for months, including the period of time CR covers.

Supermallet

Also seeing as how Felix works in the CIA the other mission he was on was probably going on for months, including the period of time CR covers.

Sessa17

Yup, I'm in this camp. QoS IMO was one of the 5 worste Bonds ever, and I loved Casino Royale, worth all the praise & then some.

wm lopez

But somehow I think they may copy something from the movie TAKEN.

RagingBull80

+2

Supermallet

Ohh, Liam Neeson as a Bond villain. Count me in!

devilshalo

I'm just glad they are using the same people along with the addition of another very good writer, than replacing them with a whole new team. This will help keep the continuity if this is indeed a 5 movie arc that was planned for Daniel Craig.

TheMovieman

+1







I liked Casino Royale and hopefully they've learned from the mistakes of QoS, so I have hope for this one.

wakwak007

Well I'm looking forward to a new Bond film and I'm glad they are getting a third writer again. Purvis and Neal may draft up a good storyline but dialogue is not their strong point. The dialogue in Die another Day is terrible (along with a few scenes)...Like others have mentioned they are 2-0 in my book as well.

My Other Self

I didn't care for Quantum, but I wouldn't rank it near the bottom. Craig's persona and charisma is so much better than any of the crap Dalton and Moore shit out, so it has that.

Looking forward to the next one.

Sessa17

I love the Dalton Bonds.