You Only Bull Shit Twice

To return, briefly, to the non-story that is Danny Boyle not directing the next Bond movie, (a non story which seemingly obsessed the media last week, but now seems forgotten), when I was ranting about it the other day, I concluded that maybe if those writing the articles had actually seen any of the films, they might not have been writing such utter bollocks.  Well, it seems that I should have added that they needed to have read the books as well.  Let me explain.  The most recent version of the story claims that Boyle quit because of Eon Productions' 'ludicrous' plans to 'kill' 007 at the end of the film and have him 'regenerate' like Dr Who in the next movie.  (It's fascinating that this idea is now being attributed to the producers when earlier press stories had claimed that it was Boyle who wanted to do this and the producers who balked at the idea).  Now, bear in mind that this story originated with the Sun, which means that it is probably completely made up, but it could have some credence, in that it is a garbled version of something that anybody who either seen the Bond movies or read the Ian Fleming originals would undoubtedly be familiar with.

First up, let's get this 'regeneration' idea out of the way: if you've seen the films (indeed, seen any long-running series of films) then you'll be familiar with the convention that, over time, the lead actor is replaced by a younger model, but the character remains the same.  It's not 'regeneration', it is recasting, a common practice in film production.  As for Bond being 'killed', well, we have to go back to the Ian Fleming novels, most specifically You Only Live Twice.  If you've only seen the film version, then you won't know what I'm talking about, as said movie adaptation junked just about everything from the source novel beyond the title, locations and some of the character names.  The book is far darker, chronicling Bond's descent into depression following the murder of his wife at the end of On Her Majesty's Secret Service (something which happens in both book and film adaptations of this novel), and culminates with an injured 007 suffering from amnesia and presumed dead by MI6.  The next (and, as it happens, last) Bond novel, The Man With the Golden Gun (the film version of which bears just about no resemblance to the book beyond the title and titular villain), opens with a Bond arriving back at MI6 headquarters and attempting to assassinate M.  It transpires that, in his amnesiac state, he had been captured and brainwashed by the Soviets.  After being 'de-programmed' by MI6, Bond is sent against Scaramanga as a test to see whether he is fit to retain his Double O status.

Now, I'm assuming, if there is any truth in this current news story, then it stems from Eon considering utilising these sequences (which haven't been used in any Bond film to date, although large parts of the plot of the literary Golden Gun were recycled for Licence to Kill) to end Daniel Craig's time as Bond and usher in a new actor.  The opening of Man With the Golden Gun wouldn't just be an excellent way to introduce a new actor to the role, but it would also make a fantastic pre-title sequence.  Moreover, ending the next film with Bond MIA would provide a cliffhanger with which to entice audiences into watching the next movie in the sequence.  But, as I said, bearing in mind thesource, it is probably all balls.  Nevertheless, if the kind of people who write this trash actually read books, then they might at least have been able to write a more interesting article.