{"id":3116,"date":"2021-06-05T19:42:24","date_gmt":"2021-06-05T19:42:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danielcraigisnotbond.com\/index\/?p=3116"},"modified":"2025-02-24T06:03:33","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T06:03:33","slug":"i-wrote-on-two-bond-films-so-im-kind-of-a-big-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/danielcraigisnotbond.com\/index\/blog\/2021\/06\/05\/i-wrote-on-two-bond-films-so-im-kind-of-a-big-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"I Wrote On Two Bond Films, So I’m Kind Of A Big Deal!"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

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I’ve been intending to comment on the purchase of MGM by the retail\/media conglomerate Amazon, but it meant so little to me I figured I’d cover it as a sub topic in another rant. However Mr. John Logan screenwriter extraordinaire had other plans in mind when he penned this article for the New York Times<\/a>. <\/b><\/p>\r\n

In the grand scheme of things it’s net zero news, on the one hand MGM will finally have some money in their pocket and we won’t have to hear EON crab about how they’re ready to move forward with a film, but the studio’s financial woes are holding them back. On the other, a big corporate presence means big corporate influence. What Mr. Logan says below is not patently incorrect, in fact I’d down right agree with him if it weren’t for the fact “saintly” Miss Barbara Broccoli hadn’t done all he’s complaining about to Bond herself. It’s hard to get worked up over Amazon ruining Bond when EON has been doing just that for the better part of two decades. In reality there is nothing Amazon can do to Bond that EON hasn’t done already. Hell, just look at what we’ve seen from the No Time To Die<\/em> previews alone!<\/b><\/p>\r\n

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Current 007!<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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I’ve made a few notations to Mr. Logan’s manifesto along the way, the original text is italicized and my annotations are in bold.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

So without further ado here are the pretentious words of John Logan, straight from the horses…<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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Mouth!<\/strong><\/p>\r\n



I Wrote James Bond Movies. The Amazon-MGM Deal Gives Me Chills.<\/em>

By John Logan<\/em>

Mr. Logan, a three-time Oscar nominee for screenplays, was a co-writer on the James Bond movies \u201cSkyfall\u201d and \u201cSpectre.\u201d<\/em> (The by-line on this article is John Logan so did he write this about himself? If so, way to slip those Oscar nominations in there!)<\/strong>

So, Amazon now owns 50 percent of 007. With the acquisition of MGM and its movie catalog, the online retail giant bought into the James Bond franchise. When I heard this news, a chill went through me. Having worked as a writer on \u201cSkyfall\u201d and \u201cSpectre,\u201d I know that Bond isn\u2019t just another franchise, not a Marvel or a DC; it is a family business that has been carefully nurtured and shepherded through the changing times by the Broccoli\/Wilson family. Work sessions on \u201cSkyfall\u201d and \u201cSpectre\u201d were like hearty discussions around the dinner table,<\/em> (Barbara Broccoli has used a similar line in the past so I find it suspect here) <\/b>with Barbara Broccoli and her half brother Michael Wilson letting all the unruly children talk. Every crazy aunt or eccentric uncle was given a voice. We discussed and debated and came to a resolution, as families must, with no outside voices in the room. When you work on Bond movies, you\u2019re not just an employee. You\u2019re part of that family.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

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As I said, we’ve heard all this familial claptrap from EON and their cutouts like Logan before, as if the fact they all sit around the writing table hugging and kissing is supposed to make great film. I argue it doesn’t, while these touchy-feely good times might make the participants more at ease voicing their ideas, no one is willing to fight for what they believe for fear of bruising egos, or worse still, disappointing mommy Barbara. Babz has set herself up as dictatorial matriarch with all decisions coming down to her poor film making choices, so while the “crazy aunts and uncles” can “voice” their opinion, if Babz don’t like it, it ain’t happening no matter the quality. <\/b><\/p>\r\n

Another thing about this incestuous love fest, if it’s such a great environment for creativity and expression, why does the writer’s room have a revolving door wide enough to drive a tanker truck full of Colombia’s purest through it? <\/b><\/p>\r\n

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Here comes another delivery of writers!<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

No Time To Die<\/em> had as many as 7-8 writers attached at various times! Peter Morgan was unceremoniously\u00a0replaced by our humble Mr. Logan for <\/b>Skyfall<\/em>. Paul Haggis’ work was thrown out despite a writer’s strike looming on Quantum Of Solace<\/em> and Anthony Waye had his name scrubbed from the screenplay credits of Casino Royale<\/em>.<\/b><\/p>\r\n


The reason we\u2019re still watching Bond movies after more than 50 years is that the family has done an extraordinary job of protecting the character through the thickets of moviemaking and changing public tastes.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Bang up job they’re doing there!<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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Corporate partners come and go, but James Bond endures.<\/em> (Despite Bab’s best efforts)<\/b> He endures precisely because he is being protected by people who love him.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

No John…<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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If I may call you that…<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Bond has endured because he’s an intriguing character as created by Ian Fleming…<\/b><\/p>\r\n

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Right, I’m sorry I forgot you’re an idiot!<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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Bond as written by Fleming and enhanced by Cubby Broccoli <\/b>and<\/span><\/strong> Harry Saltzman, embodies every male’s fantasy persona and every female’s fantasy lover. The suave sophisticated man about town, who’s just as quick with a wry smile as he is with his gun. The man who drives fast cars and even faster women, in some of the most beautiful and exotic locations on earth. That is why Bond has survived and precisely why under Barbara Broccoli he is dying a slow and tragic death, the magic is getting stripped away layer by layer. Just look at the dearth of anticipation for the latest film, after a decade of uninspired pseudo intellectual, pop psych drivel the audience has become fatigued, the fact this film appears to be full of social justice claptrap doesn’t help ether.<\/b><\/p>\r\n

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Suddenly Johnny goes on an anti corporate tirade, just like a good little Marxist. One has to wonder what makes Amazon so much different than any other corporation? Why is this incarnation of MGM any different than the preceding?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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Other that having money that is.<\/strong>

The current deal with Amazon gives Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson, who own 50 percent of the Bond empire, ironclad assurances of continued artistic control. But will this always be the case?<\/em>\u00a0(Why wouldn’t it be, that’s the definition of Ironclad)<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>What happens if a bruising corporation like Amazon begins to demand a voice in the process?<\/em>\u00a0(What happened when the previous bruising corporations calling themselves MGM did the same?)<\/b> What happens to the comradeship and quality control if there\u2019s an Amazonian overlord with analytics parsing every decision?<\/em>\u00a0(Again, the same as it was under previous rule and don’t say they didn’t, the emails leaked from Sony during the production of SPECTRE<\/em> prove otherwise!)<\/b> What happens when a focus group reports they don\u2019t like Bond drinking martinis? Or killing quite so many people? And that English accent\u2019s a bit alienating, so could we have more Americans in the story for marketability?\u00a0<\/em>(Apparently the only 3 things John Logan “knows” about Bond)<\/b><\/p>\r\n

Ok J.L. you’re taking the piss right?! Bond is a very established character, nobody is complaining about his martini consumption or British accent and quite frankly if they cut back on the killing a bit, it wouldn’t hurt. Since the Brosnan Era, Bond has become a rival to Rambo in the machinegun toting department.<\/b><\/p>\r\n

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Someone call my name?!<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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The great thing about the early Bonds was the emphasis on adventure over action, Dr. No<\/em> and From Russia With Love<\/em> were epic films yet there was no scene of Bond “running and gunning” his way through mountains of anonymous henchmen.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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Such high adventure and great cinema, not to mention “gritty realism”!!!!<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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Hearing what he’s said above about the dilution of Bond, I’m curious on Mr. Logan’s opinion concerning a race or sex swap for everybody’s favorite super spy? Or is it ok to change everything about the character so long as they, what ever they may become, guzzle martinis and speak the Queen’s English?<\/b><\/p>\r\n

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Just make sure those martini shakers don’t go anywhere!<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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As a side note, in Live And Let Die<\/em> Bond doesn’t touch a single martini, yet the film feels no less “Bond” and on the British accent, none other than Cubby Broccoli considered casting American actors for the role several times, but the thought of the fan reaction (or what you might call a focus group) caused him to take pause, kinda takes the wind outa your sails there don’t it.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n



If you think I\u2019m exaggerating, consider some internal polling data that decreed that the movie adaptation of \u201cSweeney Todd\u201d \u2014 for which I wrote the screenplay \u2014 would be much more popular without all those annoying songs.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

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Cool Story Indeed!!!!!<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Here’s the problem with J Lo’s nifty little parable, it totally undermines the point he’s trying to make here. If movie studios have already been attempting to control the creative process with polling data, etc. then how would life under Amazon be any different? Besides we’re talking about Bond here not some long forgotten niche musical 30 years out of date at the time.<\/b><\/p>\r\n

From my experience, here\u2019s what happens to movies when such concerns start invading the creative process:<\/em>\u00a0(So it happens regularly? Huh, to hear you tell it, this will be exclusive to the Amazon deal)<\/strong>\u00a0Everything gets watered down to the most anodyne and easily consumable version of itself. The movie becomes an inoffensive shadow of a thing, not the thing itself.<\/em>\u00a0(Like a sour, angry, perpetually pissed off agent calling himself Bond?)<\/strong> There are no more rough edges or flights of cinematic madness.<\/em>\u00a0(Yes, just what we need in a Bond film! (e_e) )<\/strong>\u00a0The fire and passion are gradually drained away as original ideas and voices are subsumed by commercial concerns, corporate oversight and polling data.<\/em>\u00a0(Kind of like, oh I don’t know, a government entity demanding script approval prior to authorizing fat tax cuts for filming there! But that could never happen to Bond<\/a> right?)<\/strong> I wonder whether such an outr\u00e9 studio movie as \u201cVertigo\u201d would have survived if such pressures existed then.<\/em>\u00a0(they did)<\/strong> Not to mention radical films like \u201cCitizen Kane,\u201d \u201cThe Red Shoes,\u201d \u201cCabin in the Sky\u201d and \u201cBonnie and Clyde.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Ok, really old boy?! Citizen Kane?! Vertigo?! You do realize your comparing these films to an action adventure series right? Hey, nobody loves Bond as much as I do, as evidenced by my incessant prattling on this site for no more compensation than a bit of self expression and the entertainment of my fellow Bond fans, but even I admit it ain’t high art in film making! Nor is it supposed to be, they’re fun “popcorn movies” intended to entertain (remember that word) and amuse, not probe and provoke the societal zeitgeist.<\/b><\/p>\r\n

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“Zo tell me again vhere zee bad man touched you.”<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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Ok John, I’ll play along. Vertigo was Hitchcock in his prime, nobody is going to second guess the master at his easel. Johnny even makes this point below when talking about Ridley Scott and Martin Scorsese! Citizen Kane was almost erased in 1941 by none other than, wait for it, Louis B. Mayer, you know head of the virtuous pre-pre-Amazon MGM studio, when he offered to buy the film from RKO in order to bury it for William Randolph Hearst. So again I question what’s so terrible about Amazon specifically?<\/b><\/p>\r\n


Why worry about Amazon?<\/em>\u00a0(Ok, finally!)<\/strong> It\u2019s not that it\u2019s a bad-faith company. It\u2019s that it\u2019s a global technology company with a more than $1.6 trillion market capitalization that produces on a mass scale and is obsessed with the \u201ccustomer experience.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(Oh, of course those pesky customers!)<\/strong> It\u2019s not necessarily a champion or guardian of artistic creativity or original entertainment.<\/em>\u00a0(Guess what, neither are the studios, especially when they force Marxism into every little nook and cranny of their films!)<\/b> ,In the context of the larger company, Amazon Prime Video is not chiefly about artists. It\u2019s about attracting and retaining<\/em> customers.(Those damned customers again! Customers generally<\/span> gravitate to quality products so if Amazon wants to retain them they’ll keep that in mind)<\/strong> And when bigger companies start having a say in iconic characters or franchises, the companies tend to want more, not better, and the quality differential can vary wildly, project to project. (See: the rapidly expanding \u201cStar Wars\u201d franchise at Disney and the DC Comics franchises of Superman, Batman and others at Warner Bros.)\u00a0<\/em>(Last I checked Disney and Warner were traditional movie studios)<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Now this mention of Star Wars<\/em> is interesting, Is he speaking of the universally panned films singlehandedly “shepherded” by Kathleen Kennedy, you know, the current “protector” of Star Wars<\/em>, or are you referring to fan favorite streaming program <\/b>The\u00a0<\/em>Mandalorian, <\/i>helmed by a couple of Lucasfilm outsiders who are actually passionate about the source material? Is Mr. Logan implying Kathleen Kennedy is not all she’s cracked up to be?! Especially interesting when you consider she’s cut from the same cloth as our old friend Barbara Broccoli!\u00a0<\/b>

As a screenwriter, I\u2019ve had the opportunity to work on several big studio movies…<\/em><\/p>\r\n

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Those that emerge with meaning, with art and uniqueness intact, are always those that are protected from undue corporate influence \u2014 those occasions when the moviemakers can work in a protected environment.<\/em>

In my case, films like \u201cGladiator,\u201d \u201cThe Aviator,\u201d \u201cSweeney Todd,\u201d \u201cRango\u201d<\/em> (a film, when Googled the first result is “Why is Rango so bad.”)\u00a0 <\/strong>and \u201cHugo\u201d<\/em> ( a film like Sweeney Todd,<\/em>\u00a0forgotten the instant it was released) <\/strong>were all made from passion and without ever worrying about synergy or spinoffs or cross-platform marketing. Artistic control and stewardship are especially vital to big movies, where the voices are many and the stakes huge.<\/em>

When we were making \u201cGladiator,\u201d it took a giant like the director Ridley Scott to fend off the countless naysayers who predicted disaster would befall our \u201csword-and-sandal epic.\u201d They questioned everything, especially the ending: Isn\u2019t it a bummer? How can we have a sequel if you kill the hero? And is there any way we could avoid an R rating? But Ridley believed in the story we were telling and how we were telling it, so he resolutely kept the commercial concerns and noisy corporate voices outside the door.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

According to that bastion of “fact” Wikipedia<\/a>, Gladiator was produced by three men <\/strong>Douglas Wick, David Franzoni and Branko Lustig with the first draft coming from Franzoni himself, so I can imagine why he may have taken issue with Logan monkeying around with his baby. Also according to Wikipedia the script was extensively rewritten after Logan was gone so…<\/b><\/p>\r\n

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Again, If that’s what happened twenty years ago under an independent production studio, then why is this suddenly an issue with Amazon specifically?<\/b><\/p>\r\n

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So too Martin Scorsese with our Howard Hughes biopic, \u201cThe Aviator.\u201d A subject like Mr. Hughes naturally invites controversy and high emotion. The push from outside the creative circle was for the lurid and sensational, but Marty stared down every challenge that threatened our more humane version of the story. He sometimes said, \u201cYes, that would make an interesting Howard Hughes movie, but it\u2019s not our Howard Hughes movie.\u201d Significantly, in the case of both \u201cGladiator\u201d and \u201cThe Aviator,\u201d we were working with brave producers who defended our choices. They cared more about the art than about the bottom line.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

“Brave producers?!”<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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Pictured: Men not nearly as brave as Martin Scorsese or Ridley Scott saying no to a studio executive during their film making prime.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n


When you\u2019re making a movie, you need a champion to fight battles like these. Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson are the champions of James Bond. They keep the corporate and commercial pressures outside the door.<\/em>\u00a0Nor are they motivated by them.<\/em>\u00a0(excuse me for a moment…<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\"\"… Not according to my Omega\u2122 watch, Bollinger\u2122 champagne or tickets to Mexico City)<\/b><\/p>\r\n

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That\u2019s why we don\u2019t have a mammoth Bond Cinematic Universe, with endless anemic variations of 007 sprouting up on TV or streaming or in spinoff movies.<\/em>\u00a0(No, instead we have Bondless comics<\/a>, children’s cartoons<\/a> and an extensive continuation novel library<\/a>! And wasn’t it Babs who wanted to do a Jinx spin off<\/a> 20 years ago?)<\/strong> The Bond movies are truly the most bespoke and handmade films I\u2019ve ever worked on.<\/em> (Not saying much)<\/strong>\u00a0That\u2019s why they are original, thorny, eccentric and<\/em> special.<\/p>\r\n

Are they?…<\/strong><\/p>\r\n