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Casino Royale is next Bond movie

As much as I personally think Clive Owen would be perfect as a new Bond, I have heard he is not interested (there was a thread around here about likely Bonds...had to do with whether Brosnan was coming back...).

Clive Owen is a pretty respectable indie actor and playing Bond usually requires a multi-picture exclusive agreement. I am not sure that it would be worth it for him...so I agree with Savage Henry (above) that they should probably try to go with a no-name actor instead of trying an ugly shoe-horn of an established actor who is not perfect.

I am still hoping for Mr. Owen, however...
 
Why Not

Earlier in this forum there was discussion about whether a tall non white British male could play Bond.

While the historical players have an effect on who plays it next, it is the character not the colour which matters. There was similar discussion in the UK when the first Black actor played the lead in King Lear with the Royal Shakespear Company I think. Shock horror from the middle classes but it was true that it is not the colour that makes the character but other things like presence, voice, poise. (Bond trivia alert: Connery got the original job because of the way he walked "like a panther")

In the UK just like other countries your colour is no longer a guide to your nationality or upbringing. If you think the next Bond has to be white think again, why not someone else?

John
 
blackfox said:
As much as I personally think Clive Owen would be perfect as a new Bond, I have heard he is not interested (there was a thread around here about likely Bonds...had to do with whether Brosnan was coming back...).

Clive Owen is a pretty respectable indie actor and playing Bond usually requires a multi-picture exclusive agreement. I am not sure that it would be worth it for him...so I agree with Savage Henry (above) that they should probably try to go with a no-name actor instead of trying an ugly shoe-horn of an established actor who is not perfect.

I am still hoping for Mr. Owen, however...
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The problem also is, as Brosnan said, James Bond isn't about acting and this might turn a lot of potential candidates off. This is the reasons Brosnan had enough, he wanted to act again, not that he did that a lot since but still...
 
jrober said:
Snipped for length...
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I agree. There's no logical reason why Bond can't be played by a Black actor. It certainly wouldn't make the character any less British. I'm not sure Ian Fleming ever specified Bond's ethnicity, although I'm open to correction on this point.

An American actor though (of any ethnicity) just wouldn't work.
 
I petition bringing on Bruce Campbell as the next James Bond. I think he could bring about a more comedic and funny persona to the Bond character. I am seriously sick of seeing Bond acting all macho and in control. We need a character with flaws, so we can relate to him better.
 
patseguin said:
I actually heard someone in Hollywood suggest Denzel Washington as the next Bond. I think his screen presence would make him a great Bond.
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I want Jackie Chan!
Just look at the film Protector.
He would be a great Bond!
 
I would really like to see Ewan McGregor take the part of James Bond, excellent choice, and would bring back the Scottish attitude...

Another obvious choice, that I failed to see anybody mention, would be Jude Law...

Coliin Farrell would be a f***ing disaster!!! :mad:

Edit: Bring in Vinnie Jones as one of the villains... :D
 
jrober said:
Earlier in this forum there was discussion about whether a tall non white British male could play Bond.

While the historical players have an effect on who plays it next, it is the character not the colour which matters. There was similar discussion in the UK when the first Black actor played the lead in King Lear with the Royal Shakespear Company I think. Shock horror from the middle classes but it was true that it is not the colour that makes the character but other things like presence, voice, poise. (Bond trivia alert: Connery got the original job because of the way he walked "like a panther")

In the UK just like other countries your colour is no longer a guide to your nationality or upbringing. If you think the next Bond has to be white think again, why not someone else?

John
Click to expand...
I still don't agree. As I said earlier, Bond cannot suddenly after 20 films be a black man, not because he's "black", but because that has just never been a characteristic of Bond, and they shouldn't change it now. This is just the same as he shouldn't have long curley red hair and a dodgy tash, there's nothing wrong with that (well there is actually :p), but it's just not Bond.

This isn't a race thing, it's a Bond thing.
 
Brize said:
Too pretty; too effeminate; no screen presence.
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Jude Law can also play a right bastard, check out Love, Honour and Obey... Ian flemmings James Bond has always had a dark side... (has nothing to do with jedis :D)...

Don't think you should hold his good looks against him, remember Sean Connery entered (and came third) in Mr. Universe 1953 (before it became a steroid contest), and was voted the most sexy man alive by People in 1989. He's still regarded, by most people, as the better Bond, so far...

As for screen presence, well I plainly don't agree... Jude Law definitivly has it...

He could absolutely be a young, handsom and stylish, slightly mean James Bond...

...and if Tarantino got a shot at directing a Bond movie, possibly a slightly psychotic Bond... to bad that probably won't happen...
 
Jude Law looks too girly to play ladies man James Bond. Just look at him in Talented Mr Ripley and A.I. Way too girly, I'm sorry.

Ewan McGregor? Too short and chubby cheeks. He is better is small, quirky roles. We might as well make Steve Buschemi Bond for crying out loud.
 
edesignuk said:
I still don't agree. As I said earlier, Bond cannot suddenly after 20 films be a black man, not because he's "black", but because that has just never been a characteristic of Bond, and they shouldn't change it now. This is just the same as he shouldn't have long curley red hair and a dodgy tash, there's nothing wrong with that (well there is actually :p), but it's just not Bond.

This isn't a race thing, it's a Bond thing.
Click to expand...

There's also the matter of what black actor could possibly do it. It definitely couldn't be an American, as others mentioned. Very few American actors can pull off a believeable British accent. (Don Cheadle in "Ocean's Eleven", I'm looking at you.) And how many British black actors in that age range could pull it off? By that I don't mean whether they're talented enough, but whether the audience would believe in them in that role? James Bond is much more a persona than a character and we identify him too closely with an upper-crust white man because that's what he's always been. I don't think it's even a matter of diluting the character. I just don't think that most people would buy a black James Bond.

It reminds me of Meg Ryan in the movie "Courage Under Fire". She did an admirable performance in a very radical departure for her, but despite her efforts I didn't believe her as a gruff, tomboyish soldier. I just didn't. Ditto the movie "The Human Stain" that came out last year. Anthony Hopkins is a fine actor who can pull off most anything, but he was just not believeable playing a black man who looked white. He doesn't look even part-black, in any way, so he just couldn't sell it.
 
aloofman said:
I just don't think that most people would buy a black James Bond.
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That's what I'm trying to say. Bond is such an establised character/brand/blah, you can't just simply change it.
 
Ioan Gruffud

He was excellent in Horatio Hornblower and several articles list him as a possible.

He is a young actor, British, and quite talented (I watched about 16 hours of him in the last few weeks (all 8 dvds) and I can attest to his skill).

He isn't typecast in the eyes on the public (in any country) and so won't superimpose his own personality on the role. Sean Connery, even Pierce Brosnan were small-time before Bond. I find it highly unlikely they'll hire a recognizable star, rather than "growing" one of their own.


-RS
 
Ditto the movie "The Human Stain" that came out last year. Anthony Hopkins is a fine actor who can pull off most anything, but he was just not believeable playing a black man who looked white. He doesn't look even part-black, in any way, so he just couldn't sell it.[/QUOTE]


As fine an actor as Anthony Hopkins is that was the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.

Everybody is right about Jude Law. He's too precious to be Bond. Bond needs to have a certain rugged aspect to his person.It's a tough call.I'm sure this will get laughed at by all of you Europeans but what about David Beckham as 007. I know he doesn't act but, come on, neither did Roger Moore or Timothy Dalton. Is that a completely mad idea?
 
rkphoto said:
....I'm sure this will get laughed at by all of you Europeans but what about David Beckham as 007....
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Anything funnier/more alarming than the immortal line "The name's Bond...James Bond" being delivered by Beckham.

Oh yeah Posh as a Bond Girl, please add you character name here_____!
 
edesignuk said:
A black (or anything else for that matter) Bond would be like having Mel Gibson as Shaft!
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You know, I heard they're making a sequel to the Shaft movie, and when Samuel L Jackson expressed that he no longer wanted the part, they signed Mel Gibson :p
 
Chaszmyr said:
You know, I heard they're making a sequel to the Shaft movie, and when Samuel L Jackson expressed that he no longer wanted the part, they signed Mel Gibson :p
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I hope you're joking, because that would be as bad a casting Jackson as Bond :eek:
 
quidire said:
Ioan Gruffud

He was excellent in Horatio Hornblower and several articles list him as a possible.

He is a young actor, British, and quite talented (I watched about 16 hours of him in the last few weeks (all 8 dvds) and I can attest to his skill).

He isn't typecast in the eyes on the public (in any country) and so won't superimpose his own personality on the role. Sean Connery, even Pierce Brosnan were small-time before Bond. I find it highly unlikely they'll hire a recognizable star, rather than "growing" one of their own.


-RS
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Agreed. Gruffud was excellent in Hornblower and the best thing in King Arthur (albeit don't you think that that had one of the biggest twists in it - the narrator died!). The only problem could be the Fantastic Four moie which looks...well...awful.
 
From what I heard Clive Owen has said that whilst everyone keeps mentioning him as a Bond nobody has every actually even approached him about the role.

As a succesful serious actor now he may not even want it. (He would be good though - look at Croupier.)

The name I heard was Colin Salmon who plays Q's black assistant in the other recent films. There was a story in some of the papers here that the bookmakers had closed the book on him as so much money had gone down and they assumed there had been a leak.

I'll see if I can find a link and post it.
 
Benj said:
The name I heard was Colin Salmon who plays Q's black assistant in the other recent films. There was a story in some of the papers here that the bookmakers had closed the book on him as so much money had gone down and they assumed there had been a leak.

I'll see if I can find a link and post it.
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That didn't take long. Tons of hits if you google james bond colin salmon.

Could it be true?
 
I don't know who the next Bond will be, but Bill Gates could be the next bad guy.

"Bill Gates is a Persian cat and a monocle away from being a villain in a James Bond movie."
-- Dennis Miller

(one of my favourite quotes)
 
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