Bond 25: “What Script?”

Bond 25 appears to be in somewhat of a perilous situation. While the film’s plot has been officially announced and filming has commenced, the question is: what is up with the continued screenplay problems? According to the UK Daily Mail, the script is constantly being rewritten by Daniel Craig, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Cary Joji Fukunaga, the film’s director. Waller-Bridge had come aboard the film at Craig’s request reportedly. A source told the reporter of this piece that she is doing a rewrite of a previous rewrite.

“Daniel’s writing. Cary’s writing. The crew reckon they’re working on a well-polished s*** show,” the report says. They have the outline of the plot completed but the dialogue continues to be last-minute. It seems the film, itself, will be sorted out on the cutting room floor. While the report states this is common, they believed it would be more likely there was a chance the film crew for Bond would have their game better polished. It was not like they were picking out a baseball alarm clock at the store. They’re putting an end to Craig’s Bond supposedly.

The plot, thus far, focuses on Craig’s Bond coming out of retirement to face a new villain, when he is asked by Felix Leiter for his help. It will be great to see Jeffrey Wright’s Leiter back after his absence in two movies. He has been the character that has been with Bond since the beginning. Waller-Bridge’s addition to the film comes after a great many problems have beset the film previously.

Originally, the film was set to be directed by Danny Boyle and written by John Hodge. It reportedly focused on a Russian villain who was cold and calculating while the lead Bond girl was a skilled survivor with lots of wits. It was supposedly set in a modern-day Cold War atmosphere. Allegedly, he was seeking to kill off James Bond, which had Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli not very happy. Craig was not said to be a fan of that either.

Related:Bond 25: Danger Lies Ahead For Our Hero

So, Boyle and Hodge left the production and a script that Neil Purvis and Robert Wade wrote, which was scrapped for Hodge’s script initially, was reworked by Scott Z. Burns. That’s when Waller-Bridge came onboard. It’s a tad bit ironic that this is Craig’s last movie and the producers were not happy with him being killed off. Would they prefer he purchases a baseball alarm clock to wake up to? You would not exactly have to start the whole franchise over again.

You could simply ignore the ending of the film but it is understandable why they would not wish to kill the character off. It provides another actor the chance to take over the role and continue on with the adventures of 007. And who knows? It might give Craig the chance to return again if he has a change of heart about his so-called Bond retirement. He could wish to continue on as the character and to keep the story. It’s disconcerting to hear all of this news about how the film is going.

Since this film appears to not know where it is going, it makes one wonder whether the film is worth seeing it all. As a Bond fan, it sounds like a very interesting story and one that could take from previous installments. However, as a movie fan, this continued news of script issues gives me concern about just which type of film we will be getting. At the end of the day, you can only hope for the best and see what might unfold in the film.