mkaroly wrote: ↑Sat Apr 27, 2019 12:13 pm I still think all this sounds like Craig is trying to kill the character "from the inside." If it is true that he wanted Bond to die at the end of this film (only to be overruled), maybe he is destroying things from within.

How whiney Daniel Craig killed James Bond

By Johnny Oleksinski April 27, 2019 | 9:39am | Updated

At the start of the 1973 James Bond film “Live and Let Die,” there is a funeral march through New Orleans. Mourners weep and a band blares sad gospel music as a coffin is carried down a French Quarter street. But — in typical 007 fashion — it turns out to be a trick.

One of the marchers discreetly stabs a besuited bystander, an enemy of his boss, Dr. Kananga. The dead body is placed in the (actually empty) coffin and the teary procession transforms into a spirited Mardi Gras parade. Music! Dancing! Murder!

That scene perfectly describes my feelings about Daniel Craig finally bidding adieu to the James Bond franchise as production on the 25th movie begins this week: It’s the happiest funeral ever. After all, over the past 13 years this guy has ruined Bond.

Since Craig first donned the spy’s tuxedo in 2006’s “Casino Royale,” the franchise has turned increasingly homogeneous, dreary and frankly skippable. The granddaddy of super-spy films is now one of the most mediocre action series out there — and Craig is largely to blame for it.

Are there writers and directors and co-stars and stunt coordinators who effect the final product, too? Duh. Are times a-changin’ too fast for Bond’s Aston Martin to keep up? Debatable. But these films are, first and foremost, built around the demeanor of their star. And Craig’s MO is Danny Downer.

During his reign, 007 has become a bitter curmudgeon who jets ‘round the world pouting and going rogue in seemingly every film. Huh, kinda sounds like Craig himself.

The 51-year-old actor complains ad nauseam about how the role has him in a creative headlock, and that he’d rather take on more challenging parts. He once said he’d prefer to “slash my wrists” rather than be paid millions of dollars to play an internationally beloved character again. Fine. He’s not the first Bond to air such grievances. But when the infinitely better Roger Moore wanted a raise, he didn’t carry the toxicity of negotiations into the scene. Craig does, and it shatters the mood.

What separates Bond from Jason Bourne and “Mission Impossible”’s Ethan Hunt is his wit and quintessentially British sense of humor. Without that, he’s just a cardboard hottie with a gun.

Moore was a master of the punchline and eyebrow raise, and Sean Connery had an infectious grin. When Timothy Dalton took over the role in 1987’s “The Living Daylights,” people thought he’d be too brutal. But next to Craig, he’s Mr. Rogers. In the opening action sequence of that film, Dalton parachutes onto the yacht of a beautiful, bikini-clad socialite and commandeers her giant wireless phone.

“I report in an hour,” he says into the mobile, as she hands him a glass of Champagne.

“Better make that two.”

Now that’s a Bond you wanna have a beer with. Craig, on the other hand, is a Bond you want to ghost on Tinder. Even in his two decent films — “Casino Royale” and “Skyfall” — he’s constantly brooding and disgruntled, and comes off unintelligent.

What drew audiences to 007 in the good old days — the exotic locales, the Bond girls, the impossible gadgets — are unfortunately passé in an increasingly savvy and connected world. You don’t go to the movies to gawk at a bit of skin or an island with a volcano on it. A tiny tracking device is less cool in a world where you can buy a drone on Amazon. But we are still devoted to our favorite characters and personalities.

As the hunt for a new Bond begins, producer Barbara Broccoli should jettison the series’ off-putting darkness that’s made the world’s most famous spy into a sneering hitman, and choose a likable, funny, debonaire actor. Let’s try slapping a “cl” in front of “ass.”

The sky's falling in on 007: The director of the new movie quit. The launch was a dud. It's got SIX writers and the star is having ankle surgery. But can Fleabag star save it?

-Daniel Craig is now the longest-serving Bond in history, pipping Roger Moore
-But Craig's time as 007 has been mired by a catalogue of issues on every film
-Craig is demanding and has an entourage of people to placate his every need

Following the release of Spectre — his fourth Bond film — Daniel Craig said famously that he would ‘rather slash my wrists’ than reprise the spy role.

But then, lo and behold, the gruff actor said he would take on the part again — one last time.

No pushover, Craig is reportedly being paid more than £60 million for the role, making him one of Hollywood’s best-paid actors. And he is said to be exercising extraordinary clout on set.

Craig has a special team to ensure he’s in peak physical condition, including a personal chef, physiotherapist and fitness trainer, and reportedly also has enormous creative control, with major input into everything from locations and the casting of his female co-stars to the script and the role of director.

Lea Seydoux, who played Swann, Bond’s love interest, in the last instalment and is returning for the new film, said of Daniel Craig in one recent interview: ‘I adore shooting with him. He’s cool and friendly. And I appreciate his uncompromising [nature].’

She’s not alone in alluding to a certain steeliness in her leading man. As filming started, there were reports that the gifting of such sweeping control to Craig had ruffled feathers among the crew.

The New York Post’s celebrity gossip column, Page Six, quotes a source saying: ‘Everyone on the production side detests working with Daniel, he’s so difficult and makes things impossible.

‘But [Bond producer] Barbara Broccoli thinks that he walks on water, and only her opinion matters.’

It’s not the first time Craig — who is said to have been involved in choosing all his Bond girls across five movies — has ventured out of the acting arena.

He has said that during the Hollywood writers’ strike of 2007 to 2008, he found himself rewriting scenes for Quantum Of Solace.

Craig said: ‘We had the bare bones of a script and then there was a writers’ strike. There was nothing we could do. There was me trying to rewrite scenes — and a writer I am not.’

Unfortunately, critics panned the movie, which is now regarded as the worst of Craig’s four Bond films. Celebrated American critic Roger Ebert even went so far as to say: ‘OK, I’ll say it. Never again. Don’t ever let this happen again to James Bond.’

In readiness for his hotly anticipated return, Craig has adopted a gruelling diet and exercise regime.

But no amount of rigorous preparation could have prevented his recent on-set mishap: the 51-year-old actor slipped and injured his ankle while filming in Jamaica earlier this month.

The actor, who — unlike some of his predecessors — likes to do his own stunts, was filming one of his final scenes when he fell awkwardly while running.

The action was supposed to be shifting to a studio in the UK, but that is understood to have been postponed while Craig has surgery in New York.

Thankfully for the rest of the cast and crew, the star is due to be out of action for only two weeks.

It is, of course, far from the first injury Craig has incurred in the line of duty. ‘He gets his hands very dirty,’ said Gary Powell, chief stunt co-ordinator for four previous Bond films, in 2008.

‘Daniel puts the work in, even if it’s something he’s not keen on.’

The sculpted body that emerged from the sea during Casino Royale in 2006 certainly has been put through the ringer during his record-breaking tenure as Bond (he surpassed Roger Moore’s 4,526 days in April).

There was the inauspicious start in 2006, when he lost two teeth during his first stunt, requiring a dentist to be flown out to Prague for emergency repairs.

Then, in 2008, while filming Quantum Of Solace, it was a catalogue of woes: a blow to his face requiring the services of a plastic surgeon, a sliced finger, a torn muscle in his shoulder and an accident in Panama resulting in badly bruised ribs.

And while filming Spectre, in 2015, he picked up a knee injury during a fight scene.

No wonder Craig once complained: ‘I hurt myself every day.’

But when Bond 25 finally gets to the finishing line, the injuries of the battered, bruised but unbowed Daniel Craig will have been the least of the beleaguered producers’ worries.

Director who tried to kill off bond

Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle was a high-profile catch for Bond 25. First linked to the film last spring, it seemed apt given that Boyle, who counts Trainspotting among his credits, was responsible for the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony, which saw the Queen participate in a Bond-themed skit.

Then in August it was revealed Boyle was no longer in charge. A statement on the official 007 Twitter account read: ‘Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli and Daniel Craig today announced that due to creative differences Danny Boyle has decided to no longer direct Bond 25.’

Among the many rumoured reasons were differences over casting and a clash with Craig, followed by unconfirmed reports that Boyle had gone because he wanted to kill Bond off.

An initial meeting at the Eon Productions HQ, from where Barbara Broccoli controls the Bond movie franchise with a rod of iron, was said to be positive, with everyone excited about Boyle’s plans to shake up Bond.

But ultimately the screenplay delivered was deemed ‘too radical’.

In March, Boyle wrote in Empire magazine: ‘What John [Hodge, his co-writer] and I were doing, I thought, was really good.

‘It wasn’t finished, but it could have been really good. I work in partnership with writers and I am not prepared to break it up.

‘We were working very, very well, but they didn’t want to go down that route with us so we decided to part company.’

Speaking of replacement director Cary Joji Fukunaga, Boyle said: ‘I got a very nice message from him and I gave him my best wishes . . . It is just a great shame.’

More than a quantum of chaos

Not since the six-year gap between Licence To Kill and GoldenEye, released in 1989 and 1995 respectively, has there been such a long wait for a Bond film.

Bond 25 (its lack of official name is another concern for fans) was originally scheduled for release this autumn, but then there were delays getting Daniel Craig to sign on for another film, not to mention the debacle over the director and script. The date was pushed back to February 2020.

Then, in February this year, the date was shifted again to April 8, 2020. It means there is a tight window in which to get filming (which has been under way for about six weeks) and editing wrapped and the film out, so it doesn’t clash with any other major releases.

When the producers filmed scenes for Bond 25 in snowy Norway, they walked into a blizzard of controversy.

Crews started cordoning off areas usually open to skiers and there was concern that the producers had managed to obtain a licence to film in forest areas which are normally subject to stringent restrictions on traffic and building.

Trekkers and skiers were furious when large areas of forest land were cleared of snow, and logs laid down for filming.

Norway’s environmental policies are among the most stringent worldwide and the country has rules that are supposed to prohibit any kind of construction within forest boundaries.

The Bond film-makers are believed to have acquired all the appropriate licences.

But even the elements conspired. A scene involving a baddie chasing a woman across a frozen lake had to be abandoned when the ice thawed.

Meanwhile, the launch of Bond 25, meant to be a dazzling curtain-raiser, was something of a let-down. Fans had been expecting, at the very least, the film’s name. But, no, Bond 25 it remains. Shatterhand, the original provisional title, after an alias used by Blofeld, seems to have been discarded.

At the live-streamed event from writer Ian Fleming’s former home in Jamaica, plot details were thin, but we do know that Bond 25 will involve the CIA and Felix Leiter, who ask for help when tracking down a scientist.

The cast seemed a little lacking in enthusiasm, and Daniel Craig wore a baggy blue suit and a pair of old trainers.

Fleabag flown in to make us laugh

Phoebe Waller-Bridge is showbiz gold dust. She was lauded for Fleabag, brought us Killing Eve and can seemingly do no wrong.

But the decision to bring her in to make more tweaks to the Bond 25 scripts has not been universally liked. Craig was apparently determined to give the next 007 a sense of humour, leading to a chase to sign the writer, as confirmed by Broccoli at the launch.

‘It was Daniel’s idea. We all leapt to it as we loved her,’ she said. ‘She has made a great contribution.’

But with everyone clambering to get time with Waller-Bridge, is it any wonder her ascendance has caused some unrest?

When probed about writing female characters for the franchise, Waller-Bridge said recently: ‘It’s mainly just making them feel like real people, you know? Which they do in the previous films.

I think Daniel’s films have done, we’ve had really fantastic Bond girls, so it’s just keeping up that.’

Although it’s not unusual for a film to have more than one scriptwriter, Bond 25 has six.

Bond veterans Neal Purvis and Robert Wade had a script ready and waiting, but it was reportedly put aside after director Danny Boyle and his Trainspotting co-writer John Hodge were hired. A Russian villain was reportedly a central character.

However, everything was thrown into disarray with Boyle’s departure. Cary Joji Fukunaga, the director of U.S. crime series True Detective, was his replacement, and Purvis and Wade came back. Paul Haggis, acclaimed for his writing contributions to Casino Royale and Quantum Of Solace, was also involved, and a fourth writer, Scott Z. Burns, of The Bourne Ultimatum fame, was brought in.

But, according to reports, Daniel Craig still felt something was missing, hence the arrival of Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

Earlier this month, the Mail’s Baz Bamigboye revealed the ongoing joke on the set was that the script is under wraps. And the response is: ‘What script?’

‘She’s writing a re-write of a re-write,’ said a source, of Waller-Bridge’s involvement. ‘Daniel’s writing. Cary’s writing. The crew reckon they’re working on a well-polished s*** show.

‘They have an outline of plot, but dialogue is all last-minute. It’s not the way to make a movie. I would imagine they’ll sort it out in the cutting room. That’s where most movies get made anyway. But you’d think the Bond lot would be more together than this.’