In the latest entry of our ongoing series, Screen Rant’s Ryan George reveals what (probably) happened in the pitch meeting for James Bond’s last adventure, Spectre. Once again starring Daniel Craig as the suave MI6 agent, Spectre pits Bond against Christoph Waltz’s uber-villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld – who in this movie is revealed to be James Bond’s adoptive brother, because why not?
Directed by Sam Mendes, Spectre also introduces Léa Seydoux as new Bond girl Dr. Madeleine Swann, and sees Ralph Fiennes’s Gareth Mallory taking up the mantle of M after Judi Dench’s character was killed in Skyfall (though she conveniently left a posthumous video for Bond to watch in Spectre, sealing the deal of Dench playing M for a whole 20 years). Ben Whishaw and Naomie Harris return as Q and Moneypenny, respectively, and Guardians of the Galaxy’s Dave Bautista plays a silent but deadly assassin called Mr. Hinx.
RELATED: Casino Royale Pitch Meeting
The casting of Craig as the franchise’s first “blond Bond” in Casino Royale was controversial at the time, but as of last year he has overtaken Roger Moore to claim the title of the longest-serving Bond. That being said, not all of Craig’s 007 movies have managed to hit the high of his first outing, and Spectre is generally considered to be one of the lows. Here’s our artist’s impression of how things went down in the pitch meeting for Spectre.
Though it was yet another box office hit for Bond, Spectre received poor reviews from critics and fans alike. However, no one seemed to enjoy the film less than Craig himself, who famously said that he’d rather slit his wrists than make another 007 film afterwards. In the end he decided to spare his wrists and jump back on board for one more ride as James Bond in No Time to Die, which originally had Danny Boyle attached to direct. Boyle eventually departed due to creative differences, and Cary Joji Fukanaga stepped in as director in his place .
Unfortunately there’s still a long wait until we see Bond on the big screen again, with No Time to Die’s release date pushed back to November 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The good news is that Craig’s era as Bond has followed a consistent pattern of a good movie followed by a bad movie, so after Spectre we’re very much due for a good movie again.
Source: Screenrant, by ANNAH SHAW-WILLIAMS