Bond 24 Press Conference Discussion Thread

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Wow, didn't recognise her. Last I saw she was getting assfucked in Irreversible.

Anally raped would probably be a more accurate description, I'd say.

Can't disagree with that. I'll blame it on the beer, m'lud.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Wow, didn't recognise her. Last I saw she was getting assfucked in Irreversible.

That explains the other guy in the tunnel.

Salomé wrote:

The fact that Bellucci was never asked is a travesty.

I think she tested for TND but was given the thumbs down according to Brozza, who apparently wasn't pleased with that outcome.

She was in full bloom back then. Big mistake.

Should have played Christmas Jones. Maybe that film would have been a little better.

Or Carver's wife in TND.

Control wrote:

Should have played Christmas Jones. Maybe that film would have been a little better.

Or Carver's wife in TND.

Yeah, shame it didn't happen at that time. The late-90's was definitely the time to have her. Better late than never, I suppose. If Baz is tweeting it, then I'd put the chances of it happening at about 99%.

Mendes better not screw it up, either. I thought he did a poor job of the sex appeal in Skyfall. I'm expecting Bellucci to show some serious boobage in this movie, or I'll be pissed.

I wouldn't have minded seeing more of Marlohe's cleavage.

Marlohe needs a new agent. This 'make one of the biggest films of all time and then retire' isn't working for me.

Hope she doesn't go the way of the Helga.

She's far better than that. (Sorry, Danny Huston.)

The first Bond MILF? I'm up for it, as my pants says.

I think they can get away with a banging 50 y.o. Bond girl because Craig's looking much older anyway.

They're up to something interesting if they cast a 50-year-old as the lead Bond girl.

In all honesty, Bellucci, even at 50, looks better than most of Hollywood's recent leading ladies. I may be partial, though, because I do love cougars and MILFs.

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Salomé wrote:

The fact that Bellucci was never asked is a travesty. It would have both been cashing in on her popularity as well as honoring a long tradition in casting European/Italian women in Bond girl roles.

I would only applaud it if they make up for this oversight in the next installment.

According to everything that I've read and collected, she was tested for TND and Brosnan and Apted wanted her, but the studio wanted one American actress with some sort of following to balance out having a non-American actress. Same thing with TWINE, same thing with DAD. That's why you got Teri Hatcher instead of Bellucci, or even Sela Ward, whom I believe also tested for the part of Paris Carver.

EON has bucked that tradition so far with the Craig films, though I had heard of Eva Greene before she was cast; she was known to me. Never had heard of anyone in QOS or SF prior to their casting.

Still, I'd be surprised if Belluci is one of the two female leads. I'm assuming there's 2 female leads. There could be three roles for all we know. Maybe she's Blofeld's wife.

I could understand the studio being scared of not having a known name actress if they implemented that on GOLDENEYE, but that film was a big success, so why were they pushing for the "American it girl" in the following films? Whatever the case, I'm glad EON discarded that. Maybe because of the Sony deal they got more free reign than MGM would have allowed in the past.

Makeshift Python wrote:

I could understand the studio being scared of not having a known name actress if they implemented that on GOLDENEYE, but that film was a big success, so why were they pushing for the "American it girl" in the following films?

Because there's always a larger level of success that can be obtained.....theoretically. If they looked at Goldeneye's box office they might have thought: 'Just imagine what we could do with a big name star alongside Pierce'. Problem is, Hatcher wasn't a big name film star, and while Richards had some notoriety at the time, she was not a box office draw either. The only true time that they got a somewhat bankable actress  was with Halle Berry, and I said at the time and I'll say it now, I think she accounted for some of the noticeable spike in box office receipts that occurred between TWINE and DAD. How much extra did she bring in? Maybe $50 million?

I'd also argue that Michelle Yeoh probably had a bigger film fan base to draw upon than Hatcher did. Worldwide Yeoh was probably a bigger draw, but in America Hatcher was somewhat hot, had a hit show on tv at the time, and was the Internet's "Most Downloaded Actress" in 1996/97. Take that for whatever it's worth.

Richards was good for some publicity value, particularly before and during the filming, but once the film came out, she was a non-entity. Without the benefit of a nude scene or any lesbian sex scene, her value to the movie was limited, seeing as how all the teenage boys could see more of her, if they wanted to, by watching WILD THINGS on VHS or cable.

Back to your question...why settle for the director of STOP OR MY MOM WILL SHOOT when you can get Oscar winner Sam Mendes...or Oscar-nominated Michael Apted.

Why set the ceiling on your box office at $431 million dollars when you can do $599 million...even the garbage that was QOS made $560 million. Just imagine how much the Bond series could make if they put out a really good movie, with solid action, a credible action lead, action sequences that make sense to the plot, a plot with some mystery to it, an intriguing villain...etc...like SKYFALL???

Success begets more success. Success seeks its own level.

Ugh. Will never understand how Spottiswoode got the gig. I know John Woo was only asked for GOLDENEYE, but TOMORROW NEVER DIES would have been the perfect Bond gig for him. I guess I can only look to MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II as my alternative watch. TND needed this:

Makeshift Python wrote:

Ugh. Will never understand how Spottiswoode got the gig. I know John Woo was only asked for GOLDENEYE, but TOMORROW NEVER DIES would have been the perfect Bond gig for him. I guess I can only look to MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II as my alternative watch. TND needed this:

TND's motorcycle chase was light years more interesting than the one in MISSION IMPOSSIBLE II. In fact, the worst Bond movie is still infinitely more interesting than the lackluster Cruise MI films. Woo would have been interesting, but MI:2 was far from perfect; it was a cinematic love-letter to Tom Cruise that too often favored style over substance.

But what style. TND could have used some of that style instead of being the tone deaf bore it was.

DC is only four years older than Bellucci. And she looks about a decade younger than him.

Salomé wrote:

DC is only four years older than Bellucci. And she looks about a decade younger than him.

I think you meant Craig is four years younger.

Makeshift Python wrote:

But what style. TND could have used some of that style instead of being the tone deaf bore it was.

Maybe Woo could have helped on the sequence where Bond and Lin jump off the skyscraper. The stunt was more concinvingly done in ENTRAMPMENT. I remember being in the theater to see ENTRAMPMENT and grabbing the arm rests because I was close to having vertigo. Not so with TND; at no time did I feel the stunt doubles were actually hanging off the side of the skyscraper, but were instead on a back lot filming it.

Sequence could have used something like this:





I rarely can get through that YouTube video without having to switch it off....so scary, so dangerous. I think if I had climbed up to the top I'd have crapped my pants and been unable to get back down.