Ideas and locations for future Bond films

I know we already have one of these threads somewhere, but I think it's in the Bond 24 forum. Better to start one here.

There's a terrific Bond villain lair to be derived from this real-life story:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2389974/Zhang-Lin-builds-mountain-apartment-block-Beijing-China-create-dream-penthouse.html

- I remember reading somewhere (I can't remember where) that the original TOMORROW NEVER DIES pre-titles sequence featured Bond climbing a frozen waterfall. Since the climbing sequence in FOR YOUR EYES ONLY is one of my favourites, I'd love to see the idea revisited.
- I'd love to see Bond visit somewhere like Nepal or Bhutan. The Himalayan cultures have this real esoteric quality to them that I find completely magnetic - I don't understand them, and nor do I want to; the mystery of the place is compelling in its own right. If ever the Garden of Death were to appear in a film, I'd place it in Nepal. And I would combine it with Dr. No's endurance course; simply getting to the Garden of Death should be a challenge in itself.
- A self-contained pre-title sequence, kind of like OCTOPUSSY, but with more of a narrative to it.
- Australia. I don't know how, but it would be great to see something like the Kimberly or Pilbara regions.

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

- I remember reading somewhere (I can't remember where) that the original TOMORROW NEVER DIES pre-titles sequence featured Bond climbing a frozen waterfall. Since the climbing sequence in FOR YOUR EYES ONLY is one of my favourites, I'd love to see the idea revisited.

Yep I agree with this!

Quote :

- Australia. I don't know how, but it would be great to see something like the Kimberly or Pilbara regions.

I disagree with Australia being used as a location. Using the Melbourne Cup or Flinders Lane as a backdrop for certain sequences could work, but there are more interesting places in other continents.

I've said it before, but I really do think the Carnivale in Venice would be amazing, something like the Rio festival in MR or the Junkanoo in TB.

I would like to see Bond go back to Japan. It has been long overdue I think. I think it would be interesting to see a modern day Bond film taking place in only one major setting compared to the numerous locations of the last few.

Just no more Italy. Please. Just for a little while.

Moore wrote:

I would like to see Bond go back to Japan. It has been long overdue I think. I think it would be interesting to see a modern day Bond film taking place in only one major setting compared to the numerous locations of the last few.

Just no more Italy. Please. Just for a little while.

Three words:

Garden. Of. Death.

I'm not so sure that Japan would work for the Garden of Death. Reading YOLT, I see Bond pursuing Blofeld to the ends of the earth. On a certain level, Blofeld is a demon and the Garden represents a nest of corruption, a blight on the face of the earth that feeds on a culture's sense of nobility in order to sustain itself. Bond enters into the Garden with a sense of finality; he has dedicated his life to destroying evil, and this is the final confrontation. He fully expects to die, and in a sense, he does; his amnesia is his rebirth, a reward for cleansing the world of this force of evil. But I think the concept really works because of the setting - the idea that Japan is the edge of the known world. In the time since, the world has grown smaller and Japan (and Asia at large, for that matter) has drawn closer to the rest of us. That's why I think Nepal or Bhutan or maybe Cambodia or Laos would suit the Garden better - they have that element of cultural isolation about them that Japan had fifty years ago.

Anyway, a few other ideas:
- A horseback chase. Just as A VIEW TO A KILL started to set one up, it ended rather abruptly, so it was really rather disappointing.
- An "old Europe" setting, somewhere like Budapest or Prague. The kind of city where the buildings are monolithic, covered in spires and gargoyles and so weighed down with history that they almost have their own gravitational pull.
- Francisco Scaramanga. Christopher Lee naturally gave his all in TMWTGG, but the disjointed script really damaged the character. I'd like to see a proper adaptation. Possibly having Bond trying to track down Blofeld and the Garden of Death, with Scaramanga as an assassin sent to stop him.

Makeshift Python wrote:

Moore wrote:

I would like to see Bond go back to Japan. It has been long overdue I think. I think it would be interesting to see a modern day Bond film taking place in only one major setting compared to the numerous locations of the last few.

Just no more Italy. Please. Just for a little while.

Three words:

Garden. Of. Death.

I'm hoping EON & Co. have the good sense to bring it to the films.

Moore wrote:

Just no more Italy. Please. Just for a little while.

No more Italy for a little while… But when it comes back, bring it back with Carnivale! Actually, just remembered that it popped up in an early TND draft - hopefully it's on the back burner still and they'll bring it up later on.

I like the idea of old Europe PM!

I'd also like to see Scandinavian countries pop up, and Canada - particularly Quebec.

TND was also going to feature Bond driving a Jordan Formula 1 car at Silverstone, but Peugeot - Jordan's engine supplier - said no. It's probably for the best; as much as I love motorsport, something similar turned up in CHARLIE'S ANGELS, and it was stupid.

That said, I would love to see Bond have a GOLDFINGER-style bet against the villain at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, racing old cars from the time when, in the immortal words if James Hunt, sex was safe and racing was dangerous.

Some more ideas:

- South-east Asia. Bond has dabbled with it in TMWTGG and TND, but the films have never really explored it. I find some of the architecture striking, and I would like to see a tropical Bond film just as much as a snowbound one.
- Continuing the theme of recycling abandoned ideas, TLD was originally supposed to feature Bond and Kara escaping the police on an ice yacht, but it was scrapped and they escaped in the cello case instead.
- A slow start. Recent films have plunged straight into the action without context, and while it's driven by a desire to open with a bang, it was exhausting in QOS and only worked in SF because Mendes knew the audience needed pacing. But I would like to see a Bond film gradually build up its momentum.

Japan, I'd like to see that again. Not the big cities, more off the beaten path. Also would have liked to see more Russia, smaller towns with little or no appeal for the tourists. Won't come to that now

BOND 25 won't go into production for at least another two years. A lot can happen between now and then. And if push comes to shove, there are parts of some of the former Soviet republics - like Moldova, Belarus and Bulgaria - that could stand in for Russia.

I have said this before, and doubtless I will say it again: Bond needs a rally chase. QOS came close with the detour through the quarry in the PTS, and FYEO experimented a little with the Citroen 2CV chase, but neither really got it.

The premise is simple - off-road, high speed driving on a variety of surfaces and in difficult conditions, with trees and barriers often inches away. The only potential problem is that the sport is dominated by smaller cars and hot hatches, so an Aston Martin wouldn't be a good choice for it.

Alternatively, a Ken Block-style gymkhana chase could really work. I know Block is a bit of a tool and his videos are only popular with teenagers who think burnouts are clever, but hear me out - say that a villain has a luxury yacht and is in the process of escaping a harbour. Bond has no chance of catching him by road, as it is too far and/or the roads are blocked. His only choice is to take the most direct route along a pier, dodging and weaving his way around, over and through obstacles, all while keeping his speed up. He gets to the end of the pier and has just enough time to climb a nearby crane, using the hook and cable to swing out over the harbour entry (it's the Indiana Jones rule - a hero should swing on something, and go under a moving vehicle at some point), releasing himself in mid-air so that he lands aboard the passing yacht.

Thailand.

It's the India of three years ago.

Argentina, right up Patagonia.

ha, I'd pay to see that. Me and me alone but still. Make a good Austin Powers film.

In seriousness I'd like to see some North American locations but lord knows how and where. British Columbia, New England. I still think San Francisco should get a proper run out. There was somewhere I read about in the northern extreme of Canada that could do in a PTS or climax maybe. Forget what it's called, meant to be one of the worlds northernmost cities.

I'd like to see Africa featured more. Maybe in Mombasa - there's a mix of Portuguese, Islamic and British influences there. Fort Jesus would look particularly good.

I would also like to see Indonesia, Malaysia and/or Singapore featured. The only potential problem here is smog. But the humid tropics and the coffee plantations of Sumatra could really work.

The producers should also try for India again, provided that the Indian government plays along and stops trying to turn the film into a giant advertisement for India. Again, smog might be a problem, but Mumbai or Jaipur would be good choices.

And I like it when Bond goes into Europe, but he should stay away from the touristy destinations. I like Lyon, Marseilles or Geneva for this. Possibly even Corsica and Ajaccio or Rhodes and the Greek Islands.

I agree about Marseilles! Also keen on The Seychelles.

FieldsMan wrote:

I agree about Marseilles!

Here's what I'm thinking for a sequence in Marseilles: we have a ship known as the Young Endeavour which is intended as a replica (though not a precise replica) of HMS Endeavour the ship captained by James Cook when he discovered Australia.

So I'm envisioning the Marseilles harbour filled with replica warships (expensive, but I'm sure that they could be hired) as part of some unnamed celebration. Bond is chasing a villain who is escaping via luxury yacht, but he is falling behind. So he takes a shortcut, up over the deck of a warship, leaping across onto a second ship, then rapidly ascending the mast and swinging out over the water, dropping onto the villain's yacht. Possibly with the crews of the ships in replica costumes and the scene set at night with fireworks abound.

Okay, it would probably be expensive (there is no budget to the imagination). But it's inspired by the International Fleet Review that we had in Sydney Harbour about a year ago, where Port Jackson was full of (modern) warships. I think that having old sailing vessels would make for a pretty striking image.

Alright, it's been a while since I have done one of these, but here's a write-up of what BOND 25 could be. For want of a better name, I'll call it EXPERTO CREDE, which is essentially Latin for "trust me".

MOMBASA
Bond is on assignment in Kenya, trying to rescue a local MI6 agent. The only way out is a wing-and-prayer flight below radar level in a single-engine aircraft.

LONDON
During a relatively quiet time around the world, M sends Bond on a mission that he is over-qualified for, largely because Bond has become restless. He is to go to France to investigate the death of Sir Fidele Barbey, a biochemist whose name appeared on the "experto crede" list - a list of individuals who are considered high value, though the reasons for it are top secret. Because he is on this list, the security services are immediately notified in the event of his death. Bond is being sent to Marseilles to confirm Barbey's death, even though it has been ruled natural.

MARSEILLES
Once in Marseilles, Bond is followed by Conrad Wittenstein, who is ostensibly a South African mercenary. Bond makes the conncetion between Wittenstein and Valterri Kruuda, an Estonian-born Russian petrochemical oligarch whose hobby is building replica eighteenth-century warships as his family served as officers in the Russian Navy for generations. Realising that Barbey had contact with Kruuda, Bond zeroes in on him. After breaking in to a pre-French Revolution palace that is now the oligarch's summer home, Bond discovers a connection to Jaipur. After being disturbed be Wittenstein, Bond races across the city to catch Kruuda before he leaves in his private yacht.

JAIPUR
With Kruuda wise to his presence, Bond must tread carefully. The trail leads to a high-altitude monastery and high-tech research facility in northern India. The facility is adjacent to a lake that dates back to the the triassic period. As it has never been covered by a glacier, conditions in the lake are the same today as they were hundreds of millions of years ago. As there is a thermal vent at the bottom of the lake, a previously-undiscovered bacteria has been found.

Bond begins to piece things together. Barbey, a biochemist, had discovered the bacteria and approached Kruuda to fund research. However, they further discover that when exposed to nitrogen, the bacteria produce a chemical by-product that interferes with the ability to block satellites. If released into the upper atmosphere, it would create a cloud that spy satellites cannot penetrate. Kruuda plans to release this particle over eastern Europe, throwing NATO into disarray.

However, Wittenstein is no ordinary henchman - he is, in fact, SPECTRE's number four. He kills Kruuda and destroys the facility in an avalanche.

SUMATRA
Bond travels to Indonesia, where SPECTRE have purchased a coffee plantation near a volcanic lake in Sumatra, which they are using to produce massive quantities of the bacteria to sell to the highest bidder. Bond leads an attacking force against the plantation, destroying the bacteria stocks and killing Wittenstein in the process by exposing him to the bacteria, which suffocates him.

If they use Mombasa as a location, I hope they do more with it than Inception did.

Yeah, that did feel a bit like "oh, sure it's Mombasa ... no, just take our word for it".

Here's an idea - China wants to mine Antactica for resources; maybe it could be a source of colombite:

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-20/chinas-desire-for-antarctic-mining-despite-international-ban/6029414

Although given that MOONRAKER is based heavily on the post-war state of affairs, I am not sure how it could be adapted into a film for the 2010s or 2020s.

The Lotus C-01:



It might be a concept at the moment, but the Jaguar C-X75 that will appear in SPECTRE is only a concept car (it was slated for production, but then canned). I could see the C-01 working as a henchman's vehicle.