Tarantino Wants to Tackle James Bond

[MrRant 0]

By Mike Davidson

 

CANNES, France (Reuters) - After four years of filming and editing his "Kill Bill" revenge saga, American director Quentin Tarantino (news) feels like he's climbed a cinematic mountain but instead of a much-desired rest he wants to tackle the Everest of film genres: James Bond.

 

Once Tarantino finishes worldwide promotion for his "Kill Bill - Volume 2" sequel, which stars Uma Thurman (news) as a bride bent on finding the man who tried to kill her, he plans to approach the producers of the big-budget Bond series.

 

"I've always wanted to do it. I bumped into Pierce Brosnan (news) and we talked about it. He liked the idea," he said.

 

Tarantino is a lifelong fan of the British spy saga, now starring the Irish actor Brosnan.

 

"I would like to do the original book 'Casino Royale' and do it more or less the way the Ian Fleming book is," Tarantino told Reuters in an interview in Cannes, where he is president of this year's film festival jury.

 

"Casino Royale" was made in 1967 as an ill-fated spoof starring David Niven (news) as an aging 007.

 

"I don't know if they're going to go for it or not, but I'm letting them know I'm interested," he said.

 

Only weeks ago, an exhausted Tarantino said he felt like he had already climbed the world's highest peak and would probably pick a smaller-scale production for his next picture.

 

That was before he received some words of advice from Eleanor Coppola, wife of legendary director Francis Ford Coppola (news) and mother of Sofia Coppola (news) ("Lost in Translation"), who is rumored to be dating Tarantino.

 

Eleanor Coppola, who documented the disaster-ridden making of her husband's 1979 classic "Apocalypse Now," told Tarantino to tackle ambitious projects while he still had youth and energy on his side.

 

"It was actually quite profound advice that she gave. Not to say that you can't make a small movie in between, but now is not the time to do a left-handed project," Tarantino said. "Now is the time to climb Mount Everest (news - web sites)."

 

The "Reservoir Dogs" director sounds like he has no intention of slowing down. He has completed a script for a World War II project and is also toying with plans for a horror film.

 

Though he is handing out the honors this year, Tarantino has every intention of returning to Cannes, where he won the Palme d'Or best film award in 1994 with "Pulp Fiction."

 

"I guess at the end of the day it would be nice if my crowning achievement was the fact that I won more Palme d'Ors than any filmmaker who ever lived. That would be great, that's something to aspire to," he said.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/n...es_tarantino_dc

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Very interesting to say at the least. I wouldn't mind. Now if they can get a good replacement for Pierce Brosnan remains to be seen.

[tbondrage99 0]

If Quentin Tarantino were to do a James Bond movie it might lead to mean actually watching a James Bond movie, I personally am not a fan of James Bond movies, but I am a fan of Tarantino and would watch any James Bond movie he would do for sure.

 

Also I heard that the next James Bond was going to be Wolverine himself Hugh Jackman, or at least that was the rumor I heard.

[Tony149 0]

I'm all for Tarantino doing a Bond film. Supposedly MGM/EON aren't that excited about OT's desire to do a film, but if he can land a meeting with the producers, maybe he could convince them. Tarantino has said in the last few months they (the producers and studio) have "nothing to lose" by letting him do one...and he's right.

[MrRant 0]

They would probably get some more tickets sold just by having Tarantino's name attached to the project along with the Bond name.

[Guest El Satanico]

also toying with plans for a horror film

:marks out:

 

and he's a fan of Italian horror

[Mecha Mummy 0]

My god. This could easily be a very fun movie, and it would be the first James Bond film I actually go to see in theatres since the last couple of them have been rather lackluster.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

If QT directs I think Brosnan will be back. He has publically stated he wants the next one directed by QT. So go Tarantino!

[Mole 0]

I am not a big fan of Bond movies because it is the same formula for every movie. However, if QT is directing it then I am there.

[Guest El Satanico]

I didn't think returning to the role was Pierce's choice to make.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

I am not a big fan of Bond movies because it is the same formula for every movie.

Spoken like a true idiot. Eh well, at least you didn't state your ORIGINAL reason.

 

BTW, Rant should know that this news is like 7 years old. QT's been saying this since after Jackie Brown.

[Guest Choken One]

They would probably get some more tickets sold just by having Tarantino's name attached to the project along with the Bond name.

right because Bond films have that historical tendency to bomb at the box office.

[MrRant 0]

You're a moron Choken. I said more tickets sold because of QT. I never said that it would bomb.

[Guest I Got Banned for Sucking]

If Tarantino covered Bond, you'd watch the film, and after being entertained by two hours of innovative blood, gore and conversations that set new bench-marks in pop culture, you'll think:

 

'What the fuck was that about?'

[Guest El Satanico]

If Tarantino covered Bond, you'd watch the film, and after being entertained by two hours of innovative blood, gore and conversations that set new bench-marks in pop culture, you'll think:

 

'What the fuck was that about?'

And why pray tell is that?

 

What Tarantino film made it hard to know what was going on? What Bond film made it hard to know what was going on?

[MrRant 0]

Indeed. I again have no clue what IB is trying to say.

[Guest El Satanico]

If Tarantino does get to make this, I predict alot of so called Tarantino fans will be disappointed. Tarantino respects the material, so I think his Bond film will be very untarintino.

 

Sure we'll see signs of his dialoge, obsession with kung fu films and an increase of red coloring, but I think he'll tone it now as to not overshadow the source material.

[Guest thebigjig]

This is old news... I've been talking about this for months now.

 

Anyway, I think it would be amazing... I've read Casino Royale, and it's a very engaging and DARK book. For any of you that have never read the original Bond books, the character of 007 is NOT the wise cracking, perform death defying stunts with a smile, type character that has been portrayed since the beginning of the series. To put it simply: Bond, is an asshole. He HATES women. And by that, I mean he sleep with them, and then has no other use for them. He feels they get in the way. In Casino Royale, the female character, Vesper, steals his heart and betrays him. His reaction to it is awesome, and I won't spoil it for anyone here, if you plan on reading the book.

 

Anyway, the reason MGM is hesitant about this, other than the fact that QT is an American director, is that the book is about a card game... so it's not exactly the type of Bond movie that has been made over the years.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

This is old news... I've been talking about this for months now.

 

Anyway, I think it would be amazing... I've read Casino Royale, and it's a very engaging and DARK book. For any of you that have never read the original Bond books, the character of 007 is NOT the wise cracking, perform death defying stunts with a smile, type character that has been portrayed since the beginning of the series. To put it simply: Bond, is an asshole. He HATES women. And by that, I mean he sleep with them, and then has no other use for them. He feels they get in the way. In Casino Royale, the female character, Vesper, steals his heart and betrays him. His reaction to it is awesome, and I won't spoil it for anyone here, if you plan on reading the book.

 

Anyway, the reason MGM is hesitant about this, other than the fact that QT is an American director, is that the book is about a card game... so it's not exactly the type of Bond movie that has been made over the years.

You don't get it. At all.

 

Bond doesn't HATE women. Bond realizes that women are a hubris for him, a factor that will probobly get him killed one day. And sho he resents them for that. He's a chauvinist, but not a mysoginist.

 

It's a common mistake.

[Nighthawk 0]

Well, he got it a little bit. Not getting it at all would be thinking that Bond was gay.

[Guest thebigjig]

Hate is a bad word to use... thats just the thing that came to my mind when I wrote it... either way, the Bond of the movies and the Bond of the books are two COMPLETELY different characters... with the exception of maybe Dalton who I think played it most accurately as compared to Ian Fleming's Bond

[Guest I Got Banned for Sucking]

No, I just meant that Tarantino's films are a lot of style, but not a lot in the way of content.

 

Seriously though, I'd love to see him tackle Bond - he'd be one of the only directors in the world to not let the franchise down.

 

And this is the only franchise to be strong after so many films.

[NoCalMike 0]

I dunno how you could mix Tarrantino with a horror flick and get something released with an R rating. I mean sure, From Dusk till Dawn, but that was also a collaboration with Paul Rodriguez, and if you own the Dimension DVD, you can see all the gore that had to be cut from the flick...

 

I always though Tarrantino doing a remake of The Thing with his own script would be fantastic, except for the fact that there is absolutely no reason to remake The Thing in the first place.

[Guest El Satanico]

I dunno how you could mix Tarrantino with a horror flick and get something released with an R rating. I mean sure, From Dusk till Dawn, but that was also a collaboration with Paul Rodriguez, and if you own the Dimension DVD, you can see all the gore that had to be cut from the flick...

 

I always though Tarrantino doing a remake of The Thing with his own script would be fantastic, except for the fact that there is absolutely no reason to remake The Thing in the first place.

Well he got an R for Kill Bill with alittle creative use of B&W.

 

Also I believe the MPAA isn't as hard on violence not done to humans, so that could be his way around it. He also doesn't have to use buckets of blood and guts. Some creative but restrained use of gore is fine.

[Guest Crazy Dan]

I actually think Tarantino would be a good choice for directing a Bond movie. But there were need to be some factors in his favor.

 

1. Tarantino must be a Bond fan. If he is, then it is a safe bet that he has watched all of the Bond movies. And Tarantino has a knack to be able to take any genre of films, take all the best aspects and incorporate them into his films. So you know that there would be great gadgets, at least one great chase scene, hopefully a showdown between Bond and the Main Baddie's top Goon, which is always the most entertaining fight, and of course bodacious babes, with such sexual names as "Pussy Galore" and so forth.

 

2. Tarantino must be allowed to choose who he thinks would make a great Bond, no matter how big or small the actor. Tarantino is great at picking the right actors for his parts, so he should be allowed to pick his Bond, who I believe would be great, and someone to build the Bond franchise around for future movies. And that goes for the Main Villian, Bond Babe, Bad Ass Henchman, and any other character that he feels would make the Bond movie awesome. I could see him making some good casting choices, and maybe picking actors who haven't acted in the mainstream, in a while. Tarantino brings the best out of many of his actors due to him being able to write rolls with each specific actor in mind. I am sure we would need not worry about poor any casting choices, unless of course he goes back to China and finds that killer E, which is why the Kill Bill Vol I fight in the resteruant took 8 weeks to film, but I am sure that would not affect his casting choice.

 

3. I think that Tarantino writes great dialogue, but this should be kept to maybe the scenes where Bond meets the main villian the first time, his dialogue with Q (I would hope they keep John Cleese, he has been my favorite Q), and maybe the dialogue when the bad guy is dumb enough to tell Bond his plot, which could be use to take some obscure pop culture refrence and make that it the reason for his reason for world domination. And also the scene where Bond puts the mack on about three women, before finally getting the main babe. And this would also be a great chance to poke fun at the Bond cliches, without hurting the movie. But definately the action would need to be the focus. And since Bond movies are traditionaly meant to be seen by audiances of all ages, Tarantino would need to tone his swearing down. I am not a prude, but I grew up watching these movies, and it would have been a shame to not see them due to being rated R. So he would have to find ways around that.

 

4. And of course, Tarantino would need to pick the Bond song, as well as pick the songs that get played throughout the movie. Regardless of how old or new, let Tarantino pick the right music. That is another thing I love about Tarantino, he has a knack of finding music that many in our generation have not heard before, and reintroducing it to the mainstream. I love how the music he uses becuase it always fits the mood of his scenes.

 

And as he showed in Kill Bill Vol I, Tarantino can make an action film. So why not let him see what he can do with this franchise. It could not hurt. And if Tarantino is excited about doing this project this could definateley add a shot in the arm to this franchise. Also, allow him to pick the time frame of the movie. Maybe allow him to set back in the Cold War, or during the 70's (which I could see him wanting to do), or modern day. I wonder if he could get away with doing a movie like he normally does, which is to go out of sequence. But as he proved in Jackie Brown, he can do a movie that does not go out of sequence. But, hey, if he was able to pull that one off, that would be cool. Tarantino would know what would work best.

 

So let him see what he can come up with. I personally think with the right conditions, he could make a great Bond movie. But only if Tarantino is motivated and has fun making it, and gets creative control to do the movie he wants, otherwise if he gets hamstrung, then I would say work on other projects like that "Unglorious Bastards" or "Vega Brothers" movies he has in mind. But, Tarantino is the best director working right now, IMO, and I believe he would make an excellant movie and one that would get the masses thinking. Plus, I would like to see Tarantino continue to make movies, so if he wants to try his hand at Bond, let him see what he can do.