Post #525554 by VampiressRN on Thu, Apr 22, 2010 3:22 PM

WELL THIS IS SAD NEWS...

Financial troubles have "suspended development" of the newest James Bond film 'Bond 23" indefinitely. The legendary studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, producer of such films as "Mutiny on the Bounty," "The Wizard of Oz," "Cabin in the Sky," "Ben-Hur,""The Thomas Crown Affair" and "Thelma & Louise" is on the block and Agent 007 has been frozen like Goldfinger. Author Ian Fleming's debonair character, most recently played by craggy Daniel Craig, will find no "Quantum of Solace," in the sequel that was to be produced by the financially tottering studio. Deadline New York hints that more may be going on between MGM and the film's producers at EON Entertainment, but in either story the iconic film spy franchise extracted from Fleming's 14 1950s-era escapist thrillers could use a financial makeover, and probably a new script.

Gilded escapism goes only so far. I'm fond of James, but arrogant requests for shaken-and-not-stirred martinis and the careless ripping and bloodying of designer tuxedos aren't exactly 21st-century recession chic. People who are unemployed, clinging to low-paying jobs to feed their families, or part-timing and contracting to keep the lights on aren't into Bond finery and eccentricities. Weekends aren't spent shopping for Aston Martins or tearing up the family van in a high-speed chase. Those who press through every day in this recession hope their Toyota brakes hold up in commuter traffic. They may yearn for the restful resorts where Bond scuba dives and trolls a moonlit beach, but their daily struggle is surviving in the murky depths of an underwater mortgage.

As the Great Recession has positioned many Americans to glimpse what hardship can be like in other parts of the world, maybe Hollywood could use the popular international franchise to speak to an economic crisis that has marked everyone from Peoria to Athens. What if Bond took down a cinematic version of Bernie Madoff or an underground cartel of hedge fund managers and bankers who bet against their own companies to satisfy their own greed and left millions of casualties across the globe? What if Bond's personal fortune were plundered and M couldn't float him a loan because of budget cuts? What if Bond couldn't use his high-performance electric car because of bureaucratic state laws and was forced to pump gas at $4, $5 or $6 a gallon? What if he couldn't get life insurance because of a pre-existing condition or an airline charged him for carry-on luggage and refused to let him board when he threw a fit? Can you imagine Bond snarling at the ticket counter? I can.

If Bond is made even slightly more human, and gets involved in financial scrapes audiences can relate to, his image would go way beyond the perennial playboy escort who totes a gun in exotic locales. Audiences who pay a king's ransom to view the film in a theater would cheer when Bond sardonically walks from a courtroom where white-collar criminals have been harshly sentenced.

Maybe 007 could display fashion à la the Great Recession throughout the movie. He could wear off the rack sports jackets from Macy's, or at least recycle classics from his closet, like the Tom Ford duds and the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600 m Co-Axial Chronometer. In a fashion minute, Bond would expand his brand by inspiring thrifty fashionistas.

The chance to rethink the brand doesn't mean that the producers should alter the casting. Daniel Craig should reprise his role. Craig is far easier on the eyes than any 3-D avatar. Dame Judi Dench also should return as M. One of the greatest actresses in the world could then deliver the appropriate angry sparkle when Bond dares to blow his budget.