The Pitch: James Bond

Recently I went back over my James Bond collection, both the films that I have on DVD from when the collections where cheap and the novels I have found here and there over the years. Reading or watching the classic Bonds in the 2020s is an experience in ambivalence; the stories and writing are excellent, the films are classics and well put together, but they have aged in unfortunate ways. To me, Bond is best as a period character, inhabiting the 1950s and '60s with his retro-cool clothing, chain-smoking and early Cold War nonsense. Whilst the newer films (and I'm talking Dalton and onward here) are fun and can occasionally be great, to me they're a different beast, more of a riff on the concept than truly Bond.

At the time of writing, Daniel Craig has hung up the martini glass and the future of the franchise is nebulous at best, though we can all be sure that more Bond will come at some point. With where my head is at the moment, I have an idea that I'd like to put out there; James Bond should stay in the era in which he works best, 1953-1966, the time in which the Flemming novels were written. So yes, the future of Bond is the past, and I actually have some good reasoning behind this it's not just a nostalgia bent or me still having weird feelings over Connery being dead. Really.

Ian Flemming's James Bond - 007

For this 'reboot' (because that's what it is, let's not beat about the bush) the overarching mission statement is "do the books". Yes, the early films focused on the Flemming novels as well, but we're going to do them both closely and in order. Why? Well the stories kind of flow well as they're written, for the most part, and when done in the reading order, characters like Felix Lighter and Quarrel get their own arcs and it's not just about Bond. Also, fun fact, the 'Bond girls' usually get follow-up in the next novel, like Honey[chile] Rider being set up in America by Bond as thanks and Tatiana Romanova sadly dying saving Bond's life against Rosa Klebb. Plus, following the books closely is a version of this that hasn't been done yet.

For those who have never read the novels, they're more... low rent, than the films? Fewer crazy gadgets, a lot more actual spycraft from Bond and long stretches of Bond just living, drinking and smoking. The Connery films do cover the lifestyle stuff early on, but it's such a major feature of the books. Other notable changes are things like Doctor No just being a sociopathic rich guy (but I repeat myself) and The Big Man being a spy for the Soviets; lower rent, as I said. Of course the novels are typically even more racist and often just as sexist, but the plan here is to almost make that a point. Remember, we're sticking to the books as much as possible.

In fact, I thinking it would be good to keep the bigoted language in cases where Bond and other white characters use it. Bond is an instrument of Empire, albeit a fading one, so when we view him though a lens of 21st century sensibilities, the antihero elements that already define the character in the novels become even more stark. Even to Flemming, it would seem, Bond is not a hero. He is the protagonist, but rarely are his actions altruistic or heroic in any real way. Also, having highly offensive language and the visceral violence on the screen will push the rating up to R, so angry boys on the internet will defend and promote it without understanding it, which will be personally hilarious to me.

These adaptations shouldn't even be that expensive, as the hard part is finding era appropriate sets, locations and props, but they could be reused if needed. Think Mad Men, but a decade earlier and traveling across the entire world. Style would be the substance in many ways, like the gorgeous long shots of Connery clearing rooms or lighting a cigarette in the early films, before things got a little more silly. Thinking along the lines of the grounded nature of the Craig era with the style of the Connery era and we're pretty much getting there. Would this all be popular with the general audience? I really don't know, but I think it would be an interesting choice for a franchise that has long since gotten stale.