Movies: next James Bond will be Aaron Taylor-Johnson?

[ChaoticOrange]

How long are we as a society going to keep up the charade that this man is anything more than average looking?
View attachment 673134

Are you drunk

 

[StreetHawk]

Picking the wrong guy to be Bond is a risk that exists no matter his skin color. I think that it's safe to say that changing it increases the risk, though. You said, yourself, that the franchise currently relies on "old people," i.e. people who have lived through many Bonds and like the character as he is. Making changes that could lose the interest of the audience that the franchise relies on in order to try to appeal to an audience that already doesn't have much interest in it is probably the riskiest thing that could be done. That's the way to kill a franchise. To make Bond as big (i.e. profitable) as possible, you need to gain younger viewers without losing the older ones. To that end, keeping Bond Caucasian, but making him younger and supporting him with diverse supporting characters may be the safest strategy.

Best to keep the character the way he was originally written. Be like changing a big name superhero to a different ethnicity like Batman, Superman, Ironman, etc. they have too much of a hardcore audience to accept a big change like that. Ok with the change to supporting characters but not the main one.

I mean if they made a movie revolving around 001 character, what are the chances that would do well at the box office? Could take as many or as little of Bond’s character as you wished.

 

[Neutrinos]

View attachment 673341

Are you drunk

You're using an image of him from a professional photoshoot...

Don't be fooled by the lighting, makeup, stubble, hairstyle, and wardrobe, his facial features are meh

This is what he actually looks like...

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

If audiences won't accept a non-white Bond, but will accept a young Bond then I'd suggest their feelings have nothing to do with fealty to the Fleming books or to the 60 years of movies.

The opening few minutes of Craig's Casino Royale is about as "young" as Bond has ever been portrayed. On page and screen he's pretty much always been an established mid- to late-career entity. Little origin. Little learning on the job (aside from some moments in the Craig movies). He's pretty much fully formed.

Now you can cast younger and still make him an established dude. There's a difference between "younger" and "young" for sure. Book Bond is mid-late 30s, which seems to be where most of these alleged candidates are. Youth doesn't necessarily equal origin story.

But what makes me curious is if the next story is more of an origin route. And if the next story winds up being a "young Bond" in that learning sense and the alleged Bond originalists don't revolt because "that's not who Bond is!" well ... some folks will be telling on themselves.

You're using an image of him from a professional photoshoot...

Don't be fooled by the stubble, hairstyle, and wardrobe, his facial features are meh

This is what he actually looks like...
View attachment 673407

Unless they recruit Ken Loach or Mike Leigh to direct the next Bond movie I don't think you have to worry about real Richard Madden face.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

You're using an image of him from a professional photoshoot...

Don't be fooled by the lighting, makeup, stubble, hairstyle, and wardrobe, his facial features are meh

This is what he actually looks like...
View attachment 673407

Right, certainly won't be any of those things available ON A MOVIE SET

 

[Neutrinos]

Right, certainly won't be any of those things available ON A MOVIE SET

You've officially steered the conversation away from my original point

 

[ChaoticOrange]

You've officially steered the conversation away from my original point

that's because your original point was silly

 

[DaaaaB's]

You're using an image of him from a professional photoshoot...

Don't be fooled by the lighting, makeup, stubble, hairstyle, and wardrobe, his facial features are meh

This is what he actually looks like...
View attachment 673407

What you're saying applies to a lot if not most Actors and Actresses. Plus, if that's the worst picture you can find of him it's not really helping your argument.

 

[Osprey]

If audiences won't accept a non-white Bond, but will accept a young Bond then I'd suggest their feelings have nothing to do with fealty to the Fleming books or to the 60 years of movies.

The opening few minutes of Craig's Casino Royale is about as "young" as Bond has ever been portrayed. On page and screen he's pretty much always been an established mid- to late-career entity. Little origin. Little learning on the job (aside from some moments in the Craig movies). He's pretty much fully formed.

Now you can cast younger and still make him an established dude. There's a difference between "younger" and "young" for sure. Book Bond is mid-late 30s, which seems to be where most of these alleged candidates are. Youth doesn't necessarily equal origin story.

But what makes me curious is if the next story is more of an origin route. And if the next story winds up being a "young Bond" in that learning sense and the alleged Bond originalists don't revolt because "that's not who Bond is!" well ... some folks will be telling on themselves.

In general, I think that accepting a younger version of an established character is different than accepting a major change of ethnicity. With younger versions, you can still imagine that they grew up to be the characters that you know. In fact, it's often part of the fun to see what they were like in earlier parts of their lives than we're familiar with. The movie Young Sherlock Holmes, with Holmes solving a mystery as a teenager, comes to mind. We've also seen young versions of Indiana Jones and Han Solo. That and making the characters black seem like two very different things to me.

That said, when I suggested that they could go with a younger Bond, I meant as young as 30. That's 5 years younger than the character in the novels, but Connery started at 31 and Lazenby was only 29 and it's a whole lot closer than Moore at 57, Connery at 52 and Craig at 51. A 30 year old can play a character in his mid-30s, age nicely in the role and not be in his 50s by the end. I'm not necessarily advocating for casting a Bond that young, but it wouldn't be the first time and they could go that route if they wanted to go after a younger audience without dis-enfranchising older audiences.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

In general, I think that accepting a younger version of an established character is different than accepting a major change of ethnicity. With younger versions, you can still imagine that they grew up to be the characters that you know. In fact, it's often part of the fun to see what they were like in earlier parts of their lives than we're familiar with. The movie Young Sherlock Holmes, with Holmes solving a mystery as a teenager, comes to mind. We've also seen young versions of Indiana Jones and Han Solo. That and making the characters black seem like two very different things to me.

That said, when I suggested that they could go with a younger Bond, I meant as young as 30. That's 5 years younger than the character in the novels, but Connery started at 31 and Lazenby was only 29 and it's a whole lot closer than Moore at 57, Connery at 52 and Craig at 51. A 30-year-old can play a character in his mid-30s, age nicely in the role and not be in his 50s by the end. I'm not necessarily advocating for casting a Bond that young, but it wouldn't be the first time and they could go that route if they wanted to go after a younger audience without dis-enfranchising older audiences.

I agree audiences will accept a change of age over ethnicity. But I would argue that Bond being an established, experienced agent is much more essential to Fleming's creation than the color of his skin.

If people truly feel established traits/canon/whatever shouldn't be muddled with then his age/experience SHOULD be a hands off issue too.

Of course it isn't but that's because some people don't care about all of Bond's traits they only care about one very specific trait.

This all could be moot of course. As we both noted "younger" doesn't necessarily mean "young."

 

[Jumptheshark]

Looks like a decision will be announced in the next week or so with Aaron Taylor-Johnson now in the lead and reportedly shooting a teaser scene shortly

Aaron Taylor-Johnson chosen as next James Bond, reports say

Famous for Kick-Ass and Avengers: Age Of Ultron, the 33-year-old actor previously said rumours linking him with James Bond are "charming and wonderful".

news.sky.com

 

[barriers]

I always forget he's English. Not my first choice but he'll probably be a fine Bond.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

No idea who he even is so because of that it is a terrible choice.

 

[HolyGhost]

No idea who he even is so because of that it is a terrible choice.

He is either more famous for the marvel movies he made or Nowhere Boy where he played John Lennon

 

[Satans Hockey]

No idea who he even is so because of that it is a terrible choice.

Did you know who Daniel Craig was before they made him Bond? I was meh on him originally but it turned out to be a good choice so I'll give this guy a chance even though he doesn't look like a James Bond to me much either.

 

[trojansoilers]

No idea who he even is so because of that it is a terrible choice.

He's been in a few major movies like Kickass, Avengers 2, the Godzilla reboot, Tenet, and more recently in Bullet Train and The Fall Guy.

I like the choice, especially if they're continuing the trend that Daniel Craig started with a more physical and edgier 007. I wonder if he would be the first bearded Bond though...cause I think ATJ looks better with one.

 

[beowulf]

He is either more famous for the marvel movies he made or Nowhere Boy where he played John Lennon

Or Kick-Ass the superhero satire movies.

 

[Raging Bull]

I thought he was great in Nocturnal Animals that's really all I've seen him in. He looks the part.

 

[Power Man]

Another fan casting fail lol

Honestly I have 0 problem with ATJ getting the role

He is an excellent actor and can pull it off

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

Bond is one of those roles where there will never be a consensus on casting. Gotta wait to see how the first flick plays out. I highly doubt they'll do it, but I'd love if they brought back Martin Campbell to direct. He knows how to introduce a modern Bond.

 

[DaaaaB's]

No idea who he even is so because of that it is a terrible choice.

Even if you've never heard of him, which is pretty amazing for a guy who spends as much time watching tv/movies as you seem to, your reasoning for it being a terrible choice is ridiculous.

Did you know who Daniel Craig was before they made him Bond? I was meh on him originally but it turned out to be a good choice so I'll give this guy a chance even though he doesn't look like a James Bond to me much either.

I'm not sure if ATJ will make a good Bond or not(it's not a challenging role anyhow) but he certainly seems more like a Bond than Daniel Craig does who honestly looks more like an evil Russian.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

I agree audiences will accept a change of age over ethnicity. But I would argue that Bond being an established, experienced agent is much more essential to Fleming's creation than the color of his skin.

If people truly feel established traits/canon/whatever shouldn't be muddled with then his age/experience SHOULD be a hands off issue too.

Of course it isn't but that's because some people don't care about all of Bond's traits they only care about one very specific trait.

This all could be moot of course. As we both noted "younger" doesn't necessarily mean "young."

That's the thing that beats me about someone having an issue with changing Bond's ethnicity.

In what way is his ethnicity central and important to either the character or the plots?

 

[DaaaaB's]

That's the thing that beats me about someone having an issue with changing Bond's ethnicity.

In what way is his ethnicity central and important to either the character or the plots?

It's not at all. Anyone who complains about it is racist whether they realize it or not.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Even if you've never heard of him, which is pretty amazing for a guy who spends as much time watching tv/movies as you seem to, your reasoning for it being a terrible choice is ridiculous.

I'm not sure if ATJ will make a good Bond or not(it's not a challenging role anyhow) but he certainly seems more like a Bond than Daniel Craig does who honestly looks more like an evil Russian.

I dont watch Marvel movies and it's not like he's known for much other than a small handful of good movies.

 

[Primary Assist]

The studios should just listen to the fans for once and bring back Georg Laserbean