New 'Spectre' trailer leaves us wondering: Where does 007 go from here?
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Steve Tilley, Postmedia Network First posted: Wednesday, July 22, 2015 06:07 AM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, July 22, 2015 02:45 PM EDT
A new trailer was released Wednesday for Spectre, the 24th film in the long and storied James Bond franchise. It’s got gunfights, car chases and aerial stunts. It’s got beautiful women (the one-two knockout punch of Monica Bellucci and Lea Seydoux), exotic locations and Bond gone rogue.
It looks really good. And it’s got me worried.
Maybe I’m just needlessly concerned about the future, but my problem with Spectre, which hits theatres Nov. 6, is this: Where the heck does Bond go from here? With the amazing Christoph Waltz as the villainous Franz “Or Maybe I’m Ernst Blofeld” Oberhauser, leading not only a classic-era shadowy organization but one that has been the self-proclaimed author of all Bond’s pain, the stakes have never been higher for 007. It sounds like the events of Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall have all led to this. So how will they create a greater personal and professional jeopardy for Bond in the next film?
One way to sidestep this would be to switch to a new Bond, something that effectively reboots the franchise each time it’s done. Idris Elba (Pacific Rim) has been touted as a possible Bond successor (and would become the first black 007), and Henry Cavill (Man of Steel) was in the running for the role before it ultimately went to Craig. With Cavill starring in next month’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E., a movie remake of the ’60s TV show created by Bond author Ian Fleming, he certainly seems willing to play a suave spy. Would he still be up for Bond if it came his way?
“That’s a question which I will only come to answer if it ever lands in my lap,” Cavill told me in a recent interview. “I can’t really answer it now because I can’t realistically think about it.”
And to be honest, it’s not likely to happen soon anyway. While it’s folly to judge a film by its trailer (unless that film happens to be Mad Max: Fury Road), it looks like Spectre could appeal to Bond fans of all stripes and levels of devotion.
Couple that with the return of Skyfall director Sam Mendes, and I’d be surprised if Spectre didn’t become the second Bond film to cross the billion-dollar mark at the box office. Craig is under contract for more movies, and when your prize racehorse is pulling in that kind of bank, you don’t put him out to pasture early.
I’m now more excited for Spectre than any Bond film before it – including Skyfall – but after this fourth movie with Daniel Craig as Bond, the novelty of his gruff, grim 007 will be wearing a tad thin. And Mendes was reluctant to make Spectre, so I very much doubt the producers will be able to lure him back a third time. Bond’s present is clear, but his future is cloudy. When you’re at the top of your game, there’s nowhere to go but down.
Then again, maybe Miss Moneypenny isn’t talking to Bond in the Spectre trailer so much as she’s speaking to us, the audience, when she says, “They say you’re finished. I think you’re just getting started.”
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New 'Spectre' trailer leaves us wondering: Where does 007 go from here? | Movies