Now that Daniel Crag's reign with No Time To Die is over, our attention as Bond fans turns to the next actor, and the next era. But which direction should EON now take?
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Bond 26 needs a new approach, but by going back to the Ian Fleming novels, and the theme is gangsters, gangsters, gangsters! Here are some ideas that could be incorporated, taken from previously unused scenes from the books.
Intro to the new Bond actor could be used in the pre-title sequence, when a woman (Viv Michel) working alone in a temporarily closed motel in Canada is suddenly held captive, threatened by rape and then murder by 2 gangsters who work for the owners of the motel (the Spangled Mob), and have been ordered to kill her and burn down the property for an insurance claim.
And then there is a knock at the door. The vacancy sign outside has been left on by accident, and an Englishman passing by sees the light on (enter the next James Bond), who then rescues the damsel in distress.
As Fleming fans will know, this whole scene is taken from the novel The Spy Who Loved Me, and has never been used before now. Fleming had laid down a bizarre condition for the novel not to be adapted to film back when he wrote it in 1962, but I'm sure the smart lawyers at Amazon and EON will be able to strike a deal now with the Fleming estate.
Back in London, Bond is introduced to a high ranking political figure who is suspected of corruption, and also associated with the Spangled Mob gang by M at the club Blades. M also suspects he is cheating at cards, and invites Bond to a game with him, to discover if he is actually cheating. This brilliant scene is taken from the novel Moonraker, and again has never been adapted before.
Bond then gets sent on an undercover mission as Mark Hazard to infiltrate their gang, with Pistols S being the Spangled Mob's deadly hitman. Bond tracks him down and is introduced to him at a whorehouse in the Caribbean, then gains his confidence, acting as a tough out-of-work bodyguard. He soon learns all the inner workings of the Spangled Mob, how they pay their clients (corrupt horse racing), what happens if someone crosses them (grisly mud spa deaths). The two hit men that were previously the homosexual couple Kidd and Wint from Diamonds are Forever, could be turned into 2 nasty, butch lesbian hit women instead, giving it a new twist (it would be interesting to see them giving Bond the `Brooklyn Stomp' treatment in their football boots).
This concludes with an exciting finale on a staged open railway ride among the mangrove swamps of the Caribbean, when Pistols S has discovered Mark Hazard isn't who he claims to be, and plans Bond's spectacular death to his guests on board the train. These scenes are all previously unused material from the novels Diamonds Are Forever and The Man with the Golden Gun.
EON, you are welcome. Job done!
