We nearly got a James Bond take from the creator of Star Wars: Andor that might have been a truly unique 007 adventure! How close did we come?
Andor has become one of the most acclaimed shows not just in the Star Wars franchise but all of sci-fi. It's been called "the Star Wars show for people who don't like Star Wars." It has adventure and drama but is better regarded for its political and cultural insights. It addresses the conflicts between the growing Rebellion and the Empire and how each side has its own internal troubles.
The show wrapped up after just two seasons with a wild bang that set the stage for the Rogue One movie. It showed creator Tony Gilroy had a deft hand for espionage drama…which would make him perfect to helm the next James Bond movie.
What's next for Bond?
Right now, the Bond franchise is in a state of flux. Since 2021's No Time To Die ended by shockingly killing off Daniel Craig's Bond, the question of what happens next is huge. It's still unknown if the next movie will resurrect Bond or be some sort of "reset" for the franchise.
After a back-and-forth with Eon Productions, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, Amazon now owns the franchise. That's led to concerns about them taking Bond and putting him in TV spinoff shows (something Gilroy has experience with). Rumors are flying about who will direct the next project and, of course, who will be the new 007.
As it happens, Gilroy did come up with an idea for a Bond movie years ago that could have been a wild ride!
Tony Gilroy's awesome take on 007
Speaking to The Playlist, Gilroy revealed that years ago, he and Oscar-winning director Stephen Soderbergh pitched a take on Bond that would have gone the next step beyond just a reboot. Rather than have it modern times, they wanted a Bond set in the 1960s. "We wanted to go back to the '60s and do it in black and white and do Carnaby St. and do the whole thing," he said. "I thought it was a really swinging idea, like $30 million [budget], but he couldn't get them to…they just wouldn't give anybody control."
The idea of a black-and-white Bond in the 1960s is daring, a throwback to both the Ian Fleming novels and the first comic book strips featuring the character. Making it for that little money would have been better, as Soderbergh excels at low-budget fare. It could have given the movie an energy that the often bloated $200 million Bond movies of recent years don't have.
Gilroy also hinted at his idea for the villain of the piece, but didn't want to give everything away in case he wanted to use the idea for another project:
"And then the other time—I don't want to really talk about this—but I had a [good] villain. The problem with the Bond [franchise] is that they can't get a good villain that works. In my opinion, they haven't had a villain that worked in a very, very long time. And that's the whole problem, the rest of it takes care of itself."
This idea might have been a tad too daring for some moviegoers to stomach. The Bond franchise is always set in modern times, and most would expect grand over-the-top action pieces, not a more grounded black-and-white story set in the past.
However, anyone who saw the criminally underrated Black Bag knows Soderbergh could be brilliant with a spy drama, and Gilroy's idea sounds quite compelling. Too bad it won't happen, but one can wonder how Gilroy may rework those ideas for a future film and give us another fantastic spy adventure in his own way!
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