*Warning: Semi-spoilery for the four of you who have yet to see Skyfall
Renn covered pretty much everything this morning regarding the fallout from Skyfall’s massive opening weekend. But a cool detail has trickled out from director Sam Mendes’ Huffington Post interview that is absolutely worth sharing. According to the filmmaker, there were talks early in production that would have seen Sean Connery in the caretaker role that was ultimately inhabited by Albert Finney. Mendes explains why it didn’t happen:
“There was a definite discussion about that — way, way early on. But I think that’s problematic. Because, to me, it becomes too … it would take you out of the movie. Connery is Bond and he’s not going to come back as another character. It’s like, he’s been there. So, it was a very brief flirtation with that thought, but it was never going to happen, because I thought it would distract.”
Mendes and co. absolutely made the right decision. I reckon Connery would’ve been likely to decline even if offered, but it’s still fun to ponder in a “What if?” fashion. The thought of Craig’s 007 sharing the screen with a former James Bond, arguably the most celebrated, is a mindfuck indeed. A fun if altogether imagined prospect.
Just because it didn’t happen here doesn’t mean it never will. Do you think bringing a former Bond back in a different role would be wise in a future installment?
4 comments
I’d say no. While the fanboy in me thinks it would be fun, it would be far too distracting and send the crazies into a frenzy with their moronic “code name” theory. The only one who MIGHT work is George Lazenby and he seems the least likely to be asked. They made the right call here and hopefully they continue to do so.
I actually found it distracting that he wasn’t in it. The Finney role is so obviously designed for Connery that every time he was on screen, I found the Overt Lack of Connery-ness incredibly distracting. Once they realised they couldn’t get him, they should have moved the house out of Scotland, and cast some other UK acting legend that doesn’t have the now-iconic Connery white beard. But maybe that’s just me.
Problem is that wouldn’t make sense, as Bond is a Scotsman and his ancestral home SHOULD be in Scotland.
In regards to this ‘What if’ scenario, as long as that character (as played by Connery) didn’t say some cheeky shit about ‘the other fellow’, a la OHMSS, it would have been fine. If Dench can play an arguably different M in this new continuity, why couldn’t an aged Connery play an entirely different character? You would have to be a stubborn geezer to get yanked out of the film by it; which let’s face it, this incarnation isn’t aimed at us. EON Bond nowadays isn’t as precious as it used to be in those halcyon days.
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