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[biosnake20]

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Morgan’s screenplay for the proposed film, titled Once Upon a Spy, was turned down by Bond producers and director Sam Mendes prior to the release of 2012’s Skyfall. However, the script’s key elements, which included a mistake from M’s past coming back to haunt her and the MI6 bigwig dying at the end, were retained for the $1.1bn blockbuster.

Once Upon a Spy would have flashed back to M’s days as an MI6 agent stationed in Berlin during the cold war. Her affair with a KGB agent has lasting ramifications three decades later when the man’s son, a Russian oligarch, surfaces to blackmail the spymaster. Bond is called in to tackle the villain, but is forced to kill M at the movie’s denouement.

“[Co-writer] Neal [Purvis] and I are pretty well steeped in Fleming. I think Peter was more interested in Le Carré. It just didn’t work,” said Wade, according to Digital Spy. “We always found [the script] really, really difficult to make credible or satisfying. It was very dark … The only thing that remained was that M’s past comes back to haunt her and she dies at the end.”

I'd like to see a young M in the cold war.

 

[ItIsOkBro]

But who would play a young Judi Dench

 

[Lashley]

To be honest...

That sounds pretty great

 

[Blablurn]

To be honest...

That sounds pretty great

It does

 

[Zultan]

On the surface, sounds better than Skyfall.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

Of course it sounds good. It's why Purvis and Wade rejected it .

 

[Lashley]

“[Co-writer] Neal [Purvis] and I are pretty well steeped in Fleming. I think Peter was more interested in Le Carré. It just didn’t work,” said Wade, according to Digital Spy. “We always found [the script] really, really difficult to make credible or satisfying. It was very dark … The only thing that remained was that M’s past comes back to haunt her and she dies at the end.”

They kept the darkest bits?

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

I'm curious what reason they came up with for Bond having to kill M?

 

[hodayathink]

But who would play a young Judi Dench

Emily Blunt.

 

[Escape Goat]

But who would play a young Judi Dench

Judi Dench

 

[direct_quote]

Man that sounded way better than what we got with the shoehorned M death...

 

[Lynd7]

Sounds great, the script sounds stronger than Skyfall.

 

[dejay]

Judi Dench

Judi Dench Jnr

 

[WillyFive]

Can't imagine a scenario where Bond would do that.

 

[Blader]

Kinda sounds like the point was just to make Bond and M into shittier people.

Man that sounded way better than what we got with the shoehorned M death...

You don't even know what the context of M's death in this script was.

 

[Loxley]

That sounds like a pretty awesome idea, but of course the execution could have been terrible for all we know. Die Another Day started out with a cool idea - Bond gets captured in North Korea and MI6 disavows all knowledge of his existence - but then the movie ruins that awesome setup immediately after the opening credit sequence.

 

[DeathyBoy]

I'm curious what reason they come up with for Bond having to kill M?

For England, James?
No. For me.

Kicks M off a platform. Drops a satellite on her.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

I kinda feel like we're always going to end up in a rut with these movies when the decisionmaking looks like this.

Granted, Casino Royale turned out really well - but they had to turn down Quentin Tarantino rebooting the series in period. Which would have been FUCKING AMAZING

And then they reject a story and completed screenplay from the writer of Frost/Nixon, and have Purvis and Wade harvest it for parts instead. Again, Skyfall turned out really well, so this doesn't seem like the mistake it might have been...

...but maaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnn

 

[i_am_ben]

But who would play a young Judi Dench

professor mcgonagall

 

[Lashley]

That sounds like a pretty awesome idea, but of course the execution could have been terrible for all we know. Die Another Day started out with a cool idea - Bond gets captured in North Korea and MI6 disavows all knowledge of his existence - but then the movie ruins that awesome setup immediately after the opening credit sequence.

Honestly, its my favorite opener to a Bond film, but the rest is total shite.

 

[direct_quote]

Kinda sounds like the point was just to make Bond and M into shittier people.



You don't even know what the context of M's death in this script was.

While true, her dying due to Bond's terrible plan to lure the bad guy out was so bad to me that almost anything could be better.

 

[PinkCrayon]

Neat sounding premise, awful title.

 

[JC Lately]

Link



I'd like to see a young M in the cold war.

I want to see that at least as much as I want to play a game as The Boss in World War 2.

That is to say a whole fucking lot.

 

[DiscoJer]

That title makes it sound like a parody movie, like Spy Hard

 

[Archer]

 

[DiipuSurotu]

M Jr. holds M and a tram car full of children hostage alongside some bridge in the Bavarian Alps. He forces Bond to choose who he wants to save, and drops M and the children. Bond decides to save the children, knowing that is what M would want.

 

[ItIsOkBro]

Emily Blunt.

I'd watch that

 

[Krev]

That sounds like a pretty awesome idea, but of course the execution could have been terrible for all we know. Die Another Day started out with a cool idea - Bond gets captured in North Korea and MI6 disavows all knowledge of his existence - but then the movie ruins that awesome setup immediately after the opening credit sequence.

With Sam Mendes as director and Peter Morgan writing the script in all likelihood it would have been pretty solid.

 

[Jason's Ultimatum]

After Bond kills M, Bond says, "Yes, considerably." Like in the intro of CR.

 

[iMax]

But who would play a young Judi Dench

Carey Mulligan of course.

 

[Stabby McSter]

ALL IN

 

[GoldenEye 007]

Can't imagine a scenario where Bond would do that.

To be fair, there have been moments where Bond has been pissed at M. But he usually just goes rogue or resigns rather than directing the anger back at M I guess.

 

[Fuzzy]

Vijay: Is he still there?

Q: You must be joking! Double-0 seven on an island populated exclusively by women? We won't see him till dawn!

 

[Archer]

Vijay: Is he still there?

Q: You must be joking! Double-0 seven on an island populated exclusively by women? We won't see him till dawn!

He looks like Tom Hardy, fwiw. A hint at the future?