Excellent! I like that they're going to go back a bit. It gives them the opportunity to break the mold they've cornered themselves into. That and it always bugged me who his wife was. I remember there's one with Roger Moore where the opening has him visiting a grave and placing flowers on his wife(?)'s grave. I ran out and rented Casino Royale thinking that since it was the book that kicked off the series, the answer to it would be there. Unbeknowns to me, it was a pardody movie and gave me nothing about the information. This will be interesting.

The movie you're referring to is For Your Eyes Only (1981) (Also my second favorite in the series) when Bond goes back to visit his wife's grave. However, the Bond series already went into the plot of Bond having a wife in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) (Same as the book), with George Lazenby as Bond. His wife was named Tracy and was played by Diana Rigg. Hope this helps.

As for the idea of Bond going back to his roots, I am all for it. Even though I liked Die Another Day, the series is in need of a makeover. It just kind of sucks that it took them four years to come up with it.

Then there is no excuses for not making Ioan Gruffudd the new Bond, but I think this is foolish, both from a box office POV, and as far as the series goes. The last 4 Bond movies have outgrossed the last, with Die Another Day being noticeably bigger than all before them. That's NOT when you change something.

If it ain't broke...

The series was more popular that ever, and was only gaining, not losing steam.

Their solution: To take the least interesting Bond book (just because it's the first), and make a movie of it with a new lead actor as James Bond, and cut out everything that the movie fans have come to love about the movies, like ACTION. The books didn't have humor, are they going to cut that out too? :???: I'm sure they'll give us a nice talkathon, but wait, if dialogue is what they're after (in a Bond movie...), why didn't they take Tarantino and Brosnan up on their offer when they wanted to make Casino Royale? I think it's safe to say that a major blunder is being made here, and they just killed the greatest movie franchise in history. It won't sell. It will be serious CPR and back to the winning formula after this. I'm a very disappointed longtime Bond fan.

dolce, On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the movie where he gets married. George Lazenby is an awful Bond, though. He tried to play Sean Connery playing Bond, instead of trying to be George Lazenby playing Bond, so you can imagine how badly he looks doing it. It's a shame Connery's money demands weren't met (until they crawled back to him with the next movie, Diamonds are Forever), because OHMSS is one of the best books, and the most important.

I also hope the year one story is played out more with focus on him and him learning the tricks of the trade we're used to seeing him in insteadl of something like 'The Recruit' where hes trying to prove himself.

Anyone who sees King Arthur would have to agree Ioan Gryffud would be the perfect choice as Bond. I was skeptical before, only knowing him from the Hornblower shows, thought he was too young and inexperienced an actor but he has what it takes.

Campbell's working with Catherine Zeta Jones again on Zorro. I wouldn't mind her as Vesper Lynd. She had dark hair. It will be nice to see Felix Leiter return to the series, but it's not likely that John Cleese will be back as "Q". I have no idea who they would get to play the villian, Le Chiffre. There was a TV version back in the 50's where Peter Lorre played him, and that's who I see when I think of him now. Whoever they get, I hope he's not over the top, but he has to be sadistic. The torture scene is pretty intense. The ending should throw veiwers, as it's not expected. I also hope they finally give Bond the vertical scar down his right cheek.

They are not going to get away with changing the formula. I excited as a Bond fan about getting a Casino Royale movie, but not excited about what this misstep in judgement is going to mean for the action movie going audience who are very fickle.

I think they should do a biopic of James Bond's life, from when he was a young boy to how he is now.....the latter being played by Sean Connery or Roger Moore (with one of them being the narrator), would rule.

You know, kinda like they did with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade...kinda of a last crusade for Bond (mission and in terms of film)...would be good.

from a business point of view, i agree completely but i must confess, i didn't like the new bond films at all, and look forward to the franchise veering off in a new direction. maybe it's just me, but i couldn't help thinking they were a parody of the originals, rather than true bond films. the new films seemed schlocky, silly, and boring. of course, there's always the chance that the originals were very similar, but i've given them the benefit of nostalgia

i loved the ian fleming novels, but i didn't mind when the movies were inauthentic in that respect. they had a very different tone and style to the books, but i liked them just as much - just in a very different way. i'm not sure which i'd prefer more - a bond film that matched the tone of the original books, or a bond film that matched the tone of the original movies.

btw, i agree that george lazenby was a rubbish bond - what a shame they wasted diana rigg on him!

i'm not sure i'd like to see j.b.'s whole life in one film, but i like the idea of an old james bond (esp. played by one of the original actors, like you suggest). that's just theoretical tho' - i'd hate for a film to use it as a gimmick, and it would have to be done well

I still contend Timoty Dalton is the worst Bond, even with Lazenby performance, On her majesty's Secret Service is still up there as one of my favorite Bond films, but what could have been with Connery *sigh*

The original Bond fanbase has been aging right along with Bond himself. Already they've aged themselves right out of the ideal demographics. The studio wants to re-start the clock on the franchise with a younger base and a younger Bond. I can't offer much of an opinion until we know who the lucky young hottie will be. Let's hope they don't go looking for Bond on pages of Tiger Beat.