Posted on 12/02/2004 6:32:50 PM PST by aculeus
A leading black actor, 6ft 4in Colin Salmon, emerged last night as a front-runner to replace Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in the next 007 adventure.
Noted for a deep, commanding voice, the 41-year-old actor already has a recurring role in the Bond series as Charles Robinson, M's suave chief-of-staff.
The chance to promote him, while startling, would not be unexpected. The Broccoli family, who are casting the film, the 21st in the series, are said to fear that the films have become anachronistic.
They told Brosnan they wanted to "go in a new direction".
Initially, this was taken to mean that they were turning away from the special effects and high-tech gadgetry to update Casino Royale, Ian Fleming's first Bond book.
The feeling is that despite the vast profits from the last movie, Barbara Broccoli, whose father Cubby made the early Bonds, and Michael Wilson, her step-brother and partner at Eon Productions, are anxious to make a more hard-boiled thriller.
Speculation about Salmon, who was born in Luton, stems from a sudden rush of unusually large bets on him. Warren Lush, a spokesman for Ladbrokes, said yesterday: "They have come out of nowhere, with sums like £500 apiece. These are huge bets for what is really a novelty wager.
"The suspicion is they may be being placed by people, or spies out there, in the know. So we have temporarily closed the book on the next Bond, as we don't want to get out fingers burned."
Until now, the favourite was Dougray Scott, whose play, Becket, closes in London's West End in a fortnight. Ewan McGregor was also a runner until he accepted his latest stage role.
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Mom- ya gotta show this to dad.
Being Bond has a heck of a lot more with the way the body is carried, and the accent, than skin tone.
Other than Live and let die, Roger Moore was a clown.
Bonds:
Sean Connery
Pierce Brosnan
Roger Dalton (I liked him he had an edge)
Roger Moore (Quantity of bond films do not alway equal quality)
The guy who was with Dianna Rigg in On his Majesty's Secret Service
How about Listing and rating BOnd films
Classics
Thunder ball
Goldfinger
GoldenEye
Live and Let Die
Dogs
For your Eyes Only-
Moonraker
On His Majesty's Secret Service
Every ten years they start the "black Bond" rumor, or even the "female Bond" rumor, while they negotiate with someone. It's their way of publicizing the series during downtime.
When you consider that Hollywood is notoriously stingy with leading roles for black actors whose names aren't "Will Smith" or "Denzel Washington," you realize that there is no way they will hire an unknown black for one of the most iconic roles in film history.
'Course, they have already pretty well ruined the Bond mystique with Judi Dench as "M" and by replacing the gorgeous, big hearted, Lois Maxwell-type Miss Moneypenny with some shrewish, snotty feminist.
LOL! This guy is pretty good in the Bond films but the Broccoli family should think this through.
The movie version of the Wild Wild West had Will Smith. I think that one bombed big time. Will Smith is a big draw but a black secret agent cowboy post Civil War?
Cubby Broccoli was an NY Italian-American who ended up with the rights to the movies from Harry Saltzman. Cubby's daughter Barbara now runs the show and I think lives in the UK. The UK has institutionalized political correctness.
i.e. white people = bad. Blacks & Muslims = good.
However when light skinned black Muslims attack black Caribbean blacks who have been in the UK for 40 year or are born there - the UK media sides with the Muslims.
The somalis were calling the UK blacks Ni**ers as they attacked them. A black islands UK documentary maker did a film about it.
Anyway, I think Denzel and Wesley Snipes have A1 action films but a Black Bond? Black actors I don't like? Super liberal Danny Glover plus Samuel L. Jackson is tedious as is white actor Tommy Lee Jones. Their "attitudes" are tiring.
Actually today's James Bond would work for the EU.
He'd be okay, though I prefer Hugh Jackman.
Twas a big Empire once, after all.
The UK bookies are usually right. Their odds had Bush all the way. The odds switched in the afternoon after Kerry's bogus exit poll "suprise" but they quickly went back to Bush. The bookies were right all along.
Amazing..77 posts and NOT one "Mandingo" reference..
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