Post by Robert on Sept 17, 2023 1:31:14 GMT -5
The Production of Licence To Kill
www.alternative007.co.uk/355.htm
Although the script for The Living Daylights had been approached in a somewhat generic way because it was uncertain who would play Bond (and then for a time assumed that Pierce Brosnan would play Bond), the story for the next film was developed in a way to tailor it to Timothy Dalton's strengths. Both Dalton and the writers wanted the next film to be tougher and a bit more harder edged than The Living Daylights. "Dalton was more in the Connery mold so we had to tailor the scripts," said John Glen. "Roger was so humorous, and we tended to make all these films verging on comedy. They were very light situations – that was done purposely. When Timothy came on the scene, we had a fine Shakespearean actor, but he probably didn’t have the humor that Roger had so we tailored the scripts accordingly. We made them slightly blacker or darker, in the sense that we wanted more dramatic situations. He was more ruthless and more of the original Bond and that was what we were trying to get back to."
The early plan was to shoot the new Bond film in China and two story treatments (which included a motorbike chase along the Great Wall) were written with this in mind. Unfortunately though the success of the film The Last Emperor nixed this plan and made the idea of going to China feel far less novel or fresh. In the end it was decided to give the next film a more tropical setting and Michael G. Wilson, initially working with Richard Maibaum but then working alone after a writer's strike, came up with a story that was inspired by Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo (which in turn inspired films like A Fistful of Dollars). The idea was that Bond would play the villains off against one another to extract revenge for an attack on Felix Leiter. Wilson felt that a 'revenge mission' story would be a good mesh for Timothy Dalton's darker take on James Bond.
Because of a change in the tax system in Britain, the film would be shot at Estudios Churubusco in Mexico City rather than Pinewood. Pinewood is a film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath in Buckinghamshire. 'The studio opened on 30 September 1936,' wrote The Guardian, 'with owners Sir Charles Boot and J Arthur Rank inspired by Hollywood to create a thriving British film industry, a desire that led to a series of mergers with other studios over the years - the first in 1938, when Pinewood took over Alexander Korda's Denham Studios. Pinewood quickly established itself as a location for great British films. Pinewood's greatest association, however, is with the James Bond franchise. The first film, Dr No, was shot there in 1962, and despite fires destroying sets in 1984 and 2006, Bond films have continued to be filmed at the studio. The Bond stage was rebuilt in 1985, the year before Pinewood's 50th birthday, and renamed the Albert R. Broccoli Bond stage in honour of the 007 producer.'
www.alternative007.co.uk/355.htm
www.alternative007.co.uk/355.htm
Although the script for The Living Daylights had been approached in a somewhat generic way because it was uncertain who would play Bond (and then for a time assumed that Pierce Brosnan would play Bond), the story for the next film was developed in a way to tailor it to Timothy Dalton's strengths. Both Dalton and the writers wanted the next film to be tougher and a bit more harder edged than The Living Daylights. "Dalton was more in the Connery mold so we had to tailor the scripts," said John Glen. "Roger was so humorous, and we tended to make all these films verging on comedy. They were very light situations – that was done purposely. When Timothy came on the scene, we had a fine Shakespearean actor, but he probably didn’t have the humor that Roger had so we tailored the scripts accordingly. We made them slightly blacker or darker, in the sense that we wanted more dramatic situations. He was more ruthless and more of the original Bond and that was what we were trying to get back to."
The early plan was to shoot the new Bond film in China and two story treatments (which included a motorbike chase along the Great Wall) were written with this in mind. Unfortunately though the success of the film The Last Emperor nixed this plan and made the idea of going to China feel far less novel or fresh. In the end it was decided to give the next film a more tropical setting and Michael G. Wilson, initially working with Richard Maibaum but then working alone after a writer's strike, came up with a story that was inspired by Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo (which in turn inspired films like A Fistful of Dollars). The idea was that Bond would play the villains off against one another to extract revenge for an attack on Felix Leiter. Wilson felt that a 'revenge mission' story would be a good mesh for Timothy Dalton's darker take on James Bond.
Because of a change in the tax system in Britain, the film would be shot at Estudios Churubusco in Mexico City rather than Pinewood. Pinewood is a film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath in Buckinghamshire. 'The studio opened on 30 September 1936,' wrote The Guardian, 'with owners Sir Charles Boot and J Arthur Rank inspired by Hollywood to create a thriving British film industry, a desire that led to a series of mergers with other studios over the years - the first in 1938, when Pinewood took over Alexander Korda's Denham Studios. Pinewood quickly established itself as a location for great British films. Pinewood's greatest association, however, is with the James Bond franchise. The first film, Dr No, was shot there in 1962, and despite fires destroying sets in 1984 and 2006, Bond films have continued to be filmed at the studio. The Bond stage was rebuilt in 1985, the year before Pinewood's 50th birthday, and renamed the Albert R. Broccoli Bond stage in honour of the 007 producer.'
www.alternative007.co.uk/355.htm