Ways to Observe James Bond Day While the Upcoming 007 Stays a Unknown?

Arriving this weekend is Bond Day, if you weren't aware – 5 October now stands as a worldwide celebration honoring everything about 007, due to this being the anniversary of the global debut of the inaugural 007 movie, with Sean Connery, in the year 1962. Imagine it as a bit like the Star Wars celebration, with fewer Wookiees and Ewoks and much more sophisticated style.

A Low-Key Observance This Year

But on this occasion, the coming of James Bond Day seems somewhat like a damp squib. Not long has passed following the filmmaker was announced to direct the upcoming 007 movie earlier this year, and not long afterwards since writer Steven Knight was enlisted to pen the screenplay. But there’s been little to no sign from that point of the new 007 being officially announced, and even less sense about the direction this venerable franchise will proceed. All we have are whisperings on the wind through film industry sources indicating that the producers are seeking a comparatively fresh-faced UK performer, possibly a person of colour but is not going to be a woman, an established star, or anyone remotely familiar.

Bad News for Betting Agencies

This is, of course a setback for the many internet betting sites that have making a pretty penny for some time by attempting to persuade bettors that the competition is between several speculated candidates along with the attractive actor from Saltburn with Australian origins.

A Return to Newcomers

Intriguingly, the most recent occasion the 007 series actually went for a complete unknown was in 1969, as George Lazenby temporarily assumed the famous firearm. Earlier, the original Bond certainly wasn’t a star: he performed a few minor film roles along with some stage and modelling work while also employed as a bodybuilder and milkman in Scotland before landing the starring part in Dr No. The film's producers intentionally rejected a household name; they wanted an unfamiliar performer that viewers would see as the actual character, rather than as a performer portraying Bond.

Employing this strategy again might prove to be an ingenious move, exactly as it was in the early 1960s.

Impact of Villeneuve

Yet hiring the director Denis Villeneuve indicates that there is no get-out clause in any way should the next 007 turns out to be wooden. Increasing the over-the-top gadgets and suggestive humor is no longer an option when your new director is a serious filmmaker known for genre films best known for dense futuristic stories where the dominant feature is profound unease.

A tough guy in formalwear … Daniel Craig in 2006’s Casino Royale.

Updated Vision for the Franchise

However, in many ways, selecting this director tells us everything we should understand regarding the upcoming post-Craig phase. There are not going to be any invisible cars or double entendres, and it's doubtful we'll see the southern lawman back any time soon. This entire situation is, of course, perfectly acceptable assuming you enjoy the secret agent with a modern twist. Yet it fails to indicate how Villeneuve’s take on Britain’s suavest state-sponsored assassin will stand out from the 007s from the recent past particularly should the next chapter opts not to set the narrative in the initial decades.

Redefining Each Era

Craig was immediately recognisable as a different type of elegant secret agent as he appeared in the franchise in Casino Royale from 2006, an aggressive figure in black tie who would never be caught dead in an invisible car, or using sexual wordplay alongside Denise Richards while handling explosives. He made the previous Bond's polished style that just a short time before was viewed by many the finest agent since the original, look like a karaoke Connery overheated and ruined. This pattern is familiar. After Connery came Lazenby, Brosnan came after the overlooked Dalton, and the campy later Moore succeeded the gritty initial Moore. Each Bond period alters the prior, yet they are all in their own way James Bond 007, and worth raising a glass to. It’s just a little weird, during this year's the annual Bond celebration, that the occasion calls to honor a character who doesn’t even exist yet.