Even Sony is worried about the underwhelming third act

Dec 15, 2014 09:08 GMT  ·  By
24th James Bond movie will be called "Spectre," will be out in late 2015
8 photos
   24th James Bond movie will be called "Spectre," will be out in late 2015

Earlier this month, the 24th James Bond film was confirmed in a major press event in London: it would be called “Spectre” and would see Sam Mendes return as director, and of course, Daniel Craig as the 007 agent. New cast members were introduced and old ones welcomed back, and the fans watching were promised a ride that would top “Skyfall” and take the franchise to new heights.

That’s highly unlikely at this point. Hackers group Guardians Of Peace broke into Sony’s servers last month and stole sensitive information. Among the files was also the script for the “Spectre” film and studio executives’ conversations on the topic – and they’re all public domain right now.

“Spectre” isn’t looking good.

MGM confirms leaked script is legit

MGM has confirmed that a copy of the script for “Spectre” floating online is the real deal. In a statement on 007.com, the studio stresses that whoever publishes the script in full or in part will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, as will be those responsible for the breach.

At the same time, the studio adds, the script isn’t the final version. This is probably an attempt to sway fans from lending an ear to all those negative reports about how the film will be one big, steaming pile of doodoo.

In all fairness, these reports don’t originate from those who read the script online, but from Sony executives unhappy with it, as revealed in a new series of leaked email exchanges.

Underwhelming third act

Out of respect for the James Bond franchise and for all those fans who had been waiting patiently since “Skyfall” to see 007’s next adventure, we won’t give here specifics of the plotline. You can find those on your own online, trust us – and just so you know what’s in store, the leaked script even gives away the ending and pretty much everything else.

However, we will say this: as of November, with just days to go until shooting started, producer EON Productions still didn’t have a finished script and was still working hard to deliver a better ending than the one they’d come up with – this, after several revisions to the drafts.

Sony execs agreed that the first 2 acts of the script were solid and that they were bound to make “Spectre” a bigger critical and commercial hit than “Skyfall,” but only on the condition that the script got a different ending because the third act was a complete disaster.

Or, as Elizabeth Cantillon, a former Columbia Pictures executive who’s now working as a producer for Sony, puts it in an email obtained by Defamer, “rough rough rough... the ‘meanwhile’ action for bond is simply fighting henchmen in many overblown and familiar sequences - helicopter, elevator shaft, netting. he's trying to save the girl but there must be a more dynamic set piece to come up with.”

She’s not the only executive to voice a concern of this kind: apparently, what MGM and EON Productions came up with for a third act feels disappointing, to say the least. Forced, unnatural, and bound to translate into a box office disaster.

To make matters even worse, an earlier email leak revealed that Sony expected the budget for the film to be in the mid-$300 millions (€240.9 million) and that co-chairwoman Amy Pascal was desperate to cut it down because, what with this underwhelming third act, they were setting themselves up for a certain resounding failure.

Bond, James Bond isn’t looking that good right now.  

James Bond leak (8 Images)

24th James Bond movie will be called "Spectre," will be out in late 2015
The "Spectre" principal cast: Noamie Harris, Lea Seydoux, Daniel Craig, Monica Bellucci, and Christoph WaltzDaniel Craig's next outing as James Bond hit hard by Sony hack
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