Headline alone, it looks like the producers of Bond decided to do the right thing and postpone this movie as a precaution, but when you look a little deeper, the upcoming curtain call for Daniel Craig was doomed from the start. Plagued by delays, in house conflict over the script and direction between previous director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) and Craig and desperate attempts to appease the #metoo movement by making Bond a stripped down, inferior clone of what he used to be. Craig and the producers even banned the term " Bond girls" long used to describe Bond's acquaintances on his missions. During Craig's turn as Bond, he has willingly allowed the character to be stripped of his womanizing, globetrotting mayhem, sarcasm, fun and charisma.
So what do you do after stripping a character bare bones? How about replace him while he is in his prime. Bond still makes billions of dollars, so the notion that he needed to be re branded is baffling. The final slap in the face to Bond fans, of which I am one, was the rumor that the new 007 would be a woman, a black women to be played by Loretta Lynn (Captain Marvel) "What?! Oh no you didn't!?"
The rumor caused a shock and awe effect that backfired. Instead of it gaining support, it received mostly criticism. For years there had been calls for the next James Bond to be played by Idris Elba (Luther, The Wire), a black actor who many felt would take the character to the next level of evolution. But instead the producers dismissed the notion and allowed the misstep to fester, opening the door for racist comments about Elba being too street to play Bond. They might as well have said Bond can't be black, but if we absolutely have to do it, Bond can be a black woman. How woke!
There is no proof of this, but our guess is Bond producers did the math and with a month to go to the release date, they realized there was minimal buzz about the upcoming movie. It wasn't trending long at #1 after the title release, nor after the teaser trailer, full trailer or even after Grammy winner Billie Eilish recorded the soundtrack .......NOTHING. Bond, who had survived Austin Powers, Jack Ryan, Jason Bourne, XXX, Egsy, and Ethan Hunt, has now been undone by suits in the back, who lack the imagination to create an iconic character, but sure know how to ruin one.
So don"t let the postponement of this movie due to the virus be the headline, this delay is merely a Hale Mary to save a movie that was going to under perform or even flop.
