James Bond Writers Compare Donald Trump To A 007 Villain

The scriptwriting duo that has worked on the last six James Bond films has compared President Donald Trump to a villain from the beloved spy franchise.

Neal Purvis and Robert Wade have either written or rewritten every James Bond film since 1999, which has included The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, Quantum Of Solace, Skyfall, and Spectre. This leaves them rather well placed to discuss the future of the franchise, which fans are eagerly awaiting updates on.

But during a recent discussion with the Telegraph the pair didn’t just fail to provide a definitive date regarding the 25th installment of the franchise, but they also suggested that the current world climate might have brought the entire series to an end. Neal Purvis insisted to the publication,

“The thing is, I’m just not sure how you would go about writing a James Bond film now.”

This then provoked Neal Purvis to insist that recent world events, such as Brexit and President Donald Trump’s election victory, as well as the rise of nationalism across Europe, means that the next James Bond film must think carefully about how to handle the famous spy.

Neal Purvis continued,

“Each time, you’ve got to say something about Bond’s place in the world, which is Britain’s place in the world. But things are moving so quickly now, that becomes tricky. With people like Trump, the Bond villain has become a reality. So when they do another one, it will be interesting to see how they deal with the fact that the world has become a fantasy.”

However, the issue of trying to fit James Bond into the current political climate might not actually be Neal Purvis and Robert Wade’s problem. The screenwriting pair had originally planned to leave the franchise after writing Skyfall. However, EON Productions asked them to come out of retirement for Spectre, which they went on to complete re-writes for. When asked about their potential return to the franchise as screenwriters, Robert Wade remarked,

“Never say never. But for sure, Spectre felt like it closed off a certain way of doing Bond. And I think whatever happens next will be quite different.”

We’re still not actually sure whether Daniel Craig will reprise the role he played in Casino Royale, Quantum Of Solace, Skyfall, and Spectre. Back in October, during a discussion about his career at the New Yorker festival Daniel Craig told a gathered audience that he was still very much interested in returning as James Bond for a fifth outing.

According to the Guardian, Daniel Craig remarked,

“I’ve got the best job in the world doing Bond. The things I get to do on a Bond movie and the type of work it is, there’s no other job like it… I love this job, I get a massive kick out of it. And if I can keep getting a kick out of it, I will.”

That’s a much more positive answer than Daniel Craig provided in the build-up to the release of Spectre. When he was asked by Time Out whether he wanted to play James Bond again, Daniel Craig emphatically declared,

“Now? I’d rather break this glass and slash my wrists. No, not at the moment. Not at all. That’s fine. I’m over it at the moment. We’re done. All I want to do is move on… I haven’t given it any thought. For at least a year or two, I just don’t want to think about it. I don’t know what the next step is. I’ve no idea. Not because I’m trying to be cagey. Who the fuck knows? At the moment, we’ve done it. I’m not in discussion with anybody about anything. If I did another Bond movie, it would only be for the money.”

[Featured Image by MGM Productions]