An Open letter to the James Bond movie producers

It's not official yet but it sure looks like Clive Owen is earmarked to be the next James Bond, with an official announcement next week. You can see his response to the question of "Bond? Yes or no?" asked at the premiere of "Sin City" here , judge for yourself. Actually he was my choice of all the new rumored candidates, if for no other reason, than he looks like James Bond should look. The next Bond film, "Casino Royale", the first Ian Fleming novel, will supposedly be some sort of prequel to the Bond legend. To this I say pooh pooh! Forget 'prequel', either continue in the same direction or reinvent the character. Start from the beginning, as if there has never been a Bond film? Begin with James Bond starting out in "Casino Royale" and remake every Bond novel into a new film, in the order of publication. That's the way it should have been done from the beginning, but Broccoli & Saltzman didn't have the rights to "Casino Royale". This can become a great series of films, again, if done properly. I assume from past conviction, that the producers want this to continue to be the premiere movie franchise in film history. Now that they have made the ultimate decision to dump Pierce Brosnan and do a "prequel" you might as well start from scratch and develop the series into the best it can be for the next generation and for those of us who have adored, yet become bored with Bond. Face it, as big of a Bond fan as I am, even I realize that they have gone beyond "bigger & better" stunts & sfx. The limits of the formula have been reached unless they turn him into Spider-Man. I hated the cgi surfing scene in "Die Another Day". The film started off so promising with Bond captured & tortured, only to be degraded by that stupid surfing scene. OHMSS was a great film, would have been better with Connery and Dalton was a great direction to go if he had begun the series "anew". Pierce & Tarantino would have been great with "Casino Royale", but since they decided to have a new Bond and a new direction, then go all the way. The whole magic to Bond stunts & gadgets was that they were all based in reality. The stunts and gadgets could & did actually work in the real world. That was the charm and facination of it all. No cgi, no blue screen, just dedicated stunt people and realistic, if cutting edge, gadgets. Goldfinger's laser, Bond's Aston Martin, even his remote controlled BMW for example. So now it's time to reinvent the character, write great stories based on the original Fleming source material, updated to this century, as if nothing has come before. Let him be more human, show his rough edge and his vulnerability, let him marry Tracy again & lose her. There are still great stories to tell, even again, and great stunts and some gadgets to throw in along the way. I hate to say this & I'm not suggesting that Bond become Jed Clampett, but, Bond needs to utilize what the Beverly Hillbillies TV show did so brilliantly. The success of that TV show was based on Jed & the clan's eventual discovery and wonderment at the technology they had no concept of. That feeling is what needs to return to Bond. Just like "From Russia With Love" & "Goldfinger", when he was introduced to the attache case and the Aston Martin. He needs to be reintroduced into the world he pioneered and adjust to it again, instead of showing contempt and casual disdain for what he has been using. Begin Bond again and reinvent the sense of wonder and first time discovery of all these gadgets and the world around him. Let his stunts be based, once again, in reality, like the pre-credit ski jump in "The Spy Who Loved Me". The series needs to recapture the sence of wonder, discovery and first time excitement that it had in the beginning. It can only do that with a new Bond and a new beginning. Don't just do a prequel and then go back to the Roger Moore days where he floats about in space with a laser gun. Take the best of Bonds' past and give them to Clive to work with and make the character interesting, real, dangerous, exciting and fun again. Clive is the actor that can pull it off. We won't even mind the continuity problems that would come with Judi Dench being "M" before Bernard Lee. That won't work as a prequel...it has to be new. We don't want to see a Bond ally become Blofeld two films later (Charles Gray). If you change the continuity, change the series. The time is now. This is the only chance you will have until another generation passes. You have made the decision to change. Don't screw it up. Just do it right, do it justice. We love 007 and we don't want him slither away into movie oblivion.