Bond Spin-Off

This could be fun… 😉
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[size=medium]Halle Berry’s ‘Jinx’ Headed for Bond Spin-Off[/size]

[i]LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -[/i] Oscar winner Halle Berry may be joining the exalted ranks of secret agent superheroes — becoming the star of the first movie ever spun off from the James Bond film series, one of the great moneymakers in Hollywood history.

Fueled by a series of weekend interviews, talk swirled around Hollywood on Monday that Berry, who plays the beautiful but dangerous U.S. agent Jinx in the latest Bond caper, “Die Another Day,” may be headed for her own spinoff movie.

Bond producer Barbara Broccoli and Berry herself confirmed to interviewers over the weekend that the idea was being seriously considered.

The Website Zap2it quoted Bond series producer Barbara Broccoli as saying, “There are talks about it. We are considering it.” And celebrity cable network E! Entertainment quoted Berry as telling its reporter that if a spinoff movie was planned, “I would do it in a heartbeat.”

Berry made similar comments in some other interviews promoting the film but added cautions in others. She said she was currently developing four to five projects.

“What happens in this town is when you start talking about a project, when you are thinking about if you want to be involved, all of the sudden it’s in the paper that you are doing it,” she said.

“That’s how it goes. It’s out of my control,” she added.

Berry did say she loved playing Jinx, who both rivals Bond and works with him to catch a villain whose evil plan threatens the balance of world power in “Die Another Day.”

[i]SEX AS A WEAPON[/i]

“She is sexy. She is sure of her sexuality and how to use it, almost as a weapon. She is very intelligent. She is Bond’s equal … She saves him a few times in the movie, and they have a great partnership,” Berry said.

“Die Another Day” makes its American debut on Nov. 22.

Buzz about creating a spinoff on Bond featuring one of his female co-stars is not exactly new. When martial arts movie star Michelle Yeoh (news) played Bond girl Wai-Lin in 1997’s “Tomorrow Never Dies,” the same sort of rumor kicked into high gear.

Then, it was all talk, no action.

For years, film makers have speculated on the type of box office muscle a woman might flex in a role as a super secret spy and trained assassin like 007 or as an intense private detective and several have tried.

But the fact is, that as action flicks have become big at the box office and as women’s roles have changed throughout the 1990s, women have appeared in parts that kick just as much tail as any man could, even Bond.

Does anyone remember Kathleen Turner (news) in 1991’s “V.I. Warshawski?” Probably not, because it was a major flop.

Berry portrayed comic book superhero Storm in the 2000 action hit “X-Men,” and she is reprising that role in the sequel “X-Men 2,” which is set to hit theaters next year.

If Berry does decide to make Jinx into a full-fledged headliner on the action movie circuit, she certainly has the goods. The actress won an Oscar last year for her role as a downtrodden waitress in last year’s indie movie hit, “Monster’s Ball.” She’s no slouch, this Jinx.

Updated: November 12, 2002 — 8:47 pm