A profile of screenwriters Purvis and Wade

When the release date of Bond 23 was announced in January, it was also confirmed that Neal Purvis and Robert Wade would reprise their role as screenwriters for the next Bond movie, as well as new blood in the form of John Logan, responsible for writing ‘The Last Samurai’, ‘Gladiator’ and ‘The Aviator’.

Bond 23 will be the fifth bond movie that Neal Purvis and Robert Wade have worked on having lent their creative talent to The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. The pair earned several nominations for their contributions to Casino Royale, including BAFTA nominations for the Best Screenplay and Best film.

Neal Purvis’s impressive writing history with Robert Wade dates back to 1991 when both met at the University of Kent during a filmmaking degree program. Their connection and mutual appreciation of each other’s ability led to their very first screenplay ‘Let Him Have It’. The movie was based on the true life story of Derek Bentley and starred Christopher Eccleston in the leading role. The eventual success of the movie was enough to launch their careers in screenwriting.

In 1999, while working on the screenplay for the 18th century comedy-adventure ‘Plunkett and Macleane’, both writers were invited to work on creating an ideal screenplay for the 19th James Bond movie, which would later be known as The World is Not Enough. Its success ensured that they have worked together on every Bond movie since then.

Aside from the James Bond films, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade have also showcased their appreciable talents with collaboration on a number of other projects including ‘Stoned’ a biopic based on Rolling stones legend Brian Jones and ‘Johnny English’ – a comedy about yet another British spy. Both writers have also worked on the screenplay of ‘Barbarella’ – an intended remake of the 1968 science fiction classic.

In 2009, following the relative critical success of Quantum of Solace, Peter Morgan was invited to co-write the screenplay for the 23rd James Bond movie alongside Purvis and Wade. Despite the attention it received at the time, work on the movie was postponed pending the resolution of the studio’s financial problems and meanwhile Peter Morgan made it clear that he wrote no more than an outline and that he wasn’t really that interested in James Bond anyway.

Production of Bond 23 has already begun with Sam Mendes officially at the helm of direction. Release is scheduled for November, 2012 with Daniel Craig and Judi Dench confirmed to return.

Free monthly newsletter

Get the latest on Bond 26 and other James Bond news by email.


No thanks, I'm not interested in news about 007

Share this article

Like this article? Join our free 007 newsletter and get the latest on Bond 26 and other James Bond news by email.