Time For 007

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IRL Andress embezzlement plot for Bond 26?

Actress Ursula Andress, forever tied to Bond as the first Bond girl Honey Ryder in Dr. No, has recently been in the news as a victim of a staggering $20 million embezzlement scheme. Fortunately for her, the funds have thankfully been recovered, but I’m sure it’s been a harrowing sequence of events. It’s a bizarre and unsettling case that feels almost too outlandish to be real, yet it highlights how calculated financial crimes can hit high-profile targets.

Oddly enough and no offense to Ursula Andress, it also feels like a ready-made plotline. For Bond 26, a scaled-back, more grounded story might be exactly what the next era of James Bond needs. A newly minted 007 unraveling a sophisticated embezzlement conspiracy tied to a powerful political figure, for example, would offer great intrigue and believable stakes.

A greenhorn MI6 agent probably doesn’t have the reputation to take on a “save the world” mission just yet, but I think seeing 007’s confidence and legend grow with a smaller victory to start is a more compelling path.