Producer Adi Shankar has been on a tear recently, working on films that focus on dark takes on well-known characters. The Power/Rangers short, directed by Joseph Kahn, has been viewed over 11 million times online.
It's time for Bond.
Update: Much like the "Power/Rangers" film, this film has been taken down by a DMCA request from James Bond's copyright holder, MGM. The video isn't viewable. The remainder of the original post follows.
"I always wondered what would happen to James Bond in his old age and in our borderless world. I'm not referring to the Bond we've seen in recent films, that incarnation is closer to Jason Bourne meets Batman," producer Adi Shankar wrote.
"I'm referring to the swanky, alcoholic, serial killer, with mommy issues that we saw in films like Dr. No and Goldfinger. How would he find a sense of purpose in a self absorbed and impersonal modern world once his license to kill has been revoked?"
This is a ten minute long animated look at Bond in our world, and it's a bleak image. The short is more or less the planning phase for a Bond movie that will never happen.
The press materials provide one last note, perhaps in an attempt to head off drama like the Saban takedown in advance:
"For the avoidance of doubt, The Bootleg Universe is Shankar's unauthorized and very unofficial reinterpretation of iconic characters."