Way back in simpler times, the blockbuster Die Another Day introduced Halle Berry’s Giacinta Johnson as a Bond woman who would help save the day in Pierce Brosnan’s final film as James Bond. Though the film was a bit of a disappointment, a spin-off was being developed for her character, better known to her friends/foes as Jinx. While it never happened, the scrapped script for the film has apparently made its way online; and oh man, do I need to read this now.
User 007inLA apparently got his hands on the first draft, dated July 8, 2003, which was simply titled Jinx. Sharing the cover page on Twitter as proof of life, the story is credited to James Bond veterans Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, the men who have provided the backbone of the 007 franchise’s stories since their hiring for Tomorrow Never Dies. While the commentary on the script is rather limited due to the misplacement of some pages to Jinx’s finished product, there’s some clues as to where it was all headed.
Jinx sees Halle Berry’s NSA agent go through her origin story paces, with the death of her parents being the motivation for her joining up. Pushing to be recruited and proving that she’s a worthy candidate, we see this Die Another Day fixture interacting with another familiar face to achieve her mission: her handler Damian Falco, played by legendary hard case and Quentin Tarantino collaborator Michael Madsen. Should this film have happened, we’d have seen Jinx first meeting her co-worker, before they were both introduced during their assistance in Die Another Day’s big, diamond encrusted crisis.
You can see why Berry was upset about this movie being scrapped, as Jinx sounds right at home in the world of 007. Her character would have even gotten to meet an MI6 agent in her travels, though it’s “no one [she’d] know,” so you can stop updating your theories of how James Bond is a codename for the time being. Though if you’re looking to expand your theory on how Sofia from John Wick 3: Parabellum is really Jinx from Die Another Day… let’s get that story going.
Nerve gas, a global terrorist plot, and everything you’d expect from a James Bond adventure looks present and accounted for in Jinx. Only instead of merely rehashing the 007 formula, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade looked to expand the brand with a new point of view on the espionage business; and it’s something audiences could still use to this day. With further spinoffs for Naomie Harris’s Moneypenny and Lashawna Lynch’s Nomi creeping into the consciousness surrounding Skyfall and No Time To Die respectively, this isn’t an idea that’s died off just yet. Maybe with the right approach, Halle Berry’s Jinx could return after all, teaming up with either or both James Bond characters to forge a new path towards a cinematic universe.
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