Link to the thread on the 2006 version of Casino Royale, which re-booted the Bond franchise.

Links to threads on Marc Forster's previous films Monster's Ball (2001), Finding Neverland (2004), Stay (2005), Stranger Than Fiction (2006) and The Kite Runner (2007).

Interestingly, Halle Berry won her Oscar for Monster's Ball while she was in the middle of shooting Die Another Day (2002), the last of the pre-reboot Bond films.

- - -

Marc Forster to direct next Bond film
Forster will start work shortly with screenwriter Paul Haggis on a draft of the screenplay by Neil Purvis and Robert Wade. Daniel Craig will reprise the role of James Bond.
Variety, June 19

Interesting factoid -- someone pointed out that Marc Forster, who was born in Germany and raised in Switzerland, will be the first director of an "official" James Bond film who does not hail from the British Commonwealth. To reprise and update what I wrote in the Casino Royale thread:

Bond Films I, II, IV were directed by Terence Young (1915-1994), who was born in China and died in France but was basically British, having served in the British army etc.

Bond Films III, VII, VIII, IX were directed by Guy Hamilton (b. 1922), who was born in France and apparently, as of the late 1970s, could not be in England for more than 30 days per year for tax reasons; no word at the IMDB on his lineage or citizenship.

Bond Films V, X, XI were directed by Lewis Gilbert (b. 1920), who was born in London.

Bond Film VI was directed by Peter R. Hunt (1925-2002), who was born in London (and who worked as an editor on some of the earlier films).

Bond Films XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI were directed by John Glen (b. 1932), who was born in England (and who also had been an editor and a second-unit director on some of the earlier films).

Bond Films XVII, XXI were directed by Martin Campbell (b. 1940), who was born in New Zealand.

Bond Film XVIII was directed by Roger Spottiswoode (b. 1945), who was born in Canada and raised in Britain.

Bond Film XIX was directed by Michael Apted (b. 1941), who was born in England.

Bond Film XX was directed by Lee Tamahori (b. 1950), who was born in New Zealand.

Bond Film XXII will be directed by Marc Forster (b. 1969), who was born in Germany and raised in Switzerland.

So yeah, prior to Forster, they all seem to have come from the Commonwealth. Though if we count Never Say Never Again (1983) as a Bond film of sorts, it was directed by Irvin Kershner (b. 1923), who was born in the United States.

As I was updating this list, it occurred to me to check the birth (and, where applicable, death) dates for all these directors, and it hit me that Forster is the first person of my generation to direct a Bond picture. All the other directors belonged to my father's generation, or earlier.

In fact, given that Daniel Craig was born in 1968, this will mark the first time that the DIRECTOR of a Bond picture has been younger than its STAR since John Glen (b. 1932) directed the last three Roger Moore (b. 1927) films in the early 1980s. In all the other films, the director was older than his leading man. (Connery was born in 1930, Lazenby in 1939, Dalton in 1944 and Brosnan in 1953. The biggest age gap between director and leading man to date, by far, was the 28 years between Martin Campbell, b. 1940, and Daniel Craig, b. 1968; the second-biggest was the 15 years between Terence Young, b. 1915, and Sean Connery, b. 1930.)

My head is like a 30G iPod that's already 28G full, and when I actually try and absorb information like this, I start getting warning signals my head is too full.

Heh.

Oh, I forgot to mention: The ages of the various directors when their first Bond films came out:

• Terence Young -- 47 -- born 1915, first film 1962 -- he was 50 for his last film in 1965
• Guy Hamilton -- 42 -- born 1922, first film 1964 -- he was 52 for his last film in 1974
• Lewis Gilbert -- 47 -- born 1920, first film 1967 -- he was 59 for his last film in 1979
• Peter R. Hunt -- 44 -- born 1925, only film 1969
• John Glen -- 49 -- born 1932, first film 1981 -- he was 57 for his last film in 1989
• Martin Campbell -- 55 -- born 1940, first film 1995 -- he was 66 for his last film in 2006
• Roger Spottiswoode -- 52 -- born 1945, only film 1997
• Michael Apted -- 58 -- born 1941, only film 1999
• Lee Tamahori -- 52 -- born 1950, only film 2002
• Marc Forster -- 39 -- born 1969, first film 2008

So Forster is the youngest director EVER to direct a Bond film, too -- beating Guy Hamilton, who was 42 when he made Goldfinger, by just 3 years. What makes this even more interesting is that Forster is following Martin Campbell, who was easily the oldest director to make a Bond film when he made Casino Royale at the age of 66. From the oldest director in the history of the franchise to the youngest director in the history of the franchise ...

You want more trivia? How about the ages of the theme-song singers? Or the ages of the leading men?

007's license to kill...directors?
Is it just plain bad for a director to do a Bond film? I ask in part because my pal Jeffrey Wells, continuing in his dyspeptic mode at Hollywood Elsewhere, today closes the iron door on director Mark Forster now that he's just signed on to do the next one. The Bond franchise has never been particularly congenial to directors who put a strong personal stamp on their films, a.k.a. auteurs. . . .
Glenn Kenny, Premiere.com, June 20

Jeffrey Wright will return as Felix Leiter, making him the first actor to play the character in two consecutive movies.

Kurylenko lands lead in Bond film
Ukrainian actress Olga Kurylenko has been cast as the female lead in the new 007 movie, which will start principal photography under the working title "Bond 22." . . . Kurylenko recently co-starred in "Hitman" and with Elijah Wood in a segment for "Paris, Je T'Aime." . . .
Variety, January 7

Bond 22 is now "Quantum of Solace"

Wow. I didn't like it at all when I first saw it, but on being reminded that it's an actual Ian Fleming title (I think I even remember the short story itself; I know I have the book that it appears in), I guess I can't complain. Then again, why bother using it if you're not going to use whatever it was in the story that LED to that title?

This has to be the most unlikely title for a would-be blockbuster since New Line Cinema pondered making an adaptation of Philip Pullman's The Subtle Knife.

BTW, the Guardian story is not quite correct when it says: "And if you think the title a little underwhelming, please bear in mind that the only other unused titles in the short story collection were Risico, and The Hildebrand Rarity." There is also The Property of a Lady, at least -- but the CONTENT of that story, and the WORDS of that title, were both used within the movie version of Octopussy, so I could totally understand if the Bond producers didn't want to attach that short story's title to another film. (Oh, wait, The Property of a Lady may have come from ANOTHER short story collection. Then again, I think The Living Daylights -- which the Guardian associates with Short Story Collection A -- was also part of Short Story Collection B, instead.)

And come to think of it, plot elements from Risico were used in the movie version of For Your Eyes Only, too -- so that might be another reason not to use that title. And plot elements from The Hildebrand Rarity were reportedly used in Licence to Kill, the first official James Bond movie that did NOT take its title from an Ian Fleming book -- so that might be another reason not to use that title, too.

At any rate, it's interesting to see that the Daniel Craig films are making a point of using Ian Fleming titles, no matter how awkward they might be, whereas none of the Pierce Brosnan films were named after any of Fleming's stories (though GoldenEye was, at least, named after Fleming's vacation home, and The World Is Not Enough was named after the Bond family motto, as revealed in On Her Majesty's Secret Service).

I'm glad "Quantum of Solace" is an actual Ian Fleming title, but it sounds more like the title of a 70s-era RUSH song.

Maybe we can buy Jeffrey an upgrade for his head!

Eyebrow 2.0

I like the title. "Solace" is one of my favorite words. I dunno about "Quantum."

Maybe Rush should do the theme song then. I can't hear Duran Duran singing "Quantum of Solace."

Arcade Fire, on the other hand...

Yow -- the title sounds like the subheading from a Tom Clancy franchise. (ala Splinter Cell -- Pandora Tomorrow or NetForce -- Rubicon of Verisimilitude)

More thoughts on this and other James Bond titles.

The theme-song thing really isn't an issue here. The theme song for Casino Royale was called 'You Know My Name' and didn't include any reference to the title, as far as I can recall, so there's no reason why this new film couldn't follow in those footsteps. (See also Octopussy, the title of which was never referenced in the theme song 'All Time High.' Dr. No and On Her Majesty's Secret Service did not have theme songs at all.) (FWIW, the theme song for The Spy Who Loved Me went by another title, 'Nobody Does It Better', but the name of the movie DOES come up in the lyrics ("Like heaven above me / The spy who loved me / Is keeping all my secrets safe tonight...").)

I like the title. It's straight from Fleming, and it appears to make some sort of sense in the context of the story (Bond titles don't always make sense. "Licence to Kill" is the one film in which Bond doesn't actually have an um... licence to kill. The film was originally going to be called "Licence Revoked", but the producers changed their minds at the last minute as they felt that many Americans wouldn't know what the word revoked means). Daniel Craig says that "Quantum of Solace" refers to the death of Vesper Lynd. From the BBC:

"Ian Fleming had written about relationships. When they go wrong, when there's nothing left, when the spark has gone, when the fire's gone out, there's no quantum of solace. And at the end of the last movie, Bond has the love of his life taken away from him and he never got that quantum of solace."

"But the title also alludes to something else in the film," he added.

There are still good titles out there, in my view. "Risico", which was Bond 22's original title, sounds sufficiently dramatic and macho, and I have always rather liked the sound of "Shatterhand" (Dr Shatterhand is the name of the villain in "You Only Live Twice" - though we discover it is actually Blofeld by the end of the novel).

Best of all would have been a straight adaptation of Kingsley Amis' "Colonel Sun". Or perhaps they could have remade one of the Bond films that doesn't actually resemble its source novel (e.g. "You Only Live Twice", "Moonraker", "The Spy Who Loved Me").



Oddly, elements from the novel of "Live and Let Die" also appear in the film of "For Your Eyes Only" (the scene in which 007 and Melina Havelock are dragged by the boat).

Ian Fleming’s reflection on the limitations of love (Quantum of Solace)

Recognizing real evil
French actor Mathieu Amalric, who plays villain Dominic Greene in the new movie, says that he's decided his character ought to be inspired by real life villains. "That's maybe what is horrible about today," Amalric said in a recent interview. "We can't guess who the villains are. The villains are invisible." . . . Amalric said he modeled his character to some extent on former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. That's right -- Mr. Amalric believes freedom-loving Blair and Sarkozy are these "invisible" villains. "I've been taking details, the smile of Tony Blair, the craziness of Sarkozy, he's the worst villain we've ever had," he said. . . .
Dave Gordon, National Post, January 28

So, basically, the title is the most awkward synonym imaginable for "a measure of comfort?"

‘Bond’ Screenwriter Paul Haggis Has ‘No Idea’ What ‘Quantum Of Solace’ Means
Following his stellar work on “Casino Royale,” Haggis passed in his second and final draft of the then-untitled 22nd Bond script just hours before the Writers Strike began. Casting, filming, and an official title have all made major headlines in the months since, all while the high-profile “Crash” writer/director has moved on to other projects.
Sometimes, a star’s lack of words says everything you need to know. So, believe me when I say that Haggis was less-than-enthusiastic about the three-word title that has been attached to his script. When I asked what he thought of it, he just sighed and said: “No comment.” . . .
Larry Carroll, MTV Movies Blog, February 25

Quantum of Solace is going to open in the UK on Oct. 31, a full week before its US premiere on Nov. 7.

[Napolean Dynamite in Milk Tasting Competition]

YYYyeeeeeeeeesssssssssss


/[Napolean Dynamite in Milk Tasting Competition]


Matt

"Quantum" is the name of the villains' organization; the movie deals with global warming. I would link to the original news story from here, except the first paragraph contains what seems like a MAJOR spoiler, so I figure it's safer to link to my spoiler-free summary of some of the key points that were reported yesterday.

[Porche mechanic from "Risky Business" impression]

Who's the U-boat commander?

[/Porche mechanic from "Risky Business" impression]

Bond stunt driver sinks Aston Martin into Lake Garda

The teaser.

Hmm. Beautiful to look at (reminiscent, I think, of USA's Burn Notice, especially the shot with the sunglasses toward the end). It's certainly going to be a stylish Bond.

On the other hand, the plot looks like a riff on License to Kill with a little Bourne mixed in. Could be interesting, but could be just another Bond movie--which is exactly what this franchise does not need to follow the imho excellent Casino Royale.

I dig it... a lot.

Looks like the trailer is off of YouTube. However, you can see it here.

Good grief that looks awesome. Thanks for that.

Cool!

Looks a *lot* like a Bourne movie.

And this theme is starting to feel really, really overdone.

There was one shot in the QoS trailer that really reminded me of the Bourne movies:

In the 3rd Bourne film, there's a shot of Jason Bourne jumping off a rooftop and crashing through a window. It's an over-the-shoulder shot and the camera follows him as he flies through the air. It's a striking and quite amazing shot.

In the QoS trailer, the same over-the-shoulder technique is used in a shot of James Bond on a motorcycle jumping onto/over a boat.

While the technique is obviously borrowed from Bourne, I think it's a technique that deserves to be revisted because it has such an incredible effect. Wow!

NBooth wrote:
: On the other hand, the plot looks like a riff on License to Kill . . .

Yeah, that kind of worries me, too. Especially since License to Kill was the second and final film of Dalton's career as Bond, and I felt he never got a chance to really make the character his own. I wouldn't want to see Craig meet a similar fate.

Well, he is an even-numbered Bond, and they've not fared too well, with Lazenby at one movie and Dalton, as you mention, at two. Funnily enough, the even-numbered Bonds also were the ones pushing toward a harder-edged interpretation of Bond, which is what may have sunk them in the eyes of some viewers (well, Lazenby's just weak, even if On Her Majesty's Secret Service is one of the better entries).

I watched OHMSS for the first time in ages a week or two ago, and didn't care for it too much, largely because Lazenby came across as so insufferably smug, throwing his knowledge of obscure facts hither and yon, etc. Did he really have a "harder edge"? It didn't seem that way to me, but I could always check it again.

I also recently watched all the Brosnan films again for the first time in ages, and was struck by how HE made a point of giving his Bond a "harder edge", too. Yes, the films went out of their to psychoanalyze him and give the women in his life the upper hand, but when it came time to point that gun ... bam! he ain't joking. (I am thinking particularly of a scene involving Monica Bellucci near the end of The World Is Not Enough, here. Never, EVER call Brosnan's bluff.)

I might be the only person on the planet that likes Lazenby the best. Until the 'reboot,' On Her Majesty's... was the only Bond movie I liked.

Perhaps "harder edge" was the wrong term--"more realistic/true to the books" might be better. OHMSS steers pretty close to the outline and general feel of the novel (only with Diana Rigg. ) and is willing to end on the same note the novel ends on. Brosnan has flashes of toughness, but the overall tone of the movies seem to me pretty much straight from the Roger Moore era, only with more angst (and remember, Moore has his moments of toughness--such as kicking a helpless man off a cliff in For Your Eyes Only and let's not forget the tie-flicking death of the assassin in The Spy Who Loved Me ).

Don't you mean Sophie Marceau? Bellucci wasn't in TWINE.

NBooth wrote:
: Perhaps "harder edge" was the wrong term--"more realistic/true to the books" might be better. OHMSS steers pretty close to the outline and general feel of the novel (only with Diana Rigg. ) and is willing to end on the same note the novel ends on.

I have never read that particular book, but yeah, the movie gets points for that, I should think. (There were five films prior to OHMSS, and I think the only one that departed in any serious way from the source material was You Only Live Twice -- which, in BOOK form, was a SEQUEL to OHMSS in which Bond gets revenge for the death of his wife; obviously, the FILM, coming out earlier than the film version of OHMSS, had to be about something else entirely.)

: Brosnan has flashes of toughness, but the overall tone of the movies seem to me pretty much straight from the Roger Moore era, only with more angst (and remember, Moore has his moments of toughness . . .

I agree on both counts. I love that moment in For Your Eyes Only -- and am not at all surprised to hear that Moore kind of had to be talked into it, fearing it might make him look a little TOO cold-blooded. And yeah, Brosnan had the angst -- and a lot of really, really bad puns. An odd mix, really.

MrZoom wrote:
: Don't you mean Sophie Marceau? Bellucci wasn't in TWINE.

[ blink ]

Where the heck did I get THAT error from. Thanks for the correction.

Jack White and Alicia Keyes are doing the theme song -- the franchise's first-ever duet! -- and it's called 'Another Way to Die'.

To quote part what I wrote at my blog:

I will say that the title of this new song kind of disappoints me. It sounds way too similar to 'Die Another Day'.

In fact, it seems like every other Bond film for the past quarter-century has had a "kill" or "die" thing going on in its theme song:

1985 -- A View to a KILL
1987 -- The Living Daylights
1989 -- License to KILL
1995 -- GoldenEye
1997 -- Tomorrow Never DIES
1999 -- The World Is Not Enough
2002 -- DIE Another Day
2006 -- You Know My Name
2008 -- Another Way to DIE

Coincidentally, this coincides with the period when the franchise ceased to be based on the novels of Ian Fleming and began to be based on "original" stories with "original" titles. And even though the two most recent films do have titles and even story elements taken from Fleming's books, their songs have had "original" titles that appear to be continuing this pattern.

'A View to a Kill' was at least the title of an Ian Fleming short story. But prior to that, only one other Bond film had had "kill" or "die" in the title, namely Live and Let Die (1973). So the trend over the past quarter-century is beginning to seem like, uh, overkill.

The other burning question on everyone's mind: Will they find a way to work the title, "quantum of solace", into the lyrics, the same way that Carly Simon's 'Nobody Does It Better' found a way to include "the spy who loved me"? (They don't HAVE to do this: IIRC, Chris Cornell's 'You Know My Name' and Rita Coolidge's 'All Time High' did not make any reference to "casino royale" or "octopussy", respectively.)

Amy's Bond revenge
Amy Winehouse, 24, plans to finish the tune she started writing with Mark Ronson, 32, for Quantum Of Solace and put it out at the same time as the new theme by Alicia Keys and Jack White.
Amy told me she wants to “prove that they have made a big mistake”.
New!, August 12

Sony has pushed the release date back a week to Nov. 14th.

Story here.

I see they've toned down the "Bond gone rogue" aspect in favor of a revenge motif (I know, that's pretty much every Brosnan but it fits better here, given the events of the last movie). I especially like how Camille's gesture toward the end mirrors Vesper's in Casino Royale (at least, I think it does--it's been a while since I re-watched it).

Love it! I can't wait until November.

That trailer is great. I liked Casino Royale so much more than I thought I would, so I'm really looking forward to this one. Whoever hired Daniel Craig to play Bond should get a pay raise.

I'm sure Barbara Broccoli will be more than happy with that arrangement!

FWIW, some thoughts on the portrayal of Bond's relationship(s) with women in Casino Royale, with some trepidatious thoughts about where the franchise might go from there.

The new Coke Zero ad. Reportedly, the music is by Jack White, but I don't know whether we're supposed to think that the movie's theme song will sound like this.

CommanderBond.net is reporting that it's the theme. Here's what they say is a statement issued by White's people to Prefix Magazine:


FWIW. The Coke ad sounds pretty good up until the end, at which point--yeah, it's "You Know My Name."

Incidentally, David Arnold has done an audio interview on the scoring process for Quantum of Solace. Here's the CommanderBond writeup. And here's the interview.