Quantum of Solace (film)

Template:Infobox Film Bond

For the short story by Ian Fleming, see For Your Eyes Only.

Quantum of Solace is the 22nd spy film in EON Productions' James Bond film series, due for release on 7 November 2008. It is the sequel to the 2006 film Casino Royale, which rebooted the series. It is directed by Marc Forster, and Daniel Craig reprises the role of James Bond. Bond is tracking down the organisation that caused the death of his lover Vesper Lynd. He comes across a member of the organisation named Dominic Greene, played by Mathieu Amalric, who intends to stage a coup d'état in a South American country. Bond is assisted by Camille, played by Olga Kurylenko, who also wants revenge against Greene.

The sequel's storyline was created by producer Michael G. Wilson while Casino Royale was shooting. The film was originally scheduled for a 2 May 2008 release, but was pushed back to allow more time when Roger Michell dropped out as director. Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade returned as writers. Second unit filming began in August 2007, with principal photography beginning in January 2008. Locations include the United Kingdom, Panama, Bolivia, Italy, Austria and Spain. The film will not involve production designer Peter Lamont, who has retired after being a veteran of eighteen Bond films. The title was chosen from a short story in Ian Fleming's For Your Eyes Only (1960).

Premise

Michael G. Wilson has confirmed that the film will pick up "literally an hour after" Casino Royale's conclusion, when a wounded Mr. White is confronted by Bond. Daniel Craig noted that Bond learns "that there's an organisation out there that needs to be sorted out, and that's his job now, to go out and stop them." Bond and M continue to interrogate suspects regarding the organisation, and Bond goes to Haiti where he meets Camille, Dominic Greene and Fields. Mathieu Amalric said Greene wants to control one of the world's most important natural resources, and he makes a deal with an exiled South American general to get him back into power.

Cast

• Daniel Craig as James Bond: Craig stated that Bond continues to learn throughout the film, and that he would be "still too headstrong and [wouldn't] always make the right decisions." Writer Paul Haggis said that Bond will be "a very human and flawed assassin, a man who has to navigate a morally complex and often cynical world while attempting to hold onto his deep beliefs of what is right and wrong." The actor gave advice to Haggis on the script and also helped choose Marc Forster as director, being a fan of his films. Craig's training for his reprisal involves more boxing and running, so as to avoid injuries caused by the lack of him running and jumping for the stunts from his debut. He also practised speedboating.

• Mathieu Amalric as Dominic Greene, the main villain. The producers said "Greene [is] a leading member of the villainous organisation introduced in Casino Royale, [and] will be a powerful counterpart to Daniel's portrayal of Bond." Craig said "there is a connection" between Greene and Vesper Lynd. Amalric said he modelled his performance on "the smile of Tony Blair and the crazy eyes of Nicolas Sarkozy". Bruno Ganz was also considered for the part.

• Olga Kurylenko as the lead Bond girl, Camille, who is half-Ukranian, half South American. She has her own vendetta regarding Greene and his organisation. "[Bond and Camille] have slightly different goals, but in the end they are going to have to collaborate," Kurylenko said. Kurylenko said Camille was a different Bond girl as she is predominantly a fighter. She trained with weapons and performed stunt work involving parachuting and fighting. The producers said Camille is someone "who challenges Bond and helps him come to terms with the emotional consequences of Vesper's betrayal".

• Judi Dench as M. She said M's relationship with Bond becomes "pretty prickly".
• Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter, Bond's CIA ally that aided him at Casino Royale in Montenegro. This will mark only the second time the same actor has appeared as Leiter twice since David Hedison played the character in Live and Let Die and Licence to Kill.
• Giancarlo Giannini as René Mathis, a French double agent who helps Bond discover who Le Chiffre and Mr. White worked for.
• Gemma Arterton as MI6 Agent Fields, who works at the British consulate in Bolivia. Arterton was chosen from around 1500 candidates. She said Fields was "not so frolicksome" as other Bond girls and that her character is "fresh and young, not [...] a femme fatale".
• Joaquin Cosío as General Medrano, who is Bond's enemy in Latin America. Greene is helping the exiled general get back into power, in return for support of his organisation.
• Anatole Taubman is playing a secondary villain to Amalric's character, though he said his role is larger than a mere henchman.
• Jesper Christensen as Mr. White, whom Bond captured after he stole the money won at Casino Royale in Montenegro.

Although imagery of her character may feature, Eva Green will not film any new footage as Vesper Lynd for the film. Barbara Broccoli said at the very least, "[Vesper is] certainly on Bond's mind." Broccoli has also said that Miss Moneypenny and "Q" will not be in the film.

Production

Development

In July 2006, as Daniel Craig's debut as James Bond, Casino Royale, entered post-production, EON Productions announced Bond 22 would be based on an original idea by producer Michael G. Wilson. Roger Michell was being negotiated with to direct. A backstory had been written for Casino Royale and its potential sequel, regarding Vesper Lynd and her Algerian boyfriend, who was intended to be one of the antagonists. The film was confirmed for a 2 May 2008 release date, with Craig reprising the lead role. Michell, who previously worked with Daniel Craig on Enduring Love and The Mother, decided not to direct the film, stating, "I was very nervous that there was a start date but really no script at all. And I like to be very well prepared as a director." Sony Entertainment vice-chairman Jeff Blake admitted that a production schedule of eighteen months was a very short window. The release date was eventually pushed back to 7 November 2008.

Neal Purvis and Robert Wade completed their draft of the script by April 2007. Wade said that the film would continue Bond's arc from Casino Royale: "It can't just be he's tough and he's tempered steel and totally impervious. There are things he still has to resolve." The following month, Paul Haggis, who had polished the Casino Royale script, began his re-write. Haggis turned down directing the film because, "It's [already] a two year commitment basically to do it. If you do that on top of writing, it's almost a three year commitment." In writing the script, Haggis drew inspiration from Bond creator Ian Fleming, and author John le Carré. In September 2007, Haggis began his second draft, and he completed his script two hours before the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike officially began.

In June 2007, Marc Forster was confirmed as the director of the then untitled Bond 22. He was surprised that he been approached for the job, stating he was not a big Bond fan as a child and that he would not have accepted the job before he saw Casino Royale. He felt Bond had been humanized in that film, explaining, "People travel a lot more now, and with the Internet they’re more aware of what the rest of the world is like. In a way the most interesting place for a James Bond movie to go is inward — deeper into Bond himself." Born in Switzerland, Forster is the first Bond director not to come from the Commonwealth of Nations, although he slyly noted that Bond's mother is Swiss, making him somewhat appropriate to handle the British icon. The director got on well with Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, but they had to block two very expensive ideas he had. "Financially, there are limits — even on a Bond film", he said, "otherwise, I have been able to realise my vision".

In January 2008, Quantum of Solace was confirmed as the title. It was also the name of a short story in Ian Fleming's anthology For Your Eyes Only (1960). Michael G. Wilson said that the title had been decided upon only "a few days" before its announcement.

Filming

Dan Bradley was hired as second unit director because of his work on the Jason Bourne films, so the film would continue the gritty action style begun in Casino Royale. In July 2007, the crew visited the Stelvio Pass in Italy for potential location filming. The town council of Siena gave permission to shoot at the Palio di Siena horse race on 16 August 2007. Fourteen cameras were placed around the arena, for shots which would be edited into the main sequence, shot during 2008. Aerial shots using helicopters were banned, and the crew were also forbidden from showing any violence "involving either people or animals". Afterward, scouting took place in Craco, the Montecotugno di Senise dam, and the road around San Biagio and Maratea. From 23-29 August, the second-unit shot at Madrid, and were scheduled to be in Panama during early November.

Principal photography was going to begin on 10 December 2007, but was pushed back to 3 January 2008. The shoot will last six months. Filming will be based at Bond's spiritual home of Pinewood Studios in the UK, including the newly rebuilt 007 Stage. Three of the soundstages at Pinewood were being used to replicate Siena, including an art gallery used for a fight scene.

A week of shooting will be spent in Panama City in mid-February, where the National Institute of Culture of Panama and some private buildings will be used. A sequence requiring several hundred extras will also be shot at the nearby Colón. Officials in the country will help isolate traffic from the cast and crew, and in turn hope the city's exposure in the film will increase tourism. Bolivia and Chile will be other South American locations.

The crew will spend ten days during the end of April at Lake Garda, Italy. Paul Haggis had written part of the script there while visiting it in late 2007. Filming will also take place at the nearby villages of Torbole, Limone sul Garda, and Tremosine. Filming will take place at the floating opera stage at the lake in Bregenz, Austria from 28 April—10 May 2008. Around 1200 to 1500 extras will be required to watch a performance of Tosca as the crew shoots Craig as Bond prowling the area. A short driving sequence will shoot at the nearby Feldkirch, Vorarlberg. Forster had expressed interest in the Swiss Alps as a location, but the location was written out of the final draft.

Production designer Peter Lamont, who has been a crew member on eighteen Bond films, will not be continuing with Quantum of Solace. Dennis Gassner, who worked as designer on Road to Perdition and The Golden Compass which also featured Daniel Craig, has been hired. In addition, London-based tailors Dunhill will be providing Bond's suits. The Italian Brioni had provided the costumes for the film series since GoldenEye (1995). Dunhill had tailored suits for Daniel Craig to wear at various publicity events.

Vehicles and gadgets

Ford has a three-film deal that began with 2002's Die Another Day. The Aston Martin DBS V12 will return in the film, and Ford GTs will also be used. After seeing the Israeli TAR-21 assault rifle at the MILIPOL exposition in Paris, one film producer has suggested to EON to include it in Quantum of Solace.

Video game adaptation

Main article: Quantum of Solace: The Game

In May 2006 Activision acquired non-exclusive rights to develop and publish James Bond games; an exclusive deal with Activision took effect in September 2007. During an earnings report, Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision, announced that their first Bond game would be released in May 2008. Previously it was reported by Variety that Activision's first game is expected to be a tie-in to Quantum of Solace.

External links

• Bond 22 at IMDb
• Template:Rotten-tomatoes
• Template:Mojo title
• Bond 22 coverage - CommanderBond.net
• Bond 22 coverage - MI6.co.uk
• Bond 22 updates - On the ultimate James Bond wiki

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