David Arnold Tunes In For Bond 21
“The thing with the Bond… you know, I want to do them ’til I drop down dead.”
David Arnold
Andrew Collins of 6 Music (BBC) yesterday interviewed regular Bond film composer David Arnold, who confirmed that he is working on the upcoming twenty-first James Bond film, which will mark his fourth consecutive 007 score.
According to Arnold, “[The film] is going in a very, very interesting direction… We’ve taken [the movies] to a point where I think I’ve exhausted that particular scene of approach. What I’m already thinking of now is… you’re at the bottom of the mountain again and you have to get back up to the top via a different route.”
“I think there is a way of doing Bond differently again … I’m looking forward to it.”
David Arnold
Arnold also commented that the film is still on target for 2005, contrary to rumours that suggested the film has been delayed. The composer also made no reference to the Brosnan/Bond saga that has been dominating the Bond 21 limelight over the last six months.
“The two criticisms that I’ve always had doing Bond is that it sounds too much like John Barry and it doesn’t sound enough like John Barry.”
David Arnold
As for Arnold’s prior Bond experiences, the composer told 6 Music that he more or less poured everything he had ever wanted to do in a Bond film into Tomorrow Never Dies, his first Bond gig, on the assumption that he would never get asked to return for another film. However, he was asked by the series’ producers to come back for the following film on his final day of recording, yet still, Arnold did not realise it was a definite offer, instead thinking to himself, “Well, at least I’m in with a shot.” Of course, Arnold did return for The World Is Not Enough, a task the composer felt was a difficult one to live up to. “I guess I [had] the problem everyone has when you kind of do a sequel or something, which is how do you do the same thing again?” Arnold recalled. “And the thing with Bond is, there’s a kind of audience expectation with the music, where it’s got to sound a certain way, some of the time. Not all of the time, but some of the time.”
“It’s very reassuring, where you’re hearing that particular sound, and you’re looking at James Bond doing something, you know, that only something James Bond can do and there’s something sort of very reassuring and exciting about it.”
David Arnold
The interview also discussed his early years as a composer, including his work on Stargate, Independence Day and his four-day deadline on his score for The Stepford Wives, as well as his tastes in other film scores, such as Fight Club and Kill Bill.