Daniel Craig Divulges 'Bond 22' Details
With 007 fans endlessly wondering and discussing anything and everything related to next year’s Bond 22, each bit of new information is welcomed with open arms. Coming Soon has scored a brand new interview with Daniel Craig that features a handful of details relating to the upcoming James Bond film. The interview took place in London for the recent international press junket for Craig’s upcoming film, The Golden Compass.
According to Craig, Bond 22 is still set to immediately follow the events of Casino Royale. When asked if the film was based on any of Ian Fleming’s work, he simply replied ‘there’s nothing left as far as I know.’
Daniel Craig returns as James Bond 007 in 2008’s Bond 22.
‘I run away. Having a sense of humor is really key. You have to have a sense of humor with these things and I’ve just tried to remain who I am. My life has changed. It’s changed in the fact that I don’t have the freedoms I did before, but I’ve also got a huge amount of other freedoms that have come along.’ – Craig on coping with Bond fame
Craig also dismissed any notions of an adaption of a John Gardner Bond novel: ‘I don’t think they ever would, because they don’t own them. I don’t know what the deal is with that. We’re taking the original idea. The funny thing is if you read Fleming’s [novels], which I try to plow through occasionally, there’s an awful lot of story lines that have never been used because obviously the films are based on the books. There are still ideas that we can sort of pluck from.’
He also had lavish praise for director Marc Forster, saying: ‘If you look at Marc Forster’s current body of work, that in itself makes me very excited.’ When asked what Forster will bring to the 007 series, Craig added: ‘If you look at Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland and then Kite Runner, which is just stunning, it’s such a diverse look at the world, I’d want us to have that. Marc is very solid. That for me is crucially important because this movie needs to jump on from Casino Royale and take it somewhere else. Marc is totally inspired and is really just keen to get started.’
When asked if it was difficult to develop the character of Bond because of his worldwide iconic status, Craig stated: ‘Not difficult at all really. Paul Haggis is involved. We’ve got someone who can take on story and take on a character and take them to a different place. It’s always a struggle, but you’ve got to find themes, you’ve got to find reasons for doing it and you’ve got to put them all in the right place. The same rules apply.’
While Craig was unsure what effects a July ’08 strike by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) could create, he stated that Bond 22 is free from the current WGA setbacks. ‘The writers’ strike doesn’t affect us because we have a script. As it stands at the moment, it doesn’t affect us.’
Craig also responded to the widely reported news a few months ago that Bond 22 would feature more humour:
Coming Soon: I read somewhere you’re going to inject a bit more humor into the next movie.
Daniel Craig: I was lying. I said, “Yes, it’s going to be funny.” I don’t remember saying that, but if I did, I’m not going to shy away from the fact the occasionally there should be humor. I just don’t like gags. I don’t like written gags. That’s not the way I’ve ever liked working and I don’t think that’s funny myself.
CS: Casino Royale marked a welcome return to the style and sensibilities of the earlier Bond movies, rather than the jokey more recent movies.
Craig: The idea of having jokes in Bond I don’t think is completely wrong, but I think the jokes to need to come out tension. There needs to be moments of humor because we’ve all been sitting on the edge of our seat. I don’t think you should write gags in Bond.
Closing off the interview, Craig said he was looking forward to fitting a possible second film after The Golden Compass along with Bond 22 into his schedule. ‘It just depends on how well we do here,’ he said. ‘I try not to count chickens. I really do because there’s no point. You’d go crazy. We’re in good shape and I’m very happy with the way this is working out. I’d love to get involved with [another Golden Compass film]. If they do another movie, I’d love to do it. We’ll fit it in. It’s not my job to make that work. I pay people fortunes to make that.’
Only some 340 more days of waiting until Bond 22 hits theatres. Just keep your eyes on the CommanderBond.net main page and we’ll keep you covered with all the latest news and information.