Marc Forster Continues Editing Work On 'Quantum of Solace'

With Quantum of Solace currently in the post-production stage of development, director Marc Forster is in a race against the clock to finish editing his first cut of the film and deliver it to producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.

Working out of an office in Soho, Forster spoke to Time Out about this stage of the James Bond production.

‘I have way too little time to edit,’ said Forster in his usual calm self. ‘We wrapped the movie just a few weeks ago and I’m basically editing right now for another week or so. Then I show it to Michael and Barbara at a little preview screening and then I have another week to cut. So I have, like, five or six weeks to edit the whole movie. Normally, I’ve had 14 weeks for any of my films so far. Six weeks for this film is crazy.’

Forster works alongside editors Matt Chesse and Richard Pearson on the task; the former having worked with him on his past six films, including Monster’s Ball and The Kite Runner. He is just one of several key crew members Forster chose to work on the film.

‘Then I met with Daniel Craig and I met with Barbara and Michael, and I thought: If I’m going to do a commercial film, it may as well be Bond because I’m not dealing with a studio, I’m dealing with them.’ – Marc Forster

Speaking about why he ultimately did choose to helm the 22nd Bond adventure, Forster said: ‘I’m used to making movies for between $20 million and $40 million with total creative control. Everyone leaves me alone. So I thought: What’s the upside for me to make a Bond film? It seemed there was none. Casino Royale was a huge success. Everybody loved it, it was critically acclaimed. So, I thought, if my movie’s not as good or better, it’ll be a failure. There was no upside. Then I met with Daniel Craig and I met with Barbara and Michael, and I thought: If I’m going to do a commercial film, it may as well be Bond because I’m not dealing with a studio, I’m dealing with them. They promised me, and they have kept to their word so far, to fight for my creative vision. I’m thankful for that. But let’s see what happens when I show them the first cut…’

Playing a scene from the film, where Daniel Craig’s 007 arrives at the Bregenz opera house, Forster comments: ‘It’s very Bond.’

Mathieu Amalric, portraying lead villain Dominic Greene, can also briefly be seen. ‘In the old Bond films, it was clear who were the good guys and who were the bad guys,’ explained Forster. ‘Today, it’s not so clear. I feel like Mathieu looks so sympathetic and normal, the type you can’t see right away is the villain.’

With time ticking away and his deadline approaching, Forster quickly sums up why he believes he was asked to tackle a Bond film. ‘I think [the producers] wanted to bring more of an emotional component to the movie,’ he said. ‘And they wanted to have the franchise go in a different direction. Last time, they took a risk with having Daniel Craig in the film. That was a success, so this time they felt they could take it another step and see how it goes with another filmmaker.’

Only a few more months remain to see if this risk pays off.

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