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  1. 'Quantum of Solace' US Theatre Count Decrease

    By Devin Zydel on 2008-12-07

    As was the case with Casino Royale two years ago, the opening December weekend marked the first theatre count drop for Quantum of Solace in the United States.

    Opening on 3,451 theatres in the US, the 22nd James Bond film then expanded to its widest releas in 3,501 locations around the country. This past weekend saw the count drop by 78 to 3,423 overall.

    To date, Quantum of Solace has grossed a cumulative $151.4 million in the US, including the estimated $6.6 million this past weekend contributed. The film is expected to eventually surpass the series’ record of $167.5 million, held by Casino Royale.

    Keep your browsers pointed to CommanderBond.net for the most up-to-date and complete Quantum of Solace coverage. Check out our continually updated box office report for all the latest news at how 007 is doing around the world.

    Have you seen Quantum of Solace in theatres yet? Post your review and join in the discussion in the Member Reviews section on the CBn Forums.

  2. A 'Quantum' Of Editorially-Driven Visual Effects

    By Devin Zydel on 2008-12-05
    'Quantum of Solace'

    Quantum of Solace

    Marc Forster’s comment that Quantum of Solace was a bit like a bullet applies not only to the film itself, but also the production work that went into making it.

    As reported in the past on CommanderBond.net, time was always a factor when it came to all levels of production on the 22nd James Bond film and this included the visual effects creation.

    In a new interview with VFXWorld, designer Kevin Tod Haug discusses working along with director Marc Forster, special effects designer Chris Corbould and many other members of the 007 crew in order to create the 900+ visual effects shots in the film.

    ‘I pretty much did what I’ve always done for Marc,’ Haug said. ‘There is a certain amount of polishing that Marc needs out of the visual effects department because he’s developed a recognition that a certain amount of what is too expensive to do on the day could be managed later: “I know I have the raw material here and ultimately I want to see how it cuts before I deal with some of these issues.” And unlike a lot of directors who go back and do reshoots, he just fixes them. So the stuff tends to be 98% there. There’s just that little bit of tweaking to make things look better.’

    He continues: ‘Since Stay, we usually have our own in-house level of compositing so that we can do what I call “editorially-driven visual effects”: splitting performances and retiming things, taking a performance from one scene and putting it in another in order to shorten a scene or transplant a scene or a performance.’

    ‘But the thing about working on a Bond movie is that neither of us had ever done a giant action movie before. And so it’s the pure scope of doing action and the number of things that you have to pull off. We had a conversation early on where I told Marc that I thought he was intentionally crazy to do it because they only had 12 weeks of post, and we’d never done anything that quick–he’d never done a director’s cut that fast. But I think we all agreed that the opportunity to be the first [predominantly American crew] ever to do a Bond was too hard to turn down. I am the first vfx designer (or supervisor for that matter). The rule was don’t do anything that you’re not 100% certain won’t look good, don’t get experimental, don’t over reach, just do what needs to be done and do it as well as possible. It was a sort of rear-guard action from day one to make sure that we didn’t end up with 12 weeks to go and some horrible mess to sort out.’

    Director Marc Forster

    Director Marc Forster

    Forster, who tried to incorporate elements of earth, water, air and fire into the many different action sequences featured in Quantum of Solace, also relied heavily on precise organization from the very beginning in order to minimize the time issue as much as possible.

    ‘We only had six weeks to cut the movie and then another few weeks for the sound,’ he stated, ‘so from the get-go, I said we have to figure out how to shoot as much as we can ‘real’ or get ‘real’ elements because we have such a limited time to make the visual effects and to make them look real would be really tricky. So everything in the plan was to follow that brief, and we had to map out when we shoot what just to [keep it all straight]. There wasn’t a huge amount of CG effects, but a lot of it came either through small elements or [in combination with special effects].’

    For being a first-time crew member on the Bond series, Haug said he was struck at how integral the coordination between the visual and special effects were. ‘Chris Corbould and I linked up the day I prodded him off of The Dark Knight long enough to sit down and have lunch. We immediately understood what each other was doing and why we were going to work that way.’

    ‘We got together with the First AD [Michael Lerman] and we frontloaded the stuff that was heavy visual effects rendering in the beginning part of the schedule and the stuff that was heavy special effects-oriented at the back end so he had time to build his rigs and then they were going to happen mostly in camera, and we had time to deal with our stuff after the plates had been generated. So we figured out how to schedule it in such a way so neither one of us got too hammered.’

    He singled out the aerial dogfight and the climactic encounter at Perla de las Dunas as the two most difficult sequences in the film. ‘That set of the ESO hotel with the explosions and the DC-3 rig that Chris had to build: both of those had to obviously happen far back in the schedule from his point of view. And that left us to do the skydiving and things we had to do in the beginning. As it is, I still wish I had a few more weeks on some of the CG planes. I think that the lines are heavily blurred as to what’s all-CG and what’s not. I don’t think there’s a single thing in the movie that’s entirely synthetic.’

    There’s much more. Read on for the complete, indepth interview with Kevin Tod Haug.

    Stay up-to-date with all the latest Quantum of Solace coverage at CommmanderBond.net.

  3. Alfa Romeo Launches James Bond Limited Edition 159 Sedan

    By Devin Zydel on 2008-12-04

    Following up its appearance in the opening car chase of Quantum of Solace, a “James Bond” limited edition Alfa Romeo 159 sedan is set to be released.

    Only 250 examples of this limited edition will be made available, priced at £22,168 (about $32,500) each.

    The new model will feature more than £3,000 of extra equipment, including lowered suspension, red Brembo brake calipers, black leather upholstery,sports instruments with a red background, Carbonio black metallic paint and special 19in spoke alloy wheels.

    The 159 is powered by a 1.9 JTDM turbodiesel engine which develops 150bhp and 236lb feet of torque, driving the front wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox. Reachs 62mph in 9.2 seconds.

    To celebrate the James Bond connection, Alfa Romeo is offering the chance to win a Quantum of Solace Scalextric racing car set, featuring the Aston Martin DBS and the Alfa 159 to test drivers of this new model. Entrants must fill out a form at their local Alfa Romeo dealership.

    For further information, visit www.alfaromeo.co.uk.

    Keep your browsers locked on CommanderBond.net for the most complete Quantum of Solace coverage on the web.

  4. 'Another Way To Die' Music Video Gets Grammy Nod

    By Devin Zydel on 2008-12-04
    Jack White

    Jack White

    The Jack White and Alicia Keys ‘Another Way To Die’ music video has been nominated for a Grammy Award.

    The video for the Quantum of Solace title theme will compete against four others in the Best Short Form Music Video at the 51st annual Grammy Awards, scheduled for 10 February 2009 at the Los Angeles Staples Center.

    The full list of contenders in the category includes:

    • Honey
      Erykah Badu
      Erykah Badu & Mr. Roboto, video directors; Megan Gutman, video producer
      [Universal Motown]
    • Who’s Gonna Save My Soul
      Gnarls Barkley
      Christopher Milk, video director; Anne Johnson, video producer
      [Downtown/Atlantic]
    • Another Way To Die
      Alicia Keys & Jack White
      PR Brown & MK12, video directors; Dex Deboree, Mick Ebeling, Sheira Rees-Davies & Jane Tredget, video producers
      [J Records]
    • House Of Cards
      Radiohead
      James Frost, video director; Dawn Fanning, video producer
      [TBD Records]
    • Pork And Beans
      Weezer
      Mathew Cullen, video director; Bernard Rahill, video producer
      [DGC/Interscope]

    Previously in the James Bond series, Madonna’s ‘Die Another Day’ video (credited to Madonna, Traktor and Jim Bouvet) was nominated in the Best Short Form Music Video category at the 2003 Grammy Awards.

    Click here for CommanderBond.net’s complete overview of James Bond and the Grammy Awards.

    Stay up-to-date with all the latest Quantum of Solace coverage at CBn.

  5. The James Bond Theme That Never Was

    By Devin Zydel on 2008-12-04

    Despite new names being mentioned left and right throughout much of the Quantum of Solace production, Amy Winehouse seemed to be by far the number one contender for the title theme.

    Working along with producer Mark Ronson, Winehouse came up with a demo track that was planned to be submitted to the producers. Work on the track then came to a halt in May after several recent reports of some erratic behavior by Winehouse. Ronson stated at the time: ‘I’m not sure [Amy’s] ready to work on music yet.’

    The James Bond theme ultimately went to Jack White and Alicia Keys, who came up with ‘Another Way To Die’.

    Speaking with The West Australian, Ronson said he was more worried than annoyed by Winehouse’s odd behaviour that contributed to the sidelining of their 007 theme that never was.

    ‘That’s somebody I care about,’ he said. ‘I was more worried about her as a person than I was whether we got the Bond theme done or not.’

    ‘But, yeah, definitely when somebody offers you a Bond theme, it’s a once in a lifetime situation. [I was] sitting back a bit bummed watching the Jack White video on MTV.’

    In August, Winehouse briefly made mention of her plans to release the unused Bond theme, but this has so far yet to occur.

    Stay up-to-date with all the latest Quantum of Solace coverage at CommmanderBond.net.

  6. Five Satellite Award Nominations For 'Quantum of Solace'

    By Devin Zydel on 2008-12-02

    Like Casino Royale before it, Quantum of Solace has been included in the nominations for this year’s Satellite Awards.

    The International Press Academy announced the nominees for the 13th annual awards today and Daniel Craig’s second James Bond entry is included in five categories:

    Original Score:

    • David Arnold – Quantum of Solace
    • Thomas Newman – WALL-E
    • John Powell – Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!
    • A.R. Rahman – Slumdog Millionaire
    • David Hirschfelder – Australia
    • Danny Elfman – Milk

    Original Song:

    • “Another Way to Die”/Jack White – Quantum of Solace
    • “If the World”/Guns N’ Roses – Body of Lies
    • “Down to Earth”/Peter Gabriel – WALL-E
    • “By the Boab Tree”/Angela Little et al. – Australia
    • “Jaiho”/ A.R. Rahman and Gulzar – Slumdog Millionaire
    • “The Wrestler”/Bruce Springsteen – The Wrestler

    Visual Effects:

    • Quantum of Solace
    • Iron Man
    • The Dark Knight
    • The Day the Earth Stood Still
    • Australia

    Film Editing:

    • Quantum of Solace
    • Iron Man
    • The Dark Knight
    • Australia
    • Slumdog Millionaire
    • Frost/Nixon

    Sound (Mixing & Editing):

    • Quantum of Solace
    • Iron Man
    • The Dark Knight
    • Australia
    • WALL-E
    • The Day the Earth Stood Still

    Chris Cornell’s ‘You Know My Name’ from Casino Royale was nominated and won in the Best Original Song category two years ago.

    The winners for this year’s awards will be announced at a gala event on Sunday, 14 December at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City.

    Stay up-to-date with all the latest Quantum of Solace coverage at CommmanderBond.net.

  7. Olga Kurylenko Launches Limited Edition James Bond Omega Watch

    By Devin Zydel on 2008-12-01

    Quantum of Solace Bond girl Olga Kurylenko officially launched the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean James Bond Limited Edition in Aoyama, Japan in November.

    Photographs from the event can be viewed online at OmegaWatches.com. The full press release follows:

    Today, Olga Kurylenko officially introduced the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean James Bond Limited Edition model at the Omega Boutique in Aoyama. The Ukrainian beauty, who starred in Quantum of Solace with Daniel Craig, was invited by OMEGA to present the timepiece, which has been released in an edition of 5,007 pieces.

    OMEGA was James Bond’s watch of choice in Quantum of Solace, the 22nd instalment in the most successful film franchise of all time. It marked the sixth film in which the iconic secret agent wore an OMEGA Seamaster. Daniel Craig reprised the role of 007 which he first played in Casino Royale. Quantum of Solace, which has already broken numerous box-office records, is set to open in Japan in January 2009.

    The Japanese press gathered in front of the OMEGA Boutique Aoyama as Olga Kurylenko unveiled the new show window decoration featuring Daniel Craig in his role as the world’s favourite spy. Kimono-clad children were on hand to present flowers to the Ukrainian star, who was touched by the warmth of their gesture.

    The event also included the inauguration of the James Bond Exhibition on the second floor of the Boutique.

    At the Nicolas G. Hayek Center in Ginza, the latest Bond Girl was given the opportunity to try her hand at watchmaking. Kurylenko laughed as she attempted to adjust the tiny parts in a mechanical watch movement as a master watchmaker and a delighted audience looked on.

    The day ended with a party at the Cité du Temps situated on the top floor of the building with a riveting view of the Ginza prefecture by night. More than 200 guests joined OMEGA and special guest Olga Kurylenko, the stunning actress who is carrying on the Bond Girl legacy–nearly as important a part of the film series as 007 himself.

    Keep turning to CommmanderBond.net for the most complete and up-to-date Quantum of Solace news and information on the web.

  8. Chris Corbould On Creating 'Quantum' Special Effects

    By Devin Zydel on 2008-12-01

    CHRIS CORBOULD ON CREATING QUANTUM SPECIAL EFFECTS
    Special effects supervisor discusses working on the 22nd James Bond film

    Special Effects Supervisor Chris Corbould is a stalwart of the 007 franchise, “I first started on The Spy Who Loved Me as a trainee when I was 17, after that I left the company I was working for and got my first freelance job on Moonraker, I’ve been with them ever since!”

    Corbould explains how he works out the logistics of organizing the special effects on an action film like Quantum of Solace, “When I first get the script, I go through it and identify where all the effects are, then I split them between the first unit and the second unit. This film has been particularly difficult because at one stage we had two units filming in Panama, another unit prepping in Chile, three separate units prepping in Italy whilst working on six stages back at Pinewood Studios in the UK. Logistically, it has got to be one of the most difficult films I have done in terms of the geography and making sure the right crew are in the right place with the right equipment. I have a team of about 80 on this film but I always want to try to be there to see as much of the testing and the shooting as possible, so it has meant a lot of travel for me.”

    'Quantum of Solace'

    Quantum of Solace

    Corbould and his team would usually start on a Bond film at least five months before filming begins, “This one was different because I had a commitment to another film, so I only got two months to prep but I had a team working on it and reporting back to me.”

    During pre-production Corbould is part of the team that work together to make the script come alive on screen, Corbould explains, “When you are presented with a script, what we actually end up shooting is a lot different. The writers do their bit and then the creative people come on board and it can change quite radically in the few months before you start filming. I will pitch ideas for the special effects so we try to do things that haven’t been done before. Often I need to steer the team in a different direction if they want to do something that I know has already been done before and we would just end up copying.”

    It is the first time Chris Corbould has worked with director Marc Forster, “It has been interesting working with Marc. I think one of the most interesting things is that Marc hasn’t done much action before. It is nice to get him involved and try to give him a liking and an understanding for it. Marc has very definite ideas of what he wants to see but at the same time he is very open to ideas. He’s a good guy, I like him a lot.”

    Director Marc Forster

    Director Marc Forster

    Corbould talks about his department’s involvement in the boat chase sequence shot in Colón, Panama, “We were heavily involved in tricks like hidden drivers. Daniel did a lot of the driving himself but there are certain times where, for insurance reasons, it would have to be a stunt driver. We needed to hide a driver to do a particular stunt with Daniel at the wheel that might have been a bit risky. We had boats going over other boats and explosions knocking out out-boards. One of the boats somersaults which took quite a while to get right; we had a big cable under the water which, when the boat hit a certain mark, had a huge twist in it and it pulled the cable back which pulled the front of the boat down forcing it to flip over–there were a lot of mechanics under the water and on the bank for that particular sequence.”

    To shoot the interior of the DC3 plane, when Bond and Camille are attacked by gunfire, the special effects department had to build the rig from scratch to simulate the effect of the plane losing control. The rig was then shot against a blue screen on Pinewood’s paddock tank. Corbould explains “We tried to give the illusion that the DC3 was going through a dog fight. The rig had the ability to go from horizontal to vertical and revolve around within itself–that was a lot of fun working with the hydraulics, I really like that sort of thing. Initially we got a museum piece for the body of the plane which we were going to mount within the rig but very soon it became apparent that we were going to have to put lots of bullet holes in it and cause other damage so we decided to build it from scratch and it actually worked out better that way.”

    The Quantum of Solace production filmed all the interior Perla De Las Dunas scenes back at Pinewood and Chris and his team had a heavy schedule of explosions to achieve in the final four weeks of filming, “We had a lot of explosions on a lot of different sets. On the 007 stage there are five different sections of the interior so quantity wise, there was a lot of explosions and a lot of fire.”

    However, Special Effects is not just about explosions as Chris explains “It’s explosions, atmospheric; wind, smoke, rain, fog, snow. It’s gadgets; watches that fire darts, bag-pipes with flame throwers, adapting cars like the Jaguar and the Aston Martin in Die Another Day–we adapted them to 4 wheel drive for the chase on the ice lake–and rigs, really small rigs to four story sinking house rigs!”

    Stay up-to-date with all the latest Quantum of Solace coverage at CommmanderBond.net.

  9. James Bond Tops International Box Office For Fifth Straight Weekend

    By Devin Zydel on 2008-11-30

    Another weekend and yet another victory for Daniel Craig’s Quantum of Solace.

    For the fifth time in a row, James Bond topped the international box office, pulling in $20.1 million at 8,755 playdates in 73 markets. According to Variety, Quantum of Solace joins Mamma Mia! (which starred former 007 Pierce Brosnan) as the only two films of the year to win five international weekends.

    The box office victory for Bond was easy once again, despite a 50% drop due to new competition and only one new debut around the world (a 27 November opening in New Zealand). To date, the 22nd Bond entry has grossed $340.1 million internationally with its worldwide total (US included) standing at $482 million.

    Quantum slid 64% to $2.8 million in its second frame in Australia, taking silver medal thanks to the solid $5 million launch of Baz Luhrmann’s aptly-titled Australia.

    The film also came in second in the UK, falling 47% in its fifth weekend to $2.4 million, bringing the cumulative total to a strong $75.5 million. The holiday opener Four Christmases came in first with $3.5 million.

    In the US, Quantum took fourth place over the weekend, sliding 27% to a estimated $19.5 million. The film’s cumulative total stands at $142 million, bringing it closer and closer to the series’ record of $167 million set by Casino Royale

    Other notable numbers for 007 included a $2.3 million take in its fourth German frame for a cumulative total of $35.3 million and $2.1 million in its second Spanish weekend.

    Keep your browsers pointed to CommanderBond.net for the most up-to-date and complete Quantum of Solace coverage. Check out our continually updated box office report for all the latest news at how 007 is doing around the world.

    Have you seen Quantum of Solace in theatres yet? Post your review and join in the discussion in the Member Reviews section on the CBn Forums.

  10. Olga Kurylenko's 'Quantum' Dress Goes Up For Auction

    By Devin Zydel on 2008-11-29

    One of the outfits worn by Olga Kurylenko as Camille in Quantum of Solace went up for auction earlier tonight in Edinburgh.

    Olga Kurylenko is Camille in 'Quantum of Solace'

    Olga Kurylenko is Camille

    While specific details from the sale are still pending, Scotland on Sunday reports that the dress was expected to fetch up to £4,000 at the sale.

    Kurylenko wore the Prada dress towards the latter half of the film. A popular image featured her alongside Daniel Craig’s James Bond while walking in the desert. The actresses Gina shoes were also included in the sale.

    The Bond girl dress, donated by producer Barbara Broccoli, was just one of many items included at the charity event held at Edinburgh’s Sheraton Grand Hotel. Proceeds raised will go towards Scottish children’s epilepsy charity Muir Maxwell Trust, which is aiming towards raising £10 million to launch Britain’s first paediatric epilepsy assessment service and care centre.

    Freelance stylist Lindsay Campbell said that while a Prada dress and Gina shoes would retail at a total of around £1000 it could fetch up to four times that at auction. She added: ‘Kurylenko has graced the covers of many magazines and this will make the dress a coveted piece. It is timeless and classic.’

    Keep turning to CommmanderBond.net for the most complete and up-to-date Quantum of Solace news and information on the web.