Daniel Craig: 'Bond is looking for his quantum of solace…'

The Guardian has just posted a new report filled with several new details regarding Quantum of Solace, the 22nd James Bond film starring Daniel Craig as 007.

The title, taken from a short story included in Ian Fleming’s 1960 For Yor Eyes Only collection, has already received a few puzzled looks at it’s mention.

‘It’s grown on me,’ said Craig. ‘I was unsure at first. Bond is looking for his quantum of solace and that’s what he wants, he wants his closure. Ian Fleming says that if you don’t have a quantum of solace in your relationship then the relationship is over. It’s that spark of niceness in a relationship that if you don’t have you might as well give up.’

As previously mentioned by producer Michael G. Wilson, Quantum of Solace will feature ‘twice as much action’ as 2006’s Casino Royale. ‘It’s pretty much jam packed,’ he added.

Quantum of Solace sees James Bond out for revenge on a mission that takes him to Austria, Italy and South America.

According to the synopsis, Bond girl Camille, played by Ukrainian-born Olga Kurylenko, leads the secret agent to Dominic Greene, member of a mysterious organization and a ruthless businessman, seeking to control huge natural resources.

Greene is played by Mathieu Amalric, who starred in the Oscar-nominated The Diving Bell and Butterfly. The plot follows on directly from Casino Royale as Bond aims to uncover the truth about Vesper, the beauty who betrayed him, and discovers that she had been blackmailed. ‘James Bond is after revenge, and Camille is after revenge and they have slightly different goals, but in the end they are going to have to collaborate,’ Kurylenko told reporters.

Judi Dench, who earlier stated that the relationship between Bond and M will be ‘pretty prickly’ in this film, said she will have a much bigger role and we ‘will also get to hear her husband, if not see him.’ Of the film, she says: ‘It’s terrific. I learn to do a few more gadgets.’ Q and Moneypenny will not feature in Quantum of Solace.

Gemma Arterton, who plays the role of MI6 Agent Fields in the film, further discussed her role as well. ‘She doesn’t do anything too advanced, it’s not like she’s killing people.’ In response to the big question, she says: ‘Yes I do kiss Daniel Craig. The kiss has happened and yes … it was quite incredible. It was all a bit of a daze. I felt such a giggly girl because he’s such a man.’

Arterton also revealed that she had been previously warned by another Bond girl to open her post with a letter-opener now that she has kissed Craig. ‘You get hate mail, apparently.’

Mathieu Amalric plays the villainous role of Dominic Greene and plans to keep this Bond baddie down to earth. ‘There’ll be no metal jaw, no white hair, no scar, no eye with blood. Just my face,’ he said. ‘The director saw something in me that had to do with the devil. That was a compliment.’ Speaking about his character in the film, Amalric said Greene has ‘the smile of Tony Blair and the crazy eyes of Nicholas Sarkozy.’

When asked if it took much persuasion to accept the role, he simply said: ‘It’s impossible to say to your kids that I could have been in a Bond film but I refused.’

Last, but not least is Olga Kurylenko as the main Bond girl of Quantum of Solace, Camille. After earlier stating her character was a fighter and ‘on her own mission and driven by revenge,’ Kurylenko also said: ‘At the beginning she is an opponent but they are going to have to collaborate. We’ll see if she’s a villain.’

‘James Bond didn’t get to Ukraine,’ said Kurylenko. ‘[But] I’ve got a big box of DVDs and I’m going to be an expert.’ She revealed has not yet started filming, but spend the last three weeks learning how to fight, fire a weapon and body fly (a form of indoor skydiving).

CBn will be updating throughout the day for all the latest news and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace–just keep your eyes on the main page.

'Quantum of Solace' Plot Details

WARNING: Possible plot spoilers

As earlier reported on CommanderBond.net, the title of Daniel Craig’s second James Bond film was revealed as Quantum of Solace.

The Producers Speak

As literary 007 fans are well aware, the title comes from a lesser known short story included in Ian Fleming’s 1960 For Yor Eyes Only collection. Producer Michael G. Wilson stated that the title was only decided a few days ago and added that Quantum of Solace would begin ‘literally an hour after the last film left off.’ ‘We thought it was an intriguing title and referenced what happened to Bond and what is happening in the film,’ he said.

Interestingly enough, Wilson also said that Quantum of Solace would feature ‘twice as much action’ as 2006’s Casino Royale. A report from Sky News stated: ‘It will have more gadgets and twice as much action as Casino Royale. And Daniel Craig seems happy to do more Bond films. Producers are talking to him on a film by film basis.’

‘It is not a revenge movie,’ added producer Barbara Broccoli. ‘It’s a lot more complicated than that. It has lots of action but it also deals with the inner turmoil Bond is feeling.’

When asked if Eva Green, who portrayed Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale would be returning in a flashback for this film, Broccoli stated: ‘There are no flashbacks in the film, but she’s certainly on Bond’s mind.’

The Plot

Quantum of Solace sees James Bond out for revenge on a mission that takes him to Austria, Italy and South America.

According to the synopsis, Bond girl Camille, played by Ukrainian-born Olga Kurylenko, leads the secret agent to Dominic Greene, member of a mysterious organization and a ruthless businessman, seeking to control huge natural resources.

Greene is played by Mathieu Amalric, who starred in the Oscar-nominated The Diving Bell and Butterfly. The plot follows on directly from Casino Royale as Bond aims to uncover the truth about Vesper, the beauty who betrayed him, and discovers that she had been blackmailed. ‘James Bond is after revenge, and Camille is after revenge and they have slightly different goals, but in the end they are going to have to collaborate,’ Kurylenko told reporters.

Additionally, Empire Online uncovered further details regarding the plot for Quantum of Solace:

The plot centres on an attempted coup in a South American country. Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) wants to control one of the world’s most important natural resources and to aid in this he makes a deal with an exiled South American general to get him back into power.

Olga Kurylenko’s character, Camille, is half Ukrainian and half South American. She leads Bond to Greene in his effort to find out more about Vesper, the woman he loved and lost in Casino Royale.

Empire also reports that Mathieu Amalric isn’t planning on portraying the newest Bond villain as a larger than life figure. He said: ‘He’s not an over the top villian… no scars, no metal jaw–he is nude [which Empire assumes meaning no visual oddities].’

CBn will be updating throughout the day for all the latest news and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace–just keep your eyes on the main page.

'Bond 22' is 'QUANTUM OF SOLACE'

EON Productions just announced at a Press Conference held at Pinewood Studios
near London, that the title for the 22nd installment of the James Bond series
will be

QUANTUM OF SOLACE

Furthermore, story details have emerged. As the BBC reports, “At a press conference at the facility, reporters were shown a minute of footage from the new film, including Bond swinging on a rope after an explosion at an art gallery in Siena, Italy. Another scene showed him meeting M – played by Dame Judi Dench – outside in the snow.”

CBn has scored the first stills from the shown video footage.

Reuters reports, that Quantom of Solace sees James Bond out for revenge on a mission that takes him to Austria, Italy and South America.

According to the synopsis, Bond girl Camille, played by Ukrainian-born Olga
Kurylenko, leads the secret agent to Dominic Greene, member of a mysterious
organization and a ruthless businessman, seeking to control huge natural
resources.

Greene is played by Mathieu Amalric, who starred in the
Oscar-nominated The Diving Bell and Butterfly. The plot follows on
directly from Casino Royale as Bond aims to uncover the truth about Vesper,
the beauty who betrayed him, and discovers that she had been blackmailed. "James
Bond is after revenge, and Camille is after revenge and they have slightly
different goals, but in the end they are going to have to collaborate,"
Kurylenko told reporters.

On a tour of the main Bond set at Pinewood, journalists were shown 3 stages, all
of them set in the Italian city of Siena. In the largest, two actors including
Craig’s stunt double, swung from ropes and fought in an old art gallery.

Keep watching CommanderBond.net for the developing story.

'Quantum of Solace'?

Earlier this morning, CBn Forums members ‘Cyclone49’ and ‘Gobi-1’ discovered that http://www.quantumofsolace.com and http://www.quantumofsolacemovie.com redirect to Sony Pictures’ official website. Does this mean Quantum of Solace is the title of Bond 22? Confirmation will likely be given later today at the press conference at Pinewood Studios near London.

As you probably know, “Quantum of Solace” is the title of a short story in Ian Fleming’s For Your Eyes Only so it seems like there’s a very good chance that it could be the title of Bond 22.

Keep your eyes on the CommanderBond.net main page for all the latest news and details on Bond 22.

'Bond 22' Press Conference To Be Held In Pinewood Tomorrow

Sony Pictures have confirmed that there will be a press conference for Bond 22 tomorrow. The press conference will take place in
Pinewood Studios near London. Additionally, there will be a photo call.

Most of the main cast will be attending: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Gemma
Arterton, Mathieu Amalric, Jeffrey Wright and Dame Judi Dench. Director Marc
Forster and producders Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson will also be there.

It is not known if the title is revealed tomorrow.

There will be several TV feeds:

1st Feed:
Date: 24th January 2008
Time: 16:55-18:30 GMT

Satellite: IS 10.02 XP 65 Dig 19
Downlink Frequency: 11526.5 V
FEC: 3/4
Symbol: 5.632
Color: PAL

2nd Feed:
Date: 24th January 2008
Time: 1845-1915 GMT

3rd Feed:
Date: 25th January 2008
Time: 0600-0630 GMT

Satellite: Eutelsat W1 TXP B4 CH-4
Downlink Frequency: 11106.5 V
FEC: 3/4
Symbol: 5.632
Color: PAL

CommanderBond.net will keep you updated with all the latest news and details
on Bond 22.

Ben Foster Rumoured For 'Bond 22'

22 January UPDATE: IGN report that the publicist for actor Ben Foster has denied these rumours.

Following up the recent confirmation of several principal cast members in Bond 22, CanMag reports today that actor Ben Foster may have a role in the upcoming James Bond film.

The report cites a Brisbane talk show where the actor (who was promoting the local release of 3:10 to Yuma) briefly mentioned that he ‘might be doing’ a part in the upcoming 007 film, saying that’s ‘like every young guy’s dream.’

As with most rumours relating to Bond 22, readers will want to take this with a grain of salt until further details develop.

Keep your eyes on the CommanderBond.net main page for all the latest news and details on Bond 22.

4,500 Applicants At Bregenz 007 Extras Casting

Reports from the casting of 1,500 extras for the shooting of the 22nd James
Bond movie in Bregenz are in, and there were three times as much applicants as
needed: 4,500 (55% male, 45 % female). After the first, slightly chaotic day on
Friday (with a certain lack of safety precautions), there was a huge run on the
casting on Saturday, and a more quiet final day on Sunday.

Not only people from Austria, Switzerland and Germany were waiting up to 4 hours
in line for their turn. Karin Gmuer of the local production company Unicorn who
undertook the casting, reported that they even had email requests from Holland,
Belgium and Scandinavia. The Swiss James Bond Fan Club, lead by president Daniel
Haberthuer, showed up with 44 members.

Once people got inside (in groups of 5-10), they were handed a questionaire to
fill in. People’s measures were taken, especially head sizes. "It could happen
that the director gets the idea that he could use a number of policemen fo a
scene, and instead of searching fitting uniform hats for those extras, it’s
easier for use to pick extras with the correct head sizes to wear the hats we
already have." says Unicorn boss Leonard Gmuer. Everyone got their mugshot taken,
holding a card with a number in their hands. A set of captioned pictures on the
casting process has been kindly contributed by German fan Erik Wunderlich (click
on thumbnail pictures to enlarge)

As to the "casting" of cars, one could learn that te production company is
looking for about 40 luxury cars, Mercedes Benz S-Class upwards.

It’s intersting that during the whole process, officials always emphasized that
the casting is for a "possible shooting", as contracts for shooting the ‘Tosca’
scenes at the floating stage still aren’t signed. There have been rumours a
while ago that this is because of the fact that the original opera cast was
hired for stage performances but not an eventual appearance in a movie – and now
they demand higher wages for it.

An intersting number of other tidbits came to light during the casting, some of
which may be considered as spoilers, so if you don’t want to know anyting of
those, stop reading HERE!

You still with us? Okay, the first bit is not really a spoiler. During the "cars
casting", it became clear that there’s one brand that won’t be used as "extra
car", as the movies bad guy (Mathieu Amalric as Dominic Greene) will use it: a
Jaguar. Feldkirch will double as part of Bregenz, only a short driving scene
will be shot there – no action, just something like an arrival scene, in which
007 will drive a Volvo.

As to the Tosca scenes, it was reported that the opera perfomance will be
interrupted by 007 chasing a bad guy across the grandstand, through the audience.
The chase will then continue in the Bregenz Festival House. The entire scene
will take about 5 minutes.

Other sources report that there will be a boat chase on Lake Constance. While
this may be a speculation related to the pictures of Daniel Craig practising on
a speedboat, there is a bit of more solid information on boats: Leonard Gmuer
told German newspapers that none of the locations scouted in Germany were picked
for the movie, but that a German ship on lake Constance will play a small role.

CommanderBond.net will keep you updated with all the latest news and details
on Bond 22.

Austria Extras Casting Photos Online

Today, casting for extras began at the Theater am Kornmarkt in Bregenz, Austria. As previously reported, 1,200 to 1,500 extras are being sought for the Bregenz shooting. 25 to 30 extras for the Feldkirch shooting are also needed.

MonstersandCritics.com, have scored 12 photos from the first day of extras casting. Casting took place from 9.00 AM to 5.00 PM and will continue on the 19th and the 20th.

The extras being sought are a “mixed audience, from 18 to 70”, dress code from “well dressed” to “tres chic” (dressed for a theatre visit), as the extras will have to impersonate a real Festival audience. Athletic types who could act as security people are also desired, and the producers are also looking for cars, so people can bring pictures of their cars to the casting. Applicants will have to fill in a questionnaire and a picture of them will be taken and then, everything left to do is waiting and hoping.

Keep your eyes on the CommanderBond.net main page for all the latest news and details on Bond 22.

Shooting At Lago Di Garda In April

As first reported by CBn
back in October, the German speaking magazine

Gardasee-Zeitung had reported that the Lago die Garda, a throughout Europe
famous mountain lake in Italy, could possibly serve as a location for Bond 22.
CommanderBond.net can reveal today that scenes for the latest James Bond film
will indeed be shot on the shores of Lago di Garda.

The magazine claimed in October that a sequence will be filmed in the Locanda
Punta San Vigilio, the villa of the Italian noodle manufacturer Giovanni Rana,
as well as in the Grand Hotel Fasano in Gardone. Whether these specific
locations will be used has not been confirmed so far, but CBn has learned
that scenes for Bond 22 will be shot in the
villages of Limone and Tremosine in
the last two weeks of April, right before
shooting in Bregenz begins.

Lago di Garda is the largest lake in Italy and is located in the north of the
country. The lake and its shoreline are divided between the provinces of Verona
(to the south-east), Brescia (south-west), and Trentino region (north). The lake
is a major tourist destination, with a number of hotels and resorts along its
shore.

CommanderBond.net will keep you updated with all the latest news and details
on Bond 22.

SPOILERS: 'There is a connection there, yes…'

Film website Rotten
Tomatoes has scored the first interview with Daniel Craig since Bond 22
started filming 10 days ago. The following extracts
contain some spoilers, so if you don’t want to know anything about
Bond 22‘s
plot, better not read this article.

First of all, according to Craig, there is no title yet, not even behind the
scenes. When Rotten Tomatoes suggested in
an ironic way "The Lady Expects Too Much" as title, Daniel Craig laughingly asked, "Really, is that the rumour?
That’s quite good. I should write that one down…"

The more interesting part of the advance publication of the full interview
focused on the plot. Craig said, "It carries on from where the last one stopped.
We set up in the last one that there’s this organisation that is destabilising
the world’s economy because they want to take it over, and that’s his job now,
to go out and stop them." This statement corresponds with statements from an old
Daniel Craig interview in
2006. Back then, he said, "We have a group of people in
Casino Royale that are led by Le Chiffre; at least we think they’re led
by Le Chiffre. They’re trying to destabilize the world with money, they’re using
money as the tool… They don’t care who they kill or who they displace. And we
don’t know who the top man is yet. Hopefully we’ll find out who that is in the
next Bond movie." Quite.

Craig also commented on the casting of Mathieu Amalric as Dominic Greene: "I’m
over the moon with his casting. I met him very briefly on

Munich but I didn’t do any scenes with him.
Now I’ve got to know him on
Bond 22 […]
and thought it was amazing." When asked if Amalric was going to play the heavily
cited Algerian boyfriend of
Vesper, Craig stated, "There is a connection there, yes…"

Also, Craig revealed that he did not have to shoot any action scenes so far.
"We start that next week so I’m sure I’m going to be walking wounded for the
next six months from next week." He feels very happy about the choice of Marc
Forster as director: "The fact that Marc Forster’s come in to direct it just
makes my job a lot easier. He’s taken care of a lot of stuff that I just don’t
have to think about and I’m just getting on with acting."

And, he says, the pressure of taking on the mantle of James Bond gets no
easier. "I don’t know if I’ll ever feel comfortable with it," he said, "I mean,
it’s James Bond. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to that place and get Zen about
it; it’s not that kind of role. But I’m enjoying what we’ve shot so far and I’m
planning to enjoy as much as I can of this filming process. Because, otherwise,
why do it? I think the pressure is plain to see. We’ve got to make it as good if
not better than the last one, and that’s the thing that matters. I don’t think
you can say there’s ever less pressure when you make a $200 million movie." Check out Rotten
Tomatoes for the full article.

Keep your eyes on the CommanderBond.net main page for all the latest news and details on Bond 22.