Al Pacino Rumoured For 'Quantum of Solace' Appearance

WARNING: Possible minor spoilers

Every new James Bond film has it’s share of wild and crazy rumours and Quantum of Solace is definitely no exception.

Movie website Ain’t It Cool News has come across a fan-submitted rumour that Al Pacino will reportedly have a cameo role as the leader of the organization first introduced with Le Chiffre and Mr. White in Casino Royale and continued in the forthcoming 007 film with villain Dominic Greene.

The tipster says that Pacino would likely be coming to Pinewood Studios in April/May to film his scenes for Quantum of Solace.

On a slightly related note, the rumour also notes that Anatole Taubman (who plays a yet-untitled villain in the film) and Daniel Craig have filmed a major fight scene in an art gallery under renovation at the stage.

It goes without saying that a rumour of this proportion should be taken with more than a grain of salt. Time will tell…

Head over to AICN for the full report.

Keep your eyes on the CommanderBond.net main page for all the latest news and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

More Behind-The-Scenes 'Quantum of Solace' Photos

With Quantum of Solace currently filming in Panama this week, behind-the-scenes photographs of the 22nd James Bond film production continue to flow in.

The latest collection of photos, available to view at Splash News Online and Aftonbladet (photographs #8-10 for the latter) feature Daniel Craig taking a break from the filming.

As earlier reported on CommanderBond.net, this week of filming for Quantum of Solace saw the 007 production move into the National Institute of Culture building, which is being transformed into the ‘Andean Grand Hotel’ for the film and will reportedly feature a notable action sequence (further details here [SPOILER WARNING]…).

Visit this CommanderBond.net article for further details on the Panama filming schedule for Quantum of Solace.

Keep your eyes on the CommanderBond.net main page for all the latest news and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

Videos Of 'Quantum' Launch Party And Filming In Panama

Following up yesterday’s report that Daniel Craig’s second James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, had commenced filming in Panama, two new videos have been posted online covering the production of the 007 film as well as the launch party.

Available to view at ITN and Telemetro, the 1:24 and 1:47, respectively, long videos give Bond fans a quick look into some of the early filming taking place in Panama.

Besides Craig as Bond, producer Michael G. Wilson can be seen as well as Giancarlo Giannini, back from 2006’s Casino Royale, to portray Mathis once again.

Speaking to local press at the launch party, director Marc Forster said: ‘It’s the second film with Daniel Craig as James Bond after Casino Royale and I think it will be a fun and beautiful journey again. [Panama] is such a diversified country and has so many things to offer to us.’

Visit this CommanderBond.net article for a more in-depth Panama filming schedule for Quantum of Solace.

Keep your eyes on the CommanderBond.net main page for all the latest news and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

'Quantum of Solace' Filming Commences In Panama

WARNING: Possible plot spoilers

Filming for Quantum of Solace has officially begun in Panama. According to a report from Mi Diario, a launch party was held at the National Theatre with stars Daniel Craig (along with girlfiend Satsuki Mitchell), Olga Kurylenko, Gemma Arterton, Giancarlo Giannini, Dame Judi Dench and director Marc Forster attending a dinner at the event.

Pictures from the exclusive event are available here and here.

Craig reportedly arrived in the country on 4 February and has been in preparations for shooting scenes at the decommissioned US Howard Air Force Base (turned over to Panama in 2000), located on the west side of the Panama Canal.

A report at DIAaDIA Online points out that Panama shooting officially began for Quantum of Solace on 7 February, while the 11th of this month will see the Bond production moving to the National Institute of Culture building, which is being transformed into the ‘Andean Grand Hotel.’ Featuring refurbished halls and stairs, the building will serve as the location for one of the main action sequences in the film where, according to local press, an assassination attempt is made on 007 while he is in one of the elevators.

Filming at the National Institute of Culture building is expected to go on until 13 February, with shooting planned to take place at a few other sites in the area, including the former colonial social club.

Other filming sites for Quantum of Solace include the Patio Rochet’ between 6:00pm and 6:00am on 14 and 15 February (as pointed out by CommanderBond.net earlier this month). A note published by the local press was signed by James Grant, the location manager in Panama, who apologised in advance for the ‘degree of disturbance’ that the shooting will likely cause.

Roads that will be closed due to filming include Calle 16 Oeste (located alongside the National Bank) in Santa Ana and 18 Sta. Ana. Filming is expected to be concluded by the 21st of the month.

As earlier reported by CBn, Panama was assumed to be doubling for another country in the film, and while the 007 producers wouldn’t comment further on exactly which one, local officials seemed fairly convinced it was Bolivia.

Now, further confirmation of this location detail has been provided at the Los Cuatro Tulipanes blog, where a James Bond fan notes of the current Bond production at the Old Town (also known as El Casco Antiguo and El Casco Viejo):

One conversation spilled the beans about the renovation process on Club Union, which I found out will be transformed into an Embassy. I hear the word “Boliva” tossed around a lot by these guys which makes me believe that our beloved Casco Viejo streets may not be featuring as themselves in the movie, but rather as the Latin American neighbor to the south.

The Cultural Institute (that’s what it’s called, right?) we have here, next to the famed Las Bovedas restaurant, is currently being given a facelift as well. They’ve affixed awnings to many of the windows, donning the words “Grand Andean Hotel”. The Andes, being the world’s largest mountain range, sit between Boliva and Peru which would make perfect sense for the Boliva lead I picked up.

Los Cuatro Tulipanes

Keep your eyes on the CommanderBond.net main page for all the latest news and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

Daniel Craig Speaks Out Over Bond Title Theme Rumours

It’s inevitable. With every new James Bond film comes an almost unbearable bunch of nonsense rumours as to who’ll be performing the title theme.

In recent years, it seems like everyone has been mentioned to be ‘in talks’ at one point or another. The list includes such artists as Pink, Eminem, Ginger Spice, Dido, Robbie Williams, and more recently–specifically for the current 007 production–The Killers and Amy Winehouse.

While The Killers managed to shut down the unfounded discussion surrounding them back in December 2006, the Winehouse rumour seems to be brought up again and again and again.

In an article at Showbiz Spy, Daniel Craig finally spoke out: ‘Why is everybody ramming [the name] Amy Winehouse out,’ he said. ‘It’s just way, way off that.’

‘Everyone’s speculating about it but we’ve got other things to deal with–there’s no point in writing the song for a movie when we haven’t got a movie.’

Being (roughly) only a month into principal photography on Quantum of Solace, Craig is likely referring to the fact that the title theme performer announcement won’t come until much later.

In the case of 2006’s Casino Royale, Chris Cornell wasn’t offcially confirmed until late July of that year.

Keep your eyes on the CommanderBond.net main page for all the latest news and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

Seebuhne Floating Stage Locked In For 'Quantum of Solace'

Wiener Zeitung report that the Seebühne floating stage has been locked in to appear in the next James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. Swiss production company Unicorn Media confirmed the rumours today.

A crew of over 200 people, working with 1,500 extras, will shoot at the Bregenz location from 30 April to 9 May 2008.

007 producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson visited the location last summer with Quantum of Solace director Marc Forster. The trio attended a dress rehearsal of Giacomo Puccini’s opera, “Tosca”.

Broccoli said, “The Seebühne is really an extraordinary place, the scenery is spectacular.”

Wilson added, “What we saw in July 2007 was very impressive. James Bond movies have always taken the cinema audience to special locations – and the gigantic eye of the ‘Tosca’ scenery is absolutely unique.”

Forster said, “The ‘Tosca’ scenery with the huge blue eye fits the story of the new James Bond movie perfectly.”

James Bond himself, Daniel Craig, appeared equally enthusiastic about the location. “I’ve never been to Austria, and I’m very happy that my career is finally taking me there,” he said. “The Seebühne and the Bregenzer Festspiele are world famous, and we will spend more than a week there to shoot one of the movie’s most-important scenes.”

The site was first rumoured to appear in the film in July last year.

Meanwhile, FilmStew spoke to Jeffrey Wright, who reprises his role as Felix Leiter from Casino Royale, in this year’s Quantum of Solace.

Having just shot some scenes for the film in London before heading to Panama to continue filming, Wright sounded enthusiastic about returning to the franchise.

“We’re pretty deep into it, and there’s some good stuff for me,” the actor said. “The writers’ strike has impacted us a bit, so it may be that we, as actors, come up with some stuff that is not as of yet written on the page. So there may be some more interesting stuff to come.”

As for the title that has received much criticism in some parts of the media, Wright said it was fitting for the film. “It’s quite exotic, isn’t it? It’s a reference to one of Ian Fleming’s earlier pieces, I guess. So it’s exotic, but Bond is exotic.”

Keep watching CommanderBond.net for the most up-to-date James Bond news on the web.

New Spy Shots Of Daniel Craig And Gemma Arterton

A few new photographs from Daniel Craig’s second James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, have made their way online.

Available to view at just jared as well as Getty Images, the shots show Craig and Gemma Arterton (who plays Bond girl Agent Fields) in between shooting of the 007 film.

These spy shots from Quantum of Solace follow those first revealed on CommanderBond.net back in early January (here and here) when the film was still known simply as Bond 22.

Keep your eyes on the CommanderBond.net main page for all the latest news and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

'Quantum of Solace' Behind-The-Scenes Video

WARNING: Possible plot spoilers

A brand new behind-the scenes video for Quantum of Solace was revealed today at AOL Moviefone.

Featuring interviews with Daniel Craig, director Marc Forster and producer Michael G. Wilson, this 2:46 long video also shows off brand new footage from the newest James Bond film, including some high-tension scenes between 007 and Dame Judi Dench’s ‘M’ and a brief scene between ‘M’ and Bill Tanner (played by Rory Kinnear) discussing a ‘Mr. Slate’ (more on that character here).

An interview with Marc Forster gets the video off to a start. Discussing the difficulties in following up the massively successful Casino Royale, the director states: ‘What I loved about the last Bond was that it was Daniel Craig’s reinvention of the character. People now have huge expectations with this being a follow-up to Casino Royale. It’s scary, you know? It’s a hard thing to do.’

‘It’s funny, when I started shooting, you’re watching Judi Dench or Daniel and there’s a very weird feeling when you’re doing it,’ Forster continues. ‘You suddenly have this feeling that I’m very familiar with these characters, but still creating something different, or having a different point of view.’

Craig also commented on the current state of production: ‘It’s falling into place, you know, it’s a big piece of machinery to get going and we’ve got to make this one better. We’ve got expectation against us now. There’s a lot more work to do on this one, or it seems that way–maybe I’ve just got selective memory about the last one because [Casino Royale] seemed like a walk in the park compared to this one now.’

‘We’ve shot a few of the dialogue sequences which is kind of unusual, but it was nice. It was nice to start with some meaty dialogue sequences.’ – Daniel Craig

‘Obviously with a director like Marc, there’s a different feeling on the set, but I think everybody’s very psyched about it and very excited about the prospect of creating something different.’

Michael G. Wilson once again brought up the action quota for Quantum of Solace, something that seems to have greatly increased since Craig’s debut 007 film: ‘In the last film, Daniel was amazing in the action work and this film has more than doubled it. There’s a lot of different action sequences. He’s had to do a lot more extensive training than he did in the last film.’

‘We’re two or three weeks in and, you know, we’ve barely started yet. We’ve barely scratched the surface,’ added Craig.

‘I’m loving it, I really am. Who wouldn’t?’ – Daniel Craig

The video also gives Bond fans a sneak peak at a fight sequence featuring Bond, Craig’s stunt training, jet boat practice and stunt driving. Eagle-eyed fans can also spot Gemma Arterton’s Agent Fields as well as the return of Felix Leiter (once again played by Jeffrey Wright).

Click here to view the Quantum of Solace behind-the-scenes video.

Keep your eyes on the CommanderBond.net main page for all the latest news and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

Details On Peruvian And Chilean 'Quantum' Filming

Mexican newspaper El Universal reports that the James Bond crew will be headed to Machu Picchu in Cusco, Peru, this March to shoot scenes for November’s Quantum of Solace. The scenes will reportedly involve the spectacular 550-year-old Incan Citadel of Machu Picchu.

Living in Peru states that filming will occur between 2 March and 12 March.

The reports suggest a production crew of approximately 250 people will be required, while it is not yet known whether Daniel Craig, or any of the film’s stars, will be present for filming.

Peruvian company Iguana Productions will apparently lend assistance during filming – reportedly with help from Peruvian director Luis Llosa.

Meanwhile, La Tercera reports that location scouting is currently underway in Chile. Stillking Films, the Czech company that co-produced Casino Royale is reportedly visiting the Antofagasta region of the country.

Shooting is said to commence on 23 March and should take no longer than 10 days.

Keep watching CommanderBond.net for the most up-to-date James Bond news on the web.

'Quantum of Solace' Teaser Poster Revealed

It’s here! The first teaser poster for Quantum of Solace, the 22nd James Bond
film from Eon Productions and Sony, has been released last night!

AOL
Moviefone was the first website to put up the teaser poster. It is also
available as desktop wallpaper from 007.com, the
official James Bond Website from Eon Productions and Sony Pictures.

Click here
for a 800 x 600 version
Click
here for a 1024 x 768 version
Click
here for a 1280×1024 version

Keep watching CommanderBond.net for the most up-to-date James Bond news on the web.