David Arnold: A New Approach For 'Bond 22'

David Arnold

Following up the phenomenal two-part interview with David Arnold, composer of the recent James Bond films, Stage & Screen Online has now posted the third and final part online, which was recorded earlier this month.

Totaling 35 minutes, in this section of the interview, Arnold discusses with Tommy Pearson his work on some of his more recent smaller films plus his views on how to score films. Specific films discussed include Changing Lanes, Stoned (which was written by 007 scribes Neal Purvis and Robert Wade), Venus, Amazing Grace and this year’s Hot Fuzz.

Arnold also mentioned a few of his upcoming projects, including next year’s Bond 22 (which he confirmed he would be returning to compose back in early October). ‘I think I’m going to be on Bond for quite a while this time,’ he said. ‘We’re going to be taking a different approach. I think I’m going to be exclusively on it for quite a while as soon as possible. I think Marc [Forster] likes to work really tightly with his composers and I think it will be a great benefit to the film.’

‘Last time in Casino Royale, it was an extraordinary kind of scheduling … the first day of recording was eight weeks to the day from the end of principal photography, which is silly in a way. I mean, it’s extraordinary that it turned out OK, but people ask me how long does it take to score a film and it’s like “it takes a long as you’re given to do it.” If you give me six months to do it, it’ll take me six months to do it. If you give me two weeks to do it, I’ll get it done in two weeks. I think the intention for [Bond 22] is to spend a long time and really work it out and make sure it’s doing the right thing. Marc is exactly the right person to be doing this film.’

As Arnold previously mentioned in part two of this interview: ‘I haven’t seen the script yet [for Bond 22], but I met with the director, Marc Forster, and we had a very brief chat … in a way, I feel that this next one is the toughest one yet. It was much easier following up Die Another Day with a film where the general media response [regarding Craig’s announcement as the new 007] was “he’s not going to work…”. Following up something as commercially and critically successful as Casino Royale is a much tougher job. I think expectactions are much higher now.’

To listen to the entire 35 minute interview with David Arnold, visit Stage & Screen Online via this link. The interview is also available to download as an MP3 file.

Keep watching CBn for all the latest James Bond news.

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.

Daniel Craig Discusses 'Bond 22' And 'The Golden Compass' On Jonathan Ross

Craig on the Bond 22 title: ‘I can’t tell you. I really can’t…’

As reported on CBn a few weeks ago, Daniel Craig was set to make an appearance on BBC One’s Friday Night With Jonathan Ross yesterday.

The 13 minute interview first focused on how Craig came to be associated with the role of James Bond and how the massive success of last year’s Casino Royale has changed his life (as well as how he handled the film’s massive stunt sequences).

As previously reported by CBn, Craig also discussed how he is starting to prepare for the Bond 22 filming schedule–specifically beginning with the major action sequence rehearsals.

And what about that title for Bond 22?

Jonathan Ross: You haven’t got a title?

Daniel Craig: I can’t tell you, really…

Ross: Will it harken back to any of the other titles?

Craig: …no. No it won’t…

Ross: I think you know more than you’re letting on, Mr. Bond.

Craig: Maybe.

Ross: I expect you to talk, Mr. Bond.

Craig: I can’t tell you. I really can’t.

The remainder of the interview centers on his upcoming role as Lord Asriel in The Golden Compass, which hits theatres in early December.

007 fans can check out the full interview by visiting the following YouTube pages: Part 1 | Part 2.

Keep watching CBn for all the latest Bond 22 coverage.

Craig Gears Up For 'Bond 22'

With The Golden Compass soon to hit cinemas the world over, James Bond actor Daniel Craig will be back in the media spotlight. And with production on the next 007 film on the horizon, expect Ian Fleming’s famous spy to be a hot topic of conversation.

Daniel Craig at the premiere of Casino Royale.

In an interview with The Times, Craig revealed he’s now in training for Bond 22, but won’t be bulking up as much as he did for Casino Royale. “I was big for the last one, and it wasn’t a mistake, it was a definite statement. This guy, when he takes his shirt off, should look like he could kill someone.”

“After it finished, I stopped training,” Craig continued. “I got drunk for three months! No, I didn’t, but certainly relaxed for three months and ate what I wanted, and then it’s hell because as soon as you get back in the gym, you have to work all that off, and it takes much longer than it does to put it on. Last time I did a lot of weights to bulk up because I had to do it quickly. This time I’m going to do more boxing and more running. I need to be physically strong for Bond and, as much as I looked in great shape, I got a lot of injuries, probably due to the fact that I wasn’t doing enough running and jumping, which is what I needed to do in the film. I won’t look physically much different, but I won’t be as ‘no neck’ as I was last time.”

With Bond 22 fast approaching, Craig appears eager to match the success of Casino Royale. “It was surreal,” Craig said of the box office figures for his debut 007 film. “Just surreal. The numbers kept going up and up and up and it was like, ‘That’s it! We’ve done it.'”

Daniel Craig as James Bond

“If we are going to do this, we have to create something that is going to last, that we are going to look at and say, ‘They were different’. It’s a risk, but the last one was a risk just because it was me getting involved, and we seem to have ridden that one out. So now we have to go to the next stage. I want to make sure the next two, three, four, whatever films I manage to do before they chuck me out, or before it goes tits up, sit nicely within this era.”

The actor recently signed for four more James Bond films.

Meanwhile, in an appearance on BBC One’s Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, the actor revealed he is currently rehearsing stunts for Bond 22 in preparation for January start to filming. He also hinted the movie’s title may be locked in.

Keep watching CBn for the most up-to-date Bond 22 coverage on the web.

More Location Scouting Taking Place In Austria

Feldkirch

In July, CBn reported that the Floating Stage in Bregenz in Austria was under consideration as a location for Bond 22. A spokesperson for the Bregenz Festival back then confirmed a report by Austrian ORF Radio Vorarlberg, that “people from Pinewood Studios in London” have visited the location by end of June. In September, further locations in and around Bregenz were visited, namely the Kunsthaus and surrounding villages.

Today, regional newspaper Vorarlberger Nachrichten reports that a team of location scouts has also visited the relatively small town of Feldkirch. Feldkirch is a medieval city in the western Austrian state of Vorarlberg, bordering Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Yesterday evening, the scouting team arrived at airport Friedrichshafen in Germany and went immediately to the ancient city centre of Feldkirch. There, they did not care that the traditional Christmas market was built up when they got there, instead, they were very interested in the historic brick work and the remarkable alcoves.

Today, the location scouts met with the persons in charge of the town of Bregenz. According to ‘Vorarlberger Nachrichten’, no contracts regarding the use of the Floating Stage have been signed so far, but Gerhard Stuebe, executive director of the ‘Bregenzer Seespiele’, the company that produces the opera on the Bregenz Floating Stage, is optimistic about signing contracts as soon as possible. He indicated that they were already negotiating dates, because an extra performance of the current opera "Tosca" would have to take place sometime in spring. Normally, the operas are only performed during summer, but for the Bond people only a filming date in spring is possible.

Keep watching CBn for all the latest Bond 22 coverage.

Craig Mixes 007 With 'Edgy' Films At The Same Time

In a new article posted at Variety’s Award Central, Daniel Craig’s many different film roles as actor has been put in the spotlight.

As is the obvious case to 007 fans and the general public, Craig is now best known for his debut as James Bond in last year’s Casino Royale. Sam Mendes, who directed Craig in 2002’s Road To Perdition says he has defined his Bond by his tensions and contradictions: ‘You’re willing to accept him as a heroic character, but one who is prepared at any moment to do something deeply unheroic, and possibly immoral. That friction makes his Bond very interesting.’

The same tension and contradictions that are present in Craig’s portrayal of Bond also work towards allowing him to make several other films, while still remaining agent 007 in a fan’s eyes.

‘Traditionally, what’s happened is that people have had to complete their outing as Bond, and go and do edgier films with a different flavor afterwards… Daniel will do both at once,’ says Kevin Loader, who produced The Mother and “Enduring Love, both featuring Craig. ‘That’s great for all of us who work in the edgier end of things. Hopefully, it will assist in bringing people to films they might not normally go to.’

In addition to his recent appearance in The Invasion along with Nicole Kidman earlier this year, Craig’s other major film of 2007 is The Golden Compass, where he plays the role of Lord Asriel.

‘If you get the wrong actor, Asriel can come across as incredibly ruthless,’ says executive producer Ileen Maisel. ‘But with the right actor, he’s a courageous man seeking the greater good who is willing to be ruthless to achieve that. Daniel can play single-minded and have the audience embrace him, rather than turn them off.’

The Golden Compass opens in December 2007. Other upcoming films for Craig include I, Lucifer, Flashbacks Of A Fool and Defiance. He returns as James Bond in Bond 22, due for release in November 2008.

Keep watching CBn for all the latest James Bond news.

Daniel Craig On Being Bond In December '07 Issue Of GQ

Daniel Craig

GQ magazine has named Daniel Craig as their Leading Man of the Year and scored a brand new interview with James Bond actor.

The ‘difficult, challenging and particular’–not that these are necessarily bad things–actor discussed movies, men, and of course, that incomparable 007 style with Adam Rapoport at a members’ club in London a few months ago.

Bond fans can check out the complete interview in the December 2007 issue of GQ.

In addition to his return as 007 in next year’s Bond 22, Craig’s other upcoming films include The Golden Compass, I, Lucifer, Flashbacks Of A Fool and Defiance.

Keep watching CBn for all the latest James Bond news.

Stuntman Marvin Campbell Returns For 'Bond 22'

At a collector’s fair in Utrecht, The Netherlands, this past weekend, stuntman Marvin Campbell (not to be confused with the director of GoldenEye and Casino Royale!) confirmed to James Bond Nederland that he would be returning for Bond 22.

Campbell was the stunt double for Sebastian Foucan in Casino Royale and performed in sequences of the jaw-dropping Madagascar chase that was a highlight of the film.

When asked about next year’s James Bond film and if he was returning, Campbell said: ‘Yes, gentleman I’m in. But I can’t tell you more than this: Bond 22 will be more realistic than Casino Royale. Most of the members of the production team will return in the new movie.’

Even more realistic than Casino Royale? Feel free to discuss this 007 news here on the CommanderBond.net Forums.

Keep watching CBn for all the latest Bond 22 coverage.

Report: Mathieu Amalric Cast As 'Bond 22' Villain

According to Fox News’ FOX411 column, French actor Mathieu Amalric has been cast as the villain in the next James Bond film.

Mathieu Amalric

Columnist Roger Friedman claims “that was the word” at a lunch this week for Le Scaphandre Et Le Papillon (The Diving Bell And The Butterfly), in which Amalric stars. Friedman writes, “Even though sources insist it’s true, Amalric would neither confirm nor deny.”

“Anyway, expect a formal announcement shortly. This is a done deal.”

While the source of this rumour is not unquestionable, there are some elements to the report that make it stand out. For a start, 43-year-old Amalric starred in 2005’s Munich, alongside Daniel Craig; he played the son of Moonraker villain, Michael Lonsdale’s character (curiously, in Le Scaphandre Et Le Papillon, he plays the son of Never Say Never Again baddie, Max Von Sydow).

Secondly, Eva Green suggested last year that Bond 22‘s villain would be none other than Vesper Lynd’s French-Algerian boyfriend, something screenwriter Paul Haggis recently refused to deny. Amalric’s age, nationality and appearance all gel with this.

His casting would also continue the practice of hiring relatively unknown European actors, which worked so successfully in last year’s Casino Royale.

Other rumoured candidates for the role include James Bond #6 candidate, Goran Visnjic and Swedish actor, Rafael Edholm.

Jesper Christensen, who played Casino Royale‘s Mr White – last seen confronted by James Bond at the end of the film – is also set to return.

It’s all worth taking with a grain of salt, so keep watching CommanderBond.net for any developments, confirmations or denials on this Bond 22 rumour.

Columbia: 'Bond 22' To Be Unaffected By Strike

Reuters today report that the Writers Guild of America strike, currently in its third week, has taken its first casualty, Columbia Pictures’ Angels And Demons. In their statement, the studio, which also produces the James Bond films, confirmed it did not expect the strike to affect any other films slated for release in 2008, including Bond 22.

The sequel to The Da Vinci Code was delayed until 2009 because the studio was unsatisfied with the script for the picture. “While the filmmakers and the studio feel the screenplay is very strong, we do not believe it is the fully realised production draft required of this ambitious project,” Columbia said.

Some 007 fans had expressed concern that Bond 22 may be similarly delayed after screenwriter Paul Haggis recently claimed the film’s script remained unpolished. The writer turned in a draft for the picture just days before the strike commenced.

These concerns now appear to be unfounded.

Keep watching CBn for the latest news on Bond 22.