On The Set Of 'Quantum of Solace'

Premiere.com has been updated with an all-new collection of interviews with the director and principal cast members of the 22nd James Bond film, Quantum of Solace.

Originally conducted this past May while the 007 production was filming at Lake Constance in Bregenz, Austria, these newly posted interviews feature discussions with Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, Marc Forster and Bond himself, Daniel Craig.

Daniel Craig

‘I think there’s probably more pressure this time,’ Craig starts things off with, ‘but I’m just trying to apply the same rules as I did last time. And hopefully that’ll work out, that you make the best movie you can. Certainly, we couldn’t repeat what we did last time. It’d be nice to be able to repeat the success, but we couldn’t repeat the film so we’re into a new way of thinking.’

When asked if this new way of thinking reflected in the hiring of Swiss director Marc Forster to helm the 22nd instalment, Craig said he jumped at the opportunity when it arose.

He said: ‘We’d started something in Casino Royale but we had a book to work from, and we adhered quite closely, emotionally, with that story. Now we want to continue this story, but we have to make it different. So when Marc’s name came up, I jumped at it because I want the audience to be attached, I want the audience to be pulled in and get involved with the characters.’

Craig was also questioned on a recent comment at the time made by Jesper Christensen (who plays the rather nasty Mr. White), calling his Bond ‘slightly dumb’.

‘It’s going to be a major part of this film, is tying together all those psychological battles that are going on.’ – Daniel Craig

‘Dumb? That’s what I like about him, is that it’s shoot first and ask questions later,’ he replied ‘But I take that from the books; that was always Ian Fleming’s image of Bond. It was always, kick the door in, see what happens. If he’s standing on top of a tall building, there’s a 20-foot gap, he can’t see what’s down below–he jumps. And if he hurts himself, he hurts himself. The chances are he won’t hurt himself, and therefore he’ll move on. And if that’s dumb…’

Olga Kurylenko

Playing an equally important role in Quantum of Solace is Olga Kurylenko as the independent and revenge-driven Camille.

After Eva Green’s enigmatic portrayal of Vesper Lynd in 2006’s Casino Royale struck the right chord with many fans and critics, the pressure was definitely on to get the right actress for this role.

Speaking about the audition process, Kurylenko said: ‘After I got the role, Marc [Forster] said, “So, tell me one thing. How come you were so calm at the audition?” I [said], “What do you mean?” He said, “Well, the other girls, they came in and they were freaking out. And you came in and I said, ‘Wow, she just doesn’t give a shit, she’s so cool.'” I said, “I was freaking out!” I was nervous but I also said to myself, if I was going to show that I’m nervous, I would not get the part. You have to take yourself in hand.’

‘It’s very good to know what you want in life, and she definitely knows what she wants.’ – Kurylenko on Camille

The Ukranian actress described Camille’s background as quite tough. ‘Everything she is doing in the movie is because she is driven by everything that happened to her in the past,’ she stated. ‘That’s quite vague, but you know what I mean. Definitely she had tough things happening in her youth.’

And her favourite Bond girl from the series? ‘Michelle Yeoh [from Tomorrow Never Dies] was good because she did the fight scenes by herself, so I think that’s pretty impressive. Because I do that in this movie, I rewatched that movie to see how she did it.’

Mathieu Amalric

When asked how he compared Dominic Greene to the past villains of the series, the French actor said it was more important to focus on the connection of events between Quantum of Solace and Casino Royale.

‘I was so scared that I prefer not to watch the old Bond films again because if I watch them, I would have just said, “Okay, I can’t do that.” The villains often are amazing: [Christopher] Walken, [Klaus Maria] Brandauer, Curt Jurgens, Christopher Lee, Jonathan Pryce. So I prefer to forget all that and try to focus more on Casino Royale and this one, because it’s a sequel–you have James Bond that wants to understand why this woman committed suicide in front of his eyes and betrayed him. Bond has sort of a broken heart, no?’

‘He works in ecology, he’s very nice, very civilized, very smiling… Adorable!’ – Amalric on Greene

Amalric also said he enjoyed the challenge of performing in a role where there are so many expectations by the fans. ‘If it’s not hard, it’s not fun,’ he said.

Each time it’s hard, even in a small independent French film. Because you have to surprise yourself. I have lots of ways of being surprised in this film. The practice of the stunts, to try to work out this fight and maybe it would be more interesting if the bad guy doesn’t know how to fight. Because why should I know kung fu? He’s just a guy that works in a college, and it would be very strange that he has a secret skill.’

Marc Forster

As many CommanderBond.net readers are likely well aware by now, Marc Forster has been praised an uncountable number of times by those associated with the 007 film for his unwavering and almost unnatural sense of calmness.

When asked just how he manages as hectic a production as a Bond film, the director replied: ‘I’m very calm as a person, and I do most of the preparation before I start shooting so everybody knows when we come to shoot exactly what to do. But I feel like if I get nervous or agitated, it doesn’t really help me. I know some directors love working in chaos, and they can be very creative like that, but I need to have everybody calm around me.’

‘They’ve really gone to bat for me and fought for my vision.’ – Forster on his collaboration with producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson

Continuing: ‘I let go to fate, because ultimately, I can’t change it. If something happens, I try to do my best, but I can’t change it or do it differently. In that sense, I’m a fatalist–whatever happens, happens, and I believe it’s the best and just, out of the situation, try to adjust.’

There’s much more. Visit Premiere.com for the full interviews with Craig, Kurylenko, Amalric and Forster.

We’ll keep you updated on the CBn main page with all the latest breaking news on Quantum of Solace.

David Arnold Gives Verdict On 'Another Way To Die'

James Bond composer David Arnold has weighed in on the newest title theme addition to the series, the Jack White-Alicia Keys duet “Another Way To Die” for Quantum of Solace.

And the verdict?

‘Even from the first draft, I loved the atmosphere of it more than anything. You know, it’s got a kind of dirty, ugly, but very kind of sexy feel to it. I think when you see the song at the point in the movie where it comes, everything kind of fits in and makes sense and you go: “oh, OK”.’

Arnold was featured during the music news segment of the BBC 6 Music show Nemone yesterday, 22 September.

In addition to his words of praise for the 007 theme, Arnold also briefly brought up Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse Bond collaboration that ultimately fell through.

‘It’s a shame,’ he said, ‘because I think she’s extraordinary and also I think she’s very funny and a lovely girl.’

“Another Way To Die” has been met with a wide assortment of opinions amongst Bond fans, ranging from absolute adoration by some to boycotting by others. Click here to view the latest results of a CommanderBond.net Forums poll on the theme.

Keep your eyes on the CBn main page for most up-to-date and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

'Quantum of Solace' Earns PG-13 Rating In US

An updated version of the second TV spot for Quantum of Solace reveals that the 22nd James Bond film has secured a PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) in the United States.

Rated PG-13 for ‘intense sequences of violence and action and some sexual content,’ this will be the seventh Bond film in a row with this rating. Craig’s debut in Casino Royale, all four of Pierce Brosnan’s films and Timothy Dalton’s Licence To Kill also carried it.

Casino Royale carried the rating due to ‘intense scenes of action violence, a scene of torture, sexual content, and nudity’.

A UK 12A certificate from the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is expected, but still to be confirmed.

We’ll keep you updated on the CBn main page with all the latest news regarding new TV spots for Quantum of Solace. Just keep your browsers pointed at CommanderBond.net.

Forster Reaffirms He's Not Returning For 'Bond 23'

Director Marc Forster has again said that he’s not planning on returning to the 007 series to direct what will be Daniel Craig’s third film as James Bond, the currenty-titled Bond 23.

Speaking to a Cinematical correspondent at last week’s fan Question & Answer session in London, Forster expressed his wish to move onto a smaller project following Quantum of Solace.

‘At this point I’d rather go back to doing something smaller,’ he stated, ‘you know, it was a good experience and they’ve been very generous in saying I would love to do the next one with you, but it’s just, you know, it takes like a long time and it’s exhausting and I think it’s important to live life as well and, you know, but I did enjoy it, yeah.’

Forster was asked the question earlier this year and said ‘no’ at the time as well, saying that if he was ever to direct a film as large-scale as the Bond prodcutions, he would want it to be apart of his own franchise that he himself created.

Keep your eyes on the CBn main page for most up-to-date and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

Daniel Craig: Back For 'Bond 23' And The Next Few After That

WARNING: Spoilers

Barbara Broccoli had some reassuring words for fans of Daniel Craig’s portrayal of James Bond at last week’s fan Question & Answer session in London.

The producer confirmed that Craig would be back in Bond 23 and the ‘next few’ films after a correspondent from Ain’t It Cool News brought up the topic of an existing story arc in the current Bond films.

With news that the Quantum group represents a kind-of modern day SPECTRE organisation, many 007 fans have been wondering which story lines in the Craig era would continue on from Quantum of Solace to Bond 23.

Broccoli said: ‘This is a continuation, but I think the story kind of completes here. I think you know we had a lot of unanswered questions at the end of Casino Royale, and this story just kind of completes that cycle and will go on to other different stories from now on.’

Craig also emphasized this point, stating: ‘I think we all felt that there was something started, and I think that the Vesper Lynd relationship, which I think worked really well in the first one was such an important part of it that it would just be… and it’s not a criticism, but sort of just laying some flowers on a grave wouldn’t have worked. It needed to be kind of dealt with, and hence the title that everybody’s a little bit confused about, but it’s very simple. It’s just about a kind of closure. It’s more than that but that’s what we felt we kind of thought; we thought, no, we can’t leave this alone we have to face this off so. And there was sort kind of cynical “Oh, let’s make a sequel that comes 10 minutes after.” When we sat down and started talking about it, it just was just like, “This is what we should do; we should absolutely just finish this story off. So next time, we can start it wherever we want to start it.’

Keep your eyes on the CBn main page for most up-to-date and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

'Quantum' Questions Answered By Daniel Craig And Marc Forster

WARNING: Spoilers

Last week, a small group of correspondents from several popular websites were flown to London to take part in a special Question & Answer session with the makers of the 22nd James Bond film, Quantum of Solace.

Daniel Craig and director Marc Forster were available to answer questions (producer Barbara Broccolic chimed in on a few as well) fans had posted on the websites in the weeks leading up to the event.

A wealth of information regarding Quantum of Solace and what the future holds for 007 was revealed. Topics discussed included the story and stunts that went into the making of Quantum of Solace, the gunbarrel, the action sequences including the freefall and others, whether or not Miss Moneypenny, Q and the gadgets will eventually make a comeback, what will–and won’t–be back for Bond 23 and much more.

Scroll down for a snippet of some of Craig’s and Forster’s answers to the fans questions and click on the provided link for the entire article.

Q: With regards to storytelling and characterization, how do you feel James Bond evolves as a character in this movie?

Craig: I hope kind of well. There’s no sort of clear answer. He’s a spy. I think he hardens. I think is slightly distressing. We touch upon it in Casino Royale and I don’t want to get all kind of deep and silly about it. But, he has his heart broken and suddenly you kind of see this broken man and I find that very interesting. But that can’t be James Bond, because he can’t be broken. He can’t, because if he was broken it wouldn’t work. It’s finding that person that we can trust but not and that’s something I wanted to make sure that we put into the first film that I don’t want. Someone just said to me, “well he’s a bit like a bad guy” and I was like, “Yeah, well he kills people for a living.” I mean where’s the ambiguity?

Q: A lot of people asked about Q, Moneypenny and the gadgets whether they might return in this movie or in the next series. If you don’t think so, why or why not?

Forster: Q and Moneypenny are not returning because it’s a continuation of Casino Royale so it wouldn’t have made any sense not to have them in Casino Royale and suddenly bring them back in here as it like picks up an hour right after. I think maybe in the future eventually, but it’s really up to (producers) Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli if they want to bring them back…

[Click for full article… (ComingSoon.net)]

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Q: …whether you prefer the more minimalistic approach to the new films?

Craig: I’m easy. If we find the plot right, and I just think that’s really, for me, the most important thing, we’ve got to get the story right. And if it becomes about other things, it becomes distracting, then I’m not into it. If it becomes part and stays part of the plot, then it’s, in. I’m open to anything. I mean, we can go into space; I don’t care…

Q: You’ve spoken about how one of the primary things that brought you to Quantum of Solace was the particular visual style and how much you loved the look of the early-60s Bond films. What was it about this look that was appealing to you and how did you try and incorporate it into this film?

Forster: I felt that in the early Bond films, like Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and so on, production designer Ken Adam’s production design was ahead of its time. It was really ahead of its time and, and I felt like it just had this really cool look from the sort of ’60s and early ’70s–the interiors and the furniture–so I felt that I wanted to have a bit of a retro look with Quantum of Solace…

[Click for full article… (Ain’t It Cool News)]

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Q: So the fans also wanted to know about the free fall sequence?

Craig: There’s this aeronautical testing facility which is a vertical fan and discovered…how they discovered it I don’t know. Someone jumped in one day, and, and you can actually fly and it’s as close to free falling as you can get, it’s really tricky and it’s really difficult because every movement is actually sends you off because there’s a two hundred mile and hour wind. So that’s great cause it looks like you’re free falling, but how the hell you film that is a different matter…

Q: Why do you think the Bond franchise has steered towards unknown or obscure actors to play the characters and not co-opt the big A-grade Hollywood actors?

Forster: I think, you know, it’s just so much more interesting, always, to introduce new faces and discover new faces…

[Click for full article… (UGO)]

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Q: How do you think your portrayal of James Bond reflects Ian Fleming’s original vision of the character?

Craig: Fleming embellished. He was a writer. And he put his kind of Englishness into it. He put his sense of style into it and I hope we’ve gathered some of that back in. I mean certainly you know we’ve got Tom Ford designing clothes on this picture. We’ve got Dennis Gassner, who’s the production designer [and] whose eye for detail is just second to none. And for me that’s the Flemingness hopefully in Quantum of Solace…

Q: Since Quantum of Solace cannot have a love story involving Bond because Vesper is supposed to have been his first and only true love, what was the challenge in order to make this one a unique story like its predecessor?

Forster: I thought there’s this incredible opportunity here because we ended Casino Royale with Bond being at a very vulnerable state and he was sort of at a place where I felt one could really take advantage of and really pick up and sort of go a little further, a little deeper into the emotional ground of Bond…

[Click for full article… (IGN)]

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Q: How does Quantum of Solace handle the moral quagmire that James Bond sort of he finds himself in more in the modern world?

Craig: Bond came out of a post war period into a cold war but came more out of the depression that [England] was feeling. I think that, with the knock on effect of losing our empire, [which] had crumbled, here was this sort of man who worked for the government but knew what was right. He knew what was right and did the job to save us all…

Q: You brought in several collaborators from prior films, most noticeably replacing Daniel Kleinman on the opening credits, what has been their response to working on such an expansive production, and have they brought something new to the way a Bond picture is made?

Forster: When I first met with [producers] Barbara and Michael [Broccoli] it was really key, very important for me that I were able to collaborate with my own crew and with the people I made my past movies with; we have a very close collaboration. I worked with MK12 on Stranger Than Fiction on the entire graphics, and I really loved their aesthetics, so I brought them first into reintroduce the graphics for Bond because I felt like the graphics are an important element of story…

[Click for full article… (CHUD)]

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Q: Sean Connery once said the secret to playing Bond was to make everything seem effortless. This Bond is not that way at all, what changed and why?

Craig: It’s a different movie and that’s a simple answer to that. That’s a different movie. We’ve based the first one and we based that more in reality and running up scaffolding and making it look effortless … it would just be pointless. It’s just, it doesn’t tie into where we put it…

Q: How do you go about topping the action scenes in Casino Royale?

Forster: It wasn’t ever for me to top the action sequences, just because the opening sequence in CAsino Royale was pretty spectacular, and I felt like I’m not really here to top that. But I felt like for me it was important, the more intensity within an action sequence I can create with Bond, the stronger it will become, and the more the audience will be connecting with Bond in that action sequence, the more powerful it will become…

[Click for full article… (Cinematical)]

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Q: What is by far and away the single greatest perk of being Mr Bond?

Craig: There are many and I would be lying to you if I said there weren’t. I tend to look at it in this way. We had success with the last movie. I’m hoping that we’ll have some success with this movie, and it’s a very fickle business. So I genuinely try and enjoy as much of what happens to me in these as possible. If I could think of one thing…

[Click for full article… (The Guardian)]

Stay tuned to the CommanderBond.net main page for the most complete and up-to-date coverage of Daniel Craig’s return as 007 in Quantum of Solace.

'Quantum of Solace' Soundtrack Listing Appearing Online

It was just three days ago that the artwork that would accompany the Quantum of Solace soundtrack was released and now the tracklist is appearing online.

While not yet confirmed as final, websites Music-WOW and the Film Score Monthly messageboard feature a list of 24 tracks, including the title theme by Jack White and Alicia Keys, ‘Another Way To Die’.

The tracklist follows below:

1. Time To Get Out
2. The Palio
3. Inside Man
4. Bond In Haiti
5. Somebody Wants To Kill You
6. Greene & Camille
7. Pursuit At Port Au Prince
8. No Interest In Dominic Greene
9. Night At The Opera
10. Restrict Bond’s Movements
11. Talamone
12. What’s Keeping You Awake
13. Bolivian Taxi Ride
14. Field Trip
15. Forgive Yourself
16. DC3
17. Target Terminated
18. Camille’s Story
19. Oil Fields
20. Have You Ever Killed Someone?
21. Perla De Las Dunas
22. The Dead Don’t Care About Vengeance
23. I Never Left
24. Another Way To Die (Jack White & Alicia Keys)

The Quantum of Solace soundtrack, with music by David Arnold, will be released on Tuesday, 28 October by J Records. James Bond fans can currently pre-order the soundtrack from Amazon:

• Order the Quantum of Solace soundtrack from Amazon.co.uk
• Order the Quantum of Solace soundtrack from Amazon.com

'Quantum of Solace' – Official Blog Report #27

The official Quantum of Solace blog has been updated today with another crew member from the 22nd James Bond 007 film: supervising sound editor Eddie Joseph.

‘I’m the supervising sound editor,’ says Joseph from his office.

‘What we deal with is every side of sound, which is dialogue, crowd dialogue, effects and foley. We make sure that when it’s all put togther, that’s what you hear in the cinema.’

‘The fights are different,’ Joseph adds. ‘A lot of the original sound is being used, other than the fact that there is no contact. So we’ve had to create punches and the wrist-breaking and so on and so forth. You can use bones, you can use celery, cabbage, whatever you like. No gun shot is a real gun shot. If you play a real gun shot, it’s rather disappointing.’

‘It’s reality, but larger-than-life reality.’

Stay tuned to the CommanderBond.net main page for the most up-to-date and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

'Quantum of Solace': Shortest Bond Film Ever

The runtime of Quantum of Solace was today confirmed by IGN and Cinematical as 106 minutes, making it the shortest James Bond movie ever.

Director Marc Forster has been adamant from the movie’s early stages of production that Solace would clock in at under two hours, the first Bond pic since 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies to do so.

Quantum of Solace is a direct sequel to Casino Royale, the longest Bond film in the series, with a runtime of nearly two-and-a-half hours.

Marc Forster told Cinematical, “…you know, like in the middle of Casino [Royale] they had a very long card game which, which was, was … and in this movie it’s shorter and doesn’t have that type of card game where you sort of reflect more because the story didn’t require it. So the movie is, you know, a little over an hour and forty minutes, so it’s much of a more compact emotional intense journey than Casino, which, I think, had more reflective moments maybe.

Quantum of Solace is due for release on 31 October in the UK and 14 November in the US.

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

New 'Quantum of Solace' Poster Artwork Revealed

A listing for the official Quantum of Solace soundtrack has appeared online at Amazon.com and accompanying that is artwork that will likely turn out to be the new poster for the film.

This newly released artwork features Daniel Craig’s James Bond and Olga Kurlenko’s Camille standing side-by-side in a moody desert setting (much like that featured in the two teaser posters). The two characters are given equal space on the cover, while Dominic Greene’s headquarters can be seen in the distance.

As earlier reported on CommanderBond.net, David Arnold’s Quantum of Solace score will be released on Tuesday, 28 October by J Records. 007 fans can currently pre-order the soundtrack from Amazon.com.

• Order the Quantum of Solace soundtrack from Amazon.com

Tracks are yet to be announced.

What are your thoughts on this brand new artwork? Sound off here on the CBn Forums and we’ll keep you updated on the main page as more details are announced.