James Bond is back in Turkey in Skyfall. 007 has been to the exotic country where East meets West in two previous adventures. My favorite 007 book and movie From Russia, With Love is set in Cold War Istanbul with my all time favorite Bond ally, Kerim Bey (played with perfection by Pedro Armendariz) head of Station T. The World Is Not Enough featured a finale in the Bosphorus as Pierce Brosnan’s Bond saved Istanbul from a financially driven terrorist attack.
Director Sam Mendes, Daniel Craig, Bond girls Naomie Harris & Berenice Marlohe, Ola Rapace and producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson held a video press conference to mark 007’s return to Turkey.
Exciting updates about the next Daniel Craig 007 film. The Skyfall trailer will be attached to MIB 3 in late May but there it was screened at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.
I won’t give away description but I will reveal that (according to Dark Horizons) it includes this line from Craig:
“Some men are coming to kill us. We’ve got to kill them first”
I can picture Craig delivering that line in such a cool way!
Sony confirmed Bond 24 will arrive in 2014 returning to the biennial plan.
Double the cover for 007. Empire magazine revealed their upcoming Skyfall covers celebrating the new James Bond film. The first has Daniel Craig in full color over other film images. The second is Daniel Craig looking cool in black and white – reminding me of the black and white pre-title sequence from Casino Royale.
James Bond will race across London, Shanghai, Turkey and Scotland in Skyfall. In this new production videoblog on 007.com Skyfall team leaders discuss scouting for locations in China and filming an action sequence on Shanghai’s unusual blue neon streaked roadways.
What a dream job to scout locations for a 007 film! One of the reasons I was seduced by the James Bond films is the jet-setting around the world. As a little kid living on a remote farm I would try to pick the places on my globe that I had seen in a 007 film! It was a great way to learn geography!
When the Oscar winning director of American Beauty takes on 007 fans might be worried that James Bond may be getting emotional instead of kicking — but Daniel Craig tells MTV not to worry. The actor says he and director Sam Mendes found a balance between action and drama in Skyfall.
“I sat down with Sam Mendes two years ago, three years ago — now it’s getting on four — and we discussed what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it, and he’s one of the biggest Bond fans around,” said Craig.
Skyfall set photo courtesy Empire
“He’s not out to do an angst-ridden movie, some chamber piece about people’s emotions,” Craig continued. “It’s a Bond movie. But we both agreed that if he cast the film, which he did really well, and we brought in older characters and new characters, that we’d have something really rich and sort of exciting to watch.”
When I saw this photo from Fandango.com I immediately thought of Sean Connery in Switzerland in Goldfinger.
Daniel Craig in a classic suit in a shot with his classic car. We know Skyfall is filming and set in Scotland, the home of Bond’s father. This sure looks like 007 on the way to Skyfall Lodge.
Fandango’s preview story (out Monday) says the story will also take place in Macau. I think this is the first time that location has been mentioned. We know exterior shooting will take place in Shanghai. If true, this will be first time 007 has been in Macau since Roger Moore in 1974’s The Man With the Golden Gun.
Skyfall is moving into the final weeks of production. Empire Online shares photos from their upcoming issue featuring a set visit to the set of the next James Bond film.
Skyfall photo courtesy Empire
Daniel Craig is in dangerous and debonair form.
Skyfall photo courtesy Empire
“Visually we’re in very safe hands because Roger Deakins is shooting this movie, which is just phenomenal,” said Daniel Craig tole Empire. “It has a classic feel to it. I won’t lie to you: we’ve tried to sort of bring some of the feelings of older Bond movies into this film — but this is a modern movie.”
Skyfall photo courtesy Empire
This Geek’s Opinion: I was thrilled when Naomie Harris joined the cast as an MI6 agent named Eve. I’ve been a big fan of her work since 28 Days Later.
This is the first time we’ve seen Oscar Winner Ralph Fiennes from the film. He’s taking aim. Fans speculate Fiennes is playing a rogue MI6 agent or an even more elaborate theory is that he will take over for Dame Judi Dench as M.
Skyfall photo courtesy Empire
For more photos and the story here’s the link to Empire Online.
Javier Barden on the set of Skyfall courtesy MI6HQ.Com
The new 007 movie is packed with Oscar power including director Sam Mendes and Judi Dench as M. Javier Bardem plays the villain in Skyfall. The Oscar-winning actor talked with Spanish network TVE about his character and experience on the new 007 movie.
“It’s a very beautiful and fun adventure,” says the lead Skyfall villain. “yesterday I was on set with Albert Finney, with Judi Dench, with Daniel Craig.”
“It’s cool, and the coolest thing and what’s most important is the material. When I got it and saw the character, immediately you forget a little that it is a James Bond film and you realise that it is a great film and that’s what attracted me. I said, “man this gives you a lot of possibilities”. Obviously it’s a James Bond film and it has everything you expect from a Bond film.”
Bardem explained his approach to the character and he connects to Daniel Craig’s 007.
“I’m completely decided to give him a hard time and the truth is that I get to do it. Doing it in the set is a different thing [to reading it in a script]. The character puts Bond into some curious and interesting difficulties and one has to do it [for real], to give the idea that you are the villain. Otherwise there is no point in doing it. You have to put the actor in a difficult situation, that’s the objective. In that sense Sam is helping a lot, he’s an amazing director. And I’m delighted to be working with Daniel, he’s a guy with balls, he’s a really hard-working guy, super-compromised with what he’s doing. For him it’s strenuous, six months of shooting everyday, in addition with a lot of physical demand and the guy holds on super-committed.”
Thanks to MI6 for the story. There’s more of Bardem’s interview to enjoy at that link provided.
