Daniel Craig on the set of Skyfall courtesy MI6-HQ.com
How thrilling would it be to live in London right now.? You might see James Bond in action.
courtesy MI6-HQ.com
The cast and crew are filming across the city. Director Sam Mendes and star Daniel Craig were at the Smithfield Market for a shoot involving Range Rovers.
Heron Tower, London courtesy MI6-HQ.com
The crew is busy in central London capturing shots of Heron Tower, a visually stunning new building. This may substitute for a scene set in Shanghai. A crew is going to China to shoot exteriors only.
By the way I picked up Carte Blanche this weekend. It’s the new James Bond novel by Jeffrey Deaver. Very exciting read and cool update of the literary 007.
AP Photo/Joel Ryan. Daniel Craig and the new Bond girls.
The Daniel Craig James Bond movies have been pretty serious with no sexual themed surnames for his leading ladies. The series that’s given the world Pussy Galore, Octopussy, Kissy Suzuki, Plenty O’Toole, Xenia Onnatop, and Holly Goodhead, that’s Dr. Holly Goodhead – may finally be loosening up and have little fun.
Naomie Harris – who is not playing the new Miss Moneypenny – plays an MI6 field agent named Eve in Skyfall. Harris was questioned about the secrecy of her character’s surname in an interview with STV:
“Will her name make people laugh? Um, yes. Yes, I suppose it will.”
Naomie Harris discussed how she prepared for the physical challenges of the role.
“Eve sees herself as Bond’s equal and she’s very active. I get to do lots of fighting and driving and stunt work and I’ve been training on the gun range most days. It’s been a lot of hard work. My body’s completely changed. I’ve got muscles where I never knew it was possible to have muscles, which is all very exciting. I’m very happy about that.”
I loved Naomie Harris as Selina in Danny Boyle’s neo-zombie film 28 Days Later. Harris proved she can handle herself with a butcher knife in that flick.
Back to Bond girl names – Gemma Arterton played Agent Fields in Quantum of Solace (she deserved more screen time!) Agent Fields was given the first name of Strawberry in the film credits as a gag.
AP Photo/Joel Ryan. Daniel Craig and the new Bond girls.
Daniel Craig has said he wants to go back to classic elements of 007 for the next James Bond movie Skyfall. In previous interviews he cited From Russia, With Love (Sean Connery’s second and my personal favorite) and Live and Let Die (Roger Moore’s first) as two classics he wanted to influence the new film.
Craig talks about classic Bond in a new interview with Hollywood Outbreak.
Here are some highlights:
“I think when Saltzman and Broccoli kick-started these movies, cast Sean Connery, spent the money they did, took the books – which are great had great stories… There was a huge amount of impetuous. Sean Connery has a lot to do with that.”
“They always made them about a family experience. They made them about going to your first movie as a child… ‘I remember my first Bond movie‘.”
“They continue to put the money on the screen. Whatever has happened, however good or bad [the movies] may be in the past, they’ve always put the money up there and have always had the ability to entertain. Barbara [Broccoli] and Michael [G. Wilson] are total lovers of this franchise and protect it fiercely and continue to do exactly the same thing as their father did.”
Thanks to MI6 for the story and their excellent coverage of all things Bond past and present.
My first Bond movie? Moonraker. Going to James Bond movies with my dad became a big tradition.
My dad’s favorite moments:
The fake horse’s ass lifting up to reveal a mini jet in the pre-credit sequence to Octopussy.
In A View to A Kill May Day (Grace Jones) dumping a man out of an airship then Max Zorin (Christopher Walken) saying “doesn’t anybody else want to drop out?”
The writer penning the next James Bond adventure is nominated for an Academy Award. John Logan co-wrote Skyfall and has been nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for Hugo.
If Logan wins that would mean even more Oscar gold for the cast and crew of 007’s new adventure. Oscar winners Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Dame Judi Dench are past of the cast. Oscar winning Best Director Sam Mendes is the director of Skyfall.
The tradition of French actresses portraying James Bond girls continues in Skyfall. Berenice Marlohe is playing Severine in the 23rd 007 adventure. You may remember Claudine Auger as Domino in Thunderball, Carole Bouquet as Melina Havelock in For Your Eyes Only, Sophie Marceau as Elektra King in The World Is Not Enough, Eva Green as Vesper in Casino Royale.
The latest French actress to join the 007 sorority talks about how she won the role and her expectations about being a Bond girl.
Marlohe tells Live magazine about tracking down the casting agent which led to director Sam Mendes which led to a meeting with Daniel Craig.
“At that stage I was so focused on my performance that there was no room for nerves. I also reminded myself that I was meeting Daniel Craig, not James Bond.”
AP Photo/Joel Ryan. Daniel Craig and the new Bond girls.
“My character is glamorous and enigmatic,” she said. “I get to see less action on-screen than Naomie Harris but I wanted to get the feel of guns in order to find my way into my character.”
“I definitely see myself more as a Bond Lady than a Bond Girl. The idea of a Bond Girl can be very confusing. As an actress, I know it can be a trap because you’re not sure what people expect. I think it’s quickly changing direction now. You’re more at liberty to develop a real character rather than something abstract.”
“There is more scope now within the Bond movies to create a strong, independent woman. Earlier Bond girls were very dependent women. But I loved what Famke Janssen did in GoldenEye, in the way she portrayed a funny psychopath. In my character I’ve tried to bring a different kind of complexity. If I get recognised more when this movie comes out, I’ll deal with it. If someone says, ‘Hey, there’s that Bond Girl’ I’ll correct them and say, “No, I’m that Bond Lady’.”
To follow-up on some of her points – Naomie Harris is plays a MI6 field agent named Eve. Famke Janssen is my all time favorite 007 villainess and also played Jean Grey in the X-Men movies.
A big question still to ponder: Is Severine a bad girl? Perhaps the companion of the villain played by Javier Bardem? Is Severine the heroine?
By Editor
SPOILER about previous BOND films:
If you haven’t seen Daniel Craig’s previous 007 films and don’t want to know the fates of some characters then stop reading.
OK you’ve been warned.
Daniel Craig’s James Bond has been very unlucky in love with 3 of his 4 leading ladies ending up dead. The one that lived didn’t even have sex with 007. Here’s hoping Severine and Eve have better luck with Bond in the next film.
If you want even more James Bond coverage you should check out MI6.com for very thorough details about everything Skyfall.
Skyfall is not based on any of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels or short stories. An image on the official 007 Twitter feed could be a key plot point and perhaps the meaning of Skyfall? Never underestimate a fan’s obsessive eye and need for information!
You may consider this speculation a SPOILER so you may not want to keep reading:
It’s just clapper board but if you look closer you see what looks like two meteorites entering the atmosphere according to MI6.com.
Courtesy MI6-HQ.COM
Thanks to MI6-HQ.com for capturing the images and their analysis.
courtesy MI6-HQ.COM
When I first heard Skyfall I thought the plot could be some invention that can bring down satellites – maybe like when Desmond Hume inadvertently brought down Ocean Flight 815 on Lost.
As I write this post (and remembering the official statement that M’s past come back to haunt her) I’m thinking of For Your Eyes Only when 007 races Russian operatives to recover critical military technology from a sunken ship. Perhaps Skyfall will involve Bond racing to recover secrets in a crashed satellite. After the plots of Daniel Craig’s previous films I think crashing meteorites is little too sci-fi but with the cast and crew involved – they could make any plot work.
AP Photo/Joel Ryan. Daniel Craig and the new Bond girls.
Actress Naomie Harris puts one James Bond rumor to bed! Hope you didn’t have any money on Harris playing Miss Moneypenny in Skyfall!
When Harris was cast fans and tabloids speculated she would be playing M’s assistant Miss Moneypenny. The character was a mainstay of previous Bond films but has yet to appear in a Daniel Craig film. Producers said Harris would be playing an MI6 field agent named Eve. Speculation continued that Eve would be eventually become Moneypenny as part of the story.
Harris says don’t expect Eve to come in from field duty to sit behind a desk:
“The idea of me being Moneypenny was a good, racy rumour. But Eve is not remotely office-bound. She gets to see plenty of action. That meant a lot of gun training,” Harris told LIVE magazine.
“I’m such a pacifist that I never thought I’d be excited about guns, but I absolutely loved it. The weapons training I’d done on Miami Vice was with real bullets, but this time I was shooting blanks. I did two hours three times a week for three months, mostly working with a Walther PPK, a very light, very beautiful, ladylike gun.”
“What drew me to this was the opportunity to play a new kind of Bond Girl. We are Bond Girls who are multi-faceted, intelligent and capable,” said Harris of the roles herself and Bernice Marlohe will play in Skyfall.
I’ve loved Harris since her role in 28 Days Later and think she will rock 007. Thanks to MI6 for the story.
Daniel Craig filming Skyfall in London courtesy MI6-HQ
Daniel Craig was spotted shooting in London in Charing Cross Tube station for the next James Bond film. MI6 says the scene involves 007 chasing the main villain played by Javier Bardem.
