Quantum of Solace

For the short story by Ian Fleming, see For Your Eyes Only (short story collection).

Quantum of Solace is the 22nd spy film in EON Productions' James Bond film series, due for release in the United Kingdom on 31 October 2008 and in the United States on 7 November. It is the sequel to the 2006 film Casino Royale, which rebooted the series. It is directed by Marc Forster, and features Daniel Craig's second performance as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Casino Royale's Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade returned as writers, alongside newcomer Joshua Zetumer. In the film, Bond battles Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a member of the Quantum organization posing as an environmentalist, who intends to stage a coup d'état in Bolivia to take control of its water supply. Bond seeks revenge for the death of Vesper Lynd, and is assisted by Camille (Olga Kurylenko), who also wants to kill Greene. The title was chosen from an unrelated short story in Ian Fleming's For Your Eyes Only (1960).

Producer Michael G. Wilson created the film's story while Casino Royale was shooting. The film was originally scheduled for a 2 May 2008 release, but it was pushed back to allow more time when Roger Michell dropped out as director. Second unit filming began in August 2007 at Siena and Madrid, before principal photography began in January 2008 at Pinewood Studios. Production designer Dennis Gassner took over from Peter Lamont, who retired after working on eighteen Bond films. He designed the five major Pinewood sets, which stand in for Siena, Bolivia and the MI6 headquarters. Gassner's designs are close to the modernism of Ken Adam, the first Bond production designer. Location filming will take place at Panama, Chile, Italy and Austria, before moving back to Pinewood in June. There will be more gadgets than in Casino Royale, though they will still aim to be realistic.

Premise

Michael G. Wilson confirmed the film continues "an hour after" Casino Royale's conclusion, when Mr. White is shot and captured by Bond at Lake Como. Bond is then involved in a car chase in Siena, Italy. The official synopsis shows that White reveals to Bond and M that his organisation (called Quantum) has agents in Her Majesty's Government and the Central Intelligence Agency. Forensic evidence of an MI6 traitor leads Bond to Haiti, where he meets Camille, who then helps him find Dominic Greene, a ruthless businessman and chairman of Green Planet, the legitimate cover for Quantum.

Greene intends to use his government contacts to help overthrow the current regime in Bolivia, and place the exiled General Medrano as the head of state. Medrano will in exchange give him a barren piece of land, which will actually give them total control of the nation's water supply. Bond travels to Austria and South America to unravel Greene's plan, staying one step ahead of the CIA, terrorists, and M whilst trying to keep his desire for retribution over Vesper Lynd's death in check.

Cast

Daniel Craig as James Bond: Of Bond's evolution as an agent in this and the following film, Craig says he's an unfinished article with a "sense of revenge," who is "still too headstrong and doesn't always make the right decisions". Writer Paul Haggis said that Bond will be "a very human and flawed assassin, a man who has to navigate a morally complex and often cynical world while attempting to hold onto his deep beliefs of what is right and wrong". The actor gave advice to Haggis on the script and also helped choose Marc Forster as director, being a fan of his films. Craig's physical training for his reprise of the role places extra effort into running and boxing, to spare him the injuries he sustained on his stunts in the first film. He also practiced speedboating and stunt driving. Craig felt Casino Royale was "[physically] a walk in the park" compared to Quantum of Solace. Whilst filming in Panama, Craig was rushed to hospital after hitting one of his ribs. The injury was not serious, and he was admitted back to filming.

Mathieu Amalric as Dominic Greene, a leading member of Quantum posing a businessman working in reforestation and charity funding for environmental science. Craig confirmed "there is a connection" between Greene and Vesper Lynd. Amalric acknowledged taking the role was an easy decision because, "It's impossible to say to your kids that 'I could have been in a Bond film but I refused.'" Amalric wanted to wear make-up for the role, but Forster explained that he wanted Greene to not look grotesque, to symbolize the hidden evils in society. Amalric revealed Greene "doesn't know how to fight, [so] James Bond would be more surprised. Sometimes anger can be much more dangerous. I'm going to fight like in school." Amalric modeled his performance on "the smile of Tony Blair [and] the craziness of Sarkozy," the latter whom he called "the worst villain we [the French] have ever had [...] he walks around thinking he's in a Bond film." He later claimed this was not criticism of either politicians, but instead an example of how politicians rely on performance than genuine policies to win power. "Sarkozy, is just a better actor than [his presidential opponent] Ségolène Royal – that's all," he explained. Bruno Ganz was also considered for the part.

Olga Kurylenko as Camille, a Russian-Bolivian agent and the lead Bond girl. She has her own vendetta regarding Greene and Quantum. The producers said Camille is someone "who challenges Bond and helps him come to terms with the emotional consequences of Vesper's betrayal". "At the beginning she is an opponent [of Bond], but they are going to have to collaborate," the actress further said. "We'll see if she's a villain." Kurylenko spent three weeks training with weapons and learnt how to fight and body fly, a form of indoor skydiving. Kurylenko dislikes stunts, but overcame her fears because of Craig's friendliness. She was given a DVD box set of the films since the Bond franchise was not known in her homeland, Ukraine. The producers had intended to cast a South American actress in the role. Kurylenko trained with a dialect coach to perform with a Spanish accent, which was easy as "I have a good ear, so I can imitate people", and because her accent was not made heavy.

Gemma Arterton as MI6 Agent Fields, who works at the British consulate in Bolivia. Arterton was chosen from around 1500 candidates. One of the casting directors asked her to audition for the role, having seen her portray Rosaline in Love's Labour's Lost at the Globe Theatre. Arterton said Fields was "not so frolicsome" as other Bond girls, but is instead "fresh and young, not [...] a femme fatale". Her character is a homage to the 60's Bond girls. Her hair in the film is modelled after Diana Rigg, who played Tracy Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, who is one of her favourite Bond girls along with Honor Blackman.

• Judi Dench as M. She said M's relationship with Bond becomes "pretty prickly". M's husband, who was briefly seen sleeping next to her in Casino Royale, will also be heard off-screen in the film.

• Anatole Taubman as Elvis, Dominic's cousin and second-in-command. He has a bowl cut. His name was chosen by Paul Haggis, which Taubman found cool, but he avoided making Elvis Presley jokes to avoid losing the role. Taubman imagined Elvis once lived on the streets before being inducted into Quantum by Dominic, and he constantly discussed his back story with Amalric. He called Elvis "a bit of a goof ball. He thinks he's all that but he's not really. ... He's not a comic guy. He definitely takes himself very serious, but maybe by his taking himself too serious he may become friendly."

• Joaquin Cosío as General Medrano, who is Bond's enemy in Latin America. Greene is helping the exiled general get back into power, in return for support of his organization.

• Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter, Bond's CIA ally who aided him at Casino Royale in Montenegro. This will mark only the second time the same actor has appeared as Leiter twice since David Hedison played the character in Live and Let Die (1973) and Licence to Kill (1989). Early script drafts gave Leiter a larger role, but his screentime has been restricted by on-set rewrites.

• Giancarlo Giannini as René Mathis, a French double agent who helps Bond discover who Le Chiffre and Mr. White worked for.

• Neil Jackson as Mr. Slate, a henchman who has a fight with Bond.

• Jesper Christensen as Mr. White, whom Bond captured after he stole the money won at Casino Royale in Montenegro.

• Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner, a recurring member of the MI6 staff, later destined to be Chief of Staff.

• Tim Pigott-Smith as the British Foreign Secretary.

• Simon Kassianides as Yusef, who has a confrontation with Bond in Moscow towards the end of the film.

• Stana Katic as Corinne Veneau, an associate of Yusef.

• David Harbour as Gregg Beam, a contact of Felix Leiter who is known to speak directly to 'M' in the film.

• Glenn Foster as Henry Mitchell, rumored to be an MI6 double agent.

Fernando Guillén Cuervo and Jesús Ochoa have minor roles as the Bolivian Chief of Police and Medrano's Lieutenant Orso respectively. Kiera Chaplin, granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin, appears as a receptionist.

Eva Green will not film new footage as Vesper Lynd although imagery of her character may feature. Barbara Broccoli said "[Vesper is] certainly on Bond's mind." Miss Moneypenny and "Q" are not in the film, as with Casino Royale, because Michael G. Wilson felt when writing the other films they had to find a moment for both characters, which wasn't necessarily organic.

Production

Development

"If you remember in Chinatown, if you control the water you control the whole development of the country. I think it's true. Right now it appears to be oil, but there's a lot of other resources that we don't think about too much but are all essential, and they're very limited and every country needs it. Because every country knows that raising the standard of living (and populations are getting bigger) is the way we're all going."

–Michael G. Wilson on the plot

In July 2006, as Casino Royale entered post-production, EON Productions announced Bond 22 would be based on an original idea by producer Michael G. Wilson. A backstory had been written for Casino Royale and its potential sequel, regarding Vesper Lynd and her Algerian boyfriend, who was intended to be one of the antagonists. It was decided beforehand the film would be a direct sequel, to exploit Bond's emotions following Vesper's death in the previous film. Just as Casino Royale's theme was terrorism, the sequel focuses on environmentalism. The film was confirmed for a 2 May 2008 release date, with Craig reprising the lead role. Roger Michell, who directed Craig in Enduring Love and The Mother, was in negotiations to direct, but decided not to direct the film. "I was very nervous that there was a start date but really no script at all," he said. "And I like to be very well prepared as a director." Sony Entertainment vice-chairman Jeff Blake admitted a production schedule of eighteen months was a very short window, and the release date was pushed back to late 2008.

In June 2007, Marc Forster was confirmed as the director of the untitled Bond 22. He was surprised that he been approached for the job, stating he was not a big Bond fan as a child and that he would not have accepted the job before he saw Casino Royale. He felt Bond had been humanized in that film, explaining, "People travel a lot more now, and with the Internet they’re more aware of what the rest of the world is like. In a way the most interesting place for a James Bond movie to go is inward; deeper into Bond himself." Born in Germany and raised in Switzerland, Forster is the first Bond director not to come from the Commonwealth of Nations, although he slyly noted that Bond's mother is Swiss, making him somewhat appropriate to handle the British icon. The director collaborated strongly with Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, but they had to block two very expensive ideas he had. "Financially, there are limits — even on a Bond film," the director said, "otherwise, I have been able to realise my vision." He had wanted to shoot in the Swiss Alps, but the location was written out of the final draft. Forster had the actors rehearse their scenes, as he liked to film scenes continually.

"Every corporation realized they can make money by being green so let's be green. So I think it's something one has to look at very carefully. Yes, I think we are going through an environmental crisis and if we don't wake up we're going to destroy ourselves, but I think one has to be really wary of people like Greene because they're pretending to be something they're oft-times not. Personally, I know a lot of people who say, 'I'm riding my bicycle.' But then they have their private jet at the airport. 'I have my [[|Gulfstream Aerospace|Gulfstream]], but I'm using my vegetable fueled Hummer.'"

–Marc Forster on Dominic Greene

Neal Purvis and Robert Wade completed their draft of the script by April 2007. Wade said the film would continue Bond's arc from Casino Royale: "It can't just be he's tough and he's tempered steel and totally impervious. There are things he still has to resolve." The following month, Paul Haggis, who polished the Casino Royale script, began his rewrite. Haggis turned down directing the film because, "if you do that on top of writing, it's almost a three year commitment". Haggis, Forster and Wilson rewrote the story from scratch. Haggis completed his script two hours before the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike officially began. During filming, after the strike ended, Forster hired Joshua Zetumer after reading a spec script by him they liked, to reshape scenes for the later parts of the shoot, which the director was still unsatisfied with. Zetumer rewrote dialogue depending on the actors' ideas each day.

Michael G. Wilson chose Quantum of Solace only "a few days" before its announcement on January 24 2008. It was the name of a short story in Ian Fleming's anthology For Your Eyes Only (1960), although the film is otherwise unrelated. Daniel Craig admitted, "I was unsure at first. Bond is looking for his quantum of solace and that's what he wants, he wants his closure. Ian Fleming says that if you don't have a quantum of solace in your relationship then the relationship is over. It's that spark of niceness in a relationship that if you don't have you might as well give up." He said that "Bond doesn't have that because his girlfriend has been killed", and therefore, "[Bond is] looking for revenge [...] to make himself happy with the world again." Afterwards, Quantum was made the name of the organization introduced in Casino Royale.

Filming

Dan Bradley was hired as second unit director because of his work on the Jason Bourne films, so the film would continue the gritty action style begun in Casino Royale. The town council of Siena gave permission to shoot at the Palio di Siena horse race on 16 August 2007. Fourteen cameras were placed around the arena, for shots which would be edited into the main sequence, shot during 2008. Aerial shots using helicopters were banned, and the crew were also forbidden from showing any violence "involving either people or animals". From 23-29 August, the second unit shot at Madrid. They spent three weeks (up until 15 February 2007) in Baja California, Mexico, filming planes in flight. From 15-21 March, they were returned to Italy, to film at Malcesine and Limone sul Garda, and at Talamone during the end of April.

Principal photography was going to begin on 10 December 2007, but was pushed back to 3 January 2008. Shooting at Panama City began on 7 February 2008 at Howard Air Force Base. The country doubles for Bolivia, with the National Institute of Culture of Panama standing in for the Grand Andean Hotel. A sequence requiring several hundred extras was also shot at nearby Colón. Officials in the country worked with the locals to "minimise inconvenience" for the cast and crew, and hope the city's exposure in the film will increase tourism. The crew was going to move to Cusco, Peru for ten days of filming on 2 March, but the location was cancelled because of bad weather predictions. Twelve days of filming in Chile began on 24 March at Antofagasta. There was shooting in Cobija, the Paranal Observatory, and other locations in the Atacama Desert. Forster chose the desert and the observatory's ESO Hotel to represent Bond's rigid emotions, and being on the verge of committing a vengeful act as he confronts Greene in the film's climax.

Marc Forster chose the Antofagasta Desert to represent Bond's vengefulness in the climax

On 1 April, while filming in Chile, mayor Carlos Lopez (who was suspended from office five months beforehand) drove his sedan into the filming location in the village of Baquedano and almost ran over a policeman. He was angry at the filmmakers portraying Antofagasta as part of Bolivia, when Chile conquered it in 1883, and criticized security measures such as "special forces and water cannons preventing people from walking in the street" in the small town, which reminded him "of the worst of the Pinochet years". He was arrested, detained briefly, and put on trial two days later. EON dismissed his claim that they needed his permission to film in the area. Michael G. Wilson also explained Bolivia was appropriate to the plot, because of the country's history of water problems, and was surprised the two countries disliked each other a century after the War of the Pacific. In a poll of its readers by Chilean daily newspaper La Segunda, 75% disagreed with Lopez's actions, due to the negative image they felt it presented of Chile, and the controversy's potential to put off productions looking to film in the country in the future.

The crew chose to have Bond emerge from the Fonte Gaia after it was deemed offensive to have him exit the city's cisterns in Siena Cathedral

From 4-12 April, the main unit shot on Sienese rooftops. The next four weeks were scheduled for Lake Garda and Carrara. To shoot the foot chase in Siena, officials supplied €1 million to the filmmakers, to build four camera cranes, alter rooftops, and hire 300 extras needed for the scene. A cable camera was used for the first time in a feature film. On 19 April, an Aston Martin employee driving a car to the set crashed into the lake. He survived, and was fined £400 for reckless driving. Another accident occurred on 21 April, and two days later, two stuntmen were seriously injured, with one having to be put in intensive care. Filming of the scenes was temporarily halted so that Italian police could investigate the causes of the accidents.

Filming took place at the floating opera stage at Bregenz, Austria from 28 April-9 May 2008. The sequence, where Bond stalks the villains during a performance of Tosca, required 1500 extras. The production uses a large model of an eye, which Forster felt fitted in the Bond style, and the opera itself has parallels to the film. A short driving sequence was filmed at the nearby Feldkirch, Vorarlberg. The crew returned to Italy from 13-17 May to shoot; a (planned) car crash at the marble quarry in Carrara; and at the Piazza del Campo in Siena. 1000 extras were hired to recreate the Palio di Siena for the latter scene, where Bond emerges from the Fonte Gaia. Originally, Bond would have emerged from the city's cisterns at Siena Cathedral, but this was thought disrespectful. By June, the crew will return to Pinewood for four weeks, where new sets (including a replica of the ESO Hotel's interior) have been built.

Effects

Production designer Peter Lamont, a crew member on eighteen Bond films, retired after Casino Royale. Dennis Gassner, who worked on Road to Perdition (2002) and The Golden Compass (2007), both which also featured Daniel Craig, was hired in Lamont's stead. Craig said the film will be "more of a classical Bond movie", with "a touch of Ken Adam," referring to the production designer most famous for creating the lairs of the villains in several of the early films. Michael G. Wilson also called Gassner's designs "a postmodern look at modernism". The rebuilt 007 Stage housed three replicas of Sienese buildings, including an art gallery Bond fights in, and an MI6 safehouse hidden within the city's cisterns. Other soundstages housed Bond's Bolivian hotel suite, and the MI6 headquarters.

Michael G. Wilson said of the gadgets that "we've just used realistic things within the world". "We live in a gadget world, and unfortunately that means the stuff we use is applied technology that maybe Secret Services are using," added Craig. "The Aston Martin is still the best gadget around." These include a glass wall in M's office which can be made opaque if she requires privacy. The redesigned HQ has a touchscreen computer which keeps track of all their agents.

To film an aerial dogfight, a "Snakehead" camera was built and placed on the nose and tail of a Piper Aerostar 700. SolidWorks, who provided the software for the camera, stated "pilots for the first time can fly as aggressively as they dare without sacrificing the drama of the shot". The camera can turn 360 degrees and is shaped like a periscope. Forster wanted to film the planefight as a homage to Alfred Hitchcock, and chose planes like the Douglas DC-3 to suit that.

This film is the last in Ford's three-film deal that began with 2002's Die Another Day. Although Ford sold over 90% of the Aston Martin company in 2007, the Aston Martin DBS V12 return for the film's car chase around Lake Garda; Ford GTs, and an Alfa Romeo 159 are also being used. When filming at Lake Garda, a specially-designed net was built to stop a truck falling into the lake for a timed explosion.

Wilson and Forster commented that the film might return to the traditionally styled gun barrel opening shot.

Music

David Arnold, who composed the scores for the previous four Bond films, will return for Quantum of Solace. He said that Forster likes to work very closely with his composers, and that, in comparison to the accelerated schedule he was tied to on Casino Royale, the intention was to spend a long time scoring the film to "really work it out". He also said he would be "taking a different approach" with the score.

Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse recorded a demo track for the film, however, Ronson and Winehouse were unable to complete the project due to what Winehouse's representatives called "different directions". Ronson also stated that due to Winehouse's well-publicized legal issues in the preceding weeks that she was "not ready to record any music" at that time.

Marketing

A trailer will be released on 2 July 2008 with the film Hancock.

Merchandise

Corgi International Limited will release 5-inch action figures and gadgets (such as a voice-activated briefcase), as well as their traditional die-cast toy vehicles. They will also release 7-inch figures of characters from the previous films. Scalextric will release four racing sets to coincide with the film.

Although no release of a novelization of the film's screenplay has been announced, Penguin Books will be publishing a compilation of Fleming's short stories entitled Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories, with a North American release date of August 26, 2008.

Video game adaptation

Main article: Quantum of Solace (video game)

In May 2006 Activision acquired non-exclusive rights to develop and publish James Bond games; an exclusive deal with Activision took effect in September 2007. During an earnings report, Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision, announced that their first Bond game would be released in May 2008. Previously it was reported by Variety that Activision's first game is a tie-in to Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, with the title being Quantum of Solace. Sony Pictures Television has also announced a mobile game.

External links

• Official website
  • Official blog