Pretty much everything I'm about to confirm in this news story has been rumored one way or another over the last several months, but given that MGM has managed to confirm every single one of these rumors in one fell swoop today, it seemed prudent to put it all together into one package. So, hey, here you go.
MGM held a press conference today (and we weren't invited?!?) to officially announce Skyfall, the 23rd James Bond film that is currently under the direction of American Beauty and Road to Perdition helmer Sam Mendes. Obviously Daniel Craig will be back playing his gruff, kill-crazy version of James Bond, and this time he'll be going toe-to-toe with Javier Bardem, who is the film's as-yet-unnamed villain. They'll be joined by Naomie Harris as a field agent named Eve, as well as Bernice Marlohe, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, and Albert Finney. Lastly, but certainly not leastly, Judi Dench will of course return as M.
The plot hasn't been revealed yet, but Mendes reportedly stated that Skyfall won't connect directly to the last two Bond films, thus making it its own stand-alone story. That's perhaps good news for anyone who got real sick of watching Craig moan over the death of Eva Green ad nauseum in Quantum of Solace.
All of this is generally good news to Bond fans in general, considering that at one point, there was question as to whether Skyfall would happen at all. Many may recall the massive financial issues MGM was going through last year, which resulted in the cancellation or delay of numerous projects, including this latest Bond film. Now you can rest easy, for it is alive, has a cast, and is moving forward.
As someone who found Casino Royale interesting, and Quantum of Solace nearly insufferable, all the casting decisions here sound plenty good to me, and the notion of this being a stand-alone, unconnected film does my heart good, because holy hell was I turned off by the direction Quantum of Solace went in. Hopefully Mendes and the pile of contracted screenwriters can turn this thing in a direction worth paying attention to.
I watched Quantum of Solace again over the weekend and I think I enjoyed it more a second time around. But those action scenes are still a mess.
The reboot thus far has really missed a proper villain, so Javier Bardem better be allowed to beat the shit out of Bond.
I mean, when has Daniel Craig's bond been in any kind of one on one man fight against someone truly hench, like any of the previous bonds?
A good villain will give Craig's bond even more presence I feel and maybe they can have a bit of fun introducing moneypenny and Q or something.
Those action scenes got better for me once I started really concentrating on what was happening. That helped in other places as now I know why Bond says "You and I had a mutual friend," before he shot at a person in a jeep. Took me a few viewings to figure that one out.
As much as Quantum of Solace gets rightfully dinged, I still really enjoy watching it. The movie really moves.
Glad to see Bond 23 is on track. I don't really want a world where there are no new Bond movies. Well, at least not yet.
Casino Royale is so fucking good. I'm hoping this will be as good, but I don't think it's possible without Eva Green.
Casino Royale was awesome, one of the best Bond flicks and made Craig one of the best Bonds to happen, QoS was way too 'Bourne' for me, it had no pace to it whatever, it was just action-scene-followed-by-action-scene-followed-by-action-scene and it was too much, if the film was paced a lot better it would have been a bit more enjoyable.
I remember watching that at the cinemas and by the time there was 3 action scenes only 20 minutes had passed, it was exhausting, and 'that' pace didn't stop till the end of the movie which ended up being the shortest Bond movie ever, at a mere 1 hr 40mins.
Thank god. I was afraid there would only be 46 years of James Bond.
I kinda wish they would get a new M. Not a fan of Judi Dench.
Casino Royale is in my top 3 favourite movies, and I also very much enjoyed Quantum of Solace, so I'm very much looking forward to this, although Skyfall is a weird name. Kinda reminds me of the older Bond titles. Which reminds me of a goofy ass space lasers. boy i really hope there aren't any space lasers in this movie.
@RockinKemosabe said:
Only seen it the once at the cinema and didn't care for it at all, wouldn't mind watching it again though. Casino Royale is easily my favourite James Bond film though.
@MooseyMcMan. Funnily enough I thought M was the best thing about Quantum of Solace.
I have a lot of respect for Sam Mendes as American Beauty is one of my favorite films, so I'm looking forward to this.
Skyfall, Skyrim, Skyward Sword, Skylanders...
I'm very pleased by these casting announcements, some brilliant actors there. The only one from these modern bonds who has been an equal to Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw and Javier Bardem is Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre.
If you want proof of Ben Wishaw's acting skills then I recommend everyone check out The Hour from the BBC.
I still haven't seen Quantum of Solace. I feel like it can't be that bad, but at the same time, I'm scared that it will be.
It's not a bad idea to have Bond care about a lady for more than one movie, though! Continuity is an interesting direction for Bond movies!
It's weird how "Sky" has become a very heavily used word over the course of the last couple years... Skyrim, Skylanders, Skyfall, Sky-o-shock, ect.
Glad to see this is back on track. I also really do like Sam Mendes as a director. Javier Bardem I think is a pretty solid pick for villain. Ralph Fiennes cant hurt either.
Skyrim and Fallout?????????
@Lan115: You do realize only one of those is a film, right? The rest are video games.
Ralph Fiennes? Hell yeah. I hope they make Javier Bardem scary as hell as a villain. Having well-to-do businessmen who just look so goddamned mousy as badguys ain't doing it for me.
@TheToope said:
He didn't mention anything about movies. His point still stands.