Skyfall is the twenty-third James Bond film, produced by Eon Productions for MGM, Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment.^[3] Directed by Sam Mendes, it features Daniel Craig's third performance as James Bond and Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the film's villain. The film is due to be released in the UK on 26 October 2012, which includes IMAX venues.^[4][5]

Premise[link]

James Bond's loyalty to M is challenged over secrets from her past. When MI6 is attacked, it falls to Bond to seek out and eliminate the threat regardless of the cost to himself.^[6]

Cast[link]

The main cast of Skyfall was officially announced at a press conference held at the Corinthia Hotel in London on 3 November 2011,^[7][8][9] fifty years to the day that Sean Connery was announced to play James Bond in the film Dr. No.^[10]

• Daniel Craig as James Bond, agent 007. Director Sam Mendes described Bond as experiencing "[a] combination of lassitude, boredom, depression [and] difficulty with what he's chosen to do for a living."^[11]
• Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva,^[12] the film's main antagonist. Bardem described Silva as "more than a villain", while Daniel Craig stated that Bond has a "very important relationship" to Silva.^[13]
• Judi Dench as M, the head of MI6 and Bond's commanding officer. Skyfall will be Dench's seventh consecutive film in the role.
• Ralph Fiennes as Mallory,^[14] a government agent with the authority to regulate MI6.^[15] Fiennes stated that he could not say anything specific about the role other than that it was "[a] really interesting part which is really quite fun".^[16]
• Albert Finney as Kincade.^[17]
• Naomie Harris as Eve. Early speculation suggested that Harris would play Miss Moneypenny,^[18][19][20] though the character's first name was revealed as "Eve" with no surname disclosed, and she was specifically described as "a field agent". Despite ongoing speculation from tabloids that Eve would be revealed as Moneypenny,^[21] Harris herself dismissed claims that she would be playing the character, stating that "Eve is not remotely office-bound".^[22] According to Harris, Eve "[believes] she is Bond's equal, but she is really his junior".^[23]
• Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner, the MI6 Chief of Staff.
• Bérénice Marlohe as Sévérine.^[24][25] Marlohe described her character as being "glamorous and enigmatic",^[23] and that she drew inspiration from GoldenEye villain Xenia Onatopp (played by Famke Janssen) in playing Sévérine.^[26]
• Helen McCrory as Clair Dowar, a British politician.^[27][28] McCrory joined the cast after Sam Mendes contacted her personally and offered her the part.^[29]
• Ola Rapace as Patrice, a French mercenary who "is a man of few words" and "loves violence".^[30]
• Ben Whishaw as Q.^[31] The character returns to the franchise after being absent in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.

Jens Hultén will also appear in the film, reportedly playing an accomplice of Javier Bardem's character.^[32][33] Ben Loyd Holmes confirmed on Twitter that he had a role in the film.^[34] Greek model Tonia Sotiropoulou, who unsuccessfully auditioned for the role of Sévérine, revealed that she had been cast in a secondary role in the film.^[35]

Production[link]

Javier Bardem was cast as Raoul Silva, Skyfall's villain.

Naomie Harris plays Eve, one of Skyfall's "Bond girls".

Development[link]

Production of Skyfall was suspended throughout 2010 because of MGM's financial troubles. They resumed pre-production following MGM's exit from bankruptcy on 21 December 2010, and in January 2011 the film was officially given a release date of 9 November 2012 by MGM and the Broccoli family, with production scheduled to start in late 2011. Since then, MGM and Sony Pictures announced that the UK and Ireland release date would be brought forward to 26 October 2012, two weeks ahead of the US release date, which remains 9 November 2012.^[36] The film's budget is estimated to be at $150 million,^[2] down from the $200 million spent on Quantum of Solace.

The film is to be part of year-long celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Dr. No and the Bond film series. According to producer Michael G. Wilson, a documentary crew is scheduled to follow production of the film to celebrate the anniversary.^[10] Skyfall will also be the first James Bond film to be released in IMAX venues.^[4][5]

Title[link]

In August 2011, several news websites reposted a rumour that originally appeared in Serbian newspaper Blic stating that Bond 23 would be entitled Carte Blanche and would be an adaptation of the recent continuation novel by Jeffery Deaver.^[37] On 30 August, Eon Productions officially denied any link between Bond 23 and Carte Blanche, stating that "the new film is not going to be called Carte Blanche and will have nothing to do with the Jeffery Deaver book."^[38]

On 3 October 2011, fifteen domain names including 'jamesbond-skyfall.com' and 'skyfallthefilm.com' were reported to have been registered on behalf of MGM and Sony Pictures by internet brand-protection service MarkMonitor. This led to supposition in media that the film had been given the name "Skyfall". These reports were not confirmed at the time by Eon Productions, Sony or MGM.^[39]

Skyfall was later confirmed as the title at the November press conference, during which co-producer Barbara Broccoli said that the title "has some emotional context which will be revealed in the film".^[40]

Crew[link]

Skyfall is directed by Sam Mendes, who first signed on to the project shortly after Quantum of Solace was released, and remained on-board as a "consultant" during the period of uncertainty surrounding MGM's financial situation. Speculation in the media^[41] suggested that Mendes had commissioned rewrites of the script to "[remove] action scenes in favour of 'characterful performances'" with the intention of bidding for an Academy Award.^[41] Mendes denied the reports, stating that the film's planned action scenes were an important part of the overall film.^[10]

Peter Morgan was originally commissioned to write a script, but left the project when MGM filed for bankruptcy and production of the film stalled; despite his departure, Morgan later stated that the final script was based on his original idea, retaining what he described as the film's "big hook".^[42] The final script was written by Bond screenwriting regulars Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, as well as John Logan.^[43][44][45] Logan recounted being brought into the project by his long-time friend Sam Mendes, describing the process between Mendes and the writers as "very collaborative", and that writing Skyfall was one of the best experiences he had had in writing a film.^[46]

Roger Deakins has signed on as cinematographer, having previously worked with Mendes on Jarhead and Revolutionary Road.^[47] Deakins used the Arri Alexa camera for filming.^[48] Thomas Newman, who worked with Sam Mendes as composer for American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Jarhead and Revolutionary Road will replace David Arnold as composer.^[1] Arnold commented that Newman had been selected by Mendes because of their work together, rather than because of Arnold's commitment to working with director Danny Boyle as composer for the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics.^[49] Dennis Gassner returns as production designer, the costume designer is Jany Temime, Alexander Witt is director of the second unit, the stunt co-ordinator is Gary Powell and Chris Corbould will supervise the special effects, while the visual effects supervisor is Steve Begg. All have worked on previous Bond films.^[3]

Locations[link]

Sam Mendes and Barbara Broccoli travelled to South Africa for location scouting in April 2011.^[50] With the film moving into pre-production in August, reports emerged that shooting would take place in India,^[51] with scenes to be shot in the Sarojini Nagar district of New Delhi^[52] and on railway lines between Goa and Ahmedabad.^[53] The production crew faced complications in securing permission to close sections of the Konkan Railway.^[54] Similar problems in obtaining filming permits were encountered by production crews for The Dark Knight Rises and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.^[55] Permission was eventually granted to the Bond production crew, with some additional restrictions put in place at the request of the Indian authorities;^[56] however, it was later reported that the production crew had elected not to shoot in India.^[57] Further reports emerged stating that filming would take place in Istanbul's Sultanahmet Square,^[58] the Hagia Sophia museum, the city of Fethiye and the Varda railway bridge near Adana,^[59] with production expected to spend three months in the country.^[60] Scenes in Adana will see the town stand in for the outskirts of Istanbul.^[30]

Mendes confirmed that China will be featured in the film, with shooting scheduled to take place in Shanghai and "other parts" of the country.^[10] Additional scenes were filmed at Royal Ascot, standing in for Shanghai Pudong International Airport.^{[citation needed]} The first official image from the film was released on 1 February 2012, showing Daniel Craig on set at Pinewood Studios, doubling as a skyscraper in Shanghai.^[61] Set reports dated April 2012 reported that scenes would be set on Hashima Island, an abandoned island off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan.^[62][63]

Shooting was planned to take place at Duntrune Castle in Argyll, Scotland for the finale,^[64] but was cancelled shortly after filming began.^[65] Glencoe was instead chosen for filming of these scenes.^[66]

Filming[link]

Principal photography was scheduled to take up 133 days.^[48] Filming began on 7 November 2011^[67][68] in and around London,^[10][69] with scenes shot in Southwark and Whitehall, the National Gallery,^[70] Smithfield meat markets and St Bartholomew's Hospital,^[71] Canary Wharf,^[72] the Department of Energy and Climate Change,^[73] Charing Cross station and the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich,^[74] with residents reporting further filming as taking place in Cadogan Square,^[75] Tower Hill,^[76] and Parliament Square.^[77] The Vauxhall Bridge was closed to traffic for filming the aftermath of an explosion at the MI6 headquarters at Vauxhall Cross. Unlike The World Is Not Enough, which also featured an explosion at the building — which was filmed at a large-scale replica — the explosion in Skyfall will be added digitally in post-production.^[78] Photos taken by residents in the city's Deptford district revealed the presence of an Aston Martin DB5 on location.^[79]

Production moved to Turkey in March of 2012, with filming reported to be continuing until 6 May.^[80] A group of Turkish teenagers infiltrated a closed set in a railyard in Adana to film rehearsals of a fight scene on top of a train before being caught by security.^[81] Parts of Istanbul — including the Spice Bazaar, Yeni Camii, the Imperial Post Office, Sultanahmet Square and the Grand Bazaar — were closed for filming in April.^[80] Store owners in the affected areas were reportedly allowed to open their shops, but were not allowed to conduct business, instead being paid TRY750 (US$418) per day as compensation.^[80] Production faced criticism for allegedly damaging buildings while filming a motorcycle chase across rooftops in the city. Michael G. Wilson denied these claims, pointing out that the film crew had removed sections of rooftops before filming began and replaced them with replicas for the duration of the shoot; when filming finished, the original rooftops would be restored.^[82]

References[link]

External links[link]

James Bond portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Skyfall's cast and crew

• Official website
• Skyfall at the Internet Movie Database

Mark Kermode
Kermode performing with the Dodge Brothers in 2009.
Born	Mark Fairey (1963-07-02) 2 July 1963 (age 48) Barnet, North London, England
Residence	Brockenhurst, New Forest, Hampshire, England
Nationality	British
Citizenship	British
Education	PhD (English)
Alma mater	University of Manchester
Occupation	Film critic, presenter, musician
Employer	BBC, The Observer, Sight and Sound
Known for	Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews, The Culture Show, The Dodge Brothers

Mark Kermode (born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician and a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He contributes to Sight and Sound magazine, The Observer newspaper and BBC Radio 5 Live, where he presents Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews with Simon Mayo on Friday afternoons.^[1] He also co-presents the BBC Two arts programme The Culture Show and discusses other branches of the arts for the BBC Two programme Newsnight Review. Kermode writes and presents a film-related video blog for the BBC.

Early life and education[link]

Kermode, born Mark Fairey^[2][3] in Barnet, North London, England,^[4] attended Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, an independent boys' school in Elstree, a few years ahead of comedians Sacha Baron Cohen, Matt Lucas and David Baddiel and in the same year as actor Jason Isaacs.^[5] He was raised as a Methodist, and is now a member of the Church of England.^[6]

Mark Fairey's parents divorced when he was in his early 20s and he subsequently changed his surname to his GP mother's maiden name by deed poll.^[7] (Neither of them is related to the literary critic Frank Kermode.^[8])

He earned his PhD in English at the University of Manchester in 1991, writing a thesis on horror fiction.^[4] Kermode has stated that "I was a revolutionary communist affiliate in the 80s", but that "none of us had any respect for Stalin".^[9]

Personal life[link]

Kermode lives in Brockenhurst with his wife, Linda Ruth Williams, a professor who lectures on film at the University of Southampton and has written The Erotic Thriller in Contemporary Cinema and co-edited Contemporary American Cinema.^[10] In October to November 2004, they jointly curated a History of the Horror Film season and exhibition at the National Film Theatre in London.^[10] Kermode and Williams have two children.^[7] Kermode has been described as "a feminist, a near vegetarian (he eats fish), a churchgoer and a straight-arrow spouse who just happens to enjoy seeing people's heads explode across a cinema screen".^[11]

Career[link]

Horror specialisation[link]

Kermode is a visiting fellow at the University of Southampton, having gained a PhD at the University of Manchester in modern English and American horror fiction.^[12] He has also contributed to Fangoria magazine,^[13] authored the monograph The Exorcist (BFI Modern Classics), and worked on film-related documentaries like The Fear of God; 25 Years of the Exorcist, Hell on Earth: The Desecration and Resurrection of Ken Russell's The Devils, The Edge of Blade Runner, and The Cult of The Wicker Man.^[14] He calls The Exorcist (1973) "the best film ever made".^[15] He recommends The Witch Who Came From the Sea as one of the best video nasties of the 1970s.^[16]

Kermode is sometimes critical of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), the censor for film in the UK, calling for horror films from abroad to be shown in their uncut versions. However, in recent years, he has stated on numerous occasions that the BBFC do a good job in an impossible situation, and expressed his approval of their decisions.^[17]

Print media[link]

Kermode began his film career as a print journalist, writing for Manchester's City Life, and then Time Out and the NME in London. He has also written for The Independent, Vox, Empire, Flicks, Fangoria and Neon.^[18] Until September 2005, Kermode reviewed films each week for the New Statesman.^[19] Since 2009 Kermode has written "Mark Kermode's DVD round-up" for The Observer, a weekly review of the latest releases.^[20] He sometimes writes for the British Film Institute's Sight and Sound magazine.^{[citation needed]}

In February 2010, Random House released his autobiography, It's Only a Movie, which he describes as being "inspired by real events".^[21] Its publication was accompanied by a UK tour.^[22] In September 2011 he released a follow-up book entitled The Good, the Bad and the Multiplex, in which he puts forth his opinion on the good and bad of modern films, and vehemently criticizes the modern multiplex experience and the 3D film craze of the early 2000s.^[23]

Radio[link]

Kermode began working at BBC Radio 1 in 1993, on a regular Thursday night slot called Cult Film Corner on Mark Radcliffe's Graveyard Shift session.^[24] He later moved to Simon Mayo's BBC Radio 1 morning show. He also hosted a movie review show with Mary Anne Hobbs on Radio 1 on Tuesday nights called Cling Film.^[25] Between February 1992 and October 1993, he was the resident film reviewer on BBC Radio 5's Morning Edition with Danny Baker.

Kermode also co-hosted an early 1990s afternoon magazine show on BBC Radio 5 called A Game of Two Halves alongside former Blue Peter presenter Caron Keating.^[26]

He currently reviews and debates new film releases each Friday afternoon with Simon Mayo on Mayo's BBC Radio 5 Live show, which is also available as a podcast.^[27] The programme won Gold in the Speech Award category at the 2009 Sony Radio Academy Awards on 11 May 2009. The judges' citation was:^[28]

The winner of the Gold Award made the judges laugh out loud. They found this programme witty and entertaining, cheeky and irreverent, and they admired the sustained passion and energy of its presenters who made listening an effortless and rollercoaster pleasure.

His derisive review of the Christopher Columbus film Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief inspired the Australian comedy film Benjamin Sniddlegrass and the Cauldron of Penguins.

Television[link]

Kermode is currently a regular presenter on BBC Two's The Culture Show. He also appears regularly on Newsnight Review and Film 24 on BBC News. It was during a 2006 interview with Kermode for The Culture Show in Los Angeles that Werner Herzog was shot by an air rifle. Herzog appeared unflustered, later stating "It was not a significant bullet. I am not afraid".^[29][30] On 19 May 2007 he was featured on the show playing with his skiffle band, The Dodge Brothers, in which he plays the double bass.

Kermode is also a film critic and presenter for Film4 and Channel 4, presenting the weekly Extreme Cinema strand. He also writes and presents documentaries for Channel 4.^[18] Once a week, he reviews films for BBC News at Five.

Kermode rarely watches television, calling it "trivial" and stating that "I have been doing my best to avoid [TV] for the last 20 years."^[31] On being challenged by The Observer to watch TV, he admitted "if there's one thing I've learned from agreeing to take up the Observer's TV challenge this summer, it's that an awareness of what's going on in television is probably helpful to an understanding of movies. Worse, it may even be essential".^[31]

Kermode appeared in a cameo role as himself in the revival of the BBC's Absolutely Fabulous on January 1, 2012.^[32]

Other work[link]

As of April 2008, Kermode has started a twice-weekly video blog hosted on the BBC website, where he posts clips of himself talking about films and telling anecdotes.^[33]

Kermode has recorded DVD audio commentaries for Tommy, The Ninth Configuration, The Wicker Man^[34] and (with Peter O'Toole) Becket.^[35] He also appears in the DVD extras of Lost in La Mancha, interviewing Terry Gilliam. Kermode has written books, published by the BFI in its Modern Classics series, on The Exorcist^[36] and The Shawshank Redemption^[37][38] and his documentary for Channel 4, Shawshank: The Redeeming Feature, is on the film's 10th anniversary special edition DVD.^[39]

Opinions[link]

Kermode's appreciation of genre cinema is not always in line with popular taste. He dislikes all four Pirates of the Caribbean films,^[41] all of the live action Transformers films, and considers the Star Wars series to be a "gross infantalisation of the dark hearted 'serious' sci-fi" that he grew up with.^[42] Kermode has also expressed his dislike of director Chris Columbus, labelling him an "accountant director" and producing a negative analysis of the first two Harry Potter films, which Columbus directed. However, Kermode says he has "grown into the Potter story" as the films have advanced in their mature themes and content.^[43] He dislikes 3D films, and is particularly disdainful of the trend for what he calls "retrofitting" 2D movies into 3D,^[44] and he also detests the Cannes Film Festival. Kermode's emphasis on genre cinema has also meant he often expresses a liking for films panned by other critics, such as Basic Instinct 2 (2006)^[45] because it follows genre expectations. Kermode has been critical of documentary maker Michael Moore (despite praising Capitalism: A Love Story on his radio show), accusing him of "feeding his own ego".^[46]. However he expressed his admiration for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, directed by David Slade, a film dismissed by the majority of critics. Kermode has very strong views and is well known for his rants against certain blockbuster movies such as the Michael Bay films mentioned above, often citing the director as a bad example of filmmaking.

Music[link]

Kermode played double-bass for a skiffle/rockabilly band called The Railtown Bottlers in the early 1990s. The Railtown Bottlers were also the house band on the BBC show Danny Baker After All for a series, starting in 1993,^[47][48] where he performed with Madness lead singer, Suggs.^[49] He currently plays bass in skiffle quartet The Dodge Brothers.^[48]

Awards and other recognition[link]

Kermode is 75th on The Guardian's Film Power 100;^[52] According to The Screen Directory, Kermode is tenth in the list of the best film critics, in company that includes Alexander Walker, Pauline Kael, Roger Ebert, David Thomson, and James Agee.^[40]

Kermode is a patron of the Phoenix Cinema in North London.^[53]

References[link]