Spectre (2015 film)

Spectre

British teaser poster
Directed by Sam Mendes
Produced by
Screenplay by
Based on James Bond 
by Ian Fleming
Starring Daniel Craig
Music by Thomas Newman
Cinematography Hoyte van Hoytema
Edited by Lee Smith
Production
company
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 6 November 2015
Country United Kingdom
Language English

Spectre will be the twenty-fourth James Bond film produced by Eon Productions. It will be the second film in the series directed by Sam Mendes and will feature Daniel Craig in his fourth performance as James Bond,[1] and Christoph Waltz as Franz Oberhauser, the film's antagonist.[2] Spectre is scheduled to be released on 6 November 2015.[3][4]

Premise

In the aftermath of the bombing of MI6 by Raoul Silva, a cryptic message sets in motion events that will see James Bond come face-to-face with the sinister organisation known as SPECTRE. As Gareth Mallory, the newly-appointed M, continues fighting political pressures that threaten the future of MI6, Bond follows a trail from Mexico to Austria and Morocco as he is drawn into a confrontation with an enemy from his past, who holds a dangerous secret that will force him to question the value of everything he has fought to protect.[5][6][7]

Cast

Christoph Waltz will play Franz Oberhauser.

Production

Copyright status

The ownership of the SPECTRE organisation and its characters had been at the centre of long-standing litigation starting in 1961 between Ian Fleming and Kevin McClory over the film rights to the novel Thunderball. The dispute began after Fleming incorporated elements of an undeveloped film script written by McClory into Thunderball. In 1963 Fleming settled out of court with McClory, which awarded McClory the film rights. This enabled him to become a producer for the 1965 film Thunderball—with Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman as executive producers—and the non-canonical film Never Say Never Again in 1983.[N 1] Under the terms of the settlement, the literary rights stayed with Fleming.[14]

In November 2013 MGM and the McClory estate formally settled the issue with Danjaq, LLC—the parent company of Eon Productions—and MGM acquiring the full copyright film rights to the concept of SPECTRE and all of the characters associated with it.[15]

Pre-production

Sony Pictures Entertainment hack

In November 2014 Sony Pictures Entertainment was targeted by hackers who released details of confidential e-mails between Sony executives regarding several high-profile film projects. Included within these were several memos relating to the production of Spectre claiming that the film was over budget and detailing early drafts of the script written by John Logan.[16] Eon Productions later issued a statement confirming the leak of what they called "an early version of the screenplay".[17]

Source material

Despite being an original story, Spectre draws on Ian Fleming's source material, most notably in the character of Franz Oberhauser, played by Christoph Waltz. Oberhauser shares his name with Hannes Oberhauser, a background character in the short story "Octopussy" from the Octopussy and The Living Daylights collection, and who is named in the film as having been a temporary legal guardian of a young Bond in 1983.[18] Similarly, Charmain Bond is shown to have been his full-time guardian, observing the back story established by Fleming.[18]

Casting

At the age of 50, Monica Bellucci became the oldest actor to be cast as a "Bond girl".

The main cast were revealed in December 2014 at the 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios. Daniel Craig returned for his fourth appearance as James Bond, while Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw reprised their roles as M, Eve Moneypenny and Q respectively, having being established in Skyfall. Rory Kinnear will also reprise his role as Bill Tanner in his third appearance in the franchise.

Christoph Waltz was cast in the role of Franz Oberhauser, though he refused to comment on the nature of the part. Dave Bautista was cast as Mr. Hinx after producers sought an actor with a background in contact sports.[19] Monica Bellucci also joined the cast as Lucia Sciarra, becoming the oldest actor to be cast as a "Bond girl" at the age of fifty. In a separate interview with Danish website Euroman, Jesper Christensen revealed he will be reprising his role as Mr. White from Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.[10][11] Christensen's character was reportedly killed off in a scene intended to be used as an epilogue to Quantum of Solace before it was removed from the final cut of the film,[20] enabling his return in Spectre.

In addition to the principal cast, Alessandro Cremona was cast as Marco Sciarra,[12] Stephanie Sigman was cast as Estrella,[21] and Detlef Bothe was cast as a villain for scenes shot in Austria.[22] In February 2015 over fifteen hundred extras were hired for the pre-title sequence set in Mexico,[23][24][25] though they will be duplicated in the film, giving the effect of around ten thousand extras.[26]

Crew

In March 2013 Sam Mendes said he would not return to direct the next film in the series, then known as Bond 24;[27][28] he later recanted and announced that he would return, as he found the script and the plans for the long-term future of the franchise appealing.[29] In directing Skyfall and Spectre, Mendes will become the first director to oversee two consecutive Bond films since John Glen directed The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill in 1987 and 1989. Skyfall writer John Logan resumed his role of scriptwriter,[30] collaborating with Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who returned for their fifth Bond film.[N 2] The writer Jez Butterworth also worked on the script, alongside Mendes and Craig.[32] Dennis Gassner will also return as the film's production designer,[5] while cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema will take over from Roger Deakins.[5][33]

Filming

Director Sam Mendes revealed that production would begin on 8 December 2014 at Pinewood Studios, with filming taking seven months.[34] Mendes also confirmed several filming locations, including London, Mexico City and Rome. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema is shooting the film on Kodak 35 mm film stock.[35]

Early filming took place at Pinewood Studios, and around London, with scenes variously featuring Daniel Craig and Naomie Harris at Bond's flat, and Craig and Rory Kinnear travelling down the River Thames.[36]

Filming started in Austria in December 2014, with production taking in the area around Sölden—including the Ötztal Glacier Road, Rettenbach glacier and the adjacent ski resort and cable car station—and Obertilliach and Lake Altaussee before concluding in February 2015.[37][38][39] Scenes filmed in Austria centred on the Ice Q Restaurant, standing in for the fictional Hoffler Klinik, a private medical clinic in the Austrian Alps. Filming included an action scene featuring a Land Rover Defender Bigfoot and a Range Rover Sport.[40] Production was temporarily halted first by an injury to Daniel Craig, who sprained his knee whilst shooting a fight scene,[41] and later by an accident involving a filming vehicle that saw three crew members injured, at least one of them seriously.[42][43]

Filming temporarily returned to England to shoot scenes at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, which will stand in for a location in Rome, before moving on to the city itself for a five-week shoot across the city, with locations including the Ponte Sisto bridge and the Roman Forum.[44] The production faced opposition from a variety of special interest groups and city authorities who were concerned about the potential for damage to historical sites around the city and problems with graffiti and rubbish appearing in the film.[45][46] A car chase scene set along the banks of the Tiber River and through the streets of Rome will feature an Aston Martin DB10 and a Jaguar C-X75.[40] The C-X75 was originally developed as a hybrid electric vehicle with four independent battery-powered engines before the project was cancelled,[47] but the version used for filming was converted to use a conventional internal combustion engine to minimise the potential for disruption from mechanical problems with the complex hybrid system.

Filming shut down Mexico City's central plaza, the Zócalo.

With filming completed in Rome, production moved to Mexico City in late March to shoot the film's opening sequence, with scenes to include the Day of the Dead festival filmed in and around the Zócalo and the Centro Histórico district.[48] The planned scenes required the city square to be closed for filming a sequence involving a fight aboard a Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm Bo 150 helicopter flown by stunt pilot Chuck Aaron,[49] which called for modifications to be made to several buildings to prevent damage.[50] Reports in the Mexican media added that the film's second unit would move to Palenque in the state of Chiapas to film aerial manoeuvres considered too dangerous to shoot in an urban area.

Following filming in Mexico, and during a scheduled break, Daniel Craig was flown to New York City to undergo minor surgery to fix an injury he sustained on his knee during filming in Austria. It was reported that filming was not affected and Craig is scheduled to return to filming at Pinewood Studios on 22 April.[51]

Production is scheduled to travel to Morocco in June, with filming to take place in Oujda, Tangier and Erfoud after preliminary work is completed by the production's second unit.[52]

Taxation benefits controversy

Whilst filming in Mexico City, speculation in the media claimed that the script had been altered to accommodate the demands of Mexican authorities—reportedly influencing details of the scene and characters, casting choices, and modifying the script in order to portray the country in a "positive light"—in order to secure tax concessions and financial support worth up to $20 million for the film.[53] This was denied by producer Michael G. Wilson,[53] who stated that the scene had always been intended to be shot in Mexico as production had been attracted to the imagery of the Day of the Dead, and that the script had been developed from there.[54] Production of Skyfall had previously faced similar problems while attempting to secure permits to shoot the film's pre-title sequence in India before moving to Istanbul.[55][56]

Music

Thomas Newman returned as Spectre‍ '​s composer.[5] Rather than composing the score once the film had moved into post-production, Newman worked during filming, composing music for the opening sequence in Mexico City.[26]

Release

Spectre is due to be released worldwide on 6 November 2015.[4] Following the announcement of the start of filming, Paramount Pictures brought forward the release of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation to avoid competing with Spectre.[57]

Marketing

During the December 2014 press conference announcing the start of filming, Aston Martin and Eon unveiled the new DB10 as the official car for the film. The DB10 was designed in collaboration between Aston Martin and the filmmakers, with only ten being produced especially for Spectre as a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the company's association with the franchise.[58]

To promote the film, production continued the trend established during Skyfall's production of releasing still images of clapperboards and video blogs on Eon's official social media accounts.[59][60]

On 13 March 2015, several members of the cast and crew, including Daniel Craig, Ben Whishaw, Michael G. Wilson and Sam Mendes, as well as previous James Bond actor Sir Roger Moore appeared in a sketch written by David Walliams and the Dawson Brothers for Comic Relief's Red Nose Day on BBC One in which they film a behind-the-scenes mockumentary on the filming of Spectre.[61][62]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Following the settlement, Eon Productions licenced SPECTRE and its characters from McClory for ten years,[13] allowing their subsequent appearances in You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Diamonds Are Forever.
  2. ↑ Purvis and Wade were credited for the screenplay of Quantum of Solace as they wrote the original draft of the film. However, the final script was written by Paul Haggis with several uncredited co-writers.[31]

References

  1. ↑ Frost, Caroline (4 December 2014). "James Bond Villain In 'Spectre' Will Be Christoph Waltz, But Who's 007's Best Villain? (Vote, Pictures)". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  2. ↑ Vipers, Gareth (5 December 2014). "James Bond: New 007 Film to Be Called Spectre With Christoph Waltz Confirmed as Villain". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  3. ↑ Denham, Jess (16 December 2014). "Spectre: James Bond back in action as Daniel Craig and Rory Kinnear film in London". The Independent.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Sam Mendes on Spectre". 007.com. Eon Productions. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Bond returns in Spectre". 007.com (Eon Productions). 4 December 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  6. ↑ Martin, William (4 December 2014). "'SPECTRE': Poster and synopsis revealed for new Bond film". Cultbox. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Sam Mendes: Spectre about Bond's childhood". BBC Entertainment (BBC). 27 February 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  8. ↑ Hewitt, Chris (26 February 2015). "Empire Magazine" (April 2015). p. 60.
  9. ↑ Hewitt, Chris (26 February 2015). "Empire Magazine" (April 2015). p. 64.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Peter Nicolai, Gudme Christensen (4 December 2014). "Jesper Christensen skal være James Bond-skurk for tredje gang". Euroman. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Williams, Owen (5 December 2014). "Mr White Will Return In SPECTRE". Empire. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "CS visits James Bond in Mexico City and learns how Spectre begins". comingsoon.net. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  13. ↑ "Thunderball". Obsessional.co.uk. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  14. ↑ Lycett, Andrew (1996). Ian Fleming. London: Phoenix. p. 432. ISBN 978-1-85799-783-5.
  15. ↑ Vejvoda, Jim. "MGM, Danjaq Settle James Bond Rights Dispute With McClory Estate". IGN. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  16. ↑ "Draft Script for James Bond Film Spectre Leaked in Sony Hack". The Guardian. 14 December 2014.
  17. ↑ "Statement on Spectre". 007.com. Eon Productions. 13 December 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Spectre Trailer - /Film". Slashfilm.
  19. ↑ "Bautista will star in next James Bond movie". latino-review.com. 13 October 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  20. ↑ "The Fate Of Mr. White". MI6-HQ.COM.
  21. ↑ "Stephanie Sigman Joins Spectre". 007.com. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  22. ↑ "Detlef Bothe Speaks". MI6-HQ.COM.
  23. ↑ Cantú, María José. "Buscan espectros mexicanos para James Bond". Milenio. Milenio. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  24. ↑ "Filmará 007 9 días en el DF". Reform Agency. Reform Agency. 16 February 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  25. ↑ Hewitt, Chris (26 February 2015). "Empire Magazine" (April 2015). p. 66.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Nicholson, Max; Cornet, Roth. "James Bond Producers Delve Deep Into Spectre". IGN. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  27. ↑ "Sam Mendes "won't direct" next Bond". BBC News. 6 March 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  28. ↑ de Semlyen, Phil (6 March 2013). "Sam Mendes Won't Direct Bond 24". Empire. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  29. ↑ Mzimba, Lizo (4 December 2014). "Spectre: Sam Mendes hints at 'more mischief' in new James Bond film". bbc.co.uk (BBC). Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  30. ↑ "Sam Mendes Returns to Direct". Eon Productions. 11 July 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  31. ↑ "A James Bond Set Visit and Seven Exclusive Quantum of Solace Images!". Rotten Tomatoes. 4 April 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  32. ↑ Brockes, Emma (10 November 2014). "All or Nothing". The New Yorker. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  33. ↑ Tapley, Kristopher (20 November 2014). "Interstellar cinematographer on grounding Nolan's movie and shooting Bond on film". HitFix. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  34. ↑ Miller, Ross (4 December 2014). "The next James Bond film is called Spectre: new car, poster, and full cast confirmed". The Verge. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  35. ↑ "Productions on Kodak Motion Picture Film". kodak.com. Kodak. Retrieved 4 December 2014. Title — Bond 24; Director — Sam Mendes; Cinematographer — Hoyte van Hoytema
  36. ↑ "London Filming (1)". MI6-HQ.COM.
  37. ↑ "James Bond". 4 December 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  38. ↑ "James Bond 24: new 007 film title unveiled as 'Spectre' with Christoph Waltz confirmed as Bond villain". standard.co.uk. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  39. ↑ Falkner, Jakob; Swartz, Oliver (5 December 2014). "Sölden – filming location for the new James Bond Movie". soelden.com. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 "Jaguar and Land Rover Announce Partnership with Spectre the 24th James Bond Adventure". Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  41. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony. "Daniel Craig Returns To Spectre Today After Knee Injury Earlier This Week". deadline.com. Deadline.
  42. ↑ "3 Injured during filming of new Bond flick in Austria". efe.com. EFE.
  43. ↑ Agence France Press. "Two technicians seriously injured on James Bond set in Austria". alarabiya.net. Al Arabiya.
  44. ↑ "Spectre moves to Rome". 007.com (Danjaq LLC). 19 February 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  45. ↑ "Rome Filming (1)". MI6-HQ.COM.
  46. ↑ "Arrivederci Mr. Bond". MI6-HQ.COM.
  47. ↑ "First Look: Jaguar C-X75 Concept". Motor Trend. 28 September 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  48. ↑ "James Bond se apodera del Centro Histórico". Excelsion Newspaper Online. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  49. ↑ "Spectre Opening Sequence Description: Find Out How Bond 24 Begins". Collider.
  50. ↑ "Inician Ensayos de escenas de Spectre en El Zocalo". Periodico El Universal. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  51. ↑ "Daniel Craig has knee surgery after Bond injury". BBC News. 5 April 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  52. ↑ "'Spectre', 'King Tut' and 'The Book of the Dead' Sail To Morocco". variety.com/. 6 December 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  53. ↑ 53.0 53.1 John Hecht. "'Spectre': James Bond Film Reportedly Receiving $20M for Portraying Mexico Positively". The Hollywood Reporter.
  54. ↑ "James Bond producer says Mexico didn't make changes to Spectre script". The Guardian. 19 March 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  55. ↑ "Bond could have shot". The Times of India (Mumbai). 26 September 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  56. ↑ "James Bond's author was friend of Gujarat royalty". The Times of India (Mumbai). 17 November 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  57. ↑ Hayden, Erik; McClintock, Pamela (26 January 2015). "Paramount Shifts 'Mission: Impossible 5' Release Date to Summer 2015". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  58. ↑ "Built for Bond: Aston Martin Debuts Unique Car for Spectre". Aston Martin. 4 December 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  59. ↑ "@007". 007 Official Twitter Account. 24 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  60. ↑ "Sam Mendes on Spectre". The Official James Bond 007 Website. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  61. ↑ Dearden, Lizzie (13 March 2015). "Red Nose Day 2015: Daniel Craig and Sir Roger Moore to star in James Bond Comic Relief sketch". The Independent (Independent Print Limited). Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  62. ↑ "Daniel Craig given license to thrill viewers for Red Nose Day". Comic Relief: Red Nose Day. Retrieved 13 March 2015.

External links