IGN has an informative interview with Michael Wilson. Read the whole thing, but the money quote is:
Q: Will Quantum of Solace have anything to do with Fleming’s short story.
Wilson: No, it’s completely original, it doesn’t use any part of the short story.
The London Times has an extensive interview with Mathieu Amalric, mostly about the demands of starring in The Diving Bell and Butterfly, but he also discusses Quantum of Solace.
Before accepting the role, he asked the veteran actor Michael Lonsdale, who played the villainous Sir Hugo Drax in Moonraker, how it had affected his career. “It didn’t change his life,” Amalric says. He adds that the film is “very dark” and the role extremely physical – anything might seem physical after playing Bauby – because of a big fight with Bond at the end. “I’ll have to be in shape for it,” he says.
By the way, Lonsdale played Amalric’s father in Munich (and former Blofeld Max von Sydow—who got it wrong about Amalric in QOS—plays his father in The Diving Bell…
Meanwhile, MI6 quotes Gemma Arterton about her character:
Arterton said, “she’s an MI6 agent call Agent Fields and she works for the British Consulate in Bolivia trying to keep Bond under control. But obviously, he’s Bond, so… She sort of comes to a sticky end.”
Finally, CBn has got Daniel Craig talking about Bond’s flaws:
Flaws are important in the character and flaws make for more interesting watching, so there will be mistakes, but hopefully he’ll win the day.
The BBC has an extensive report from the set of Quantum of Solace. It’s worth reading the whole thing, but here are some highlights (spoilers ahead):
As I have been complaining about the lack of a cast of regulars at MI6, I’m delighted to learn that Chief of Staff Bill Tanner returns to the Bond Franchise for QOS.
The role will be played by Rory Kinnear. I’m sorry that Michael Kitchen is not returning, but the 29 year old actor has got my attention. So thank you, Eon!
I guess I’m obsessed.
Craig discusses the title: Fleming defined a quantum of solace – it means, roughly, a measure of comfort – as “that spark of niceness in a relationship that, if you don’t have, you might as well give up.” Bond in this film “is looking for his quantum of solace,” Craig said. “He wants his closure.”
On Vesper: “He had his heart broken at the end of the last movie and that certainly is a spur for him in this one.”
“I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t revenge in his heart. But it’s more than that. That spurs him on, but that’s not what the movie is. It’s not a revenge movie. It’s about him figuring a few things out.”
Amalric on his deformity-free villain: “That’s maybe what is horrible about today. We can’t guess who the villains are. The villains are invisible.”
CBn says:
Producer Michael G. Wilson stated that the title was only decided a few days ago and added that Quantum of Solace would begin ‘literally an hour after the last film left off.’ ‘We thought it was an intriguing title and referenced what happened to Bond and what is happening in the film,’ he said.
Read the whole article, it’s loaded with news. In short:
More action, lots of gadgets. Barbara Broccoli says it’s not a revenge movie, but Olga Kurylenko says it is. “Camille” is after a different sort of revenge, and she teams with Bond.
Empire Online says:
The plot centres on an attempted coup in a South American country. Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), who works behind the cover of an organisation called Green Planet, wants to control one of the world’s most important natural resources and to aid in this he makes a deal with an exiled South American general to get him back into power.
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Olga Kurylenko’s character, Camille, is half Ukrainian and half South American. She leads Bond to Greene in his effort to find out more about Vesper, the woman he loved and lost in Casino Royale.
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“James Bond is after revenge, and Camille is after revenge,” Kurylenko said. “They have slightly different goals, but in the end they are going to have to collaborate”. Kurylenko is currently still in training for her role, but has yet to shoot any scenes. “I’m doing weapons training and body flight training for aerial scenes and stunt work for fighting,” she continued. “My days are so long, and it’s very physical. She’s a fighter. This girl is going to kick ass. She’s on her own mission and she’s driven by revenge
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Gemma Arterton’s character, Agent Fields, is an MI6 agent working at the British consulate in Bolivia. Shooting will take place in Panama and Chile. Arterton has already shot love scenes with Bond. “I felt like a giggly girl, and I felt so young and inexperienced – but I kissed James Bond!” she said, adding that her character is “fresh and young, not sultry and a femme fatale”.
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Mathieu Amalric says his villain will not be a larger than life figure. He said “He’s not an over the top villian…No scars, no metal jaw – he is nude”. We believe he meant no visual odditties, rather than Bond’s first all naked nemesis.
MI6 has the news, and commenter Peter will be crestfallen.
Producer Michael G. Wilson stated that in order for the characters to have appeared in the new film, moments would have to be carved out for them which would not have felt “organic”.
Boo fucking hoo. You’ve got an Academy Award winning writer, you’ve got a critically acclaimed director. You can make it organic! And a regular cast at MI6 (Bond’s HQ, not the fansite) makes the movie, and the franchise, more organic, whereas some anonymous guy who shows up, sticks a tracer in Bond’s arm, and then leaves, is artificial.
Wilson left the door open for the characters, saying that they may come back in the future, but only if the story demands it.
Don’t toy with me, Mikey.
I changed the category “Bond 22″ to Quantum of Solace, so anything that was posted in the past few months about rumors, casting, etc. will now be found in that category.
Oh, one more thing. There is another Fleming story title besides the ones I listed: 007 in New York. Not much of a title, and the story itself, what there is of it, is kind of jokey. As a bit of trivia, the story does discuss a character named Solange.
And did I mention? Big news. So happy.
