Skyfall

Skyfall is the twenty-third James Bond film produced by Eon Productions. It features Daniel Craig in his third performance as James Bond, and Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the film's villain. It was directed by Sam Mendes and written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan, and features an Academy Award-winning theme, sung by Adele. It was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and Sony Pictures.[3]

The story centres on Bond investigating an attack on MI6; the attack is part of a plot by former MI6 operative Raoul Silva to humiliate, discredit and kill M as revenge against her for betraying him. The film sees the return of two recurring characters to the series after an absence of two films: Q, played by Ben Whishaw, and Eve Moneypenny, played by Naomie Harris. Skyfall is the last film of the series for Judi Dench, who played M, a role that she had played in the previous six films. The position is subsequently filled by Ralph Fiennes' character, Gareth Mallory.

Mendes was approached to direct the film after the release of Quantum of Solace in 2008. Development was suspended when MGM encountered financial troubles and did not resume until December 2010; during this time, Mendes remained attached to the project as a consultant. The original screenwriter, Peter Morgan, left the project during the suspension. When production resumed, Logan, Purvis, and Wade continued writing what became the final version of the script. Filming began in November 2011 and primarily took place in the United Kingdom, with smaller portions shot in China and Turkey.

Skyfall premiered in London at the Royal Albert Hall on 23 October 2012 and was released in the United Kingdom on 26 October 2012 and the United States on 9 November 2012. It was the first James Bond film to be screened in IMAX venues, although it was not filmed with IMAX cameras. The film's release coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Bond series, which began with Dr. No in 1962. Skyfall was positively received by critics, being praised for its acting—particularly that of Bardem and Dench—writing and script, cinematography, Mendes' direction, Thomas Newman's score, and the action scenes. At the box office, it became the 14th film, as well as the first Bond film, to gross over $1,000 million worldwide. It became the seventh-highest-grossing film of all time, the highest-grossing film in the UK, the highest-grossing film in the Bond series, the highest-grossing film worldwide for both Sony Pictures and MGM, and the second-highest-grossing film of 2012. The film won several accolades, including two BAFTA Awards, two Academy Awards and two Grammys.

Contents 

1 Plot

2 Cast

3 Production

3.1 Development

3.2 Pre-production

3.2.1 Casting

3.2.2 Crew

3.2.3 Location scouting

3.3 Filming

3.4 Music

4 Release and reception

4.1 Box office

4.2 Critical reception

4.3 Home media

4.4 Accolades

5 See also

6 Notes and references

6.1 Notes

6.2 References

7 External links

Plot

In Istanbul MI6 agents James Bond and Eve Moneypenny chase a mercenary, Patrice, who has stolen a computer hard drive containing details of undercover agents placed in terrorist organisations by NATO states. Patrice wounds Bond in the shoulder and, as the two men fight atop a train, M, the head of MI6, orders Eve to fire a distant shot with a rifle at Patrice, inadvertently shooting Bond, allowing Patrice to escape. Bond falls into a river and goes missing, presumed to be dead.

In the aftermath of the operation M comes under political pressure, from Gareth Mallory, the Intelligence and Security Committee Chairman, to retire. On her return from the meeting, MI6's servers are breached and M receives a taunting message via computer moments before the offices explode, killing a number of employees. MI6 relocates to its emergency offices underground. Bond, having used his supposed death to retire, learns of the attack and returns to London. Although he fails a series of physical and psychological examinations, M approves his return to the field. Shrapnel taken from Bond's shoulder wound helps identify Patrice, and intelligence places him in Shanghai, where he is planning an assassination. Bond is ordered to identify Patrice's employer, recover the stolen hard drive and kill Patrice.

In Shanghai Bond follows Patrice into a skyscraper, from which the latter shoots his target. He and Bond fight, but Patrice falls to his death before Bond can learn of his employer. Searching Patrice's equipment, Bond finds a gambling chip intended as payment for the assassination, which leads him to a casino in Macau. Bond is approached by Séverine, whom he witnessed as an accomplice in the assassination, and asks to meet the person for whom she and Patrice work. She warns him that he is about to be killed by her bodyguards, but promises to help Bond if he will kill her employer. Bond defeats his attackers and joins Séverine on her yacht. They travel to an abandoned island off the coast of Macau, where they are taken prisoner by the crew and delivered to Raoul Silva. A former MI6 officer who had previously worked under M, Silva has turned to cyberterrorism, orchestrating the attacks on MI6. Silva kills Séverine, but Bond overpowers his guards and captures Silva for removal to Britain.

At MI6's underground headquarters Q attempts to decrypt Silva's laptop, but inadvertently enables it to access the MI6 systems, allowing Silva to escape from MI6 custody. Bond realises that Silva wanted to be captured as part of a plan to confront and kill M, whom he resents for leaving him to die after being captured years earlier. Bond gives chase through the tunnel network under London. Silva attacks M during a public inquiry into her handling of the stolen hard drive. Bond arrives in time to join Mallory and Eve in repelling Silva's attack, and M is hurried from the building by her aide, Bill Tanner.

Bond drives M to Skyfall, his family estate and childhood home in Scotland. Laying a trap, he instructs Q to leave an electronic trail for Silva to follow, a decision Mallory supports. Bond and M are met by Kincade, the Skyfall gamekeeper. The trio are only lightly armed, but they improvise a series of booby traps throughout the house. When Silva's men arrive, Bond, M and Kincade fight off the assault, although M is wounded. Silva arrives by helicopter to lead a much heavier second assault, and Bond sends M and Kincade off through a secret tunnel at the back of a priest hole to a chapel on the grounds. Bond detonates gas canisters with a stick of dynamite and retreats down the same tunnel as M and Kincade. The resulting blast causes the helicopter to crash, destroying the house and killing most of Silva's men.

Silva survives and, spotting Kincade's torch beam, follows Kincade and M to the chapel. He forces his gun into M's hand, begging her to kill them both. Bond, having been delayed fighting Silva's henchmen, arrives and kills Silva by throwing a knife into his back, but M succumbs to her earlier wound and dies. Following M's funeral, Eve—formally introducing herself to Bond as Miss Moneypenny for the first time—retires from field work to become secretary for the new head of MI6, Mallory, who assumes the title of M.

Cast

Daniel Craig as James Bond, agent 007.

Judi Dench as M, the head of MI6 and Bond's superior.

Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva (born Tiago Rodriguez),[4] an ex-MI6 operative-turned-cyberterrorist.

Ralph Fiennes as Gareth Mallory, Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, who assumes the role of M at the end of the film.

Naomie Harris as Eve Moneypenny (who remains unnamed until the end of the film), an MI6 field agent.

Bérénice Marlohe as Sévérine, Raoul Silva's associate.

Albert Finney as Kincade, the gamekeeper of the Skyfall estate.

Ben Whishaw as Q, the MI6 quartermaster.

Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner, the MI6 Chief of Staff.

Ola Rapace as Patrice, a mercenary.

Production

Development

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. Subsequently MGM and Sony Pictures announced that the UK release date would be brought forward to 26 October 2012, two weeks ahead of the US release date, which remained scheduled for 9 November 2012.[5] The film's budget is estimated to be between US$150 million[6][7] and $200 million,[8] compared to the $200 million spent on Quantum of Solace.[9] Skyfall was 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 was scheduled to follow production of the film to celebrate the anniversary.[10]

Pre-production

After the release of Quantum of Solace in 2008, producer Barbara Broccoli commented that Skyfall, untitled at the time, may continue the plot of the Quantum organisation, introduced in Casino Royale and continued in Quantum of Solace.[11] Ultimately, Skyfall was a stand-alone film.

In August 2011 the Serbian newspaper Blic stated that Bond 23 would be entitled Carte Blanche and would be an adaptation of the recent continuation novel by Jeffery Deaver.[12] 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".[13] 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 the media that the film had been given the name "Skyfall". These reports were not confirmed at the time by Eon Productions, Sony or MGM.[14] Skyfall was later confirmed as the title at a press conference on 3 November 2011, during which co-producer Barbara Broccoli said that the title "has some emotional context which will be revealed in the film".[15] The title refers to the name of Bond's childhood home "Skyfall", and the setting for the film's finale.[16]

Casting

The main cast of Skyfall was officially announced at a press conference held at the Corinthia Hotel in London on 3 November 2011,[17] fifty years to the day that Sean Connery was announced to play James Bond in the film Dr. No.[10] Daniel Craig returned as James Bond for the third time,[18] saying he felt lucky to have the chance to appear as 007.[19] 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".[20] Judi Dench returned as M for her seventh and final appearance in the role.[21] Over the course of the film, M's ability to run MI6 is repeatedly called into question, culminating in a public inquiry into her running of the service.

Javier Bardem was cast as the film's principal villain, Raoul Silva, a cyberterrorist who is seeking revenge against those he holds responsible for betraying him.[22][23] Bardem described Silva as "more than a villain", while Craig stated that Bond has a "very important relationship" to Silva.[24] In casting the role, director Sam Mendes admitted that he lobbied hard for Bardem to accept the part. Mendes saw the potential for the character to be recognised as one of the most memorable characters in the series and wanted to create "something [the audience] may consider to have been absent from the Bond movies for a long time".[25] He felt that Bardem was one of the few actors up to the task of becoming "colourless" and existing within the world of the film as something more than a function of the plot.[26] In preparing for the role, Bardem had the script translated into his native Spanish to better understand his character, which Mendes cited as being a sign of the actor's commitment to the film.[27] Bardem dyed his hair blond for the role after brainstorming ideas with Mendes to come up with a distinct visual look for the character,[28] which led some commentators to observe a similarity between the character and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.[29][30][31] Bérénice Marlohe was cast as Séverine, a character who had been saved from the Macau sex trade by Silva and now works as his representative.[32][33] Marlohe described her character as being "glamorous and enigmatic",[18] and that she drew inspiration from GoldenEye villain Xenia Onatopp (played by Famke Janssen) in playing Séverine.[34]

Ralph Fiennes was cast as Gareth Mallory,[35] a former lieutenant colonel in the British Army and now the Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee,[36] which gives him the authority to regulate MI6.[37] At the end of the film, Mallory becomes the head of MI6, assuming the title of M. During production, 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".[38] To play the returning character of Miss Moneypenny, Naomie Harris was cast.[31] Harris' role was initially presented as that of Eve, an MI6 field agent who works closely with Bond. Despite ongoing speculation in the media that Harris had been cast as Miss Moneypenny,[39][40] this was not confirmed by anyone involved in production of the film, with Harris herself even going so far as to dismiss claims that Eve was in fact Moneypenny, stating that "Eve is not remotely office-bound".[41] According to Harris, Eve "[believes] she is Bond's equal, but she is really his junior".[42] Another character returning to the series was Q, played by Ben Whishaw.[43] Mendes had initially declined to confirm which part Whishaw would play,[18] and later said the idea of the re-introduction was his, saying "I offered ideas about Moneypenny, Q and a flamboyant villain and they said yes". To play the part of Kincade, Mendes cast Albert Finney.[44] The producers briefly considered approaching Sean Connery to play the role in a nod to the 50th anniversary of the film series, but elected not to as they felt Connery's presence would be seen as stunt casting and disengage audiences from the film