News

Simon Brew Mar 14, 2017

The James Bond movie Spectre was in cinemas less than 12 months after production began. Here's a taste of just what a challenge that was.

A while back for this very site, I looked at the truncated production period that saw the movie Lethal Weapon 4 start filming in January 1998, before arriving in cinemas just over six months later. Warner Bros had a hole in its schedule it urgently needed to fill, and the Lethal Weapon sequel got the green light. The end result was a baggy film, more driven by comedy than action, but a very solid hit.

See related Lee Unkrich interview: Pixar, Toy Story 3, sequels and scary characters

Lethal Weapon 4 was, whilst a very fast production, a more contained one, shot in and around the Los Angeles area. Conversely, the more I read about 2015’s James Bond adventure, Spectre, the more I’m...

facebook

twitter

google+

Exclusive: Sam Mendes talks us through the opening helicopter sequence in Spectre, in some detail…

Now playing in UK cinemas is Spectre, the eagerly-awaited 24th James Bond film. It stars Daniel Craig and is directed once again by Sam Mendes. And we had a chance to sit down with Mendes to chat about the film.

We decided to avoid the questions about if he’s doing another Bond film, if it’s all the same with your good selves. And instead, we asked him to take us through, in detail, the difficulties of one sequence in his new film. We’re thrilled he obliged.

One spoiler note: the scene we’re going to discuss all takes place before Sam Smith starts singing…

I figure we’ve got ten minutes here, so if it’s okay with you, I want to do something that’s not clickbait-y.

We’re movie nerds,...

Hello again, dear readers. We’re now firmly into October, the days are getting shorter, and Halloween is on the way. But there’s still some cool movies coming out this year, including the subject of today’s column. With that, let’s take a look at the latest (and final) trailer for the new James Bond movie, Spectre.

Premise: In the aftermath of the attack on MI6, a cryptic message sets in motion events that will see James Bond (Daniel Craig) come face-to-face with the sinister organization known as Spectre. While Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), the newly appointed M, continues fighting political pressures that threaten the future of MI6, Bond discovers that the only way to unravel the web of conspiracy is to protect the innocent daughter of a powerful enemy. Following a trail from Mexico to Italy, Austria, and Morocco, he is forced to operate outside his purview...

Daniel Craig has spoken out about his take on James Bond, saying: "He's very f**king lonely".

Talking to Esquire, he opened up about what it really must be like to be 007, adding: "There's a great sadness."

"He's f**king these beautiful women, but then they leave and it's... sad," he continued.

"And as a man gets older, it's not a good look. It might be a nice fantasy – that's debatable – but the reality, after a couple of months..."

It's enough to make Alan Partridge weep.

The upcoming Bond movie Spectre sees Craig back for his fourth appearance as 007, with Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Rory Kinnear and Naomie Harris also reprising their roles.

Fresh faces to the franchise include Christoph Waltz, Monica Bellucci, Léa Seydoux, Sherlock's Andrew Scott and newcomer Alessandro Cremona.

Spectre will be released in the UK on October 26, with a Us release following on November 6. The James Bond issue of Esquire,...

We recently went to the set of Spectre, the new James Bond movie, in Mexico City, where Sam Mendes and co. were busy filming the film's heart-pumping opening chase sequence. At the time, we were able to report all the action we saw from the set and more details on Bond.s mission to the nation.s capital, but seeing is believing. Watch this new behind-the-scenes video of actors Daniel Craig, Stephanie Sigman and Alessandro Cremona film Spectre.s big opener.  Yahoo Movies UK were the lucky ones able to film moments from the 10-day shoot in Mexico City. As you can see, Spectre will kick things off with a colorful Day of the Death parade celebration that leads into Zocalo Square, where a grand helicopter fight scene will take place. In addition to highlighting the intricate costuming, makeup and set designs, the video is accompanied by a play-by-play of...

Sorry it’s been so long since the last column, dear readers. I’ve been very busy these last couple weeks, doing things such as finishing up a book I’m writing, celebrating my birthday, and getting to see Heart and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts in concert. But I have returned to Trailer Trashin’, with our first look at the next James Bond movie, Spectre.

Premise: In the aftermath of the bombing of MI6, a cryptic message sets in motion events that will see James Bond (Daniel Craig) come face-to-face with a sinister organization known as Spectre. As Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), the newly-appointed M, continues fighting political pressures that threaten the future of MI6, Bond is drawn into a confrontation with an enemy who knows him better than he knows himself and holds a dangerous secret that will force Bond to question the value of everything he has fought to protect.

We’ve seen the alpine behind-the-scene images, not to mention elusive snippets and the rather excellent first trailer, but now, the Spectre tide of excitement has shifted toward the spy thriller’s opening sequence.

First picked up by Collider, the outlet spoke to one of the unit publicists on set, who offered up a play-by-play breakdown of the explosive, ambitious scene. Boasting an incredible amount of extras — over 1,000, in fact — not to mention a helicopter and a high-octane chase, the segment certainly appears to boast all of the wonderful ingredients that make-up a Bond opener, and it’s said that this dazzling snippet in particular will clock in at around 12 minutes in length.

Daniel Craig will reprise his role as the 00 agent for the fourth consecutive time, and Spectre‘s cast will be rounded out by Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Christoph Waltz, Monica Bellucci, Lea Seydoux and, more recently,...

While the teaser trailer for the next James Bond film "Spectre" surprisingly went further than expected in some of the film's big reveals, one thing that was notably absent was action.

Much like the very first "Batman Begins" trailer, the filmmakers focused specifically on character drama for the teaser. Some establishing shots gave the footage grandeur, but even so it was only people sitting and talking in rooms.

One of the reasons for that is the film is still in the midst of shooting with some big action set pieces still to be done. The film's production crew were recently on location in Mexico City shooting one of the key action set pieces of the film - the pre-credits sequence.

Minor Spoilers Ahead

Various outlets were on hand in the city for one day of the nearly ten day shoot in which 1,500 extras participated in a recreation of the Mexican...

Earlier today, as the world anxiously awaited the premiere of the teaser trailer for "Spectre," the latest James Bond adventure (once again starring Daniel Craig as 007), we were on the set of the film in Mexico City, watching them film the movie's dramatic opening sequence and chatting with various members of the crew. This sequence obviously didn't make it into the teaser, which was weirdly action-free, but it did give us a hint at what's to come from this spy thriller.

Mexico is a location that the James Bond franchise has utilized plenty of times before, most recently in the mostly forgotten Craig entry "Quantum of Solace" and the hotel where part of this action sequence takes place, the Gran Hotel de Mexico, had already been used in a 007 movie -- the even-more-forgotten Timothy Dalton joint "The Living Daylights," way back in 1987 (no, I don't remember that one either).

As...