Bond Producers Interviewed
By Total Film

The February 2010 issue of British film magazine ‘Total Film’ (no. 163) contains a detailed interview with Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. Topics covered include the ‘reboot’ of Bond in Casino Royale, the critical reaction to Craig’s first Bond film, the general role of the Quantum organisation, and the possible shape of Bond 23.

The interview, conducted on behalf of ‘Total Film’ by Aubrey Day, started off by revealing to Barbara Broccoli that ‘Total Film’ had made Casino Royale it’s ‘Reboot of the Decade’, and asked the EON duo what prompted the grittier approach in the rebooted Bond franchise?

Broccoli replied: ‘Well... September 11 happened and it felt inappropriate for the films to continue down that fantastical path. So we decided to move to a more serious Bond. And we had acquired the rights to Casino Royale...’.

Broccoli also revealed that they were working on another script and ‘we kind of got stuck’, so Michael Wilson, as he had really wanted to do Casino Royale, suggested they go with Fleming’s premiere novel instead. Broccoli said they were determined to ‘keep the key elements of the book’, but the problem was doing this without undermining their ratings: ‘It was a challenge, but Martin came up with it and, of course, Daniel was fantastic’.

Responding to further questions about Casino Royale, Wilson said: ‘We approached it almost as though there hadn’t been a Bond film made before’. Broccoli added to this view by pointing out that the Fleming novel (written in the ‘50s) had to be updated, so Rob Wade and Neal Purvis were called in to invent ‘a lot of really exciting things’ (the freestyle running, house collapsing at the end, etc), and this was reinforced with a ‘wonderful polish’ of the final script by Paul Haggis.

Broccoli also emphasised that the overriding priority for the film was ‘the character’ of Bond: ‘You know, it’s the first time you really get to understand the inner workings of Bond’.

Commenting on the vocal anti-Craig brigade after Daniel Craig was selected, Broccoli stated: ‘Yeah, there were a lot of bloggers... and some of the press were pretty negative as well. They didn’t really give him a chance, or themselves a chance to see him in the role. But of course, we were seeing the dailies so we knew he was doing an excellent job!’

Interestingly, the interview also covered the tricky job the EON producers had in persuading Amy Pascal, the head of Columbia, that it was the right decision to do a radical reboot. Broccoli paid tribute to Pascal’s support. It took a leap of faith for Pascal to stand behind the reboot: ‘We really appreciated it because you don’t always get that’.

When ‘Total Film’ asked Broccoli and Wilson about whether the Quantum organisation is a kind of modern-day replacement for SPECTRE that might also be seen in future Bond films, Wilson responded: ‘It’s really hard to tell’. It fitted with the timing of Craig’s Bond, he said: ‘But what, when and how we might use it again is not clear to us’.

Similarly, in response to questions about the possible shape of Bond 23, Wilson said they have been working with the writers ‘but it’s just too early to say anything’. Wilson stressed how plans can change quickly and, while they were ‘at that stage where a lot of ideas are floating around that sound very good’, whether they would make it to the final stage of the script was unknown.

Wilson also conceded that the production timeline was ‘a little up in the air’ due to the situation with MGM, so they had to remain flexible.

The full interview is available in ‘Total Film’ issue 163 (February, 2010), which is on sale now in all good UK newsagents.