The Playlist

Watch: Full Trailer For Sam Mendes' James Bond Film 'Skyfall' With Daniel Craig & Javier Bardem

By Oliver Lyttelton
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July 31, 2012 9:00 AM
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6 Comments

News

Now that we're coming to the end of summer blockbuster season, many eyes are turning towards the fall line-up, and while there's the usual selection of prestige fare there, we're not exactly going to be starving for blockbusters. "The Hobbit," "Jack Reacher," "Breaking Dawn Pt. 2" -- all films with the potential to be huge without necessarily troubling Academy voters. But one of the most anticipated of all is "Skyfall," the 23rd official James Bond film, which hits in November.

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Daniel Craig & Ola Rapace Beat City Traffic With Dirt Bikes In New Look At Sam Mendes' 'Skyfall'

By Simon Dang
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July 18, 2012 8:45 AM
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0 Comments

News

Four years after the disappointment of "Quantum Of Solace," the Bond franchise is set to return with a bang this fall when Sam Mendes' "Skyfall" is unveiled. With a script by John Logan, Roger Deakins as DoP and an exciting cast that sees regulars Daniel Craig and Judi Dench joined by names such as Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney Helen McCrory and Ben Whishaw as well as new Bond girls Berenice Marhole and Naomie Harris, the promised standalone feature is gearing up to be the most anticipated 007 film of recent time.

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First Image Of Ben Whishaw As Q In 'Skyfall'; Don't Worry, James Bond Will Still Drink Martinis

By Kevin Jagernauth
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July 12, 2012 11:51 AM
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2 Comments

News

Nerd alert! While Q in the James Bond run of films has mostly been dominated by the classy Britishness of Desmond Llewelyn, and later the John Cleese-ness of John Cleese, for the character's return to the franchise for the first time since "Die Another Day," Sam Mendes has gone a different route.

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Sam Mendes To Direct 'Charlie & The Chocolate Factory' Stage Musical, Opens In London June 2013

By Joe Cunningham
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June 19, 2012 4:56 PM
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1 Comment

News

Roald Dahl’s books have all slowly but surely been adapted (in some form or another) over the years. On the big screen, the most recent attempt to adapt Dahl’s work was Wes Anderson’s (in this writer’s opinion) abominable attempt to turn one of the author’s finest children's books into a quirky animated heist for adults – “Fantastic Mr. Fox.” The first, however, and arguably best Dahl cinematic adaptation was Mel Stuart’s “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” (an adaptation of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”) back in 1971 featuring an unforgettable performance from Gene Wilder. We’ve seen the book adapted since (and with less success) by Tim Burton, and the story that remains one of Dahl’s most famous and loved will now be making its way to the stage thanks to “American Beauty” and “Skyfall” director Sam Mendes.

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Watch: Trailer For Sam Mendes' New James Bond Film 'Skyfall' Starring Daniel Craig

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 21, 2012 4:32 AM
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13 Comments

News

The stakes have arguably never been higher for James Bond. 007 came roaring back in the form of Daniel Craig with "Casino Royale" in 2006, and the film was the most successful of the franchise to date, and one of the most acclaimed. But two years later, the rushed, messy, poorly directed "Quantum of Solace" arrived, and while it outgrossed its predecessor in the U.S, it fell short worldwide, and got poor reviews. Furthermore, the property was then thrown into turmoil by the bankruptcy of its parent studio, MGM. So in any year, a return for Bond would have a lot riding on it, but given that 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the birth of the franchise with "Dr. No," success seems to be even more crucial.

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First Teaser Poster For Sam Mendes' 007 Movie 'Skyfall' Arrives, Plays On Classic Bond Imagery

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 17, 2012 12:09 PM
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4 Comments

News

Bond is back. Of course, Bond has been been back 21 times since "Dr. No" kicked cinema's longest-running continuous franchise off fifty years ago, but the financial difficulties of MGM seemed to be one of Ian Fleming's superspies most deadly foes. Fortunately, Bond survived, as he always done, and his latest entry, "Skyfall," is the most anticipated we can remember, thanks to a script from "Hugo" writer John Logan, Oscar-winner Sam Mendes in the director's chair, and a cast that includes Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw and Albert Finney backing up Daniel Craig as the movies' secret agent.

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5 Things We Learned About New James Bond Film 'Skyfall' From The Latest Issue Of Empire Magazine

By Oliver Lyttelton
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April 26, 2012 9:02 AM
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2 Comments

News

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the James Bond franchise, the longest-running and arguably most successful (although Harry Potter might have pipped in in total gross in recent years) film series of all time. So it's appropriate that Ian Fleming's character, currently played by Daniel Craig, is returning to the screen for the first time in four years, after being mired in MGM's financial difficulties for some time.

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Watch: First Video Blog For Latest James Bond Flick 'Skyfall' Arrives, Is Mostly Footage Of Sam Mendes Looking At Things

By Oliver Lyttelton
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February 22, 2012 9:03 AM
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2 Comments

News

Bond is back. Again. With the MGM financial situation sorted, production on the 23rd official film to feature Ian Fleming's super spy, and the third to star Daniel Craig in the role, got underway late last year, but as ever the security around "Skyfall" has been airtight. We know the cast, which sees Craig joined by Javier Bardem as the villain, Ben Whishaw as gadget-master Q, Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney, Naomie Harris, Berenice Marlohe and Helen McCrory, and we know a vague logline, which suggests that the plot revolves around Judi Dench's M, but not a lot besides.

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First Official Image Of Daniel Craig In 'Skyfall' Suggests New James Bond Is A 'Tron' Sequel

By Oliver Lyttelton
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February 1, 2012 8:59 AM
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4 Comments

News

Even given the excitement around the reboot of "Casino Royale" a few years back, we can't remember the last time a James Bond film was quite as keenly anticipated as this year's 23rd installment in the franchise, "Skyfall." Not only does it mark the third time that Daniel Craig has played MI6's finest secret agent -- a somewhat belated return, after the movie was held up for over a year due to MGM's financial problems -- but thanks to the presence of Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes, and Oscar-nominated scribe John Logan ("Hugo"), the bar has been raised in terms of the pedigree of the series.

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Mike Newell To Direct 'On Chesil Beach'; Sam Mendes Stays On To Produce

By Kevin Jagernauth
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November 6, 2011 6:06 PM
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0 Comments

News

Last year, in the midst of the MGM financial debacle that left the productions of both "Skyfall" and "The Hobbit" in doubt, director Sam Mendes was looking at another project, an adaptation of Ian McEwan's "On Chesil Beach." Granted, getting the picture mounted seemed to difficult as financing was never quite there, but there was a glimmer of hope when StudioCanal begin sniffing around the film after Focus Features dropped it. And then...everything went quiet. Well, with "Skyfall" now in front of cameras, Mendes will be too busy to take it on, but another helmer has stepped in to take his place.

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