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.
But the marketing is starting to kick in, as the film's official 007 site revealed the first in a series of video blogs going behind the scenes of production (a technique pioneered by Peter Jackson on the "Lord of the Rings" films), and it focuses on perhaps the film's biggest selling point for cineastes: the presence of Oscar-winner Sam Mendes in the director's chair.
The brief clip does mostly involve B-roll footage of Mendes looking at monitors, but we get a few glimpses at sets, including the neon sci-fi-ish location glimpsed in the first still from the film. And Mendes gets to display what seems like a genuine enthusiasm for the franchise and the character, which can only be a good thing. Expect more to be revealed as these clips roll out in the coming months.
The video was preceded by a new behind-the-scenes still on Facebook featuring Dench, who despite recent reports, has issued a statement clarifying that the eye condition she announced she was suffering from over the weekend won't lead to her blindness. Again, not much is given away, except that DP Roger Deakins probably knows Dench's Facebook password, but we're pleased that the actress will get a real showcase this time out. "Skyfall" hits Europe on October 26th, before landing in the U.S. on November 9th.
