Production of the James Bond films
[13] The hour-long "Casino Royale" episode, which starred American actor Barry Nelson as Bond and Peter Lorre as the villain Le Chiffre, aired on 21 October 1954 as a live production.
[38] Monty Norman wrote the accompanying soundtrack, which included the "James Bond Theme", heard in the gun barrel sequence and in a calypso medley over the title credits; the theme was described by another Bond film composer, David Arnold, as "bebop-swing vibe coupled with that vicious, dark, distorted electric guitar, definitely an instrument of rock 'n' roll ... it represented everything about the character you would want: It was cocky, swaggering, confident, dark, dangerous, suggestive, sexy, unstoppable.
[53] In his place, Eon turned to Guy Hamilton to direct;[54] he was keen to inject elements of humour into the series,[55] have more gadgets and build bigger and more elegant sets.
[58] Robert Brownjohn returned to develop the opening credit sequence, which featured clips of all three Bond films projected on actress Margaret Nolan's body.
[59] Principal photography on Goldfinger started on 20 January 1964 in Miami, at the Fontainebleau Hotel; the crew was small, consisting only of Hamilton, Broccoli, Adam and cinematographer Ted Moore.
[61] The primary location was Pinewood Studios, home to sets including a recreation of the Fontainebleau, the South American city of the pre-title sequence, and both Goldfinger's estate and factory.
[83] With worldwide box office earnings of $141.2 million Thunderball became the highest-grossing instalment and retained the record until it was surpassed by The Spy Who Loved Me twelve years later;[84] adjusted for inflation it remained the most successful entry until Skyfall was released in 2012.
[97] The cinema posters for the film stated "Sean Connery IS James Bond", to distance the Eon-produced picture from the independent Casino Royale, which had been released two months earlier.
[109][110] Principal photography began in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland, on 21 October 1968, with the first scene shot being an aerial view of Bond climbing the stairs of Blofeld's mountain retreat.
[112] Midway through production, acting on advice from his agent Ronan O'Rahilly, George Lazenby announced that he was not going to continue as Bond in future films, and he left the role before the December 1969 release of On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
[131] On 6 November 1973 filming commenced at the exterior location shots of RMS Queen Elizabeth, which acted as a top-secret MI6 base grounded in Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong.
[139] Guy Hamilton was initially scheduled to follow on from The Man with the Golden Gun with The Spy Who Loved Me, but instead turned down Eon Productions during pre-production after being offered the opportunity to direct the 1978 film Superman, although he was ultimately passed up for Richard Donner.
[182] With the retirement of Roger Moore following A View to a Kill, the producers searched for a new Bond and eventually cast Timothy Dalton in the lead role in August 1986.
[199] Licence to Kill marked the end of the involvement for a number of long-term crew members, including John Glen, Maurice Binder, Richard Maibaum and cinematographer Alec Mills.
[200] The relatively disappointing box office returns for Licence to Kill led to Albert Broccoli questioning his own leadership of the series, and he put Danjaq, holders of the Bond film copyright, up for sale.
[citation needed] Dalton's six-year contract expired in 1993, and after reading France's script for what would become GoldenEye, he announced on 12 April 1994 that he would not be returning to play Bond; he was replaced by Pierce Brosnan.
[211] Reference footage for a scene consisting of a tank chase was shot on location in Saint Petersburg and matched to sets built at the Leavesden studio by production designer Peter Lamont.
[228] Writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade were hired after their work in Plunkett & Macleane,[229] before Michael Apted and his wife, screenwriter Dana Stevens, undertook an uncredited rewrite.
Filming in the UK took place at the Eden Project,[242] the Reform Club[243] and Pinewood Studios' 007 Stage, with the sets by production designer Peter Lamont, which included the ice palace.
[238] During June seven separate units were filming, including underwater, aerial and miniature;[244] principal photography finished on 9 July, in time for the premiere in London on 20 November 2002.
[245][244] The soundtrack was composed by David Arnold,[245] while the title song "Die Another Day" was written and performed by Madonna, who also had a cameo appearance in the film as a fencing instructor.
Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli announced on 26 July 2006 that Chris Cornell would perform the title song, entitled "You Know My Name", which he co-wrote with Arnold.
[269] Haggis located his draft's climax in the Swiss Alps,[270] but Forster wanted the action sequences to allude to the four classical elements of earth, water, air and fire.
[280] Eon resumed pre-production following MGM's exit from bankruptcy on 21 December 2010, and in January 2011 the film was given official approval, with production scheduled to start in late 2011.
[284] Skyfall was directed by Sam Mendes, who first signed on to the project shortly after Quantum of Solace was released and remained on board as a consultant during the period of uncertainty surrounding MGM's financial situation.
[305] As part of the agreement, Universal handled the international and home video distribution for the film, while MGM retains the theatrical, digital, and television rights in the United States.
[312] In the search for a new director, the studio was reportedly considering Christopher McQuarrie, Jean-Marc Vallée, Edgar Wright, David Mackenzie, S. J. Clarkson, Bart Layton, and Yann Demange.
Parts of the film were to be undertaken in Jamaica, where much of the cast was present for the official announcement for Bond 25; other planned shooting locations included Matera, Italy, Norway and London, with interiors to be shot at Pinewood Studios.
A further agent's part was then written for Terence Cooper, to cover Sellers' departure,[334][d] while re-writes, additional filming and post-production cutting compensated for the missing actor.
[366] Daniel Craig played Bond in a short film, Happy and Glorious, produced by Lisa Osborne for the BBC and directed by Danny Boyle as part of the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
