1531 replies to this topic

[Captain Tightpants]

Besides which, I want to see Craig's finale movie being more of a 'nuclear bomb' sort of movie (by that, I mean a 'big threat' sort of movie) given we've got Bond going up against the Head of Quantum.

I have a really good idea for a larger-than-life location for the next one - and a sequence to go with it. One that I think puts everything that goes before it to shame.

[terminus]

Now, that's got me curious about what you've got in mind - I look forward to seeing what you're going to propose. I know coco1997 has a few ideas for items, and I've got a few casting thoughts too.

[coco1997]

As you know, Helen Mirren has been my top choice for a while; however, I think the gimmick of having her be the mysterious Head of Quantum is not as effective as if Dench was still playing M--since in our universe, Dalton is the new M.

I love Morgan Freeman as an actor, however I think he's too recognizable and almost a predictable choice. He's always playing wise old sages ("Shawshank Redemption", "Batman Begins"/"The Dark Knight", hell, he played GOD in "Bruce Almighty"!) so I think the idea of having him be the puppet master behind Quantum could almost be considered typecasting.

[terminus]

True - re: Freeman's career history - but he's very rarely played villainous characters, from what I can recall of movies I've seen him in. The closest I can think of is his turn as a mob boss in Lucky Number Slevin.

[Captain Tightpants]

I think he was Sloane, the villain in WANTED.

[terminus]

Ah - I've not seen that.

I just like him because he's got a really recognisable voice and a presence - plus he's an awesome actor.

[Captain Tightpants]

Ah - I've not seen that.

It's okay. It's a decent actioner let down by a few silly plot points.

[terminus]

Does anyone else have any ideas for the casting of the Head of Quantum?

[Mr. Blofeld]

What about Gabriele Ferzetti? He's still alive and kicking...

[terminus]

He is, however, eighty five. Maybe a bit too old - Deneuve, in comparison, is 67, Mirren is 65 and Morgan Freeman is 73. I'm not sure how old we ought to make the Head of Quantum - there's a difference between elderly statesman and antiquated statesman.

A revised bullet point outline is coming in the next hour or so

[coco1997]

Anyone have any gadget ideas? Seeing as how this is a relatively down to Earth Bond story, a more fantastical piece of technology probably wouldn't fit in.

[terminus]

So, here's the present version of the treatment - as always, all comments, thoughts and suggestions are welcome and please tell me if I've missed something:

LONDON, ENGLAND

Eric Wright (Stephen Moyer), an MI6 desk officer, is being stalked through the streets of a city. We don't immediately realise where we are - but it becomes clear we're in London. Wright can't see his pursuer, as she is hidden in the darkness, with only a silhouette that is visible. She stalks him for several minutes, as Wright ducks into several establishments trying to lose her. Eventually he is cornered in an abandoned square when she catches up to him, shooting him in the leg. He's left immobilized, allowing the woman corner him. When she's revealed to the audience, we see that it is Quinn. She holds a gun on him, explaining that he has outlived his use. "You promised you wouldn't shoot me if I helped you." "You're correct," she says, lowering the gun. "I promised not to shoot you. Unfortunately for you, he didn't make that promise." A shot rings out, and Wright falls to the ground. Quinn turns to walk away, joining a figure in the darkness that we see only as a silhouette ...

DANIEL CRAIG
IS IAN FLEMING'S JAMES BOND, 007
IN
THE HILDEBRAND RARITY

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL

Felix Leiter and the CIA are monitoring the apartment of the deceased Quantum agent Marcus (a brief remark lets us know that they know that he was killed in the Grenadines), hoping that, though slim odds, Marcus will have left something in his apartment of great value to Quantum; lo and behold, an "agent" slipping something out of a safe and into his pocket is revealed, at the last second, to be a fake; upon being stopped outside of the apartment door, he shoots his pursuers and barrels out through the hallway window.

Felix, fed up with his cramped quarters, the bureaucratic slowdowns, and the seeming incompetence of his fellow agents, rips off his headphones and runs out of the ramshackle surveillance house (located conveniently near the apartment complex) after the henchman -- and we now see that Felix is running on a pair of Cheetah running legs, giving him a leg up on the pursuee. (Felix footage would be made up of a trained Cheetah legs runner, seen only from behind, close shots of Jeffrey Wright from the legs up, and wide shots painstakingly synchronized of both Wright and the runner, digitally spliced together.)

After a pursuit across busy streets, footpaths, and through the Cathedral De Se and up the breakdown lane of a highway, the henchman is finally cornered near a ledge halfway up an overpass -- and traffic below is fast. The goon takes his last few shots at Leiter, who ducks and slides across to the henchman, bumping into his ankles with the Cheetah legs. The henchman, now off balance, drops his gun and careens over the side, but Felix, supporting himself with one elbow, reaches up with his legs and scissors them between the goon, keeping him pinned, upside down, to the ledge.

Slowly, painstakingly, with his other arm, Felix reaches into the operative's inside coat pocket to fish out what he stole from Marcus's apartment, but the goon thinks fast -- as Leiter pulls it out, the henchman pulls Felix's gun from its holster, but it's too late; Leiter has the goods. With his other arm, Felix unstraps the Cheetah legs from his thighs, sending them -- and the trapped goon -- down into the busy traffic below.

Felix hauls himself up as best he can and looks over the ledge, wincing at the sight of his gorgeous Cheetah legs smashed to bits within the pulpy remains of the Quantum henchman, then looks at what he's retrieved from the dead man's pocket. We don't see what he has clearly, but shock sweeps across Leiter's face; he quickly pulls out his walkie-talkie and radios his superiors, saying that the Quantum man is dead, but they've got a new, and more dangerous, lead.

"Dangerous to who, Leiter?"
"To us!"

Reverse shot of Leiter's trembling hand, as sirens wail in the background, and we finally see his morbid prize: A Ministry of Defense identity card, registered to one Dr. Emeric Hildebrand.

Meanwhile ...

NEAR BEYAPAZARI, TURKEY

Bond breaks into what, at first, appears to be an abandoned and half-ruined fort in the middle of nowhere - it is revealed that it is actually the heart of a drug operation, kind of like the concealed poppy fields in 'Live And Let Die'. But when Bond reaches the gardens, he discovers only acres of rhododendrons. He takes a sample of the flower - but is discovered. And must escape from the facility before being caught - eventually finding his way to an underground garage. Surveying his option of vehicle for escape - a half dozen delivery trucks, a couple of jeeps and a single off-road quad bike. Bond selects the quad bike after taking a covert snap of the logo on the side of the delivery trucks. He flees, pursued by gun-toting thugs - the ruined fort exploding in the background - and takes the chase off-road, the thugs are hampered but the off-road quad bike gives Bond the advantage and he guns the vehicle towards the edge of a cliff - sending it flying over the edge.

However, Bond uses the momentum to grab onto the edge of the open cargo door of a Chinook that was hovering out of sight - hauling himself into the back of the helicopter, he unslings his backpack and makes his way to the cockpit where a handsome, fresh faced youth is sitting in the pilots seat.

Meet Geoffrey Hastings, 0011. Bond pulls a bottle out of his backpack - it's full of a clear liquid: Raki - and presents it to Hastings. "A graduation present, 0011".

MI6 HEADQUARTERS

Bond arrives at headquarters - hands the sample of the rhododendron flower and the blurred photographs of the logo on the delivery trucks to Moneypenny and steps in to see M. Felix is also present. Felix explains the events in Sao Paulo - including the discovery of the MOD ID card belonging to Hildebrand. M, in turn, explains that Eric Wright was found murdered in Mitre Square. The two events, at first, appear to be unconnected - but, Hildebrand was presumed dead in a plane crash one month earlier and Wright was the MI6 officer responsible for planning Hildebrand's travel itinerary. The two events must be connected.

Furthermore, M reveals that CCTV in the vicinity of Mitre Square picked up a woman in the area at the time of the murder. Bond recognises the woman as Quinn. M explains that they managed to trace her to Heathrow Airport and, from there, to St. Petersburg in Russia. Bond is suspicious - 'It's a trap'. M and Felix agree.

Bond leaves - and prepares to head to St. Petersburg. Moneypenny informs him that the flower sample is a rhodeodendron flower and that the partial logo on the blurred photograph appears to belong to a honey supplier. MI6 believe that Bond has destroyed the nerve centre of a grayanotoxin production facility - the case, it seems, is closed.

ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

Bond works with field operative, Aoife Daly, to keep an eye on Quinn - and, as part of their investigation, they discover Mr White too. M agrees that this MUST just be a bigger part of the trap but Bond points out that it's too good to resist and requests that M sends him some back-up - which arrives in the form of Geoffrey Hastings, 0011, and Mary Goodnight, 008. The trio of agents - with logistical support from Aoife - set about luring Mr White into the open and eliminating him.

As part of the mission - 0011 must masquerade as a hotel porter to break into Mr White's hotel room, search for any information and return that information to Aoife. He discovers an iPad in the room and returns to the safehouse - but, open returning to the safehouse, he finds that Aoife has been stabbed and her tongue cut out. As 0011 rushes to save Aoife - she tries to warn him of something but because she has had her tongue cut out, he can't understand her. Unseen to 0011 - a bomb has been connected to the phone and as he picks up to call for help, the bomb detonates, shredding the safehouse to rubble.

Simultaneous to this, Bond is pursuing Mr White through the Scarlet Sails - with 008 providing cover fire. However, whilst 008 provides cover fire to Bond, Quinn is providing cover fire for Mr White and her gunfire rips Goodnight's shoulder apart forcing Goodnight to retreat. Bond comes under fire from Quantum snipers - and is forced to break off his pursuit of Mr White in order to stop himself from being shot, taking up pursuit of Quinn instead.

Bond and Quinn end up fighting atop a hovercraft that is negotiating it way around ships and galleons out in the water (around here) during the eight of the celebrations - middle of the night, fireworks; everything. Bond and Quinn's fight ends with the two of them falling from the hovercraft; Bond is able to swim away, but Quinn is pulled under - presumed dead.

Bond is able to resume his pursuit of Mr White, the chase taking them through the star shaped Peter and Paul Fortress - and ending on the top of a building overlooking a glass roofed art gallery. "You should have killed me when you had the chance," says Mr White. "Yes, I should've. Fortunately, I don't make the same mistake twice -" Bond shoots Mr White, who falls off the building, through the glass ceiling of the art gallery and ending up impailed on a spear wielded by a statue.

As Bond looks down on the body of Mr White, we cut to the banks of the river as Quinn hauls herself onto a dock protruding into the river, her face hideously scarred from the fight with Bond ...

The following day - M and Bond walk through the ruins of the safehouse. M explains that Goodnight has been medevaced back to London but 0011 and Aoife are lost causes - something which the iPad that 0011 found in Mr White's hotel room narrowly escaped. Although it has been heavily damaged in the explosion, technicians have been able to find a connection between Emeric Hildebrand's abduction and the highest echelons of power in Nambola. This assignment, says M, will require a great deal of tact and diplomacy - 'God help us all'.

GUSTAFFSBERG, NAMBOLA

Bond arrives as part of the delegation to do with the space tourism program. With the help of another delegation member, Vera, he meets President Henrik Saphotho - who has taken a shine to ballet dancer Yelena. Yelena is invited to spend the night at Saphotho's palace and he, disgusted at her imperfection, brutally abuses her. Bond keeps the palace under observation - and approaches Yelena to plant a bug on the palace's computer system. She agrees - and this leads Bond to a mine (preferably a lead mine) where Emeric Hildebrand is conducting his research. Bond helps Hildebrand to escape - but Hildebrand turns out to be a willing abductee and betrays Bond (and Yelena, by default) to Saphotho.


Bond escapes Saphotho and rescues Yelena - but doesn't initially realise she has been poisoned with grayanotoxin. He realises (due to familiarity with the toxin due to Turkey) and must break into a clinic to save her. He saves her - and leaves her in the hand of medics as he rushes to - the space tourism launch site where the inaugral civilian launch is set to take place. Included on the guest list on the shuttle is - President Henrik Sephotho.

Sephotho's right hand man, Mesquito, manages to intercept Bond before he reaches the shuttle - and the launch countdown begins. Bond gets the upper hand in the fight, throws Mesquito from the launch gantry as the five minute countdown begins. Bond escapes the fury of the rockets exhaust - but Mesquito isn't so lucky and becomes a crispy critter as the shuttle takes off.

Unable to stop Sephotho - he must instead stop Sephotho's plot.

SOMEWHERE IN GERMANY

Saphotho and Quantum are planning to use Hildebrand's formulae to turn the gold in the German stockpile into lead - sending the German economy plummeting. At the same time, they will turn Nambola's stockpile of lead into gold - sending the countries wealth skyrocketing overnight. A noble goal, but one that will do more harm than it will do good. Needless to say, Bond stops the use of the formulae in the following sequence:

The Deutche Bundesbanke plan to move it's bullion to three temporary back-up locations whilst they overhaul the bullion storage facility in Berlin - a third will travel by air, a third will travel by rail and a third will travel by autobahn. Quantum plan to launch a multi-pronged stealth attack on the three - grounding the plane at a remote airfield , stopping the train and preventing the road convoy from proceeding further. Bond must work with NATO forces to intercept and prevent the theft of the bullion - taking part in one of the preventative actions himself.

NATO soldiers replace the crew on the airplane - and gun down the Quantum thugs at the remote airstrip. A bridge over the autobahn explodes, blocking the road - but NATO snipers have been loaded into the trucks providing security for the convoy and they take out the thugs there. Bond provides security for the train convoy - and ends up throwing 'Mr Roberts' from the train as it passes over a snowy mountain valley: "He was just a fall guy".

The gold bullion, in turn, was never on any of the three convoys - as Bond managed to inform the authorities about Sephotho's plan before the transfer began. Bond has turned the trap on Quantum themselves.

THE UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK

M watches from a viewing platform as soldiers enter the main hall of the United Nations and place President Sephotho under arrest, charging him with a terrorist act - planning to destabilise the world economies. Sephotho is led out of the building in handcuffs, but is shot by a sniper just as he is being shoved into the back of a police car.

Locations: TBC

We meet the Head of Quantum - who declares all out war on the worlds intelligence communities, beginning with MI6 and with Bond. Bond reunites with a recovered Yelena - but the boat they are on is seen to blow up. It appears as if Quantum have made their first move.

JAMES BOND
WILL RETURN IN
'SHATTERHAND'

[tdalton]

He is, however, eighty five. Maybe a bit too old - Deneuve, in comparison, is 67, Mirren is 65 and Morgan Freeman is 73. I'm not sure how old we ought to make the Head of Quantum - there's a difference between elderly statesman and antiquated statesman.

A revised bullet point outline is coming in the next hour or so

I definitely don't think that we should go too high with the age, for the same reason that you've stated. Someone in their 60s I think would be about as old as we should go for the part.

With that said, my suggestion would be James Woods. Since we didn't end up "casting" him in the last project, I think that he could pull off the part quite well.

Either way, though, I'm looking forward to seeing who the group ends up picking for the part.

Edited by tdalton, 04 November 2010 - 02:17 AM.

[coco1997]

The outline is coming along quite nicely, terminus. It feels like this edition of Ultimate Bond came together quite faster than 'KALEIDOSCOPE', yet it feels more organic and Bondian, strangely enough. I think the first half of the story is nearly fine as is, but the Nambol and Germany portions will require some embellishments. Regardless, it sets things up quite well for 'SHATTERHAND'--a title which I feel makes considerable sense because the story will presumably have Bond/MI6 going after the head of Quantum--in a sense 'shattering' the 'hand' of the entire nefarious organization.

[Captain Tightpants]

Maybe we don't need to cast him at all. We could do a Kevin Spacey in SE7EN and leave him out of the credits. Spacey deliberately suggested it so that people wouldn't know he was John Doe from the beginning of the film. We could just have a SPECTRE-like approach where the villain's face is only ever seen on a monitor, deliberately pixellated.

Also, I really don't like the title SHATTERHAND for UB28.

[terminus]

True - but we'd presumably need to see them in the next installment, so we might as well cast them. This is Bond beginning to fight his way up the chain of command - and Quantum setting themselves up to go after MI6 and Bond. I think we need to see the Head of Quantum - even if only in the epilogue for two minutes to give the order for the above.

And not like 'Shatterhand'? Well - it IS a Fleming title, sort of. But yes, it's a placeholder title and we can change it - it was either going to be that or 'Risico' for the placeholder.

[Mr. Blofeld]

Sir Anthony Hopkins?



...or too recognizable?

[terminus]

Hopkins would be good - but yes, I feel it could be a tad too predictable.

I'm not sure about Woods either - I've never fully rated him as an actor.

[Captain Tightpants]

And not like 'Shatterhand'? Well - it IS a Fleming title, sort of. But yes, it's a placeholder title and we can change it - it was either going to be that or 'Risico' for the placeholder.

I don't like RISICO, either. Neither word means anything. SHATTERHAND might have been a Fleming name, but "Guntram von Shatterhand" is so obviously an alias that anyone could tell. It would be like playing hide-and-seek, but standing in the middle of the room was your hiding place (which works on a two-year-old if you stand really still, but that's about it). As for RISICO, it's supposedly Italian for "risk", but I asked someone who spoke Italian what the Italian word for "risk" is, and they didn't say "risico". Perhaps we could use a chapter/rejected title, like HELL'S BELLES or THE ROUGH WITH THE SMOOTH.

[terminus]

If we followed that train of thought we'd never have - Goldfinger, Thunderball, Octopussy or Goldeneye. And I don't see why 'Guntram von Shatterhand' is any more of an 'obvious alias' than Auric Goldfinger.

As I've said before, both Shatterhand and Risico could be the name of the operation, the name of a character or the name of the films macguffin.

[Captain Tightpants]

If we followed that train of thought we'd never have - Goldfinger, Thunderball, Octopussy or Goldeneye. And I don't see why 'Guntram von Shatterhand' is any more of an 'obvious alias' than Auric Goldfinger.

Because "Guntram von" is clearly Germanic, whilst "Shatterhand" obviously isn't. You might as well call him "Vladmir Smith" for all the effect it has. A good alias is one that fits in with your legend (the backstory to a cover identity). "Guntram von Rothschild" is a good alias because it sounds like a name someone from Germany might have. But if you said "My name is Guntram von Shatterhand and I am from Munich," even the Germans would laugh at you. It sticks out like a sore thumb.

The only way I could possibly see "Shatterhand" working is if the villain had a broken hand that never healed properly, but Gardner did that in Brokenclaw.

[coco1997]

The only way I could possibly see "Shatterhand" working is if the villain had a broken hand that never healed properly, but Gardner did that in Brokenclaw.

But "Shatterhand" doesn't have to be the name of a character, just as "Thunderball" was not to the name of a character, but rather an operation.

[terminus]

With the exception that Shatterhand does have it's Germanic connection - it's the name of the German main character in a series of German novels which ran from 1880 to 1910. He gets given the name because he can knock people he fights out with a single punch - so the roots are there.

I think profiling a characters nationality based on their name is questionable territory in the modern era's multiculturality anyway.

Besides which, as coco1997 has said and I've said before, they don't need to be character names.

[Captain Tightpants]

But "Shatterhand" doesn't have to be the name of a character, just as "Thunderball" was not to the name of a character, but rather an operation.

I still don't like it. It just sounds gaudy.

With the exception that Shatterhand IS a relatively Germanic name - it's the name of the German main character in a series of German novels which ran from 1880 to 1910. He gets given the name because he can knock people he fights out with a single punch - so the roots are there.

This Shatterhand? He's a Native American tracker or ranger of some kind. Shatterhand is the name given to him by his people.

[terminus]

This Shatterhand? He's a Native American tracker or ranger of some kind. Shatterhand is the name given to him by his people.

Re: Old Shatterhand, yes, he IS a German character - but, as I edited my post to clarify (better than my original phrasing put across) the name is given to him by his German-American friend.

Re: using Shatterhand or Risico. I think we need to keep them in mind - they're both very valid titles, given their Fleming connections.

[SamuelKevlar]

As part of the mission - 0011 must masquerade as a hotel porter to break into Mr White's hotel room, search for any information and return that information to Aoife. He discovers an iPad in the room and returns to the safehouse - but, open returning to the safehouse, he finds that Aoife has been stabbed and her tongue cut out. As 0011 rushes to save Aoife - she tries to warn him of something but because she has had her tongue cut out, he can't understand her. Unseen to 0011 - a bomb has been connected to the phone and as he picks up to call for help, the bomb detonates, shredding the safehouse to rubble.

...

NATO soldiers replace the crew on the airplane - and gun down the Quantum thugs at the remote airstrip. A bridge over the autobahn explodes, blocking the road - but NATO snipers have been loaded into the trucks providing security for the convoy and they take out the thugs there. Bond provides security for the train convoy - and ends up throwing 'Mr Roberts' from the train as it passes over a snowy mountain valley: "He was just a fall guy".

Okay, first of all, I am absolutely loving the hotel porter disguise (advantage of his youth) and everything in the safehouse. Tongue cut out - brilliantly sadistic. Could be even more effective if there's something romantic between Aoife and Geoffrey, not necessarily acted upon. But I thought we'd agreed 0011 would match up with Mr Roberts in Mr White's suite - he's seen through his disguise and a slugging match develops that Hastings wins through speed, ingenuity and with whatever comes to hand. If there's no threat all he does is sneak in, steal, return and get blown up. The "fall guy" line can be given in regards to any mook.

Incidentally, I now have tdalton's blessing to cast Mr Roberts as Henchman 2, played by Tyler Mane. In a suit, not his usual feral biker look. Imposing figure, without the need for dialogue. Will add him in the next round - is that started yet, btw?

And not like 'Shatterhand'? Well - it IS a Fleming title, sort of. But yes, it's a placeholder title and we can change it - it was either going to be that or 'Risico' for the placeholder.

I don't like RISICO, either. Neither word means anything. SHATTERHAND might have been a Fleming name, but "Guntram von Shatterhand" is so obviously an alias that anyone could tell. It would be like playing hide-and-seek, but standing in the middle of the room was your hiding place (which works on a two-year-old if you stand really still, but that's about it). As for RISICO, it's supposedly Italian for "risk", but I asked someone who spoke Italian what the Italian word for "risk" is, and they didn't say "risico". Perhaps we could use a chapter/rejected title, like HELL'S BELLES or THE ROUGH WITH THE SMOOTH.

Risico is Dutch for "risk". On that note, my contribution to the Head of Quantum discussion: Rutger Hauer. Not necessarily playing a Dutchman, but could be (we've got our fingers in lots of multinational pies). He's now achieved a certain elder statesman cachet, but he's far from frail (check him out in Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind, and he's playing the lead in forthcoming ironic grindhouse movie Hobo With A Shotgun). Probably not Daniel Craig's physical equal, but he can wield a gun and isn't just going to stare him down from his dining room chair like Stromberg. Although he's excellent at staring too, should the situation call for it.

[coco1997]

Incidentally, I now have tdalton's blessing to cast Mr Roberts as Henchman 2, played by Tyler Mane. In a suit, not his usual feral biker look. Imposing figure, without the need for dialogue. Will add him in the next round - is that started yet, btw?

I believe terminus has done away with the pro forma guideline for the rest of the round--considering we pretty much have everything needed to outline the story and the rest of the missing fields are just window dressing.

Rutger Hauer--very nice suggestion.

[Captain Tightpants]

Anthony Stewart Head as the head of Quantum.

[Mr. Blofeld]

No. Just... no.

Rutget Hauer is a good idea, though; I can easily see him as a "Guntram von Rothschild", or "Adam Weishaupt", or some such...

[terminus]

Okay, first of all, I am absolutely loving the hotel porter disguise (advantage of his youth) and everything in the safehouse. Tongue cut out - brilliantly sadistic. Could be even more effective if there's something romantic between Aoife and Geoffrey, not necessarily acted upon. But I thought we'd agreed 0011 would match up with Mr Roberts in Mr White's suite - he's seen through his disguise and a slugging match develops that Hastings wins through speed, ingenuity and with whatever comes to hand. If there's no threat all he does is sneak in, steal, return and get blown up. The "fall guy" line can be given in regards to any mook.

Incidentally, I now have tdalton's blessing to cast Mr Roberts as Henchman 2, played by Tyler Mane. In a suit, not his usual feral biker look. Imposing figure, without the need for dialogue. Will add him in the next round - is that started yet, btw?

I'm glad you like the hotel porter disguise and the safehouse set-up - apologise for missing out the romantic interludes between Aoife and Hastings, as well as having Mr Roberts in the hotel suite. I'll make sure those are included in the final version.

Good casting with Tyler Mane.

Risico is Dutch for "risk". On that note, my contribution to the Head of Quantum discussion: Rutger Hauer. Not necessarily playing a Dutchman, but could be (we've got our fingers in lots of multinational pies). He's now achieved a certain elder statesman cachet, but he's far from frail (check him out in Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind, and he's playing the lead in forthcoming ironic grindhouse movie Hobo With A Shotgun). Probably not Daniel Craig's physical equal, but he can wield a gun and isn't just going to stare him down from his dining room chair like Stromberg. Although he's excellent at staring too, should the situation call for it.

Rutger Hauer is definitely up there with Morgan Freeman as one of my favourite two choices!

Anthony Stewart Head as the head of Quantum.

Not one of my favourites.

Rutget Hauer is a good idea, though; I can easily see him as a "Guntram von Rothschild", or "Adam Weishaupt", or some such...

I just used babelfish on Yahoo and, according to that, the German for 'Shatterhand' is 'Trummerhand'!?