128 replies to this topic

[Kronsteen]

From another unnamed Bond site :

Craig told GQ UK recently: "There’s a perfect Bond movie out there. And I’m going to find it if it kills me. Which it might. I have to be that way about it. The script that we have at the moment ‘ and this is not just actor hyperbole ‘ I’m genuinely excited about it. There’s a really good hook. In fact, we now have two or three really good hooks, two might work and that’s what you want. That’s what we had in Casino."

The actor places a lot of importance on the quality of the script - understandably so after the nip-tuck "Quantum of Solace" - remarking that the reason why "Skyfall" will be a success is that "ultimately because it’s based on source material, the book had those hooks. We’ve got those in this script and as long as we hit those, the rest of it is hopefully going to come together."

Does he mean that Skyfall will be based on a book, or just picking some unused elements from several books? There are plenty of unused material, but how many unused "big hooks" are there from the Flemings? I have longed for the beginning of TMWTGG for a long time, could it be used?

[007jamesbond]

I am thinking that the idea of fleming will be used but would be change to fit into the script. I do not feel they will use any of fleming element that has not been done in the film directly but indirectly perhaps the suggestion of YOLT when there is a castle this is replaced by a castle in Scotland with Bond fighting Bardem character instead of Blofeld. I think something like that

[Captain Tightpants]

I think people are reading too much into this. Craig said that before production began, he read every Fleming novel and watched every film. Sam Mendes did, too. The intention was so that they'd be able to go and make something true to the series' heritage, as opposed to the radical departures of CR and QOS.

[SecretAgentFan]

Also, didn´t Babs and Michael say at the press conference that this one is not based on a Fleming book?

[Pussfeller]

CR a radical departure from the series' heritage? After the wayward extravagance of DAD, CR was practically the return of the prodigal son.

As for the quote, it doesn't strike me as just another empty tribute to Fleming's legacy. Daniel Craig is a native speaker of English. If he had been talking vaguely about the novels in general, he would have said "the books" or "the Fleming" or something like that. It is definitely noteworthy that he said "the book", singular. This clearly suggests that a specific plot point has been lifted from a particular novel. It would hardly be the first time that something from Fleming had been used in an otherwise unrelated story.

[Shrublands]

I have seen this interview in a few different forms already. The ambiguity comes from the way Craig’s quotes are divided up. For instance, if you remove the journalists asides about the QoS script, Craig’s comments read somewhat differently.

“…two might work and that’s what you want. That’s what we had in Casino. ultimately because it’s based on source material, the book had those hooks…”

[Pussfeller]

Is the entire interview available online? I'm curious to see just what the hell he was trying to say.

[deth]

I think there was a question at the press conference asking if there were going to be anything from the books... and they said no, there would not be.

[Leon]

Well obviously there is no one "book" that they have developed a screenplay out of, they have very clearly stated that this is a completely original work at the press conference. Therefore the best we can hope for is that they have taken a couple of strong "hooks" from unused chunks of Fleming and woven them into what is otherwise an original story.

My guesses might be Bond's depression from the start of YOLT (maybe accounting for the stubble), or perhaps the castle/garden of death, only set in Scotland? [the Blofeld rumour is still looking fully possible after the reveal of Whishaw's character] The brainwashing/attempted assassination of M?

These are my big three guesses for potential use. We also know that Q is back, so maybe his introduction has elements of a novel in it, introducing Maj. Boothroyd.

I have seen this interview in a few different forms already. The ambiguity comes from the way Craig’s quotes are divided up. For instance, if you remove the journalists asides about the QoS script, Craig’s comments read somewhat differently.

“…two might work and that’s what you want. That’s what we had in Casino. ultimately because it’s based on source material, the book had those hooks…”

A good point, though if you look at the rest of his quotations they back up the general idea that they have taken "hooks" from Fleming source materiel:

Daniel Craig - "There’s a perfect Bond movie out there. And I’m going to find it if it kills me. Which it might. I have to be that way about it. The script that we have at the moment ‘ and this is not just actor hyperbole ‘ I’m genuinely excited about it. There’s a really good hook. In fact, we now have two or three really good hooks, two might work and that’s what you want. That’s what we had in Casino."

He is clearly stating that these "hooks" are in Skyfall's script, not CR. If you look at the rest of that particular snippet which you quoted above, he is also clearly talking about the screenplay for Skyfall:

"ultimately because it’s based on source material, the book had those hooks. We’ve got those in this script and as long as we hit those, the rest of it is hopefully going to come together."

[Luigi Ferrari]

Is the entire interview available online? I'm curious to see just what the hell he was trying to say.

It has already been posted by Germanlady in another thread:
http://www.film-news...nd&nItemID=8439

[Shrublands]

Well obviously there is no one "book" that they have developed a screenplay out of, they have very clearly stated that this is a completely original work at the press conference. Therefore the best we can hope for is that they have taken a couple of strong "hooks" from unused chunks of Fleming and woven them into what is otherwise an original story.

My guesses might be Bond's depression from the start of YOLT (maybe accounting for the stubble), or perhaps the castle/garden of death, only set in Scotland? [the Blofeld rumour is still looking fully possible after the reveal of Whishaw's character] The brainwashing/attempted assassination of M?

These are my big three guesses for potential use. We also know that Q is back, so maybe his introduction has elements of a novel in it, introducing Maj. Boothroyd.

I have seen this interview in a few different forms already. The ambiguity comes from the way Craig’s quotes are divided up. For instance, if you remove the journalists asides about the QoS script, Craig’s comments read somewhat differently.

“…two might work and that’s what you want. That’s what we had in Casino. ultimately because it’s based on source material, the book had those hooks…”

A good point, though if you look at the rest of his quotations they back up the general idea that they have taken "hooks" from Fleming source materiel:

Daniel Craig - "There’s a perfect Bond movie out there. And I’m going to find it if it kills me. Which it might. I have to be that way about it. The script that we have at the moment ‘ and this is not just actor hyperbole ‘ I’m genuinely excited about it. There’s a really good hook. In fact, we now have two or three really good hooks, two might work and that’s what you want. That’s what we had in Casino."

He is clearly stating that these "hooks" are in Skyfall's script, not CR. If you look at the rest of that particular snippet which you quoted above, he is also clearly talking about the screenplay for Skyfall:

"ultimately because it’s based on source material, the book had those hooks. We’ve got those in this script and as long as we hit those, the rest of it is hopefully going to come together."

Well “clearly” is not a word I would use. I see it this way, but it’s at the very least ambiguous.

He’s talking about the need to have good hooks in a screenplay. He says that they had one good hook in the first draft of SF and now it’s been redrafted they have 3.
He points out that, in his opinion, a good film needs at least 2 good hooks. That CR had 2, but they were the 2 strong hooks from the book it was based on.
Then, when he goes on to say of the SF script, “We’ve got those in this script” he’s talking about the idea of 3 good hooks in general.

The filmmakers have categorically stated that SF is an original screenplay and not based on any book.

[Pussfeller]

After looking at that dismembered excuse for an interview, I have no idea what Craig meant by "the book".

[SecretAgentFan]

Neither did he probably. Another case of giving an interview too much weight - people say the weirdest things incoherently during press time. They are nervous, they are hungover or stressed out - and Craig surely is not having too much fun doing press for TGWTDT while preparing or shooting SKYFALL.

[Leon]

One thing is gathered from the interview in any case, and that is Craig's stressing of just how good he thinks the screenplay is. They will always say so, of course, but he keeps pushing at it and trying to explain that "this is not just actor hyperbole". I do believe they must genuinely have a seriously strong script, something they really worked for after the disaster of QoS (at least in terms of it's script). If it wasn't, Daniel Craig (who tends to speak his mind and it shows if he isn't really) would have had no need to put so much emphasis and attention on his passion for it's quality.

[Pussfeller]

Well, they've had long enough to write the damn thing. It better be good.

[Shrublands]

So what are the two hooks in Casino Royale, that are in both film and book?

I’d say the first is Bond being sent-off to defeat the villain using the unusual method of a high stakes card game.
And secondly, that Bond falls in love with the woman who has been sent on the mission with him, only to discover that she is a traitor.

With QoS, you have no such novelties, nothing that could be put so succinctly and still be intriguing enough to pull you through a story.
Now, according to Craig, we have 2 or even 3 such things at work in SF.
I wonder what they could be.

[Skudor]

Can anyone define hook for me? I've heard it used a lot in the context of Skyfall, now by Craig but earlier by the script writer (whose name eludes me for now). I'm taking it to be different from a McGuffin or a twist. It's whatever draws you in to the film and keeps you there?

On this interview I tend to go with Shrub's view - he's talking about the hooks they got from CR the book and used in CR the film, it's just a bit messy. I'd love to believe it was other source material (MWTGG style beginning, YOLT style ending) - but haven't seen enough to buy into that theory.

[univex]

Can anyone define hook for me? I've heard it used a lot in the context of Skyfall, now by Craig but earlier by the script writer (whose name eludes me for now). I'm taking it to be different from a McGuffin or a twist. It's whatever draws you in to the film and keeps you there?

On this interview I tend to go with Shrub's view - he's talking about the hooks they got from CR the book and used in CR the film, it's just a bit messy. I'd love to believe it was other source material (MWTGG style beginning, YOLT style ending) - but haven't seen enough to buy into that theory.

Yes, Shrubs is right. Dan´s talking about CR Now, what did he mean with the three hooks and at least two working out? And, as Skudor said, what on earth is a hook? In CR we had the Vesper/Bond relationship, the card game and the rookie 00 agent as hooks. Does that make three hooks? Are hooks angles? Story drivers?

Edited by univex, 30 November 2011 - 02:33 PM.

[Shrublands]

Can anyone define hook for me? I've heard it used a lot in the context of Skyfall, now by Craig but earlier by the script writer (whose name eludes me for now). I'm taking it to be different from a McGuffin or a twist. It's whatever draws you in to the film and keeps you there?

Yes, that's more or less it.

It’s slightly difficult to describe. But I shall try. It’s a narrative thread that catches the viewer/readers attention and draws them into and through the story as they wonder/anticipated what will happen next.
This can go hand-in-hand with the use of a MacGuffin. For example, the hook in Octopussy starts with 009 turning up dead, dressed as a clown, near the Berlin Wall, with a Faberge egg.
The ‘how and why?” will provide a narrative thread from there, and we are already anticipating/wondering what will happen as it unfolds. Here the MacGuffin (the egg) is like the bait on the hook, if you will. I.e. an enigmatic object to focus on.

[d21089]

mysterious organisation, rookie 00, betrayed by the woman he loves would be the hooks for CR i think

[Shrublands]

mysterious organisation, rookie 00, betrayed by the woman he loves would be the hooks for CR i think

There are two in CR, which sometime intertwine, but largely have their own dynamic.
1. What will happen between Bond and Vesper?
2. Will Bond be able to defeat a master criminal using a game of cards?

[univex]

mysterious organisation, rookie 00, betrayed by the woman he loves would be the hooks for CR i think

There are two in CR, which sometime intertwine, but largely have their own dynamic.
1. What will happen between Bond and Vesper?
2. Will Bond be able to defeat a master criminal using a game of cards?

Oh, I gotcha
So we probably know one from SF righ? Will Bond be able to remain loyal to M while tracking down and destroying the threat against MI6? Nah, that´s probably just the big picture right?

[The Shark]

mysterious organisation, rookie 00, betrayed by the woman he loves would be the hooks for CR i think

The "rookie agent" shtick is one mostly concocted by EON.

[Luigi Ferrari]

You can find something useful for the debate at this link:
http://www.digitalsp...-plot-idea.html
Peter Morgan has revealed that his original story concept is the only element that remains in the script for Daniel Craig's James Bond 23.

Speaking to Digital Spy at the London Film Festival launch, Morgan hinted that the screenplay for Sam Mendes's spy movie - worked on by John Logan, Patrick Marber, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade - took one key element from his Bond treatment.

"I hear that an idea, the central idea, is still there but not one similar thing other than that. I think they've still kept the big hook, which I'm not going to tell you!" he said.

Daniel Craig's third outing as James Bond, co-starring Ralph Fiennes, Javier Bardem and Judi Dench, will open in cinemas on October 26, 2012.

[SecretAgentFan]

Well, the Morgan quote is a bit old news, I´m afraid. But again, this is also something not to take too seriously.

[007jamesbond]

I am guessing a hook would be what will happen between M and Bond because of M's "past"

[The Shark]

I am guessing a hook would be what will happen between M and Bond because of M's "past"

Hopefully some hawt, steamy luuurv.

[Matt_13]

I think that quote was intended for CR, not Skyfall, and that Craig just got a bit ahead of himself and basically mixed up his words (which were probably straight in his head). It happens. They said definitively at the conference it would not be based on any source material so this sounds like a simple slip of the tongue.

And yes, the term "hook" does seem to be popping up quite a bit, doesn't it? It's not something I've heard tossed around so freely so my thought is that it is a substantial departure from your traditional good guy vs bad guy dynamic, in addition to adding a unique element of drama that we haven't seen before. That's really all I can think of when I hear the word "hook," outside of pirates, o'course. Aarghh.........

[Luigi Ferrari]

http://www.timeout.c...usive-interview

Turning his mind to Bond, Craig admits that ‘Quantum of Solace’ (2008) was a frustrating experience, not least because the Hollywood writers’ strike meant they ended up filming with an incomplete script. ‘We were ed,’ he says. ‘We had the bare bones of a script and then there was the strike and there was nothing we could do. We couldn’t employ a writer to finish it. There was me trying to rewrite scenes – and a writer I am not. We were stuffed.’

In contrast, Craig says he could not be happier with the script of ‘Skyfall’, which he is filming now with Mendes until the end of next May. ‘I’m genuinely really excited because we’ve got a script. I think this one is better than “Casino Royale”. I really do. It’s a totally original story. There’s a long thought process that’s gone into it. I read it and it just works as a story.’

Craig believes that the fact that both he and Mendes are British, roughly the same age and share the same memories of growing up with Bond, has greatly helped the planning and execution of ‘Skyfall’.

‘Early on, we sat down and we just rabbited for hours about “Live and Let Die” or “From Russia With Love”, and talked about little scenes that we knew from them. That’s how we started talking about it. That’s what we have tried to instil in the script.’

A full interview with Daniel Craig, in which he talks about ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’, ‘Skyfall’ and more, will appear in the next issue of Time Out London, dated December 8-15 2011 and on shelves from Tuesday December 6 2011.

[Matt_13]

http://www.timeout.com/london/feature/1969/daniel-craig-exclusive-interview

Turning his mind to Bond, Craig admits that ‘Quantum of Solace’ (2008) was a frustrating experience, not least because the Hollywood writers’ strike meant they ended up filming with an incomplete script. ‘We were ed,’ he says. ‘We had the bare bones of a script and then there was the strike and there was nothing we could do. We couldn’t employ a writer to finish it. There was me trying to rewrite scenes – and a writer I am not. We were stuffed.’

In contrast, Craig says he could not be happier with the script of ‘Skyfall’, which he is filming now with Mendes until the end of next May. ‘I’m genuinely really excited because we’ve got a script. I think this one is better than “Casino Royale”. I really do. It’s a totally original story. There’s a long thought process that’s gone into it. I read it and it just works as a story.’

Craig believes that the fact that both he and Mendes are British, roughly the same age and share the same memories of growing up with Bond, has greatly helped the planning and execution of ‘Skyfall’.

‘Early on, we sat down and we just rabbited for hours about “Live and Let Die” or “From Russia With Love”, and talked about little scenes that we knew from them. That’s how we started talking about it. That’s what we have tried to instil in the script.’

A full interview with Daniel Craig, in which he talks about ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’, ‘Skyfall’ and more, will appear in the next issue of Time Out London, dated December 8-15 2011 and on shelves from Tuesday December 6 2011.

Seriously, how can anyone feel apprehension about this project?