The first footage from
Skyfall was seen in the teaser trailer released on May 21, 2012. A
shot of Bond running through a London park did not make it into the
finished film. The teaser trailer gave the first indication that
Skyfall was going to be something different to earlier Bond films.
Although there were spectacular shots of Shanghai and Istanbul, it was
clear that London was going to feature heavily in the film.
The nation’s
capital would become the focus of world attention as the city hosted the
2012 Summer Olympics. The opening ceremony took place on the evening of
Friday July 27, 2012, in the Olympic Stadium, where the Games were
formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II. In a spectacular four-hour opening
ceremony televised live across the globe to an estimated 900-million
viewers, the focus on everything great about Great Britain was showcased
in a pageant directed by Academy Award-winning British film maker Danny
Boyle. In a 6-minute filmed segment entitled
‘Happy & Glorious’ the
character of James Bond (played by Daniel Craig) is seen entering the
front gates of Buckingham Palace in a black London taxi cab. Bond is
escorted to meet Queen Elizabeth II (who played herself), acknowledging
him with the words, “Good evening, Mr Bond” - apparently included by the
Monarch herself. The pair then appear to climb into a waiting helicopter
and fly across London, with shots of cheering crowds on The Mall,
Trafalgar Square, the Palace of Westminster (with an animated Winston
Churchill statue in Parliament Square), and over the Thames past the
London Eye, St Paul's Cathedral, and the financial district the City of
London. The helicopter then passes through Tower Bridge with the whole
sequence accompanied by ‘The Dambusters March’ in a blatant display of
British patriotism.
The film finishes with Bond and the Queen apparently
jumping from a real helicopter live above the stadium, accompanied by the
‘James Bond Theme’, both with Union Jack parachutes identical to the one
seen in the pre-credit sequence of The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) -
1977 was the year of the Queen's Silver Jubilee. By the time The
Spy Who Loved Me was released, the country was already in the grip of
national patriotism on a scale not seen since the end of World War II, and
a similar feeling was now awaiting the release of Skyfall.
ABOVE: (left)
‘Skyfall’ (co-written by Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth) performed by
Adele, was released on Friday October 5th at 0:07 BST/London time.
The day had been designated ‘Global James Bond Day’, celebrating
the 50th anniversary of the release of the first James Bond film
Dr. No in London. (right) On February 23, 2013, Adele then
won the Oscar for Best Original Song for ‘Skyfall’, the first
Academy Award presented to a James Bond film in 47 years.
The title song ‘Skyfall’
(co-written by Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth) performed by Adele, was
released on Friday October 5th at 0:07 BST/London time. The day had been
designated ‘Global James Bond Day’, celebrating the 50th anniversary of
the release of the first James Bond film Dr. No in London.
‘Skyfall’ ultimately reached number 2 in the UK singles chart to become
the highest charting song of the series (along with ‘A View To A Kill’ by
Duran Duran) to that date. October 5, 2012 also saw the release of the
documentary film Everything Or Nothing: The Untold Story of James Bond
in selected ODEON cinemas in the UK. The 98-minute documentary was a
refreshingly candid account of the history of the world's greatest film
franchise, and featured exclusive new interviews with
James Bond actors George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton, Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel
Craig - as well as unprecedented access to EON Productions’ extensive
archive of behind-the-scenes material. Sean Connery appeared in archive
footage.
ABOVE: Skyfall
had its world premiere at The Royal Albert Hall Tuesday October
23, 2012. With the exception of Albert Finney (who plays Kincade),
all the leading players in Skyfall attended the premiere. (L-R)
New Q Ben Whishaw, Ralph Fiennes who plays Gareth Mallory [and
later M],
Bérénice Lim Marlohe, Daniel Craig, Naomie Harris (the new Miss
Moneypenny), director Sam Mendes, Dame Judi Dench (in her final
credited performance as M) and Javier Bardem who memorably played
Silva in Skyfall.
Skyfall had its
Royal World Charity Premiere at London's Royal Albert Hall on Tuesday
October 23, 2012. With the exception of Albert Finney (who plays Kincade),
all the leading players in Skyfall attended the premiere. Like Die
Another Day, which also had its premiere at the Royal Albert Hall a decade
earlier, Skyfall was similarly graced with the presence of a number of
James Bond alumni including Sir Christopher Lee (Scaramanga in The Man
With The Golden Gun), Colin Salmon (Charles Robinson in Tomorrow
Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day),
Minnie Driver (Irina in GoldenEye), five-time James Bond director
John Glen, Stunt co-ordinator & 2nd Unit Director Vic Armstrong, and
Special Effects supervisor Chris Corbould. In addition to the
behind-the-scenes talent in attendance were four-time Miss Moneypenny,
Samantha Bond, and a quartet of former Bond Girls dating back to the very
first James Bond film. Eunice Gayson (Sylvia Trench in Dr. No and
From Russia With Love), Shirley Eaton (Jill Masterson in
Goldfinger), Maryam d'Abo (Kara Milovy in The Living Daylights)
and Caterina Murino (Solange in Casino Royale) all appeared on the
red carpet before joining the 5000+ attendees inside the historic concert
hall in South Kensington. Skyfall then transferred to the ODEON
Leicester Square (below right) from Wednesday October 24, 2012, where it played for six
weeks. Skyfall then opened at 587 cinemas across the country on Friday October
26th, going on to take a staggering £102-million at the box office to then
become the highest-grossing film of all time in the UK.
On February 23, 2013,
Adele won the Oscar for Best Original Song for ‘Skyfall’, the first
Academy Award presented to a James Bond film in 47 years. Skyfall
was also joint winner in the sound editing category (a rare tie shared
with Zero Dark Thirty), with the award being presented to Per
Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers. Since its release Skyfall has
gone on to take over $1.1 billion at the global box-office, making it the
most commercially successful film of the franchise when not adjusted for
inflation - Thunderball (1965) still holds that record.
Skyfall
consolidated Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond after Quantum of
Solace (2008), and was followed by the equally disappointing
Spectre (2015). Skyfall befitted from having an
excellent script, a talented ensemble cast, and an overall feel that has
not been replicated in the 10 years since its release. With Craig’s final
Bond film No Time To Die (2021) dividing fans and critics alike,
Skyfall was generally well-received and brought a whole new audience
to a franchise that was then half-a-century old,but also
benefitting
greatly by being released during Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee
year, and capturing the zeitgeist of the nation at the time, with its mood
of nostalgia and re-invention.
Read
more about Skyfall in 007 MAGAZINE OMNIBUS
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