BOND: 10 Things You Might Not Know About SPECTRE - Warped Factor - Words in the Key of Geek.

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BOND: 10 Things You Might Not Know About SPECTRE

You're a kite dancing in a hurricane, Geek Dave.


1. Bond 24's usage of the Spectre organisation and its characters marked the end of long-standing litigation between Eon Productions and producer Kevin McClory, who sued James Bond creator Ian Fleming in 1961 claiming ownership over elements of the novel Thunderball, and in an out of court settlement two years later, was awarded the novel's film rights, including Spectre and its characters.

McClory died in 2006, and in November 2013 MGM and the McClory estate formally settled the issue with Danjaq, LLC (sister company of Eon Productions) with MGM acquiring the full copyright film rights to the concept of Spectre and all of the characters associated with it.

2. Before these negotiations took place, Skyfall director Sam Mendes had gone on record in April 2013 stating he would not return to film Bond 24. Reportedly Ang Lee, Tom Hooper, David Yates, Danny Boyle, and Shane Black were all considered as potential directors, with associate producer Gregg Wilson championing Christopher Nolan. Nicolas Winding Refn would later reveal that he was offered the director's chair for the film, but turned it down

Shortly after MGM required the rights to Spectre and its associated characters, Sam Mendes changed his mind and agreed to return to direct as he was intrigued with the newly acquired potential to pave the way for the long-term future of the franchise.


3. The reintroduction of SPECTRE to the franchise would require something of a minor retcon to the continuity of the previous films, with the Quantum organisation alluded to in Casino Royale and introduced in Quantum of Solace reimagined as a division within Spectre rather than an independent organisation which is implied to be no longer active by the film's events. Long-term Bond writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade also linked the plot of Spectre (and Craig's first two Bond movies) to the events of Skyfall by revealing antagonist Raoul Silva to be associated with Spectre, reverting Skyfall's initial heavily promoted solo story status.

4. Despite being an original story, Spectre draws on Ian Fleming's source material, most notably in the character of Franz Oberhauser, played by Christoph Waltz, and his father Hannes. Hannes Oberhauser is a background character in the short story Octopussy from Fleming's short story collection "Octopussy and The Living Daylights", and is named in the film as having been a temporary legal guardian of a young Bond in 1983. As Sam Mendes searched for events in young Bond's life to follow the childhood discussed in Skyfall, he came across Hannes Oberhauser, who becomes a father figure to Bond. From there, Mendes conceived the idea of "a natural child who had been pushed out, cuckoo in the nest" by Bond, which became Franz. Similarly, Charmian Bond is shown to have been his full-time guardian, observing the back story established by Fleming.


5. After MGM's financial troubles, which had paused production on Skyfall throughout 2011, were settled, a deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment was renegotiated to co-finance the Bond franchise. Sony had partnered with MGM for Daniel Craig's first two Bond films, and their new deal would see them on board for both Bond 23 & 24 providing 25 percent of the negative cost of both films, in exchange for receiving 25 percent of the profits plus distribution fees for overseeing its worldwide rollout.

When Bond 24 was announced in June 2013, the budget was not yet fixed, but was certain to be higher than the $210 million of Skyfall due to foreign locations and bigger payments for both Sam Mendes and Daniel Craig, so an estimated maximum figure of $250 million was originally agreed on between MGM and Sony.

However, in November 2014, one month before any filming had begun on Spectre, Sony was targeted by hackers who released details of confidential e-mails between Sony executives regarding several high-profile film projects. Included within these were several memos to and from MGM executives relating to the production of Spectre, claiming that the film was already projected to run heavily over it's estimated budget. In one of the revealed emails, Jonathan Glickman, president of the MGM motion picture group, stated that,
"The current gross budget sits in the mid $300Ms, making this one of the most expensive films ever made,"
Both Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson were cc'd into the email, and other documentation showed that they were resisting calls to curtail the budget and cut back on expensive location and stunt work. Eventually the producers did manage to secure some tax incentives and rebates, such as $14 million from filming in Mexico, but even with these taken into account Spectre was estimated to have a final budget between $250 million and $275 million.

However, many outlets calculated the budget as $300 million after rebates. If correct this would not only make Spectre the most expensive Bond film of all time (which it is anyway) but make it the joint fifth most expensive film ever made (behind three Avengers films and two Pirates Of The Caribbean movies).


6. Monica Bellucci was cast as Lucia Sciarra, the wife of assassin Marco Sciarra, becoming, at the age of fifty, the oldest actress to play a 'Bond girl'. She had previously auditioned for the role of Paris Carver in Tomorrow Never Dies, but was passed over in favour of Teri Hatcher.

7. Jesper Christensen reprised his role of Mr. White, seen in both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. Christensen's character was reportedly killed off in a scene intended to be used as an epilogue to Quantum of Solace, but Marc Forster's heavy editing of the film (for a shorter run-time) saw this scene removed from the final cut, enabling his return in Spectre.[55]


8. The opening scene of Spectre was filmed in and around the Zócalo and the Centro Histórico district in Mexico City, and features the Day of the Dead festival. Although a real-life Mexican national holiday, at the time of filming no such Day of the Dead parade like the one depicted took place in Mexico City.

In 2016, after Spectre's release, due to the interest raised by the film and the government's desire to promote the pre-Hispanic Mexican culture, the federal and local authorities decided to organize an actual "Día de Muertos" parade through Paseo de la Reforma and Centro Histórico on 29th October 2016, which was attended by 250,000 people.

The actual shot itself that opens the film appear to be one long take, but it actually joins six separate shots, requiring extensive planning. An impressive feat, joined in post-production, made even more impressive by the fact that three of the shots were external, filmed in Mexico, and three were internal and shot at Pinewood Studios.

9. The car chase scene set along the banks of the Tiber River and through the streets of Rome featured an Aston Martin DB10 (a model developed especially for the film, with only 10 examples ever produced) and a Jaguar C-X75. Remote driving pods were built above the cars so the vehicles could be driven while the cameras focused on Craig and Dave Bautista (Mr. Hinx, Spectre's huge, muscle-bound assassin) in the steering wheel. According to chief stunt co-ordinator Gary Powell, filming the chase had the "risk of skidding into the Vatican", and led to "a record for smashing up cars in Spectre—seven Aston Martins in all," with the film's car expenses estimated at $48 million - which certainly added heavily to that ever inflating budget.


10. Out of his initial three film (option) deal, Daniel Craig negotiated himself something of a payday for Spectre - which also partially accounts for the huge budget - taking home $39m, after bonuses based on the film's performance, and making Craig the highest-paid James Bond actor in history.

As for Spectre itself, the film's global take was $880 million, far behind that of Skyfall but still the second highest grossing film in the James Bond franchise. It's telling, though, that Sony will not return as partners on No Time To Die as it was reported that they made just $35 million from Skyfall and less from Spectre. Sony even chose to pass on a distribution only deal for Bond 25.

MGM will go it alone when James Bond finally returns after the multiple delayed release dates for No Time To Die....

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