{"id":300439,"date":"2025-11-19T04:03:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T04:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/300439\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T04:03:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T04:03:10","slug":"how-james-bond-movie-revamped-franchise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/300439\/","title":{"rendered":"How James Bond Movie Revamped Franchise"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tFew modern filmmakers can claim that they\u2019ve made movie history, but Martin Campbell<\/a> can say he\u2019s done it twice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe New Zealand native and accomplished action director is the only person to ever helm the first chapters in two different actors\u2019 tenure as Bond\u2026 James Bond<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 2004, Campbell was tapped by veteran producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael W. Wilson to launch Daniel Craig\u2019s first outing as James Bond, 2006\u2019s Casino Royale. He accomplished this nine years after rejuvenating the then-dormant franchise with Pierce Brosnan<\/a>\u2019s first 007 film, 1995\u2019s Goldeneye<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe latter \u2014 released Nov. 17, 1995 \u2014 saw Brosnan\u2019s dashing Bond struggling to stop his former colleague and friend, 006\/Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean), from using a deadly Russian satellite\u2019s EMP capabilities to throw the world back into the Stone Age. (Prior to Goldeneye, Brosnan famously inked a deal to play Bond in 1987\u2019s The Living Daylights. But, at the last minute, his contract for NBC and MTM\u2019s Remington Steele was renewed and the coveted role went to Timothy Dalton.)<\/p>\n

\n\tGoldenEye influenced Casino in that it showcased Campbell\u2019s seemingly effortless approach to crafting blockbuster-friendly set pieces with gritty, kinetic visuals. His particular dynamic visual style was, at that point, something the Bond franchise had never really done before. He and his team, including long time cinematographer Phil M\u00e9heux, also put that action through a character-first lens \u2014 ensuring that every victory Bond earns or blow he takes feels like one of our own.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBut, at the time, there was no guarantee Campbell and his collaborators\u2019 exciting take on the first Bond film of the \u201890s was going to be celebrated 30 years later \u2014 let alone succeed on opening day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere was uncertainty as to whether Bond still worked,\u201d Campbell tells The Hollywood Reporter in an interview celebrating Goldeneye\u2019s 30th anniversary. \u201cThe studio was budget-conscious. They often asked: \u2018Did anybody want to go see it? Was Bond relevant anymore?\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe answer would turn out to be a resounding \u201cyes,\u201d as Campbell\u2019s film ranked (domestically) as one of the 10 highest grossing films of 1995. It also earned $356.4 million worldwide on a budget of $58 million, according to Campbell.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut the road to that success was a struggle, due to a protracted lawsuit between studio MGM and other stakeholders over the franchise \u2014 one that put a six-year gap between when audiences could get their Bond fix on the big screen. Timothy Dalton\u2019s second and final outing for Her Majesty\u2019s Secret Service, 1989\u2019s License to Kill, performed poorly at the summer box office that year. Critics and audiences were soft on the violent film\u2019s darker and more grounded take \u2014 a take that they would, ironically, later embrace in Casino Royale.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe lengthy lawsuit, plus Kill\u2019s box office shortcomings, allowed what Campbell acknowledges as a \u201ccourse correction\u201d for the franchise when he came onboard. One of Campbell\u2019s first creative conversations was a critical one: Who would play James Bond?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt had to be Pierce,\u201d Campbell says. Barbara and Michael\u2019s father, the late Albert \u201cCubby\u201d Broccoli, had the final say in recasting their lead role, as the Broccolis seemed to want Dalton to return. But in a meeting with MGM, it was Cubby who decided to go with Brosnan. So, with Brosnan officially enlisted to strap on the shoulder-holstered Walther PPK, Campbell and his producers turned their attention to the script. Four writers (three credited) would work on the film in total.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tMartin Campbell, Famke Jenson, Pierce Brosnan and Izabella Scorupco<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEric Robert\/Sygma\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe first draft I saw was from writer Michael France,\u201d Campbell says. \u201cIt was very heavy. Michael is someone who writes every beat of action, down to the close-up of a trigger, and he is very good at it. But the whole thing, though, I struggled with [that] first draft.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter having Jeffrey Caine come on for a rewrite, with the screenwriter adding the prologue that introduced Bond and 006 on a past mission, the script still required some finessing. So the filmmakers received help from a surprising choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe brought in the writer who wrote Working Girl for Mike Nichols, Kevin Wade,\u201d Campbell recalls. \u201cHe came in and really helped break the back of the script. He did a very good job restructuring it and added some very good scenes. He was only contracted for one month, I believe because that\u2019s all we could afford, and he did a good job. He was uncredited, but he knew that going in and agreed to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut the script still needed work. Running out of time, the production was eager to find a writer who could not only infuse the script with what Campbell calls \u201cthat Bond flare and sense of humor,\u201d but also get the narrative into ready-to-film shape. According to Campbell, it was Barbara Broccoli\u2019s suggestion to bring on the movie\u2019s \u201cfixer:\u201d Writer, satirist and author Bruce Feirstein.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI worked with Bruce for a long time after that, in pre-production, on the script. And that\u2019s really how the movie came together. He also was responsible for the movie\u2019s big M scene.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe scene Campbell refers to is Bond\u2019s first (and very heated) one-on-one chat with his new boss, played by Dame Judi Dench. With the director wanting M to be played by a woman for the first time in the franchise\u2019s history (inspired by Stella Rimington becoming the head of MI5 in 1992), Campbell felt that Goldeneye needed a scene between the two where 007\u2019s reputation as a \u201csexist, misogynist dinosaur\u201d was called out. The director was confident that the story \u201cneeded to address what the audience was likely thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBruce did a lot of drafts of that scene, for various reasons,\u201d Campbell recalls. \u201cBut the one we shot was the first one, the best one.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat they didn\u2019t shoot was a scene long-rumored to have been cut for budget: A showcase of the weapons and gadgets on Bond\u2019s new car, the BMW Z-3 Roadster. Despite Q (the late Desmond Llewelyn) introducing both 007 and audiences to the car and its arsenal (missiles behind the headlights, for example), Campbell definitively shoots down the myth that there were any plans to ever give the car an explosive set piece.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere never was a scene [like that]. I mean, it would have been nice. And the [Q scene with the car] often gets commented on, of course, but the thing was \u2014 the story didn\u2019t involve the car. In any of the action, the problem was there just wasn\u2019t a place that made sense for it; you couldn\u2019t just fire [the missiles]. I\u2019m sure, at the time, we must have talked about it, like, \u2018is there a way in which we could incorporate [the car] in terms of an action scene?\u2019 But, if you look at the story, it\u2019s just not possible as it stands.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFinding a spot for Bond\u2019s shiny new sports car was the least of Campbell\u2019s worries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWith Campbell rapidly approaching the start of principal photography, GoldenEye had yet to cast one of its key roles: Russian computer and satellite programmer Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco), who must join Bond on his globe-trotting adventure to foil 006\u2019s plot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe tested quite a lot of actors with Pierce, and they just weren\u2019t connecting somehow. We didn\u2019t feel we had the right woman for the part,\u201d explains Campbell. \u201cAnd Debbie McWilliams, the terrific casting director, she would always look at countries all over the world for who was up-and-coming, which actors we should keep a look out for. So I spoke to her, and I said: \u2018Is there any country in Europe that you haven\u2019t been to and checked yet?\u2019 She said, \u2018One, Sweden.\u2019 So, on that night, she got on a plane and was on her way to Sweden. I think we were, like, six days away from shooting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSoon after landing in Sweden and getting to work, McWilliams relieved Campbell\u2019s concerns with one phone call.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cShe rang to say, \u2018I\u2019ve got the girl,\u2019 and it was Izabella \u2014 who was a pop singer, I believe, at the time. She had done some acting, but she had one or two roles in Europe. A few gold discs. So, we flew Izabella over [to England] that day. I read her and, after 30 seconds into her reading, I said: \u2018You\u2019ve got the part.\u2019 And she was so good in it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNext on Campbell\u2019s to-do list: Give his new Bond one hell of a fight scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe director felt that the last time 007 had a truly memorable, high-stakes brawl was when Sean Connery\u2019s 007 traded fists with KGB assassin Red Grant (Robert Shaw) in 1963\u2019s From Russia With Love. Using that film\u2019s iconic, close-quarter combat scene in a confined train car as inspiration, Campbell wanted Bond and 006 to battle it out within a small metallic shed housed within the bowels of the villain\u2019s massive antenna array in Cuba. Soon, the stunt team went to work training Brosnan and Bean for what would become one of film\u2019s signature moments.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe actors did all of that fight for real,\u201d Campbell recalls. \u201cThere\u2019s one shot where Bond takes a slide and fall off a metal table, I think that\u2019s the only time we used a stunt double for Pierce.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs remarkable as that fight scene was for audiences to watch back in 1995, the filming of it was even more so for its director.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe wanted to make it as vicious and as tough as possible to watch these two go at one another \u2014 both [men] extremely skilled, both lethal. Pierce and Sean worked really hard on that fight with the stunt team. They wanted to do it themselves, they did it themselves \u2014 which is unusual when you\u2019re shooting that close, in a very tight and confined space. It\u2019s very difficult to double, obviously. Especially the way the fight was [choreographed], it meant that you see quite a lot of their faces. But I was lucky to have those actors, and have Bond be up against someone from his past \u2014 an equal, a friend \u2014 which I think helped up the stakes there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCampbell also considers himself lucky not just for being able to helm two pivotal and beloved films in Hollywood\u2019s longest running franchise, but for also getting a chance to do it with Broccoli and Wilson. GoldenEye was a formative experience for both Campbell and his producers, with the latter essentially taking over the franchise from Cubby with this installment. (In 2025, the veteran producers left the franchise and it is now currently overseen for Amazon\/MGM by Amy Pascal and David Heyman, with Dune\u2019s Denis Villeneuve set to helm \u201cBond 26.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBarbara and Michael were terrific on both Goldeneye and Casino Royale,\u201d praises Campbell. \u201cBecause they let you make the film. I mean, they don\u2019t really interfere hardly at all. Obviously, in the script process, they\u2019re very involved. But in the making of [the film], they let you do it and you get an amazing amount of freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThat creative freedom also extended to what audiences got to see released in theaters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI can honestly say that, in both of my movies, what you saw was my cut, basically. I had no pressure from them to cut them differently. In fact, they tended to have control over the studio in terms of the usual studio notes and which ones they would listen to or say \u2018leave it as is,\u2019 which was great. They were fantastic producers, they really were.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Few modern filmmakers can claim that they\u2019ve made movie history, but Martin Campbell can say he\u2019s done it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300440,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[88,109951,37117,156337,206,62674],"class_list":{"0":"post-300439","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-goldeneye","10":"tag-james-bond","11":"tag-martin-campbell","12":"tag-movies","13":"tag-pierce-brosnan"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}