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MI6 looks back at the launch of "Quantum of Solace"
exactly one year ago, and its impact with critics,
fans and home video release...
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Quantum of Solace - One Year On
29th October 2009
One year ago exactly, James Bond's 22nd silver screen mission
from EON Productions, "Quantum
of Solace", debuted at the Royal
World Premiere in London, UK. Although the event used two theatres,
down from
three
for
the previous outing "Casino
Royale", Leicester Square
packed to capacity once again on Wednesday 29th October 2008.
The Odeon hosted the Royal half of the premiere, with the adjacent
Empire cinema used as overflow - but both were linked with a
simulcast live video presentation during the build-up.
Prince William and Prince Harry provided the
Royal quotient to the evening, which had already raised over
half a million
Pounds for their chosen charity Help For Heroes when producers
Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli came on stage at The Odeon
to
introduce
the
cast and director Mark Forster. By the time the curtain came
up on the film it was 8:30pm and the London Film Festival screening
that was originally intended to follow the Royal premiere, also
in Leicester Square, ultimately overlapped.
After the screening, the bash was brought
to Battersea Power Station for a no-expense spared one
million pound after party that ran in to the early hours
of the morning.
A whirlwind tour of major cities across
the world immediately followed, with the principal cast
sometimes splitting up to cover multiple countries in
the same evening. Paris, Oslo, Berlin, Amsterdam, Lucerne,
Rome, Valencia, New York, Sydney and Tokyo all saw glittering
events to celebrate the opening of the film. Critical Aftermath
"Quantum of Solace" did not receive as positive
a reception with the critics and fans alike as its predecessor.
Whilst "Casino
Royale" scored an amazing 94% on the critics average
at Rotten Tomatoes, it's much anticipated follow-up did
not live up to expectation with the trade reviewers, scoring
only 64%.
On the fan side of the debate, it
was a similar story but narrower gap between the ratings
with IMDB users
scoring 8.0/10 and 6.9/10 for "Casino" and "Quantum" respectively. |
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Home Video Release
With the gap between world premiere and DVD
release shrinking
every year, it was no surprise that "Quantum of Solace" saw
the earliest home video release of any Bond film to date. Debuting
on March 24th in the USA, Daniel Craig's second outing as 007
went head-to-head with the massively popular vampire flick "Twilight".
Bond performed less than expected and bowed at #2 in the US for
total DVD sales with an estimated 1.2 million copies, but topped
both the Blu-Ray chart and video rental chart for the week. The
Blu-Ray edition of "Quantum" accounted for an impressive
28% of the title's total sales. The film currently ranks #14
in overall DVD sales in 2009.
"Brutal and breathless, Quantum
Of Solace delivers tender emotions along with frenetic
action. Not as good as franchise
reboot Casino Royale, but still an impressive entry to the
Bond canon" - Rotten Tomatoes Consensus |
Back in his home country, Bond arrived a day earlier and landed
straight at #1 and #2 on the UK DVD and Blu-Ray chart respectively. "Quantum" become
the UK's biggest-selling DVD and Blu-ray release of 2009 (so
far) selling 522,926 units on DVD and Blu-ray combined on its
first day of release. Around 10% of those UK sales were on Blu-ray.
Compared to "Casino Royale" which shifted 3.6 million
DVDs in its first month, and 5 million copies to date, "Quantum
of Solace" lagged in the USA with only 1.9m after one month.
An increase in Blu-Ray sales dented "Quantum"s DVD
figures, but probably not the studio's profit margins as the
high-def versions often retailed for double the standard DVD
price. Total sales to date for "Casino" and "Quantum" on
DVD in the USA are pegged at $79m and $43m respectively.
Now a year on from initial release, "Quantum
of Solace" is
consigned as an entry in the series rather than a new, fresh
movie in many fans minds, with thoughts turning to Bond
23 which
starts filming in late 2010 for an expected Holiday season 2011
release.
Briefing
Produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli (Eon
Productions), QUANTUM OF SOLACE was released in the
UK on October 31st 2008 and is directed by
Marc Forster. Principal photography started on January
3rd
2008 at
Pinewood Studios and around the UK, and foreign locations
including Italy, Panama, Chile, Peru and Austria.
Paul Haggis completed the script based on a first draft
screenplay developed by regular scribes Neal Purvis & Robert
Wade, with later polish by Joshua Zetumer. The story
is a direct continuation of the events of Casino
Royale. 007 faces off against
villains Mathieu Amalric (Dominic Greene), Anatole
Taubman (Elvis) and Joaquin Cosío (General Medrano).
Olga Kurylenko (Camille) and Gemma Arterton (MI6 Agent
Fields) play the Bond Girls. Dame Judi Dench (M), Jeffrey
Wright (Felix Leiter) and Giancarlo Giannini (Mathis)
reprise their roles as Bond's allies. It is British
actor Daniel Craig’s second outing as James Bond,
following his debut film Casino Royale released November
16th 2006.
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