Brace yourselves for some horrific news from the set of Quantum of Solace, the new James Bond film due in theaters this fall. In a tragic accident early Saturday morning, the film's star plunged into Italy's Lake Garda and was destroyed. No, not Daniel Craig, silly. I mean the real star: the $250,000 Aston Martin DBS that 007 drives.

Yes, this is terrible news, even worse than the news that the movie would be called Quantum of Solace. As a stuntman was delivering the car to the northern Italy set in rainy weather, he lost control of the vehicle on a curve, went through a guard rail, and plummeted into the lake. (That's the recovered vehicle in the picture.) The stuntman, who wasn't named in any of the news reports I found, escaped with just some scratches and bruises; his job experience probably means he knows how to react in an auto-related crisis. It sounds like it would have been a spectacular sequence for a movie, if only there had been cameras rolling.

The reason this is such a big deal is that Aston Martins ain't exactly cheap, nor are they plentiful. It's not like it was a Honda Civic and the producers can just go grab another one off the lot. London's Sunday Mirror says the film had acquired five Aston Martins for the Lake Garda sequence. Two were already sprayed with bullet holes (on purpose), and it was the third one that went into the lake. The filmmakers presumably had other intentions for the remaining two cars; no word yet on whether they'll have to adjust their plans, or whether they'll be able to make do. Obtaining a replacement car on short notice doesn't appear to be an option.

USA Today has a piece up today about 16 "hot" movies to watch for in 2008. Here's the list:

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Sex and the City: The Movie
The Dark Knight
Mamma Mia!
The X-Files
Quantum of Solace (aka the New James Bond Flick)
Star Trek
Iron Man
Speed Racer
The Incredible Hulk
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Madagascar: The Crate Escape
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Day the Earth Stood Still

I think I'm ready to give up trying to figure out what's going on with this movie -- I'll just wait till November and judge it then. But here's the latest intangible -- Bollywood actress and British tabloid staple Shilpa Shetty has just joined the cast of Quantum of Solace in an as-yet undetermined role, along with moderately well-known supporting actor David Harbour, whose role is also undetermined. Although it's being touted by MI6, the source of this information appears to be that Harbour and Shetty's names both popped up on IMDB over the weekend, so I would wait for EON confirmation next week before this becomes really, really official. IMDB does have a name for her character, though -- Devi. This late casting of Shetty is a curiosity, since she was considered a prime candidate for a Bond girl during the initial casting phase, and the Bond producers were known to be interested in working a Bollywood favorite into the film to take advantage of the synchronous orbit of Bollywood and British cinema.

Surely they don't have room for three Bond girls, do they? Shetty is very popular in Britain and recently got worldwide press attention for a mini-scandal involving Richard Gere, so I think it's more than likely that this role will amount to a cameo, like Madonna in Die Another Day or like British actress Christina Cole's role as "Ocean Club Receptionist" in Casino Royale. Remember that little scene where Bond checks into the Ocean Club and has a momentary flirtation with a stop-you-in-your-tracks-gorgeous blonde behind the front desk? I'm thinking they invited Shetty to do one of those parts and she agreed, perhaps after quietly losing out on getting one of the main Bond girl parts. But what do I know -- I thought Arterton was Moneypenny. Meanwhile, filming continues to roll on, and more confusion is sure to follow.

British jazz singer Amy Winehouse, who is known internationally more for her drug problems and wild antics -- in my five seconds of research, I see that she apparently heckled Bono while he was giving a speech, which makes me think she's good people -- has reportedly been offered the chance to sing the theme song for the new James Bond film. If British rag The Sun is to be believed, the producers of Quantum of Solace have gotten themselves involved in Winehouse's personal drama by offering the singer the theme song on the condition that she get herself clean and sober by April. "That's when the Bond people make a final decision on who sings the theme," the source said. "If Amy is clean then, it's hers." I don't know who this source is -- craft services guy, maybe -- but I also wouldn't put it past the crafty Bond producers to try to stir the media into a frenzy by putting Winehouse on the payroll in such a manner. For his part, Daniel Craig has already commented on this whole drama, saying "It's just way, way off that. Everyone's speculating about it but we've got other things to deal with -- there's no point in writing the song for a movie when we haven't got a movie." Yikes.

In other Bond news, there isn't any, really, but Craig did get into another tiff with journalists over his reputation for being difficult when it comes to press, which I didn't know he had. I met Craig during the junket for Casino Royale and found him to be as warm and as forthcoming as you could expect. On that so-called reputation, Craig says "I don't think it's true, it's just lazy journalism; they want to paint me as someone difficult. I think I'm quite nice, but maybe I'm delusional. There's no point in doing Bond if you're not going to sell it."

[via MI6]

Shortly after I first saw Casino Royale, someone asked me what I thought about it and I blurted out "B-." How could I, a Bond fan, give the movie such a low rating, they wanted to know, to which I replied that it seemed more like a movie-movie than a Bond movie and it should have gone further in its realism, and been R-rated. "If they had made this as a sort of R-rated version of Majesty's Secret Service, it might have actually been a great film," I said at the time. All of this is a long-winded way of leading up to mentioning that Daniel Craig is apparently keen on executing an explicit nude scene in Quantum of Solace, according to reports, which would seem to necessitate an R-rating this time around. Access Hollywood recently asked Jeffrey Wright about the rumors that Craig was trying to work some full-frontal into the movie this time around, to which he replied "The world is ready for anything, but I'm not licensed to reveal that." He also conceded that the title of the film was "pretty exotic."

Meanwhile, for those of you who have completely given up on trying to remain spoiler-free, there are now many details of a key car chase that will occur in the film. The Italian press has been all over this one, with an Italian Bond fansite detailing that the chase will take place along the banks of Lake Garda, between the resort towns of Navene and Malcesine and that the cars are expected to top speeds of 125 mph. According to them "the pursuit will feature spectacular and reckless maneuvers in a series of tunnels, culminating with a scene where a truck brings the action to an abrupt halt and a huge explosion." I don't know about you, but hearing that makes me immediately depressed because I have zero confidence that Marc Forster can pull it off. I mean, really, this is the guy who couldn't even make kite-flying seem realistic.

Finally, thanks to some advance toy marketing, we know that there will be a character in this film known as 'Elvis.' There's no confirmation on who this character is supposed to be, but since he's prominent enough to be toy-worthy, expect yet another casting announcement soon.

[Via MI6]

Is Gemma Arterton feeling the heat for having recently (apparently) blurted out a key plot point involving her character in Quantum of Solace? Seems that way. "You have to work out what you can say and cannot say," Arterton tells Reuters in a recent article. "It's quite hard for me who has a bit of a motor mouth. I've been learning for the last six months to think before I speak." As she continues to work on her problem, Arterton also continues to give away more plot details for the upcoming film, intimating in the same Reuters piece that oil -- "a lot of oil" -- is what the villains are after this time, and South America is apparently where they're looking for it. Arterton also tells IGN in another new interview that her character does become sexually involved with Bond -- there's a kiss, at least -- and that something happens to her in a "scene which is an homage to something iconic, but I cannot tell you what that is. But it will be remembered."

What is she talking about? Let's speculate. Given what Arterton has already let slip about her character's destiny and given that in this IGN interview she mentions Diana Rigg more than once -- noting her as one of her favorite Bond girls and saying "my hair is reminiscent of Diana Rigg's hair" the most obvious answer is that perhaps the "homage scene" is a climactic one for her and is something similar to the climactic scene in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. That would fit in with everything she's saying, but it wouldn't seemingly fit in with Bond's journey at this point, since it would be so similar to the ending of Casino Royale. Although, it might work if Arterton's Agent Fields is only a minor character, which she appears to be. A minor character could be resolved in such a way. Gemma, you're making my head hurt!

Yes, I know what the actual title of this film is, but I think it's so eye-poppingly awful that there's a very good chance it will be changed at some point before release, so I see no need to mention it now. We're talking about a film that has to be marketed internationally -- surely cooler heads at Sony will step in and demand a title that's reasonable? What was their second choice, by the way? James Bond in Footpounds of Complacency? Either way, someone needs to start minding the store over there because now the actors are going around giving away major plot details. It's not often that I have to issue a spoiler warning over something an actor said while out promoting their film, but consider this that spoiler warning and beware. Speaking to BBC Newsround, Gemma Arterton, who I had incorrectly figured for a Moneypenny early on, says that her character, an MI6 agent named Fields, is tasked with trying to "keep Bond under control" in Bolivia, but for her trouble the character "sort of comes to a sticky end." Thanks, Gemma.

Meanwhile, Mathieu Amalric is also talking up his character, the main villain, and says (another spoiler alert) that he's going to get into physical training for a big fight scene with Bond that will come at the end the picture. Is Bond in the habit of engaging in fisticuffs with his main adversaries? Not really. Anyway, that's also much more than I wanted to know, since for all we know this guy could have exited halfway through, like Le Chiffre. Based on the flurry of details that have emerged in the last week, I already think I have a good handle on exactly what will happen in this film, structure-wise, and that's too much info. In other, less spoiler-filled news, Detroit News is also running a piece on the set design for the film, and informs us that a massive MI6 set -- "a two-story suite of steel-gray furniture and frosted glass offices" -- will be featured this time around.

[Via MI6]

It hasn't been long since the title for Bond 22 was finally announced (is it me, or does Quantum of Solace sound too sci-fi for a Bond flick?), and already we have a poster and some tasty behind the scenes footage. That's the poster above, first unveiled over at The Daily Mail, and now a larger version has come to us via JoBlo (via Toxicshock). Honestly, I'm not all that crazy about it -- the thing looks too damn busy. And what's up with calling it Marc Forster's Quantum of Solace? I'd prefer it if they removed the names and simply said James Bond in Quantum of Solace. That brings an old school flavor to the advertisement, and it doesn't look as crowded. But what do I know; I'm just the idiot internet writer.

Additionally, you can head on over to IGN and check out a few minutes of behind the scenes footage from the set of Quantum. There's Daniel Craig swinging on a rope all damaged and whatnot, and then we see Forster behind the camera looking all director-like. From there, we see Craig (as Bond) telling some girl behind a desk to tell whoever that he's heading for Cairo. Finally, there's a scene of Bond speaking to M, before walking off camera with a blank stare. Quantum of Solace is due out in November.

UPDATE: This was just fan art, by the way, as the new, official teaser poster just launched -- and you can check it out here.

Just in case you weren't paying attention yesterday, Quantum of Solace is the title of the latest James Bond movie (previously referred to as "Bond 22"), which arrives in theaters this November. Yes, it sounds a little Supermanish, but as Jessica pointed out, the title does come from 007 creator Ian Fleming himself. So, we mustn't make too much fun of it, even if 2008 is fast becoming the most ridiculous year for movie titles (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull; Repo! The Genetic Opera). Yesterday, we also received the official plot synopsis of the sequel, a direct follow-up to Casino Royale. Now, as if the new installment was coming out this month instead of nine months from now, Empire has put up some new cast photos in order to acquaint us with the main characters of Quantum of Solace.

Of course, if you've seen Casino Royale, you're already familiar with at least four of the seven characters, and there isn't much that's new or interesting about the looks of Bond (Daniel Craig), M (Dame Judi Dench), Rene Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini) or Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright). But it is quite exciting to see the beautiful new Bond girls, Agent Fields (Gemma Arterton) and Camille (Olga Kurylenko), and the new villain, Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), who Empire describes as being refined, as if he "could almost be Bond with madder eyes." I guess I was jokingly half-hoping Amalric's villain would have a fat lip and one of his eyes sewn up, but that would just be preposterous. These Craig-starred Bond films are certainly less hokey than that, and most of us agree that they're better that way.

Well, it's official. After referring to the latest Bond movie as Bond 22 for what seemed like forever, BBC News reports that producers of the 22nd installment of the Bond franchise say the official title will be...wait for it...Quantum of Solace. To be honest, my first reaction was -- huh? Then, however, I found out that the title was taken from a collection of short stories published by Bond creator Ian Fleming back in 1960, so I guess it has some retro charm in spite of the fact that it sounds kind of awkward; don't you think? (Once again, Daniel Craig might have been messing with us all, just a little, with hints that "007" was the official title.)

The announcement came during a press conference at the new Pinewood Studios, where the film has begun shooting. Journalists were shown some clips of Bond swinging out of an explosion of an art gallery in Italy, as well as a meeting between Bond (Daniel Craig) and M (Judi Dench) in a snowy locale.

It was only a couple of weeks ago that they finally announced their new Bond Girl, Olga Kurylenko. So sure, the production has taken it's time assembling the cast around Daniel Craig; but now that it is all said and done, they have managed to put together a pretty interesting ensemble. There are some familiar faces from Casino Royale returning -- Giancarlo Giannini as Mathis and Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter. Plus, there are also some first-timers to the Bond franchise including critically acclaimed French actor Mathieu Amalric as our bad guy and Gemma Arterton as MI6 Agent Fields. We've gotten a couple of images from the film, but so far, most of the details about the story are still being kept under lock and key. So, if you can't wait for November 7th when Quantum of Solace hits theaters, stay tuned for any updates that come our way.

UPDATE: After the jump, you will find the film's synopsis, courtesy of Columbia Pictures. Read at your own risk!

Granted, Daniel Craig has already made sure that he won't be playing James Bond for the rest of his career; but that hasn't stopped him from signing up for a variety of parts that are as far as you can get from the suave super spy. Paramount Vantage has just released the trailer for the WWII drama, Defiance. The film is the latest from 'bleeding-heart' action director Ed Zwick, whose last feature, Blood Diamond, managed to snag the director an Oscar nomination. Judging by the orchestral swell in this trailer and tag lines like "from desperation comes defiance," it would seem like he might be angling for another nomination this year.

Defiance is based on the true story of three Jewish brothers who escaped Nazi-occupied Poland to join up with the Russian resistance in the forests of Belarus. Zwick's screenplay is based on Nechama Tec's book Defiance: The Bielski Partisans. Tuvia, Zusia, and Asael Bielski established a large partisan camp in the forests of Belarus during World War II and ultimately helped to save the lives of over 1,200 Jews. Craig will play Tuvia Bielski and he is joined by Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell as Zusia and Asael.

Despite my lack of love for some of Zwick's previous work, I'll admit that so far this one looks pretty good. Although to be fair, it might have a lot to do with the talents of Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber rather than Zwick's skill behind the camera. Defiance has yet to find a release date, but is expected to arrive sometime in '08.

[via ComingSoon.net]

Columbia Pictures has just issued a press release announcing Olga Kurylenko as the new Bond girl (and Bond's leading lady) in Bond 22. According to the release, Kurylenko will play "the dangerously alluring Camille, who challenges Bond and helps him come to terms with the emotional consequences of Vesper's betrayal." The Ukranian actress is probably best known for her part opposite Timothy Olyphant in the recently-released Hitman. See the full press release below (which, in case you were wondering, clearly states that Gemma Arterton will be playing a fellow MI6 agent).

"Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli of EON Productions Ltd, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios announced today the start of principal photography on the eagerly anticipated 22nd James Bond adventure. Daniel Craig reprises his role as 007 in the film which is directed by Marc Forster and follows the success of Casino Royale, the latest and highest grossing film in the series.

Starring alongside Craig is an impressive international cast led by the critically acclaimed French actor Mathieu Amalric as the sinister villain, and the Ukranian actress Olga Kurylenko who plays 007's leading lady. Returning to Bond 22 (working title) from Casino Royale are Judi Dench in her role as M, Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter and Giancarlo Giannini as Mathis. Newcomer to the Bond franchise, Gemma Arterton, will play the role of MI6 Agent Fields.

Commenting on the announcement, Wilson and Broccoli said, "We are fortunate to continue in the Bond tradition of attracting the finest international actors for our starring roles. Mathieu in the role of Dominic Greene, a leading member of the villainous organization introduced in 'Casino Royale,' will be a powerful counterpart to Daniel's portrayal of Bond. Olga Kurylenko will play the dangerously alluring Camille, who challenges Bond and helps him come to terms with the emotional consequences of Vesper's betrayal."

More after the jump ...

With filming less than a week old, an entire mini-gallery of photos have arrived from the set of Bond 22. Some of those are 'out of the office' shots of M, played of course by Judi Dench. In the shots that leaked out we see M and one of her confederates walking down some London street -- the kind of scene that will probably comprise two to three seconds of screen time in the finished film, if at all. Some snaps of Daniel Craig were also obtained by JustJared this week and picked up by MI6, when the actor showed up to film some scenes at Burwood Place, London. According to the report on MI6, some are saying that the local fire department was on hand to help the production create fake rain for the location shoot, but this isn't confirmed. The only other thing to be said about the shots is that they are completely unrevealing of anything about the film, other than the fact that it's actually shooting.

Meanwhile, MI6 is also reporting that according to their sources, Gemma Arterton's role in the new Bond film is "not the major role," meaning the real Bond girl has yet to be cast. They stress that "extensive" casting searches have focused on finding a Latin American actress for that position and they also say that Moneypenny is not thought to figure into this film -- so who is Arterton playing? The fact that her given name is "Fields" instead of something like Baroness von Whoever, I now think it's likely to assume that she's some new MI6 recruit who either gets killed early on or turns out to be a villain later in the piece like Rosamund Pike in Die Another Day.

Looks like the rumors were correct this time, as The Hollywood Reporter has just officially confirmed the casting of Gemma Arterton as the new Bond girl in next fall's highly-anticipated follow-up to Casino Royale, currently titled Bond 22. The trade says she'll play a character named "Fields" in the flick, which is scheduled to be released on November 7th. All that was said about her character was that "it's a nice-sized role," which came from a production company rep. Not much is known about the film as of now, except that it will pick up right where Casino Royale left off. For a brief look at Arterton's on-screen career, might I quote Monika from her piece early last month when Arterton's name first circulated as a major player in the casting of James Bond's next leading lady: "Gemma Arterton just spent some time Capturing Mary on television. She's about to follow that up by wreaking havoc at St. Trinian's, and from there -- she's spent some time in Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla, before being Lost in Austen as Elizabeth Bennet, and then co-starring in 3 and Out." She's young, she's unknown and she's fresh out of drama school. Arterton will join Daniel Craig (reprising his role as Bond), as well as Mathieu Amalric, who was just cast as the film's main villain.

So, does Gemma have what it takes to become a successful (and memorable) Bond girl?

[Special thanks to Patricia for the heads up]

Variety is reporting that Jeffrey Wright will reprise his role as CIA operative Felix Leiter in Bond 22, after first putting his stamp on the popular supporting character in Casino Royale. I say 'popular' only in the sense that Leiter has been recreated innumerable times in the Bond films and novels -- if you go to the Wikipedia page for the character you'll see an entire picture set of different actors, of different ages, builds and races, who have portrayed him through the years. I personally find it stupid and distracting to keep shoving some new, completely different character in our faces every few years and have him simply be referred to by the same name as the last guy. And yeah, I know, you could say the same thing about James Bond himself, but that's sort of a necessity. Just because Bond must be played by a new actor every once in a while doesn't mean that his supporting cadre of sidekicks are owed the same kind of longevity.

In other Bond news, the Vanity Fair spread on Indiana Jones -- specifically the Q&A with Spielberg -- contains some interesting musings by The Beard on what separates Bond from Jones and vice versa. I especially liked the interviewer's noting that Alison Doody's character in the third Indy was a lot more in the mold of a traditional Bond girl than a Jones woman. Spielberg agreed, noting that "She was more like a Bond girl, but she was also a betrayer. She betrays Indy, but she's more like a Bond girl. But not Kate. Kate wasn't a Bond girl at all. When push came to shove, she could stand alongside Indy and knock out thuggies." He actually said thuggees! Too bad VF spelled it wrong.

UPDATE: Variety has also just confirmed that Mathieu Amalric has been cast as the Bond 22 villain (as previously rumored), meanwhile Variety also claims producers and the studios are on the verge of casting a female lead with an announcement coming within the next two weeks.