What's Next
Stunt Dynasty For "Quantum of Solace" stunt coordinator Gary Powell, stunt work is the family business, and so is the Bond franchise. One of his relatives has worked on every 007 movie since "Dr. No." "My dad, my brother and my uncle have done all the Bond films. They started with Sean Connery and transitioned to the Roger Moore ones. I came along for the Pierce Brosnan ones," notes Powell, who doubled Brosnan twice. "I drove the tank for him in 'Goldeneye' and the Q boat in 'The World is Not Enough.'" Also a veteran of "Braveheart," "Saving Private Ryan," "Terminator 3," "Titanic" and "The Bourne Ultimatum," Powell says the scariest stunt he's done was in a 1990 British-made TV movie called "The Secret Life of Ian Fleming." "I was climbing up the side of a cliff. On camera it looked like nothing but it was really dangerous." As for the most dangerous gag, he picks the barrel roll in "The World is Not Enough," "where the little Q boat jumps over and somersaults in the air." Fascinated by blowing things up, Powell was initially interested in going into special effects, "but stunts came so naturally to me. My brother was always using me for a crash test dummy for years," he explains. "I thought I might as well start getting paid for it." |
It's pretty much guaranteed that there will be a 23rd James Bond movie, but where it will take 007 is still very much open to question. Marc Forster excised a scene from the end of the film that would have made it more of a cliffhanger. "If I had kept the scene, the producers wouldn't have had a choice but to make it a trilogy. Now they can start new," says the director, who believes "the movie felt complete with Bond finding his quantum of solace." Nevertheless, the producers say they might bring back Quantum as Bond's nemesis. (The deleted scene will be on the DVD.)
Forster was offered the directing job on No. 23, but would prefer to switch genres for his next effort. "When you're doing these movies you don't have a life. You're working a year, 24/7, around the clock. I don't necessarily want to do that again. I'm always looking for a love story, but I haven't found one yet," he says.
Roberto Schafer, now wrapping work on a low-budget dark comedy called "Leaves of Grass," would love to do another 007 flick, and so would Gary Powell, currently in Boston shooting
"Edge of Darkness," a Mel Gibson vehicle directed by Martin Campbell, "Casino Royale's" director.
"There's something special about a James Bond film. It's fantasy; girls want to meet James Bond and guys want to be him. It's two hours of escape, and especially now when the economy is not so good, people want to forget about that," he says.
Daniel Craig, who is contracted for two more turns as Bond, is enjoying stepping into the role originated so iconically by Sean Connery. "It's a thrill. I pinch myself, genuinely," he says. "It's a really good job." He'll be seen next as a Jewish partisan in the World War II drama "Defiance," opening Dec. 31 in New York and Los Angeles and nationwide Jan. 16. Co-star Kurylenko recently wrapped a role in the Israeli drama "Kirot." "There are some action moments involved," she says, adding with some relief, "But it's not an action film."
