Daniel Craig’s third outing as 007, rumoured to be named “Skyfall”, could be considerably thinner in the action department, according to The Express. The paper claims that director Sam Mendes wants to focus his adventure on “characterful performances” instead of the franchise’s usual action set pieces. Most strikingly of all the director, with his background in quality theatre, reportedly wants to use this focus on the talents of the cast to bag some weighty Oscar nominations for a Bond film.
In the past any award wins for the films have been limited to the technical departments instrumental to the creation of unique and groundbreaking stunts. But Mendes appears to be setting his sights higher, which raises all sorts of questions for fans of 007. An Oscar contender would surely need to be a different kind of film altogether to the usual romp packed with sexy women, car chases and fight scenes?
The real danger is that by aiming to be something it’s not, Bond 23 could end up being both a bad film and a bad Bond film, lacking both depth and excitement. However the tabloid bleating shouldn’t worry Bond traditionalists too much. Leading 007 fan site MI6-hq.com confirms that the new film will have a smaller budget than previous instalments and is normally a more trusted source of information than the papers. They are yet to support or criticise the source cited in The Express.
With acting calibre as strong as Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes signed up for Bond 23 there may well be opportunities for award nominations at the very least, if the script is good enough. A story with a deeper plot, along with secrets and twists, could also make for a more interesting film, without necessarily losing all the required Bondian elements.
But could a film called Skyfall ever conceivably win an Oscar?
Liam Trim (follow me on Twitter)
Originally published October 25, 2011. Updated January 18, 2020.
