Betrayed by Vesper, the woman he loved, 007 fights the urge to make his latest mission personal.

Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko and Gemma Arterton at the Quantum of Solace press conference: 1/24/08 - click image to enlarge -

Pursuing his determination to uncover the truth, Bond and M interrogate Mr. White, who reveals the organization which blackmailed Vesper is far more complex and dangerous than anyone had imagined.

Forensic intelligence links an MI6 traitor to a bank account in Haiti where a case of mistaken identify introduces Bond to the beautiful but feisty Camille, a woman who has her own vendetta. Camille leads Bond straight to Dominic Greene, a ruthless business man and major force within the mysterious organization.

On a mission that leads him to Austria, Italy and South America, Bond discovers that Greene, conspiring to take total control of one of the world’s most important natural resources, is forging a deal with the exiled General Medrano. Using his associates in the organization and manipulating his powerful contacts within the CIA and the British government, Greene promises to overthrow the existing regime in a Latin American country, giving the General control of the country in exchange for a seemingly barren piece of land.

In a minefield of treachery, murder and deceit, Bond allies with old friends in a battle to uncover the truth. As he gets closer to finding the man responsible for the betrayal of Vesper, 007 must keep one step ahead of the CIA, the terrorists and even M, to unravel Greene’s sinister plan and stop his organization.

Information obtained from the official Quantum of Solace Web site

While it may sound like a progressive rock band from the 1980s, the title actually comes from a short story by Ian Fleming in which 007 attends a dull dinner party in The Bahamas.

The announcement, three weeks into the main film shoot at Pinewood Studios, will only serve to heat up the already frenzied speculation about the new James Bond film.

As film fans began to dissect the deeper meaning of Quantum of Solace, journalists were given the chance to tour the sets on the vast 007 sound stage in Buckinghamshire.

And there were plenty of clues about what we can expect from one of the most eagerly anticipated films of 2008.

The budget for Quantum of Solace is larger than that of previous film Casino Royale (the producers won't say exactly how much), but it's not hard to see where the money is being spent.

Re-creating Italy
Among the sets at Pinewood is a cavernous interior of the art gallery in the Italian City of Siena. It is here that Bond has an explosive fight scene, as revealed in some early footage released by the studio.

Several statues - some eight metres tall - stand around the gallery set, wrapped in clear plastic - presumably to protect them from the pyrotechnics.

Producer Michael G Wilson has let slip that the new film will open with a big car chase in the streets of Siena. He's also mentioned an ambitious free-fall sequence involving motion-control cameras.

Another Siena-based set is a subterranean MI6 safe-house with a deep-water well. It's more like a crypt out of a Harry Potter film, with massive stone columns and huge wooden beams.

Even gloomier is a complex of tunnels - the Siena cisterns - which are so realistic that you feel genuinely deep underground when walking through them.

The action of the film isn't confined to sets at Pinewood. Location filming will also include Austria, Italy, Panama and Chile.

Inside M's office
Dame Judi Dench reprises her role as Bond's boss, M. But the most impressive set at Pinewood has to be the MI6 headquarters. A massive two-storey interior with ultra-modern décor, marble floors and frosted glass doors.

We are taken to see Dame Judi Dench as Bond's boss M filming a scene in her office. The crew is shooting close-ups of M as she speaks to her assistant Tanner (played by Rory Kinnear) in an adjoining office.

Here's a detail for Bond gadget obsessives: when M wants privacy she can touch a button and the glass wall that separates their offices frosts over. Not as impressive as an invisible car - nor as ridiculous.

Leaving the MI6 set, the illusion is quickly broken - the outer shell is all plywood and gaffer tape.

It's also hard to miss the member of the film crew who has just heard some news on his walkie-talkie.

"Quantum of Solace?" he says, with a slight look of disbelief. Now that was a well-kept secret.

Article originally published at BBC Online

He says that it all connects to Bond's search for closure on his relationship with Vesper. We'd take that to indicate that the meaning of Quantum of Solace is 'a degree of comfort' (quantum can mean several things, annoyingly), as in he's looking for some scrap of comfort after the last film by finding out more about the woman he loved. Craig described it as having an element of revenge.

Craig said that this film will be "more of a classical Bond movie. There's a touch of Ken Adam (the Bond production designer famed for giant villain lairs) and '60s spy movie". We doubt that means going to Roger Moore territory, but maybe this is easing in to a version of the Bond style we know, but with Casino Royale's more realistic edge. He also added that Bond will be "misbehaving more this time" and that we won't see anything like the torture scene from Casino Royale, because "Bond's deaing it out more this time".

Producer Michael G Wilson also expanded on the continued absence of Moneypenny and Q. He said, and we're very slightly paraphrasing here, that in the previous films they'd had to find a moment for each of the characters, which wasn't necessarily organic. He said they may come back in the future, but only if the story demands it.

Co-Producer Barbara Broccoli said that there was a definite possibility of Craig appearing in more Bond movies, but that they were "taking it one at a time".

Article originally published at EmpireOnline

We have learned that the plot centres on an attempted coup in a South American country. Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), who works behind the cover of an organisation called Green Planet, wants to control one of the world's most important natural resources* and to aid in this he makes a deal with an exiled South American general to get him back into power.

Olga Kurylenko's character, Camille, is half Ukrainian and half South American. She leads Bond to Greene in his effort to find out more about Vesper, the woman he loved and lost in Casino Royale.

"James Bond is after revenge, and Camille is after revenge," Kurylenko said. "They have slightly different goals, but in the end they are going to have to collaborate". Kurylenko is currently still in training for her role, but has yet to shoot any scenes. "I'm doing weapons training and body flight training for aerial scenes and stunt work for fighting," she continued. "My days are so long, and it's very physical. She's a fighter. This girl is going to kick ass. She's on her own mission and she's driven by revenge

Gemma Arterton's character, Agent Fields, is an MI6 agent working at the British consulate in Bolivia. Shooting will take place in Panama and Chile. Arterton has already shot love scenes with Bond. "I felt like a giggly girl, and I felt so young and inexperienced - but I kissed James Bond!" she said, adding that her character is "fresh and young, not sultry and a femme fatale".

Mathieu Amalric says his villain will not be a larger than life figure. He said "He's not an over the top villian...No scars, no metal jaw - he is nude". We believe he meant no visual odditties, rather than Bond's first all naked nemesis.

Update: Moneypenny and Q will not appear in the film.

Article originally published at EmpireOnline