I apologize in advance-- this is one of those "first image from the set" posts that deliberately doesn't show you very much, and very deliberately so, since this image was tweeted by the official account of the new James Bond production Skyfall. In case you're not already following @007 on Twitter-- and with a Twitter handle like that, how could you not be?-- here's the image broadcast out to the Internet at large this morning.
So… Skyfall has a scene in a dingy bathroom? Or maybe the facilities at Whitehall Studios in London, where production is kicking off, aren't quite up to standard? You are welcome to ask as many questions as you like, since I'm positive we won't be getting any answers. It is fun, though, just to look closely at that slate and realize how many great names are crowded on to a single piece of plastic. Despite insane rumors that Sam Mendes was trying to cut all of the action out of the film, he's still a very exciting director to take over the franchise-- maybe with a real story to deal with, and not the dour emotions of Revolutionary Road or unbearable tweeness of Away We Go, he can bring back some of the stylistic precision he brought to his earliest movies. He's got a serious leg up with his director of photography Roger Deakins, at least-- Deakins's last film was unfortunately the bland In Time, but you definitely know his name from many Coen Bros. movies including No Country for Old Men, and the almost unbelievably gorgeous The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
What does this Skyfall slate make you think of? Or do you just feel robbed by the absence of an actual photo from the set. Call me crazy, but I don't mind not being flooded with details right now. It's a fun period when you can imagine that anything is possible, and this really will be the return to Bond glory we all want. Here's hoping.
