Celebrating Bond’s 50th with New Skyfall Info and Images

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of James Bond, this week several online news sites are slowly beginning to trickle out information about their recent visits to the set of Skyfall—the 23rd installment in the legendary 007 franchise. Included in this story are some new photos from the film, a sampling of which you can see on this page.

We’re loving the return of the classic Aston Martin DB5 in the film (which first appeared in 1964′s Goldfinger), and hope it gets more action than the quick circular cameo it had in Casino Royale. It’s a great homage to classic Bond.

Now if they would only use Shirley Bassey for the theme (we can dream).

Using the player at the bottom of this page you will also find some exclusive Skyfall on-set video interviews.

Here’s what our peers had to say:

Coming Soon:

…we had a chance to walk around a few of the existing sets, which included a casino in Macao, a ghost town on Hashima Island in Japan, and they even recreated a part of the London Underground within Pinewood’s largest space, conveniently dubbed the “007 Stage.” It was in that last location where we watched a little bit of filming of a chase scene between Bond and Skyfall’s main villain, Raoul Silva, played by Javier Bardem.

Empire:

We toured sets — including a weirdly convincing fibreglass tube train, a partially flooded subterranean tunnel and a platform of Temple Station, all constructed on the gargantuan 007 Stage — then were also treated to a small but impressive explosion, during a scene in which Bond (Daniel Craig) desperately pursues this movie’s big bad, Silva (Javier Bardem).

“Visually we’re in very safe hands because Roger Deakins is shooting this movie, which is just phenomenal,” said Daniel Craig this morning. “It has a classic feel to it. I won’t lie to you: we’ve tried to sort of bring some of the feelings of older Bond movies into this film — but this is a modern movie.”

But it’s a particular treat to finally meet Bond 23’s villain, Javier Bardem, who speaks of the joy of working in the 007 genre. “It’s great ground on which to play a character like this,” he says. “And you have a frame. There are certain rules in Bond movies, no? It is very challenging to be part of the frame of the James Bond movie, and also being able to bring your own thing to it.”

Daily Mail:

…fans were given a sneak peak of Fiennes in action as the agent in new still from the movie which show him pressed up at a door frame pointing his gun.

…he added about the film itself: ‘If you’re a Bond fan then you’ll be happy. I can tell you that John Logan has written a fantastic screenplay and Sam Mendes is a class act. They’re doing something quite special I think. I think they’re going to be great for Bond.’

Directed by Sam Mendes, Skyfall arrives in North American theaters on November 9.