Producers have revealed some of the secrets about the latest James Bond film, due for release later this year, including the inner turmoil that drives its suave superagent hero and its title: "Quantum of Solace."
As titles go, it's not as mellifluous as "From Russia With Love" or "Goldfinger." But Daniel Craig, returning as Bond after 2006's "Casino Royale," says he likes it.
"It has grown on me," Craig told reporters on the film's set at Pinewood Studios near London on Thursday. "It doesn't trip off the tongue. But why should it?"
Producer Michael G. Wilson said the title, chosen only a few days ago, was taken from a story by Bond creator Ian Fleming that appears in the collection "For Your Eyes Only."
Craig said Fleming defined a quantum of solace — it means, roughly, a measure of comfort — as "that spark of niceness in a relationship that if you don't have, you might as well give up."
Filming began earlier this month at Pinewood, the franchise's home since the 1960s. It's a direct sequel to 2006's "Casino Royale," beginning an hour after that film ends, with Bond devastated by his betrayal by true love Vesper Lynd.
"He had his heart broken at the end of the last movie and that certainly is a spur for him in this one," Craig said.
"I'd be lying if I said there wasn't revenge in his heart. But it's more than that. That spurs him on, but that's not what the movie is. It's not a revenge movie. It's about him figuring a few things out."
Producer Barbara Broccoli said the film, directed by Marc Forster ("Monster's Ball," "The Kite Runner"), mixes Bond's "inner turmoil" with action — and of course gadgets — as he tries to stop a shadowy cabal trying to bring down the world economy.
Craig's second Bond adventure continues in the gritty vein of "Casino Royale," in which a rough-edged 007, newly granted his "license to kill," bled, sweat and felt real emotion. But Wilson promised it also has "twice as much action" as its predecessor.
"It's pretty jam-packed," he said.
Filming began at Pinewood three weeks ago. Location shooting will take place in Italy, Austria, Panama, Chile and Peru.
Mathieu Amalric is a new addition as villain Dominic Greene. But the French actor, star of the Oscar-nominated "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," won't be sporting a trademark tic like many of his predecessors.
He and Forster decided his villainy should come from within.
"That's maybe what is horrible about today," Amalric said. "We can't guess who the villains are. The villains are invisible."
Amalric said he modeled his character to some extent on former Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

"I've been taking details, the smile of Tony Blair, the craziness of Sarkozy, he's the worst villain we've ever had," he said.
Bond may find solace — producers are coy — in the arms of two Bond Girls — Ukrainian Olga Kurylenko as a feisty Bolivian named Camille and Gemma Arterton as an MI6 agent named Fields.
"In the movie, he is obviously still attached to his past," said Kurylenko. "The appearance of this new girl might divert him. Or, it might not."
Craig, who overcame public skepticism — a blond Bond? — to win rave reviews for "Casino Royale," said he still felt nervous about the role.
"All the fear I felt before is still there," he said. "This is a $200 million movie, and it's James Bond. We have to make it great."

"Quantum of Solace" continues the high octane adventures of James Bond (Daniel Craig) in "Casino Royale."

Betrayed by Vesper, the woman he loved, 007 fights the urge to make his latest mission personal. Pursuing his determination to uncover the truth, Bond and M (Judi Dench) interrogate Mr White (Jesper Christensen) who reveals the organisation 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 identity introduces Bond to the beautiful but feisty Camille (Olga Kurylenko), a woman who has her own vendetta. Camille leads Bond straight to Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a ruthless business man and major force within the mysterious organisation.

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 (Joaquin Cosio). Using his associates in the organisation, 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 organisation.

BadTaste.it has sent us this great update on the filming of Quantum of Solace at Garda Lake in Italy:

Just wanted to give an update about Quantum of Solace filming at Garda Lake in Italy, and about the accident occurred some days ago.

The Aston Martin which fell into the lake was going to be used for a press conference Sunday, it wasn't one of the Aston Martins they used for filming, so this didn't slow down shooting.

During Sunday's press conference in Tremosine, Dan Bradley - who's the second unit director - said that the scenes at Garda Lake will be 11 minutes long in the final film, but it depends from the weather: they hope the next days it will be sunny, so they'll film more scenes and the final result will be longer, otherwise they'll cut some scenes.

The scene is described as the FIRST SEQUENCE of the movie - 15 minutes or so where we see a spectacular car chase and then a gunfight. This scene is being done by a Second Unit, directed by Dan Bradley. It's a car chase along the Gardesana, a famous and beautiful road around the lake (which is the biggest lake in Italy), between Malcesine, Limone and Tremosine: they closed the road and mounted some cameras on some Aston Martins. The scenes involves 40 stuntmen (half italian and half european), six doubles of Daniel Craig, many Aston Martin DBS's (we published a video of the camera-car) and a Black Alfa Romeo 159 (a famous Italian Car), which was the Bad Guy's Car.

They're going to shoot in Gargnano and Limone until April 25. Daniel Craig is resting in London after filming in Siena and Chile, but he'll be available to shoot some reverse shots if the weather is good. It's almost sure he'll be in Carrara between April 25 and May 13, where they'll film some important scenes in the very famous quarries of marble, with a flying camera (I think they'll use cables).

We'll give you more updates soon...

You can find many pictures and some videos from the Quantum of Solace filming in Italy here.

Quantum of Solace hits theaters on November 7.

TheBadandUgly.com reports that a second accident has occured at Garda Lake in Italy where Quantum of Solace is filming.

In the Wednesday accident, a stuntman on the James Bond set suffered serious head injuries when he and another stuntman crashed during a car chase sequence on a winding lakeside road. The stuntman underwent surgery at a hospital in nearby Verona, while the second stuntman was slightly injured.

On Saturday, a production assistant was driving an Aston Martin to the set and went off the road, plunging into Lake Garda. The driver suffered minor injuries.

The new James Bond movie hits theaters on November 7th.