Giancarlo Giannini Tagged Articles at Cinematical

As of this writing, it's just under a month until Quantum of Solace's November 14th release date. The buzz on it has been oddly neutral; no one's seen it, people still mock the title from time to time, but everyone seems to be calmly assuming that the acknowledged awesomeness of Casino Royale will just sort of carry over. It's been nice to have a build-up to a blockbuster without too much undue hysteria.

Apropos of the calm seas, MSN offers the fairly placid first clip from Quantum of Solace. In it, Craig's Bond has a heart-to-heart with Mathis (the great Giancarlo Giannini), whom he pegged as a double agent at the end of Casino Royale. ("Oddly, right now you're the only one I can trust," he says.) They mourn the death of Vesper Lynd, with Bond understandably conflicted seeing as she betrayed him before she died. Bond drops some pictures on the table and asks for information.

It's not much, but at least it's apparent that Quantum of Solace will embrace Casino Royale's earnestness rather than the Pierce Brosnan films' often annoying snark. And it's good to see that, while I'm sure Quantum will stand alone in most respects, plot threads from Casino Royale haven't just been forgotten, as has been the franchise's unfortunate practice.

UPDATE: Moviefone has just launched a clip from Quantum of Solace as well, and this time Bond and M chat about revenge and Vesper and all sorts of groovy things. Check it out.

Just in case you weren't paying attention yesterday, Quantum of Solace is the title of the latest James Bond movie (previously referred to as "Bond 22"), which arrives in theaters this November. Yes, it sounds a little Supermanish, but as Jessica pointed out, the title does come from 007 creator Ian Fleming himself. So, we mustn't make too much fun of it, even if 2008 is fast becoming the most ridiculous year for movie titles (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull; Repo! The Genetic Opera). Yesterday, we also received the official plot synopsis of the sequel, a direct follow-up to Casino Royale. Now, as if the new installment was coming out this month instead of nine months from now, Empire has put up some new cast photos in order to acquaint us with the main characters of Quantum of Solace.

Of course, if you've seen Casino Royale, you're already familiar with at least four of the seven characters, and there isn't much that's new or interesting about the looks of Bond (Daniel Craig), M (Dame Judi Dench), Rene Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini) or Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright). But it is quite exciting to see the beautiful new Bond girls, Agent Fields (Gemma Arterton) and Camille (Olga Kurylenko), and the new villain, Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), who Empire describes as being refined, as if he "could almost be Bond with madder eyes." I guess I was jokingly half-hoping Amalric's villain would have a fat lip and one of his eyes sewn up, but that would just be preposterous. These Craig-starred Bond films are certainly less hokey than that, and most of us agree that they're better that way.

Well, it's official. After referring to the latest Bond movie as Bond 22 for what seemed like forever, BBC News reports that producers of the 22nd installment of the Bond franchise say the official title will be...wait for it...Quantum of Solace. To be honest, my first reaction was -- huh? Then, however, I found out that the title was taken from a collection of short stories published by Bond creator Ian Fleming back in 1960, so I guess it has some retro charm in spite of the fact that it sounds kind of awkward; don't you think? (Once again, Daniel Craig might have been messing with us all, just a little, with hints that "007" was the official title.)

The announcement came during a press conference at the new Pinewood Studios, where the film has begun shooting. Journalists were shown some clips of Bond swinging out of an explosion of an art gallery in Italy, as well as a meeting between Bond (Daniel Craig) and M (Judi Dench) in a snowy locale.

It was only a couple of weeks ago that they finally announced their new Bond Girl, Olga Kurylenko. So sure, the production has taken it's time assembling the cast around Daniel Craig; but now that it is all said and done, they have managed to put together a pretty interesting ensemble. There are some familiar faces from Casino Royale returning -- Giancarlo Giannini as Mathis and Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter. Plus, there are also some first-timers to the Bond franchise including critically acclaimed French actor Mathieu Amalric as our bad guy and Gemma Arterton as MI6 Agent Fields. We've gotten a couple of images from the film, but so far, most of the details about the story are still being kept under lock and key. So, if you can't wait for November 7th when Quantum of Solace hits theaters, stay tuned for any updates that come our way.

UPDATE: After the jump, you will find the film's synopsis, courtesy of Columbia Pictures. Read at your own risk!

Notorious Italian banker Roberto Calvi is about to head to the screen once again. In 2001, there was the Italian feature film God's Bankers -- The Calvi Case, but more recognizably, there's The Godfather Part III, where the character Frederick Keinszig is based on him. Now, Variety reports that shot number three is ringing out in the form of a U.K.-Canadian thriller written by Brian Phelan and helmed by Andy Morahan called God's Spy. (He just happens to be the directorial eye behind Wham's Wake Me Up Before You Go Go and Guns 'N Roses November Rain.) It might not be a big-studio production, but it has got a great cast. Josh Lucas (Sweet Home Alabama) is starring along with Jordi Molla (Elizabeth: The Golden Age), Giancarlo Giannini (Casino Royale), and the wonderful, epic, current acting powerhouse Peter O'Toole (you should know at least a few movies he's been in!).

What you may not be familiar with is the story of Calvi. He was an Italian banker (dubbed God's Banker by the press) and Mason who had close ties with the Vatican. His bank, Banco Ambrosiano, collapsed in a scandal during the '70s and '80s and has been steeped in controversy ever since -- especially once he was found hanging under London's Blackfriars Bridge. As for the film, it mixes all of this with the fictional story of "a young Wall Street trader, played by Lucas, who is really a Jesuit priest working undercover to gain experience of the financial markets. He becomes caught up in a shady political and financial conspiracy." The production has a solid $15 million backing it, and will start shooting next year in Montreal.

In an interview with Italian newspaper Il Giornale, actor Giancarlo Giannini has announced that he will make an unexpected return as the character of Mathis in the next, as-yet-untitled James Bond adventure. If you've seen Casino Royale by now, you remember that Mathis was Bond's MI6 contact in Montenegro who was ultimately revealed to be up to no good. He was last seen being tasered in the back by MI6 people and dragged away, presumably to some dank holding cell. Giannini also went further, stating that in the new film, Mathis will be revealed to have been an ally of Bond after all! This makes no sense whatsoever, since, at the end of Casino Royale, James Bond and M have a frank conversation about Mathis and his double-dealing. By 'ally,' he probably means 'still useful.'

According to the people at commanderbond.net, who translated the interview, Giannini said that Mathis "will be using his double agent status to assist Bond in reaching the top of the mysterious organization that was behind Le Chiffre and Mr. White." This is yet more confirmation of the 'direct sequel' angle the next film will take. It's also the second piece of interesting Bond info inside of a week. Last Friday, The Guardian published a frank interview with Eva Green, in which she talked about, among other things, refusing a request by the filmmakers to strip for Casino Royale. Bond 22, or whatever it's called, is currently scheduled to hit theaters on November 7, 2008.