Total Film catches up with Bond supremos Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson to hear the thinking behind the most successful reboot in the super-spy’s history… and, yes, to try and prise a few details out of them about Bond 23…

TOTAL FILM: So… Bond is our Reboot Of The Decade.

BARBARA BROCCOLI: Well, that’s wonderful! Thank you very much.

TF: Of course, Bond has been rebooted before, say from the fantastical Moonraker to the more down-to-earth For Your Eyes Only. But with Die Another Day making a small fortune, what prompted the grittier approach?

BB: Well… September 11 happened and it felt inappropriate for the films to continue down that fantastical path.

So we decided to move to a more serious Bond. And we had acquired the rights to Casino Royale in… when was it Michael – 2000?

MICHAEL G WILSON: 1999, I think…

BB: 1999. And of course that’s the ‘Holy Grail’ of the Bond books. You know, the one that Cubby and Harry had wanted to start with and the rights weren’t available.

I mean you know the history… it’s not been made particularly well either time. So we were working on another script and we kind of got stuck and then Michael said, “You know, I really want to do Casino Royale.”

And I said, “That’s a great idea, let’s do it.”

TF: It is, as you say, the Holy Grail of the Bond books. And probably quite a personal project as well, given the history.

Did you feel under particular pressure not to screw it up?

MW: Absolutely.

And we were determined to keep the key elements from the book – Barbara told every writer and director we spoke to: Vesper has to die at the end; James has to say ‘the bitch is dead’ and there has to be the torture scene.

And in our films, how do you do that well without undermining the ratings? It was a challenge, but Martin [Campbell, director] came up with it and of course, Daniel was fantastic.

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