There was a time when Twentieth Century Fox seemed eager to get right to work on a sequel to their English-language adaptation of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, with an eye for getting the film out sometime in late 2012/early 2013. Well, here we are smack in the middle of that initially projected timeframe and despite screenwriter Steve Zaillian having turned in a script that the studio likes, there has been no forward movement on the project.

So what’s the holdup? According to a story in the Hollywood Reporter, the delay all boils down to money. Specifically, although the film managed to make $233 million worldwide against its $90 million budget, the film is only considered by the studio as a modest success. And while they want to continue with their adaption of Stieg Larsson’s bestselling trilogy, they also want to do it in a way that might maximize their profits a bit more – i.e., they want to make the next film cheaper.

The chief stumbling block in decreasing the film’s budget is one of its stars, Daniel Craig. The Hollywood Reporter’s story alleges that the actor feels he is due a pay raise, especially in light of his latest James bond film Skyfall passing the $1 billion mark in worldwide box office receipts. And if Craig doesn’t budge in his salary demands the Reporter is saying that the studio is contemplating writing his character of investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist out of the film entirely.

While it sounds like sacrilege to fans of the original novels and their Swedish film adaptions, excising Blomkvist from the film doesn’t seem like it would be too hard to do. For much of the novel’s narrative the reporter is separated from the books’ heroine on Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), and when it came time for Zaillian to start in on the adaption there was some speculation that he would actually change some plotlines to give them more onscreen time together. Would it be too hard for him to nudge things in the opposite direction and turn it into a solo Lisbeth film?

The only problem here is that Fox has already paid out a mid-seven figures sum to Zaillian for his work on the screenplay and would have to write another check to have him do another draft. Currently, Zaillian is working on the HBO series Criminal Justice, starring James Gandolfini, so there is a question of his availability even if Fox is willing to open up their wallets.

Meanwhile, while he waits for this impasse to be solved, director David Fincher is still working at developing a number of other projects. He recently signed on for an adaption of Gillian Flynn’s psychological thriller novel Gone Girl, though it is being reported that Flynn’s screenplay of her own book has a ways to go before being camera ready. Another Fincher project that does have a screenplay polished enough for production is his take on Jules Verne’s classic novel 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, though the director and studio Disney are not seeing eye-to-eye on the budget.

1. Skyfall (Sony/Columbia/MGM, 3,505 Theaters, 143 Minutes, Rated PG-13): I am a bit of an outsider here at FilmBuffOnline in the fact that I am not a rabid of James Bond fan. While I do own all the films, I have only seen a handful of them (this I hope rectify when my free time becomes more abundant, hopefully with about 15 years or so).

But I do appreciate James Bond, especially what he brings to the big screen. He has created some many iconic images (with just about every actor who has played him) that he deserves his exalted spot in the world of pop culture.

This is the third film in the Daniel Craig-era of the character, one with a more serious and gritty feel to it. But you can see why the character has lasted 50 years. I dare you to watch the trailer and not squeal just a bit, especially when Craig, as Bond, fixes his cuffs after landing in the sawed-off train car.

Earlier this week, it was reported that John Logan had signed on to write the next two James Bond films and that they would connect to form one bigger story, something that has not been done in the franchise’s 50 year history. And to hear Daniel Craig speak, it won’t be happening now either.

Speaking to German film site Filmstarts (via Bleeding Cool), Craig dismissed the idea as “impossible” –

I don’t know where that’s come from. It’s impossible to do a two-parter … All we’re trying to do at the moment is get the next one sorted out, and that will standalone, and if I’m able I’ll do another one after that.

Far be it from me to contradict James Bond, but I do think that doing a two-part Bond film would be far from impossible. For one thing, the two films could very easily be produced simultaneously, the way Back To The Future Parts 2 & 3 or the two Matrix sequels were. And Peter Jackson has done that one better with his The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit films.

Also, his assertion about “if I’m able to do another one after that,” comes across as weak tea, as we know that he is under contract for another two films. It might not be so much his decision as to whether he does two more as it would be the producers. And since Craig’s run as Bond has both creatively and financially revitalized the five decades old franchise, I don’t foresee them wanting to move on to another actor just yet.

Although it started off late last week as a rumor, it has now been confirmed that Hugo and The Aviator screenwriter John Logan will be writing the next two James Bond adventures.

Reportedly, Logan pitched the idea for an original two-film story to producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli and is currently at working on his first draft. Logan had previously worked on the latest installment of the Bond franchise, Skyfall, polishing an initial screenplay draft by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade.

At the best of times, Eon Productions likes to keep the story details tightly under wraps, so I don’t expect to hear actual concrete details on what Logan has in store for British spy 007 for at least another year or two when production actual gets under way on the first film of the two films. But this does mark the first time that the franchise has actually planned beforehand to have specific storylines follow from one movie to the next, rather than figuring out how to do so after the fact.

Personally, I am excited to see what kind of story that Logan has concocted that is so big that it can’t be contained in just one film. Will we see a return of the terrorist organization known as Quantum that was hinted at in the franchise reboot Casino Royale and then fully revealed in the follow up Quantum Of Solace? We know that they won’t be making an appearance in Skyfall, but I believe it is unclear as to whether it has been decided to totally abandoned that plotline or not.

Although there has been no word, I would not be surprised if the two films were produced together as a cost-saving measure by the producers.

And just to add some grist to the speculation mill, these two films mark the last two of franchise star Daniel Craig’s current contract. Might they be planning some sort of spectacular exit for him?

Meanwhile, Skyfall opened in England and a few additional foreign territories this past weekend to an impressive $77 million box office take. It opens in the US on November 9.

Via Hollywood Reporter.

Although we here in the US have a few more weeks to wait, the latest James Bond adventure Skyfall opens in the UK this Friday. The film’s Royal Premier was held last night in London and our go-to guy on all things James Bond, Tom S., was there and filed this report. Now he doesn’t go into spoiler territory at all, this is just some quick impressions on the film.

After a four year gap, Bond is back, well almost. Despite being Craig’s third outing as 007 in the rebooted franchise, the filmmakers have only finally gotten to the point where we can say, our classic James Bond is back, but we will have to wait till Bond 24 to find out for sure.

Attending the Royal premiere is always a magical experience and last night was no exception. The film was very well received and definitely introduced new elements into Craig’s world of Bond which were a hit, such as a very rousing round of applause when a certain car was revealed, not to mention an incredibly clever past reference, which although cute, led to much continuity debate amongst us Bond geeks into the wee hours.

Overall impressions…great installment into the new world of James Bond. Purists may still take issue, but the film offers enough edge of your seat excitement for even the casual filmgoer.

Well, it sounds like the four year wait through MGM’s financail difficulties was worth it. Now it is just two more weeks until the film’s November 9th release stateside.

We’ve had a teaser trailer and a television commercial, and now here is the first two full-on trailers for the upcoming James Bond adventure Skyfall.

At first glance, it seems as if this third film of the Daniel Craig-starring rebooted franchise is bringing in some more elements from the previous five decades worth of films. We get to see Bond’s first meeting with the British Secret Service’s quartermaster, codenamed Q, this time being played by Ben Whishaw. But more intriguingly, the trailer reveals a plot point that is definitely lifted from one of Sean Connery’s Bond adventures. The trailer also provides our first good look at a bleach-blond Javier Bardem as the film’s villain, Silva.

What I find interesting in the two trailers – one for US audiences and an international trailer – is the way that they use much of the same footage but have different modes established at the beginning.

Skyfall opens in the US on November 9, though the lucky British get it on October 26.

Fortunately, Bond’s second appearance, in the form of a new commercial for the upcoming Bond cinematic adventure Skyfall. This new 30-second clip features some more action beats as shot by the Oscar winning cinematographer Roger Deakins under the direction of Sam Mendes than we got to see in the initial teaser trailer released back in May.

The film is due to be released internationally on October 26 and in the US on November 9.

Good morning. Let’s start the week off with a little game of word association.

Skyfall? Trailer.

That’s right. Sony has just released the first trailer for the latest installment in the James Bond franchise, Skyfall. The film is due to be released internationally on October 26 and in the US on November 9. While it does consist of mostly quick flashes of scenes, it does give us an idea of some of the visuals Sam Mendes, a director not necessarily known for action films, has in mind for the film.

There are not many rumors about the storyline for the upcoming James Bond adventure Skyfall, but their is one major one that seems to pop up now and then. If true, it would be a big moment and one that would be a first for the series.

Best For Film (via Bleeding Cool) is reporting this rumor again and this time it sounds like it is a little closer to being reality.

We have it from a fairly iron-clad source (a member of the Skyfall team) that there’s going to be a fairly momentous death in the next Bond film.

“We’ve just filmed M’s death scene. Judi Dench is leaving the franchise.”

This would definitely be a strong creative choice for a franchise that historically hasn’t taken too many detours from its established formula that would have a lasting impact on the series. In fact, outside of 2006′s reboot with Casino Royale, I think the only Bond film that really had a dramatic moment that impacted on the character in the long run was 1969′s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service with the death of Bond’s hours-old bride Tracey. And that was more due to the source material of Ian Flemming’s original novel than it was a creative choice on the part of producers.

Given that Dame Judi Dench has had some reported health problems, this would give her an exit from the series that provides an in-story explanation for the change in actors in the role.

Skyfall hits theaters this November.

I certainly hope that the real British Secret Service has better security for the things they guard than the production for the new James Bond adventure Skyfall does.

The film is currently in production in Turkey and a high school boy was able to infiltrate the set by borrowing a railway workers uniform and just walking on. He managed to record some rehearsal of a fight sequence on top of a train. (Presumably, this is the same sequence that the Indian government had a problem with last year, leading to the production to move location shooting to Turkey to begin with.)

The footage found its way to CNN’s Turkish division and that is the source of the news story embedded below.