12. The Writers Strike Forces Daniel Craig & Director Marc Forster To Write Quantum Of Solace
Living up to the brilliance of 2006's Casino Royale reboot was never going to be easy, even with a ship-shape script, yet the production of Quantum of Solace faced one huge problem: the first draft of the script was handed in just two hours before the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike began. As a result, Daniel Craig (who described the script as "bare bones") and director Marc Forster had to re-write the script themselves as they went along, as they were unable to hire a writer to finish the work for them. Though the strike did finish ahead of filming, allowing a writer to be brought in later on to provide day-by-day rewrites of plot points Forster wasn't happy with, it goes a long way to explain why so many were dissatisfied with Quantum, namely the short run-time, lightning-fast pace, and focus on action over plot. Considering the constraints they were working under, it really wasn't half bad, even if the lesson should be this: if you don't have a satisfactory script, don't start filming the bloody thing! It's a Bond movie: the audience will still be there if it has to be delayed for 6 months.