Suddenly Bond had new life and the pressure was on for the next entry in the franchise to match the unexpected level of quality and talent that went into Casino Royale. The producers decided to continue with their new direction, bringing back both Haggis and Craig. The plot (and title) came from an old Ian Fleming short story Quantum of Solace, which is a more character driven tale than an adventure plot, a move that suggests a continuation of the more prestigious take on the Bond series.

QOS trailer shows hints of a classical Bond movie

The producers also hired director Marc Forester, the man behind such subtle character-driven movies like Monster’s Ball and Stranger Than Fiction. This is the first time an established and critically acclaimed director has been allowed to helm a Bond film. In the past, the Bond producers always feared that they would lose control of the franchise with an established director in charge (both Steven Spielburg and Quentin Tarantino have been denied the opportunity to helm a Bond film in the past). All of which makes it seem as though Quantum of Solace could be another serious Bond film, more interested in character development and storytelling than merely segueing between action sequences and one-liners.

But that’s not to say that the movie won’t be true to its James Bond roots. Quite the contrary, Daniel Craig has been quoted as saying that the project will be "more of a classical Bond movie” than Casino Royale, with supervillains and their hidden lairs. The apparent goal is for the tone to be somewhere between the gritty realism of Casino Royale and the fun 60s romps of the past. Only time will tell if the filmmakers will succeed with their goals, but they are confident enough to move the release date forward to October 31 in Britain, before expanding around the world on November 7. After the critical and commercial success of the last film, expectations will be higher than ever for the next entry in the Bond franchise and fortunately it looks as though the creative forces involved are taking the right steps to ensure that audiences get an interesting and exciting movie. Let’s just hope that there are no more testicle torture sequences this time…that was a little much.