Dennis Gassner is Bond 22 Production Designer
Famed 007 production designer Peter Lamont will leave his post for Bond's next adventure and will give the reins to Dennis Gassner. Browsing Gassner's IMDb profile, he seems like a suitable successor to Mr. Lamont. Gassner has worked on a myriad of movies, and even shared an Oscar win for "Best Art Direction-Set Decoration" for his work on 1991's Bugsy starring Warren Beatty. He will also be joining Daniel Craig on the set of Craig's latest non-Bond movie, The Golden Compass, to be released later in the year.

Some of his other contributions to notable films include production design on the films The Truman Show, O Brother Where Art Thou?, The Road To Perdition, and Jarhead.

My Take:
Well I can definitely say that I am sad to hear such a quality production designer in Peter Lamont leave the Bond franchise (hopefully he will return?), however, Gassner's past work and achievements portray him as a more than capable successor. It will definitely be interesting to see the change in scenery and am sure Mr. Gassner will only positively contribute to 22's success.

Austria Bond 22 Location Rumor
We have been hearing rumors of a Swiss Alps shoot for Bond 22, so an Austrian location does not seem too far off either. Despite reports from CBn indicating the production team has only visited a sound stage and an opera house, I would love to see '22' capture more of Austria. After all, Bond has only been there twice - in 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me and 1987's The Living Daylights. And why not have an opera sequence again, a la Daylights? Sophistication never hurts a Bond movie.

Keeping it central European also seems to be a great idea for the location - although I do love Bond movies with sizzling sets on beaches (like Craig had for a time in Jamaica and Miami in Casino Royale), I definitely see a snowy location giving a Bond movie a different aura (think Dr. No's steamy Jamaica set versus On Her Majesty's Secret Service's Swiss Alps hideaway).

This will be an excellent change of scenery for Daniel Craig - although I am interested to see how they pull off the humor for '22' in such a darker, colder setting. This is great news for those of us who want to see Craig develop in different situations, which no doubt news like this would bring about.

Ski sequence rumored for Bond 22
MI6 reports that a ski sequence will be incorporated into Bond 22 - coinciding with an Alps location shoot.

My Take:
Please let it be the opening sequence! Please let it be the opening sequence!

There is something about Bond on skis in the beginning of a Bond movie (or anyone in any action movie, really) that sets an excellent tone for the rest of the film. The Spy Who Loved Me's opening sequence obviously comes to mind - Bond shooting baddies with his Q Branch-altered ski-pole gun and jumping off a cliff only to open his Union Jack parachute to the James Bond theme blaring - an incredibly memorable Bond moment.

Although I don't think that Craig should recreate this parachute scene, I can only hope that if they were to try and pull off a ski sequence (The World Is Not Enough's was OK), I would like to see a lengthier but subtle thrill ride. Almost to the tune of the ski sequence in the 1994 Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie True Lies.

In case you were wondering, the ski scene from True Lies was in fact an opening sequence. Oh yeah, and Peter Lamont was the production designer for the film.

Thanks for reading, and be sure to stay tuned to BM for more 22 news.