I’m not entirely sure how you managed to get behind this mainframe’s firewalls, but here you are… I suppose a meeting with our long-lost Severnaya programmer may be in order. Despite my best efforts, you may have a future with this organization yet. Ah, seems to be a rather difficult file you’ve accessed here indeed, old boy. I'll see to it personally that Mr. Grishenko is made aware of this mainframe weakness. In the meantime, the following is what we have within this file for your subject, thirty years removed from his work on GOLDENEYE.
Operative: Janus
File: Director Martin Campbell
Report From: Severnaya Zemlya
Lat: 79.7346 N
Long: 100.28013 W
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TREVELYAN:
Before you undoubtedly get ahead of yourself, allow me to brief you on the very basics of Mr. Campbell’s file.
I'll try to break it down into sections that even you can understand...
Born in October of 1943 in Hastings (of the Hawkes Bay Region), New Zealand, Martin Campbell started his humble filming career around the early 1970's. From one television series to the next, Campbell honed in on themes of seedy underworlds, detective fiction, crime-dramas, and even a dash or two comedy. Campbell's real breakthrough would be being named the director of an English television series produced by BBC Television, tiled EDGE OF DARKNESS, in the second half of 1985. His mix of classic action and intriguing thriller elements then placed Campbell on the radars of the James Bond producers.
He would become of some use to them, an ace up their sleeve... for a later date. That date would come in 1995, as Martin Campbell would officially succeed then-current series director, John Glen, to usher in a legendary new vision of James Bond in cinema. That vision would come to light in GOLDENEYE.
GOLDENEYE was of extreme importance to the James Bond franchise's very existence. With this in mind, launching not only a successor to the sixteen films that came before it, but a film that would shift the series into the next decade would be no easy feat. The film would have to move from the tried-and-true late Cold War era of the 1980's, to a new, modern 1990's world filled with unknown challenges. A new James Bond, a female head of MI6, and a second 00 Agent would have to be debuted and accepted by an aging audience... could you imagine? With the end of the Cold War, if the bad guys weren't necessarily Russians anymore, who were they?
Beyond the story and character elements in need of strict determination, how should a 90's Bond film look? How would a 90's Bond film feel? Would a return-to-formula style Bond film work for a new generation of Bond fans? What could they get away with stylistically, and what wasn't going to cut it anymore with filmgoers?
"Just making it better than any of the previous Bonds. After all, Bond has everything: women love him, men want to be him, and the films are a mixture of sex, violence, terrific action, adventure and locations all over the world." - Martin Campbell (via Reddit AMA, 2022)
Simple, no?
Well, yes and no. A special focus would have to be made on trying to top the decades of Bond on screen that had preceded GOLDENEYE. Drawing inspiration from the grittiness and reality of his favorite Bond film, 1963's FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, Campbell set out to create something that looked and felt like it could be based in a very real 1990's world.
Painstakingly storyboarding the action, taking special care with crafting the relationship between the new, female M (Dame Judi Dench) and her new Agent 007 (Pierce Brosnan), and making a film that was fresh, clear and concise were all at the top of his list when it came to relaunching James Bond. But, what of Bond himself? Had Pierce Brosnan been tied up in television contracts, or shyed away from the project due to the length of dormancy, or a perceived irrelevance, could the film work with someone else in the black tuxedo?
"There was no second choice. We never considered anyone else but Pierce Brosnan." - Martin Campbell (via Reddit AMA, 2022)
So, his secret weapon would be Bond himself!
The two had never worked together previously, but even then it was clear that Piece Brosnan had to have been the next Bond. In Campbell's words, there simply was nobody else that would measure up to such a task. Along with Brosnan, Dench, Scorupco, Bean, Coltrane, John, Janssen and more, Martin Campbell was able to put his plan into motion. GOLDENEYE was set to be, more than anything else, something like Bond fans had never seen before!
With a healthy budget of around $60 million USD, GOLDENEYE would go on to gross over $356 million USD globally after its theatrical release in November of 1995, and be nominated for two BAFTA awards! James Bond was officially back, no longer just a relic of the Cold War. It was a smash success, helping to resurrect the James Bond franchise from its legal purgatory to its return front-and-center in popular culture. Director Martin Campbell deserves a decent shred of credit in all of this, wouldn't you say?
Following his proven creative vision for GOLDENEYE, Martin Campbell would go on to direct a handful of films.
Perhaps, the most notable of the lot being his work with the Zorro franchise. His first Zorro film would hit theaters in July of 1998, entitled THE MASK OF ZORRO. Audiences would be introduced to the iconic image of Antonio Banderas donning the black mask and subsequently sharp sword. The film would double its budget money in profit and go one to be a critically acclaimed hit worldwide, much to the credit of Martin Campbell’s familiar artistic blend of action and drama.
Our file on Campbell dictates that it would be nearly ten years before an official Zorro sequel would grace audiences in 2005. THE LEGEND OF ZORRO would again star Antonio Banderas, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, and would again dazzle moviegoers and serious fans of the series alike. Though, film critics would jump ship this time around. Fickle buggers, aren't they? Nonetheless, THE LEGEND OF ZORRO would be a huge financial success with Campbell’s direction and fantastically daring application of stunt work being praised specifically.
Much like eleven years earlier, during his first time in the chair for the James Bond franchise to present Pierce Brosnan’s as Agent 007, the year 2006 would see Martin Campbell return to direct a Bond to again oversee a new man's transformation into Her Majesty’s next loyal terrier. How poetic...
With the franchise experiencing a rebirth, there’d be no better man to take up the reins and lead Bond into the next phase of existence, hence CASINO ROYALE. This film would mark Campbell as the oldest director to direct a Bond film to that point at sixty-two, just beating out a fifty-nine year old Lewis Gilbert! I commend Campbell for that as well, just as you should.
Intel on Campbell then jumps to 2010, which saw the film adaptation of the wildly popular BBC television series of the same name, EDGE OF DARKNESS. As director of the 1985 television series and the 2010 movie, Martin Campbell had the best grasp on the subject material. With this experience, he was able to put together another crime thriller for the big screen. Starring Mel Gibson in his first lead role in eight years, EDGE OF DARKNESS met generally mixed reviews, but was able to gross over $80 million USD worldwide. Again, Martin Campbell’s creative efforts did not go unnoticed by fans.
Our file continues with Martin Campbell’s 2011’s direction of DC Comic's GREEN LANTERN. Based on the comic character of the same name, this American Superhero film was perhaps Martin’s greatest roll of the dice. Chosen as the replacement of the original director who stepped away from the project, much of the film’s success would be up to Campbell to materialize. Rounding out the stars of the film would be Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively. Mainly due to overproduction, over budgeting and a thinly-written screenplay, GREEN LANTERN failed to live up to many expectations financially and critically. Unfortunately, not even an aging Martin Campbell could lead the sinking ship to safety.
It is also noted here that this film soured Campbell on ever working on another superhero film. According to Campbell, he faced a handful of challenges with the studio during this project. So much so, that he'd take a brief hiatus from filmmaking.
His next project would be an interesting one, coming along in 2017. It would be in the form of another action thriller titled, THE FOREIGNER. It would be a British-Chinese-American co-production, produced by and starring Jackie Chan as Quan Ngoc Minh. Though, most notably, this would be the film that reunited Campbell with his old friend, Pierce Brosnan! Reviews would be positive and THE FOREIGNER would outgross what was to be expected, making over $145 million USD on a $35 million USD budget.
Notes beyond become rather scarce, although our file does mention several films that Campbell has directed or co-wrote, with recent as a release coming up later this month (CLEANER, starring Daisy Ridley). Pretty amazing, really, as Campbell has now entered into his 80's!
Side notes on the subject are rather scarce. It isn’t unlike our subject to appear for James Bond panels or comic conventions around the world at this point in his career. Otherwise, Campbell seems to have kept relatively to himself over the course of his career. Married twice. Has two children, one of which is a successfu DJ. Awards include several nominations and, perhaps most admirably, a BAFTA win for Best Director in 1986.
Any more details on the subject would require a granting of further access to this mainframe... access which I will not allow. Consider what you’ve learned on director Martin Campbell through this file more than sufficient. Keep in mind that, our subject is still very capable of directing. His return to the director’s chair for a third James Bond film is still very much possible. Janus plans to keep our finger on the industry’s pulse in anticipation until then. You are to do just the same, or at the very least crossing yours instead.
That’s it, old boy. You’ve been briefed on the man behind the camera and the brain behind the vision. If you continue to press deeper behind this mainframe’s firewall, I cannot promise what you may, or may not find. Regardless, anything you do come across here is, of course, strictly confidential.
Remember that, as you continue to peer behind the lens.
-TREVELYAN
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