July 27, 2017 | Shannon Quinn

Licensed-to-Kill Facts About Skyfall


James Bond: A gun and a radio...not exactly Christmas, is it?

Q: What did you expect, an exploding pen? We don't really go for that anymore.

Skyfall is one of the most popular films in the James Bond franchise. If you’re a fan of Skyfall, here are 44 fascinating facts that you may not have known about the movie.


Skyfall Facts

1. Money, Honey

Skyfall was the most financially successful world wide box office premier of any James Bond movie in history. It also made over $1 billion when all was said and done.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

2. Lover and a Fighter

Daniel Craig performed many of his own stunts, including the rooftop fight scene in the beginning of the film.

Skyfall facts Skyfall (2012), MGM

3. Whiz Kid

Ben Whishaw, the actor who plays the computer genius Q, didn’t even own a computer in real life at the time.

Skyfall facts Skyfall (2012), MGM

4. Cutting Edge

In the opening title sequence, daggers land in a graveyard. One of them is called the Fairbairn-Sykes, which is a knife given to members of British Special Forces.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

Advertisement

5. For Fudge Sake

Skyfall was the first James Bond film where the “f word” can be heard.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

6. Home Sweet Home

In reality, the set of M’s house belonged to John Barry, the man who composed the music for the older movies.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

7. Practice Makes Perfect

The opening scene took place in Turkey. It took 4 months of planning, 200 crew members, 3 months of rehearsal, and 2 months of filming just to complete the first 12 minutes of the movie.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

8. Emotional Music

When Daniel Craig first heard Adele’s song “Skyfall”, he started to cry from how beautiful it was.

Skyfall factsGetty Images

9. J.A.B.

The passport that Bond uses in the movie isn’t a prop. It was actually a real passport made by the British Home Office. It has Daniel Craig’s photo, with the name “John Adam Bryce”. However, it cannot actually be used for travel

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

Factinate

Sign up to our newsletter.

History’s most fascinating stories and darkest secrets, delivered to your inbox daily. Making distraction rewarding since 2017.

Thank you!
Error, please try again.

10. Beardless

Sales of the old fashioned “cut throat” style razors went up by 400% after the premiere of Skyfall, because of the sensual shaving scene between Eve and James Bond.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

Advertisement

11. Top of the Charts

Adele’s “Skyfall” was the first song specifically written for a movie soundtrack to make it to the Billboard Top 10 in ten years. Before then, it was Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” from 8 Mile in 2002.

Adele FactsShutterstock

12. Gray

This was the first movie where any James Bond ever wore a gray suit. For years, he only wore black.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

13. Raoul Silva

Kevin Spacey almost played the villain instead of Javier Bardem.

Kevin Spacey FactsGetty Images

14. Battle Ships

The painting that Q and Bond are looking at in the National Art Gallery is called “The Fighting Temeraire” by J.M.W. Turner.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

15. East Meets West

This was the first Bond movie to every shoot a scene in China.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

16. Computer Animation

Skyfall contains 500 CGI shots. They needed to employ over 1,000 people across the world to work on the computer-generated scenes.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

Advertisement

17. The Big Screen

Skyfall was the first Bond film to be released in IMAX.

Skyfall factsFlickr, Peter

18. The Elephant Gun

The gun that belonged to James Bond’s father at his house in Scotland is a .500 Nitro Express. It was mainly used for elephant hunting. In the movie, when people are shot, they simply fall. In reality, a blow from a .500 Nitro Express is powerful enough to blow their arms and legs off in one shot.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

19. Biker Gang

Twenty different identical Honda motorcycles were needed to shoot the opening scene. Stunt camera men drove their own motorcycles while holding the cameras and following the actors at the same time.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

20. #Ad

Skyfall has the most product placement of any James Bond film.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

21. Fire Power

The gun given to James Bond by Q is called a Walther PPK/S 9mm.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

22. Global Espionage

In the film, there is a reference to “Station H”. In the books, that is the name of the MI6 Headquarters in Hong Kong.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

Advertisement

23. Translations

In order to prepare for his role as the villain, Javier Bardem had the script translated into Spanish, so he had a copy in each language. This helped him understand the character in his native language, so that he could give a better performance in English.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

24. Oldie but a Goodie

The Aston Martin in Skyfall is not the true original car from the older Bond movies.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

25. Happy Anniversary

The very first James Bond movie came out in 1962, and Skyfall came out in 2012, meaning that it signifies exactly 50 years of Bond films.

Skyfall factsWikimedia Commons

26. Long Live the Queen

In 2012, the same year Skyfall came out, Daniel Craig and the Queen of England acted in a skit that became part of the opening ceremony for the Olympics. In the skit, Craig accompanies the Queen into a helicopter, and stunt doubles jumped out with British flag parachutes.

Dictators FactsGetty Images

27. Working Out

Daniel Craig began training for his role 6 months before the film began. During the days when they were shooting the movie, he would finish his scenes and leave the set to work out for two hours a day.

Skyfall factsGetty Images

28. Henchmen Tryouts

The director, Sam Mendes, wanted actors to play Silva’s henchmen, rather than stunt men. So he set up a training camp where the actors were taught how to fight on screen. They started with 42 actors, and narrowed it down to only 7.

Skyfall factsGetty Images

29. That’s a Lot of Bullets

During weapons training, the cast went through 200,000 rounds of ammunition.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

30. Moneypenny Training

To train for her role as Eve, Naomi Harris had to work out for two hours a day for two months before the film began. She also had to train in stunt driving and combat.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

31. Rugby Buddies

Despite playing enemies, Javier Bardem and Daniel Craig became friends on set, because they both played rugby. Bardem even made it to the national level when he was a kid.

Skyfall factsGetty Images

32. Don’t Waste Good Real Estate

Skyfall Lodge is not a real house. It was just an exterior set made of plywood and plaster stone.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

33. Oh, Deer

The stags in front of the Skyfall estate were inspired by the real-life Duntrune Castle in Argyll, Scotland.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

34. Art Theft

Patrice kills an art collector who is looking at a painting in Shanghai. The painting he is looking at is called Woman With a Fan by Amedeo Modigliani. In reality, it was stolen in 2010. The movie suggests that the man who was killed was buying stolen paintings on the black market.

Skyfall factsWikipedia

35. Vintage Vibes

During the scene on Silva’s island, the French song that is playing in the background is called Boum! by Charles Trenet. It was originally recorded in the 1930’s.

Skyfall factsGetty Images

36. The Ghost Island

In real life, Silva’s island is called Gunkanjima, and it’s off the coast of Nagasaki. At one time, it was the most densely populated place in the world. The island is owned by Mitsubishi, and it sits on top of an underwater coal mine. They built apartments and warehouses for employees to work. It officially closed in 1974, and became a total ghost town. This made it the perfect set for Silva’s creepy hideout.

Skyfall factsFlickr, Kzaral

37. From Austria, With Love

The helicopter that attacks the Skyfall estate has the colors of the Austrian Air Force. While it is never mentioned, some may interpret that as a loyal connection that Silva was able to buy.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

38. Novel Inspiration

The Skyfall movie is mostly based on Ian Fleming’s novels You Only Live Twice and The Man With The Golden Gun.

James Bond FactsGetty Images

39. Easter Egg

A character called Fukutu, played by Tom So, plays a high-stakes gambler in both Casino Royale and Skyfall. He can be seen in the Macau casino playing billiards.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

40. Cut it Out

The movie was getting so long that they had to cut 10 minutes from the film.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

41. Keep Calm and Carry On

The underground headquarters of MI-6 are real bunkers under London called The Churchill War Rooms. In 2016, they became open to the public as a museum.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

42. Explosive Acting

MI-6 is blown up in the film, and it causes a massive explosion in London. In real life, they set off fireworks so that the actors knew the timing of when to react. A computer-generated explosion was put in later.

Skyfall factsFlickr, Jim Linwood

43. The Gloves That Didn't Love Me

The film was almost completely bankrupted by a pair of gloves that Daniel Craig had purchased. With the director's approval, he wore them for an extremely expensive-to-shoot action scene where falls into a pit filled with Komodo dragons. In the scene, the villain gets Bond's gun, but the gun doesn't fire because it's equipped with fingerprint-sensing technology that makes it utterly useless for anyone other than bond.

After the scene was shot, an editorial assistant piped up and said, "Wait a minute. The logic here is that the villain can't fire Bond's gun because it has a fingerprint scanner, but if that's the case, then how was Bond ever going to fire it wearing gloves?"

After the blood rained from everyone's face, they started running some numbers and determined re-shooting would cost millions of dollars that simply wasn't in the budget. They wound up digitally coloring the gloves the same color as Craig's skin pigment, but his hands still look ridiculously pudgy in the final cut.

Skyfall facts Skyfall (2012), MGM

44. And the award goes to...

At the 2013 Academy Awards, Skyfall was nominated in more categories than any other Bond film- Best song, score, sound mixing, sound effects, and cinematography.

Skyfall factsSkyfall (2012), MGM

Sources: 1 2 3 4


More from Factinate

Featured Article

My mom never told me how her best friend died. Years later, I was using her phone when I made an utterly chilling discovery.

Dark Family Secrets

Dark Family Secrets Exposed

Nothing stays hidden forever—and these dark family secrets are proof that when the truth comes out, it can range from devastating to utterly chilling.
April 8, 2020 Samantha Henman

Featured Article

Madame de Pompadour was the alluring chief mistress of King Louis XV, but few people know her dark history—or the chilling secret shared by her and Louis.

Madame de Pompadour Facts

Entrancing Facts About Madame de Pompadour, France's Most Powerful Mistress

Madame de Pompadour was the alluring chief mistress of King Louis XV, but few people know her dark history—or the chilling secret shared by her and Louis.
December 7, 2018 Kyle Climans

More from Factinate

Featured Article

I tried to get my ex-wife served with divorce papers. I knew that she was going to take it badly, but I had no idea about the insane lengths she would go to just to get revenge and mess with my life.

These People Got Genius Revenges

When someone really pushes our buttons, we'd like to think that we'd hold our head high and turn the other cheek, but revenge is so, so sweet.
April 22, 2020 Scott Mazza

Featured Article

Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIII’s rejected queen—but few people know her even darker history.

Catherine of Aragon Facts

Tragic Facts About Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s First Wife

Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIII’s rejected queen—but very few people know her even darker history.
June 7, 2018 Christine Tran



Dear reader,


Want to tell us to write facts on a topic? We’re always looking for your input! Please reach out to us to let us know what you’re interested in reading. Your suggestions can be as general or specific as you like, from “Life” to “Compact Cars and Trucks” to “A Subspecies of Capybara Called Hydrochoerus Isthmius.” We’ll get our writers on it because we want to create articles on the topics you’re interested in. Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. Thanks for your time!


Do you question the accuracy of a fact you just read? At Factinate, we’re dedicated to getting things right. Our credibility is the turbo-charged engine of our success. We want our readers to trust us. Our editors are instructed to fact check thoroughly, including finding at least three references for each fact. However, despite our best efforts, we sometimes miss the mark. When we do, we depend on our loyal, helpful readers to point out how we can do better. Please let us know if a fact we’ve published is inaccurate (or even if you just suspect it’s inaccurate) by reaching out to us at contribute@factinate.com. Thanks for your help!


Warmest regards,



The Factinate team




Want to learn something new every day?

Join thousands of others and start your morning with our Fact Of The Day newsletter.

Thank you!

Error, please try again.