When the second film of the newest installment of the James Bond franchise, Quantum of Solace, hit theaters in 2008, it was met with mostly shrugs. Riding the high from the release of Casino Royale, the sequel failed to strike the same chords. You knew it was off to an ominous start when the title sent viewers running to a dictionary to decipher it. Flush with an exciting new actor and teasing a cliffhanger, Quantum of Solace seemed like a sure-fire classic. What went wrong?

Unfortunately, a writer’s strike was running amok in the entertainment industry during that time. The lucky movies not already in production were merely delayed, while many others were caught in a situation where scripts were locked in first-draft mode, sets were already being constructed, and lines were unable to be adjusted or rewritten. Quantum of Solace was already shooting some background shots, with Marc Forster sitting in the directing chair. Daniel Craig was forced to ad-lib his way through the film and rushed to complete filming (of what was then simply called “Bond 22”) to make the scheduled release window.

The filming, chaotic and stressful from the very start, left a very bad taste in Craig’s mouth for a long time. With a recent WGA strike concluded, as well as a SAG-AFTRA Strike, Hollywood is finding itself adjusting back to work with many projects delayed. Here is a look back at how Quantum of Solace went into production during the 2007-2008 WGA Strike, how it impacted the film, and what the future looks like for Hollywood right now.

Updated November 14, 2023: In honor of Quantum of Solace’s fifteen-year anniversary, this article has been updated with more information, including the recently concluded WGA and SAG-AFTRA Strikes and how history might repeat itself.

The Ticking Clock
Quantum of Solace Release Date October 31, 2008 Director Marc Forster Cast Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, Judi Dench, Giancarlo Giannini, Gemma Arterton Rating PG-13 Genres Action, Adventure, Crime, Thriller
Scripts often go through a drawn-out process of rewrites, scriptwriters tweaking the dialogue as necessary to work around unforeseen obstacles as they present themselves in principal photography. For Quantum of Solace, the matter was especially complex, having to accelerate the whole timetable to beat the Writer’s Guild strike, a deadline they met by mere hours. Paul Haggis completed it in under two months, blazing fast by the standards of the industry. The story paid homage to the noir Chinatown. “We’re always trying to think in contemporary terms,” producer Michael Wilson told IGN Movies reporters back in 2008. “I guess what we see in the future is a fight over natural resources, and the people that can control them will be bigger than governments or states.”

Related: Daniel Craig Says He Doesn’t Regret Stepping Down as James Bond

The premise of a slimy businessman trying to use the cover of environmentalism to cover his true plans to monopolize and commodify essential resources was a thoughtful and relevant plot point that had a lot of potential. Given enough time and care, there was plenty of mileage in the themes contained within to make a great thriller. With an eye toward maintaining the action and style of a Bond film, Quantum of Solace would acknowledge real-life issues. Even the villain (played by Mathieu Amalric) was grounded in reality, without the trappings of Bond baddie’s past.

The script arrived a few hours before the strike launched, with writer Paul Haggis saying he turned in his draft just two hours before the deadline. That’s all Craig and Forster had to go on. Reaching for ideas, they turned it into a sequel, though Quantum of Solace was not originally intended as such, the duo managed to piece the movie together with enough action sequences to fill out 106 minutes, incredibly short by Bond film standards. Writer Joshua Zetumer attempted to smooth out the bumps, but he only arrived at the last second as the strike terminated, unable to salvage the movie.

Out of the Frying Pan…
Eon Productions

Thrust into the role of script doctors, James Bond star Daniel Craig and director Marc Forster were, by default, stuck drafting versions of the upcoming Quantum of Solace’s script, contractually obligated to figure it out by a studio that did not want to pack up and wait for the strike to conclude, at the risk of wreaking havoc on their overarching release schedule. To add to the headache, the Bond crew also had to fend off a local politician who invaded the set to protest the filming on Chilean soil, further hampering any hopes of a smooth production (per Independent).

In April 2008, several car accidents led to the press calling the film “cursed.” Everything that could go wrong did, misfortune after misfortune, converging upon the crew, pursuing them across two continents. On top of that, Craig was filming action scenes with one good arm, tearing cartilage from a stunt that went awry, possibly explaining the scene where 007 beats up three MI6 agents without a single punch. One can only wonder is such disasters could have been averted had the timetable not been accelerated so rapidly.

Based on film union rules, only the director and actor could adjust lines of dialogue on set. Craig later confided that it was a “sh*t show” (via IndieWire), ill-prepared to step behind the scenes and fill in to do another’s job. “We had the bare bones of a script … There was me trying to rewrite scenes – and a writer I am not.”

Troubles aside, it granted the actor an enormous amount of leeway to pour himself into the role and fully express the anguish and trauma of the character as Craig had initially envisioned for his take on 007. Some of those ideas did find their way into the film, others were scrapped. On set, as the production was taking place in Italy and Chile, Forster and Craig attempted their best Gore Vidal impression, rewriting the movie on the spot.

… Into the Fire
Eon Productions

Unlike Bond in the parachute scene, Quantum of Solace didn’t miraculously pull off the landing unscratched. Those only expecting explosions and car chases were satisfied, the film breaking even and then some. But something was missing. There was no way to rectify the limp story, weak character development, and choppy edits to disguise a very disjointed plot. Editing aside, the action scenes are the one thing that keeps the movie remotely watchable, Craig risking his health to compensate for the shortcomings, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, and Judi Dench not given enough good material to flesh out the supporting characters.

Related: Daniel Craig Wanted to Kill Off James Bond After Casino Royale

One of the regular Bond writers said that the intended plot twist for Quantum of Solace found its way into the next film, which might have been for the best, as the professional writers were able to conclude that specific character arc much more gracefully. The damage had, for better or worse, been contained, but at a cost. Quantum of Solace was a rudderless, not particularly emotional film, sabotaging the psychological angle Craig had always intended to underpin his Bond characterization, the noticeable low spot in Craig’s run as the MI6 agent.

Release and Fallout
Sony Pictures Releasing

Quantum of Solace was released in theaters on November 14, 2008. It opened to $67 million in its opening weekend, an improvement over Casino Royale’s $40 million opening weekend. It was clear audiences were excited about Craig’s 007 and wanted more of him. Yet the film’s domestic totals almost matched as Quantum of Solace grossed $168 million while Casino Royale grossed $167 million domestic. Worldwide, Quantum of Solace fell behind Casino Royale as the sequel brought in $589 million against its predecessor’s $616 million.

Reviews for Quantum of Solace were far harsher than the previous outing. Many critics saw it as a step down from the previous film and it was clear the writer strike did impact it. Ultimately, Craig found it in himself to make an extra Bond movie, even though the troubles with the franchise had prompted him to write off the whole relationship as early as 2015. He was persuaded to return for one final film as 2021’s No Time To Die marked the end of his tenure with the series.

Hollywood: License to Strike
Marvel Studios

This year, 2023, a new union strike stopped all movies and TV series. First, it was the writers, on May 2, 2023, who, once again, went on strike to get better conditions from the streamers. Similar to when Quantum of Solace was in production, some projects were still filming, like Deadpool 3, although star Ryan Reynolds was not allowed to improvise. What made this strike a much bigger and different situation than the previous one was the fact that on July 14, the actors also went on strike, forcing every production to stop filming. It’s one thing to film with a closed script, but you can’t do anything without the actors.

The Writers Strike lasted 148 days and ended on September 27, 2023. Meanwhile, the SAG-AFTRA Strike lasted 118 days and concluded on November 9, 2023. What have been the consequences? Many movies release dates have been changed, including the MCU, as Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts will now be released in 2025, much later than originally expected. Dune: Part Two is already shot, but its release date has also been moved.

Those are just a couple of examples of a trend in the whole industry, one that means that next year, audiences will see films that have been done for months, like Challengers and Runaway Dolls, while there also might be slim pickings for blockbusters as many of the major summer films of 2024 will now be delayed into 2025. Many possible Oscar contenders will now be part of next year’s awards, leaving more space for films released before the strikes, like Past Lives, Air, Barbie, or Oppenheimer.

Quantum of Solace is not only the second film in Craig’s Bond tenure but also a warning of what can happen when trying to rush a movie into production without a completed script. It, alongside films like X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen were other notable films shot during the 2007 WGA Strike without a script. Hopefully, studios took note of what happened last time and are using the delayed release dates to make sure they don’t rush any film out. This seems to be the case as Captain America: Brave New World is undergoing major reshoots after it finished filming just before the SAG-AFTRA Strike, as Marvel likely wants not to have it be their Quantum of Solace.

Stream Quantum of Solace on Prime Video