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r$)"3-*&(3":$07&31)050(3"1):#:3"/*/46#4$3*#&3$07&3"35803#:-"63"(3"/EDITORâS LETTER
THINK IT WOULD BE FUN TO RUN
a newspaperâ says Charles Foster Kane.
Well this is the closest Iâll ever get
and on the basis of the last few months
I think he might have been right.
Working with Empire on this special
edition of their splendid magazine has
been a really enjoyable two-way process.
Ian Chris Dan Adam Debi and the
team dropped by our offi ces in Neal
Street and made it all very easy. We then
welcomed them behind the normally
closed doors of the 007 set and revealed
the odd secret or two; and they in turn
have accompanied the Spectre team on
our journey around the globe. In this
edition you will fi nd reports from the
front line â from Mexico City (the most
exciting time Iâve ever had on a movie
set) The Alps London and naturally
Pinewood. You will fi nd interviews
with amongst others the remarkable
Christoph Waltz the lovely and talented
Léa Seydoux the head of special eff ectsChris Corbould (the kind of person
who ACTUALLY makes a Bond movie)
and of course with 007 himself my
old friend the battered bruised and
brilliant Daniel Craig.
On top of that Iâve been given full
licence to channel my inner nerd and
ask all my director friends the questions
that I REALLY want to have the answers
to. Never mind about shot selection and
story-boarding what about how many
cups of coff ee you drink per day or
what you always carry in your pockets?
I challenge you not to laugh at some of
their answers (step forward Alexander
Payne) and be struck by some brilliant
insights. Frankly in the presence of
Spielberg Nolan Coppola Fincher
Soderbergh Ang Lee and all the rest
Iâm just a fan like most of you.
Then there is a little trip down
memory lane. I canât believe that
American Beauty was 16 years ago. But
it is very nice to have an excuse to hear
from all those who lived through that
extraordinary experience with me during
the closing months of the 20th century
and to know that it remains a goldenmemory for them as well.
But ultimately this edition is
centred round Bond and as I write this
Iâm putting the fi nal touches to Spectre
and readying the movie for release. For
those of you who believe (as I do) that
James Bond is one of the greatest of all
contemporary mythologies there is
hopefully plenty to excite your interest
ahead of the release of the movie on
October 26 when you will be able to see
the movie at your local cinema on the
same evening as the world premiere.
Itâs been said before that Bond
belongs to everyone... So what better
place to encounter the fi rst sighting of
many of these stories people and images
than in a magazine for true movie fans
written by true movie fans? A magazine
for everyone. I hope you enjoy it.GUEST EDITOR
SAM MENDES