Skyfall: The Old Dog Learns Some New Tricks

The latest in the long-running James Bond series is "Skyfall," garnering #6 on the list of highest grossing movies since President Obama took office.  As Sony's lone entry in the top 10, Skyfall earned $1.109B (Boxofficemojo.com), with an impressive 72.5% coming from international sales.  Could cast diversity have played a part in Skyfall's very strong international appeal?

In this, the 23rd episode of "shaken, not stirred," Daniel Craig plays the part of James Bond for the 3rd time.  One of the key tenets of the Bond series is its namesake character womanizing his way around the world on behalf of the British secret service (MI6).  However, since Daniel Craig took over in 2006 (IMDB), women have played much more important roles.  For example, Judi Dench reprises her role as "M," the leader of MI6, a role previously only played by men.  The character of Eve Moneypenny is also a strong and competent woman.  Skyfall's women are a far cry from the many weak and incompetent women portrayed in early Bond films.

But this blog is about racism; how does Skyfall stack-up?  There is far more racial diversity throughout this cast than in the other movies reviewed on this blog.  While the leading actor and actress are both white, the characters that might be best described as co-supporting actresses are non-white.  The "Bond Girl" is played by Berenice Marlohe, whose father is Asian.  The biggest breakthrough, however, is Naomie Harris as Eve Moneypenny.  Harris is of African descent.  The role of Moneypenny has only previously been played by white women.

Sony deserves a great deal of credit for breaking prior conventions with non-original material.  Was this why Skyfall did so well internationally?  It's hard to say.  What can be said is Sony took some chances other studios didn't and enjoyed a tremendous financial success.