Top 10 Skyfall Movie Trivia

Kicking off our trivia list is a fact about Bond’s birthday celebrations: The first film in the series was 1962’s “Dr. No,” which means that 2012’s “Skyfall” marked the franchise’s fiftieth anniversary. Other milestone releases included 2002’s “Die Another Day” for the fortieth, 1997’s “Tomorrow Never Dies” for the thirty-fifth, 1987’s “The Living Daylights” for the twenty-fifth, and 1977’s “The Spy Who Loved Me” for Bond’s fifteenth birthday.

Before its release, “Skyfall” received major hype when Daniel Craig answered Queen Elizabeth II’s invitation to help open the Olympic Ceremonies as James Bond. Playing the secret service agent on guard duty, he met the monarch and accompanied her via helicopter to the event. Once there, stunt doubles exited to the Bond theme, making for a hilarious skit, and the Queen’s acting debut!

“Skyfall” earned over $1.1 billion worldwide, and became the seventh-highest-grossing film ever as of its release. Beyond its box office success, it also received 41 award nominations, including two Academy Award wins for Best Sound Editing and Best Original Song by Adele.

Speaking of the soundtrack, Adele’s “Skyfall” was so popular it tied the British chart success of Duran Duran’s “A View to a Kill” and became the first ever Bond theme to debut in the Top 10 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Because of this, Adele was asked to sing future themes, making her the musical successor to Bond regular Shirley Bassey.

Bond actor Daniel Craig turned 44-years-old during filming of “Skyfall,” and he claimed he was having trouble with the physical aspects of the role. So, he began training for the film six months in advance, and continued working out daily during production so he could confidently perform his own stunts. Ironically, the plot of the film focused on Bond being out of shape.

“Skyfall” featured a few Bond franchise firsts: for example, it was 007’s first appearance in IMAX and his first time drinking a beer. It was also the first Bond flick filmed in China: the exotic setting of Shanghai was chosen to show that Bond was far from his home in London. “License to Kill” was actually supposed to be the first Bond movie to film there back in the ‘80s, but the plans fell through.

Over his many film appearances, James Bond has done it all. Amazingly, he’s only done the following things once before: been shot, sported a beard, performed a rooftop motorcycle chase, and fought on top of a train. “Skyfall” is the second Bond film to feature an attack on MI6 headquarters, and the second-longest Bond film after “Casino Royale,” clocking in at 143 minutes.

In “Skyfall,” Ben Whishaw became the latest actor to provide Bond with his weapons and gadgets as the character Q. That flick marked the first time Q was younger than James Bond, as he was modeled on young geniuses like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Whishaw was the fourth actor to play Q, following Peter Burton in 1962’s “Dr. No,” Desmond Llewelyn between 1963-1999, and John Cleese for two pictures between 1999 and 2002.

Bond villains are famous for their exotic lairs. In “Skyfall,” the character Raoul Silva – played by Javier Bardem – lived on Hashima Island, which is an actual deserted industrial coal mining isle once owned by Mitsubishi. At one point, this island housed more people per square mile than anywhere else on earth, but today it is one of over 500 ghost islands off the coast of Nagasaki. Nicknamed “Battleship Island” because of its shape, it has remained uninhabited since 1974, when petroleum replaced the need for coal.

Rounding out our trivia list is a fact about Bond’s heritage. Because the original Bond actor, Sean Connery, was born in Scotland, author Ian Fleming gave the character a Scottish background. While Bond did wear a kilt in 1969’s “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,” it wasn’t until “Skyfall” that Daniel Craig’s Bond returned to his childhood home and the final resting place of his parents.

Are you a James Bond Fan? What’s your favorite “Skyfall” fact? For more entertaining trivia lists, be sure to visit us at WatchMojo.com.