James Bond - Timeline/Chronology (Daniel Craig Era)

DIrishBDIrishB Posts: 2MI6 Agent
edited June 2015 in The James Bond Films
Casino Royale (July 5 - August 4, 2006)
Quantum of Solace (August 4 - 26, 2006*)
Blood Stone (July 14 - 22, 2010)
Goldeneye - Reloaded (February 28 - March 6, 2011)
007 - Legends ([????**] July - November, 2012)
Skyfall (July - November, 2012)
007 - Legends: Skyfall*** (November, 2012)
Spectre (????, 2013?)


With Spectre's release later this year, I sat down to do a marathon watch-through/play of the Craig films and video games, and decided to timeline the series when I noticed the films and games all usually featured detailed dates.

This is a timeline/chronology of the Daniel Craig era Bond films (and spin off video games which some may consider non-canon, but I like to include them to fill out Bond's missions/experience more). All dates are drawn directly from the films and video games.

The films are in bold blue and underlined text, and the video games are in bold red underlined text (007 - Legends "Skyfall" DLC is listed in regular red underlined text). The dates the films/games take place on are contained within parentheses.


Notes:

* Casino Royale is firmly set in 2006. Quantum of Solace picks up immediately after Casino Royale's ending, yet later in the film a date shows the year as 2008 (concurrent with the film's year of release). I stick with the 2006 date since that was established first in Casino Royale as the year Bond receives his 00 status.

** 007 - Legends features flashbacks to missions that occur during the time frame between Quantum of Solace and the beginning of Skyfall. There are no dates given in the game so it's unknown specifically when those missions occur, other than after QoS and before Skyfall. The missions reboot classic Bond films with Craig's Bond in place of the previous versions, essentially rebooting those storylines to occur in Craig's Bond timeline as well. The previous films adapted include Goldfinger (Sean Connery), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (George Lazenby), Moonraker (Roger Moore), Licence to Kill (Timothy Dalton) and Die Another Day (Pierce Brosnan).

*** 007 - Legends featured a DLC mission that adapted portions of the Skyfall film, which is listed here.

Comments

  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    Thanks for that interesting post, DIrishB, and welcome to AJB. Please have a look at our intro for new members: http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/45180/introduction-how-to-use-the-forum/ and feel free to introduce yourself to us here: http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/34154/welcome-comings-goings/page/50/
  • sniperUKsniperUK UlsterPosts: 594MI6 Agent
    Skyfall now has to be post March 2015 as it features operational Wildcat helicopters .
    On 23 March 2015, the Royal Navy's first Wildcat HMA2 began its initial operational deployment at sea onboard HMS Lancaster.
  • MilleniumForceMilleniumForce LondonPosts: 1,214MI6 Agent
    sniperUK wrote:
    Skyfall now has to be post March 2015 as it features operational Wildcat helicopters .
    On 23 March 2015, the Royal Navy's first Wildcat HMA2 began its initial operational deployment at sea onboard HMS Lancaster.

    And plus MI6 is still destroyed in he trailer. Seems unlikely it would still be left like that after three years.
    1.LTK 2.AVTAK 3.OP 4.FYEO 5.TND 6.LALD 7.GE 8.GF 9.TSWLM 10.SPECTRE 11.SF 12.MR 13.YOLT 14.TLD 15.CR (06) 16.TMWTGG 17.TB 18.FRWL 19.TWINE 20.OHMSS 21.DAF 22.DAD 23.QoS 24.NSNA 25.DN 26.CR (67)
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    ........ but if they used Egyptian builders ........... :))
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • Thunderbird 2Thunderbird 2 East of Cardiff, Wales.Posts: 2,774MI6 Agent
    edited May 2015
    8-) Thank you, Pussy.

    I agree the MI6 Building must be a flashback. Even if its brand new footage! London is not a place where buildings are left in rack and ruin for long. I suspect some dark secrets about what M-Manf did in her career will surface. Silva / Rodriguez being the tip of an ice palace sized iceberg!

    I looked up the helicopter type on Wiki. I like it, reminds me of both Nimrod and the HMS Daring! Must be the ball shaped sensor dome on the nose. :)
    This is Thunderbird 2, how can I be of assistance?
  • HalfMonk HalfHitmanHalfMonk HalfHitman USAPosts: 2,324MI6 Agent
    SPECTRE is set only a few months after SKYFALL. The trailer goes so far as to move Bond's age down a couple years from when it was previously established (1968) to compensate for the three year difference between films. Suddenly, he's 12 in 1983.


    adoption_1200_991_s.png

    Good luck with your timeline, but the films aren't beholden to reality in that way...
  • Matt SMatt S Oh Cult Voodoo ShopPosts: 6,596MI6 Agent
    SPECTRE is set only a few months after SKYFALL. The trailer goes so far as to move Bond's age down a couple years from when it was previously established (1968) to compensate for the three year difference between films. Suddenly, he's 12 in 1983.

    Good luck with your timeline, but the films aren't beholden to reality in that way...

    That would make the character 42 in 2002 or 45 in 2015. Daniel Craig looks about 10 years older than that now!
    Visit my blog, Bond Suits
  • AlphaOmegaSinAlphaOmegaSin EnglandPosts: 10,924MI6 Agent
    I suppose you could say that Government Cut Backs are the Reason why MI6 HQ is still a Ruin as of SPECTRE :))
    1.On Her Majesties Secret Service 2.The Living Daylights 3.license To Kill 4.The Spy Who Loved Me 5.Goldfinger
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,644MI6 Agent
    Do we still even really have a secret service in Britain? :D
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • AlphaOmegaSinAlphaOmegaSin EnglandPosts: 10,924MI6 Agent
    With everything else being sold off, I wouldn't be surprised if it was long gone :))
    1.On Her Majesties Secret Service 2.The Living Daylights 3.license To Kill 4.The Spy Who Loved Me 5.Goldfinger
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,644MI6 Agent
    With everything else being sold off, I wouldn't be surprised if it was long gone :))

    And the worrying truth is, nobody's even noticed yet! :))

    That or it's now being run by the French! :o :D
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    The proud professional group of experts known as G4S, could take it
    Over. ;) Do the same job for the same price, and then get the army to
    Pull them out of the hole, they'll end up digging themselves in to. :))
    The government will love it as it's cheap. :#
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • DIrishBDIrishB Posts: 2MI6 Agent
    sniperUK wrote:
    Skyfall now has to be post March 2015 as it features operational Wildcat helicopters .
    On 23 March 2015, the Royal Navy's first Wildcat HMA2 began its initial operational deployment at sea onboard HMS Lancaster.

    Not necessarily. If my habit of timelining fictional universes has taught me anything, it's that most must occur in an alternate reality to our own (for obvious reasons). Therefore, in Bond's reality, the Wildcat can be assumed to be put into deployment a few years earlier.
    And plus MI6 is still destroyed in he trailer. Seems unlikely it would still be left like that after three years.

    Spectre's date is merely a guess until it's released. I'm assuming that's what you mean?
    SPECTRE is set only a few months after SKYFALL. The trailer goes so far as to move Bond's age down a couple years from when it was previously established (1968) to compensate for the three year difference between films. Suddenly, he's 12 in 1983.


    adoption_1200_991_s.png

    Good luck with your timeline, but the films aren't beholden to reality in that way...

    As said, since none of us has seen SPECTRE yet, so it's only a guess for that date. Everything else is based on hard dates seen in the films themselves (either from security camera dates, cell phone dates, etc).

    As for being beholden to reality, I never implied otherwise, only that the films present set dates, and I took note and calculated exact dates based on passage of time and the few dates shown throughout the films and video games.



    Anyway, I'll edit the original to move Spectre closer to Skyfall.
  • HalfMonk HalfHitmanHalfMonk HalfHitman USAPosts: 2,324MI6 Agent
    DIrishB wrote:
    Casino Royale (July 5 - August 4, 2006)

    CASINO ROYALE must certainly span more time than this. Though I won't go so far as to say it's canon, Bond's watch at the time of Vesper's death shows a date of the 14th - and I think even August 14th is too soon for him to be leaving the secret service for her and such.

    stuntomega1_600_402_81_s.jpg

    So what date does Vesper die? August 14? Sep 14? Later? And how many days after her death is Bond shooting Mr. White in the knee?
  • bosoxfanbosoxfan Posts: 611MI6 Agent
    Is there a date shown on his resignation email? Enough time passes that he makes a full recovery from what would have been some pretty signficant injuries, and it definitely is implied that he has fully recovered!
  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 3,906MI6 Agent
    I like this sort of thing, but its easier to do with the books than the films, and the books don't add up to a prefect chronology, even with only Fleming writing them on a regular schedule.
    I think evolution of realworld technology or fashion has to be factored out, as the filmmakers always want their films to look uptodate regardless of how much or little time has passed between films.


    But yes, the last scene of Casino Royale must happen some time after Vespers suicide, we just don't know how much time has passed between scenes. The beginning of Quantum... starts five minutes later, but after the big chase following the discovery of the mole in M's retinue, is there another time jump before the film's main mission in Latin America?

    Mathis seems to have gone through a lot by the time he and Bond meet again, so it makes more sense there has been at least one, maybe two months-long time jumps.


    Interesting the video games show CraigBond experiencing classicBond adventures, particularly OHMSS. Did he marry Tracy?
    I don't want to have to play videogames just to know CraigBond's complete continuity, wish that content could be summarised in detail somewhere.
  • HalfMonk HalfHitmanHalfMonk HalfHitman USAPosts: 2,324MI6 Agent
    But yes, the last scene of Casino Royale must happen some time after Vespers suicide, we just don't know how much time has passed between scenes.

    There are two possible time jumps after she dies - he's on his boat on the phone with M, which doesn't exactly feel like the next day, and he's at Mr. White's villa, which again, is probably at least several days down the calendar.
    The beginning of Quantum... starts five minutes later, but after the big chase following the discovery of the mole in M's retinue, is there another time jump before the film's main mission in Latin America?

    Probably not - the jump from Sienna to London can't be more than two days, and he's in Haiti likely the next day (Slate's not staying in the hotel forever, one assumes). Everything in Haiti happens in real-ish time, incredibly, and he's in Bregenz that night. Getting from Bregenz to Italy with no credit cards or passports might take a minute. But I think he and Mathis head to Bolivia fairly soon after that conversation.
    Mathis seems to have gone through a lot by the time he and Bond meet again, so it makes more sense there has been at least one, maybe two months-long time jumps.

    I think Bond's convalescence is the big gap here, maybe a month? Add a few weeks to buy a boat and sail from Lake Como to Venice... :)) It's possible that Vesper dies on Sep 14.
  • HalfMonk HalfHitmanHalfMonk HalfHitman USAPosts: 2,324MI6 Agent
    And yeah, none of it will ever REALLY work (nor should it need to) - QoS has 2008 cars, which conflicts with documents in CR setting it in 2006, etc.
  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 3,906MI6 Agent
    I wrote:
    Interesting the video games show CraigBond experiencing classicBond adventures, particularly OHMSS. Did he marry Tracy?
    I don't want to have to play videogames just to know CraigBond's complete continuity, wish that content could be summarised in detail somewhere.
    aha, wikipedia does summarise the plot of the 007 Legends game, and CraigBond does marry Tracy. CraigBond really is the most traditionally monogomousBond isnt he? tries to give up his job for a longterm relationship with Vesper, Madeleine, and now we see there was a Tracy!

    ...and on Youtube, someone has recorded and uploaded a "playthrough" of this game. Here's part 1, which is most of CraigBond's Goldfinger (80 minutes mostly of first person machine gun fire). Interesting that there are a lot of changes to the plot.
    part 2 Goldfinger's still going on for another 20 minutes of machine gun fire, OHMSS begins at 21 minutes, and we see the CraigBond version of Tracy. (but the player messes up, I don't think Tracy's meant to die so soon)
    Here's part 3 with the Piz Gloria content, part 4, and part 5. I can't keep skipping though all this machine gun fire looking for recognisable images, I assume theres parts 6 and up also uploaded if you have the patience.

    It is interesting these all seem to be flashbacks Bond experiences as he is drowning at the start of SkyFall. Do watch at 2:00 minutes of part 1, and 21:00 minutes of part 2 to see how they do this.
  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 3,906MI6 Agent
    the second half of the Craig's Casino Royale follows Fleming's book pretty close, at least up til they suddenly have a sailboat.

    so, to compare, from Fleming:
    le Chiffre begins his card game "on or after June 15" (chapter 2 Dossier for M).
    Bond is tortured the same night he wins the game.
    Bond spends three weeks in hospital (chapter 22 The Hastening Saloon)
    On the fifth day of their stay at the villa, Vesper promises to tell Bond about the man in the eyepatch the next morning (chapter 26 Sleep Well My Darling), and the next morning she is found dead (chapter 27 The Bleeding Heart)
    so the book should end approximately one month after start of the card game, July 15th-ish.

    The main difference in the film is that don't stay at a villa for six days, they buy (or rent) a yacht and sail to Venice. Where did they buy the yacht (somewhere on the Dalmatian coast?) and how long should such a sailing trip take? they didn't seem to be in a hurry, so may not have sailed the maximum distance each day.
  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 3,906MI6 Agent
    edited March 2021

    I was for some reason thinking about this video game which documents CraigBond's Unseen Missions, and decided to let those playthrough links play in the background while I worked, as if they were some sort of music (music that goes "Rata-tat-tat-tat" for hours on end).

    Important thing: in the OHMSS level, Blofeld is clearly named as the villain.

    For example, Draco says "whatever architect Blofeld hired to design his evil headquarters must have been a madman!"

    Now this game obviously predates SPECTRE, the movie that retconned everything, and EON did not yet know they would be reintroducing Blofeld in the CraigBond timeline when they commissioned the game.

    But as stands, these Unseen Missions cannot be canonical. Unless we presume the video game Blofeld was actually named, lets say, Schmofeld.


    On the other hand, the Goldfinger level is based on the one Connery-era film that did not involve SPECTRE or Blofeld, so that's not a contradiction.

    Too bad though, I liked the idea there were actual semi-canonical missions that happened between Quantum... and SkyFall even if you had to play a video game to know about them

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