Skyfall is a 2012 spy film and the twenty-third in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions. The film is the third to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond and features Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the villain, and Judi Dench as M. It was directed by Sam Mendes and written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and John Logan and features the theme song "Skyfall", co-written and performed by Adele. It was theatrically distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The story centres on Bond investigating an attack on MI6 that leads to a wider plot by former agent Raoul Silva to discredit and kill M as revenge for abandoning him. It sees the return of two recurring characters after an absence of two films: Q, now played by Ben Whishaw, and Miss Moneypenny, now played by Naomie Harris.

Mendes was approached to direct after the release of Quantum of Solace in 2008. Development was suspended when MGM ran into financial trouble, and did not resume until MGM emerged from bankruptcy in December 2010; meanwhile the original screenwriter, Peter Morgan, left the project. When production resumed, Logan, Purvis, and Wade continued writing what became the final version. Filming began in November 2011, primarily in the United Kingdom, with smaller portions shot in China and Turkey.

Skyfall premiered at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on 23 October 2012 and was released in the UK on 26 October and in North America on 9 November. It was the first James Bond film to be screened in IMAX venues, although it was not filmed with IMAX cameras. The release coincided with the 50th anniversary of the series, which began with Dr. No in 1962. Skyfall won several accolades, including two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and two Grammy Awards. It received highly positive reviews from critics for Mendes's direction, the performances (particularly from Craig, Bardem, and Dench), action scenes, cinematography, and musical score. It was the fourteenth film to gross over $1 billion worldwide, and the only James Bond film to do so. It became the seventh-highest-grossing film of all time, the highest-grossing film in the UK, the highest-grossing film in the series, the highest-grossing film worldwide for both Sony Pictures and MGM, and the second-highest-grossing film of 2012.

The next film in the series, Spectre, was released in the US and Canada in November 2015, with Craig reprising his role, Sony Pictures returning to distribute, and Mendes returning to direct.

DETAILED PLOT

In Istanbul, MI6 agents James Bond and Eve Moneypenny pursue mercenary Patrice, who has stolen a hard drive containing details of undercover agents. As Bond and Patrice fight atop a moving train, M orders Moneypenny to shoot Patrice, despite not having a clear shot; Moneypenny inadvertently hits Bond, who falls into a river. Bond is presumed dead and Patrice escapes with the hard drive.

Three months later, due to a public inquiry into M's handling of the stolen hard drive, she is pressured to retire by Gareth Mallory, the chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament and a former SAS officer. Although she claims she is still useful, MI6's servers are hacked, and M receives a taunting computer message moments before the MI6 building explodes. Bond, who used his presumed death to retire, learns of the attack and returns to service in London. He fails a series of physical, medical, and psychological examinations, but M approves his return to the field, ordering him to identify Patrice's employer, recover the hard drive, and kill Patrice. He meets Q, MI6's new quartermaster, who gives him a radio beacon and a Walther PPK pistol.

In Shanghai, Bond follows Patrice but is unable to prevent him killing a target. The two fight and Patrice falls to his death before Bond can learn his employer's identity. Bond finds a casino token Patrice intended to cash in for the assassination, leading him to a casino in Macau. There, Bond is approached by Sévérine, Patrice's accomplice. Recognising her tattoo, he concludes she was a sex slave "rescued" by a criminal who now employs her, a man Bond wishes to meet. She warns him he is targeted by her bodyguards, but promises to help if Bond kills her employer. Bond thwarts the attack and joins Sévérine on her yacht, the Chimera. They travel to an abandoned island off the coast of Macau, where the crew captures and delivers them to Sévérine's employer, Raoul Silva. Once an MI6 agent, Silva turned to cyberterrorism and orchestrated the attack on MI6. Silva kills Sévérine, but Bond alerts MI6 reinforcements who capture Silva for rendition to Britain.

At MI6's new underground headquarters, Q attempts to decrypt Silva's laptop, but inadvertently gives it access to the MI6 servers, allowing Silva to escape. Q concludes Silva wanted to be captured as part of a plan to kill M, whom he resents for disavowing and betraying him to the Chinese government in 1997, leaving him to be tortured and disfigured by a failed suicide by cyanide pill. Silva escapes his cell and Bond chases him through the London Underground and thwarts Silva's attack at a Parliament inquiry where M is present.

Instructing Q and Bill Tanner to leave an electronic trail for Silva to follow, Bond uses his Aston Martin DB5 to take M to Skyfall, his childhood home in the Scottish Highlands. They meet Skyfall's gamekeeper Kincade, and together the trio set up a series of booby traps throughout the house. When Silva's men arrive, Bond, M, and Kincade kill most of them, but M is wounded. Silva arrives by helicopter with more men and heavy weapons, so Bond sends M and Kincade through a priest hole to hide in a nearby chapel, and rigs propane tanks to explode. As the house and the helicopter are destroyed, Bond escapes down the same tunnel.

Silva survives the destruction of the house, following Kincade and M to the chapel. Confronting M, Silva forces his gun into her hand and presses his temple to hers, begging her to kill them both. Bond arrives and kills Silva by throwing a knife into his back. M then succumbs to her wounds and dies in Bond's arms.

Following M's funeral, Moneypenny formally introduces herself to Bond and tells him she is retiring from fieldwork to become secretary for Mallory, the newly appointed M. Bond meets with Mallory, and tells him he is ready to get back to work.