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  1. The CBn Dossier

    The CBn Dossier, August '06

    By Luke Freeman on 2006-08-31

    Welcome to the August 2006 CBn Dossier, a wrap-up of all the James Bond 007 news and rumours for the month. In this month’s column, we’ll be examining the build-up to 2006’s Casino Royale, the many upcoming literary James Bond releases, the ‘Ultimate Edition’ James Bond DVDs, Sideshow Bond announcements, as well as other 007-related events, news on the next Bond game, and much, much more.

    This month’s CBn Dossier will be delivered by Luke Freeman.

    All aboard the ‘Casino Royale’ bandwagon


    (Finally, a little recognition)

    Casino Royale is now less than 3 months away, and the buzz is definitely starting to build. James Bond is back.

    Oh sure, some of the naysayers may continue to say ‘nay’, as they desperately cling to what has previously been and passed in a manner not unlike having one’s recently deceased pet stuffed and displayed in the living room, but for many previously sceptical about this new Bond and this new direction, apprehension has turned into anticipation. They’ve hopped onboard the Casino Royale bandwagon as it rolls on full steam ahead (I didn’t know wagons produced steam) towards November. Why? Because everything we’ve seen and heard about the film of late looks and sounds so very, very good.

    Entertainment Weekly, excited by the prospect of ‘rougher, rawer, rebooted James Bond’, are calling Casino Royale their “#1 Must-See Film of Fall 2006”, while TIME have the film in their ‘Unavoidable, Unmissable and Uncovered’ list.

    The word from the inside is good too. “He’s everything Bond should be. He’s sexy and charming and virile, but can also be dangerous” explains Barbara Broccoli. “He’s so violent, and we never see James Bond violent. So modern. It’s completely different from the 20 movies before” says Caterina Murino.

    True, they are working on the film with him so they can hardly say “Oh, he’s rubbish. Bring back Roger Moore”, but there’s something real and specific about their praise. This isn’t yet another dusting off of those old worn-out generic stock lines that are used each time a new Bond film rolls around an attempt to create the illusion of excitement. This is genuine excitement. Instead of “she’s not a Bond girl, she’s a Bond woman, blah, blah, blah”, Caterina Murino says she’d tried to “give some humanity to (her character) Solange”. Instead of “It’s like slipping on an old pair of shoes” and (the most dreaded words of all) “peeling back the layers”, we have Daniel Craig assuring us that previously-long-since-forgotten “element of cruelty” to the character will be seen. “Certain things he does should be questionable. I think you should go, “f–k, that’s not nice.” He is an assassin.” says Craig.

    “Continuing the legacy” has been replaced by “There’s no point in making this movie unless it’s different”, the phrase “biggest Bond ever” is nowhere in sight and, contrary to what that normally means, neither is the word “gritty”. And yes, while the F word (as in “Fleming”, as in “Flemmmmmming”, as in “back to…”) has been uttered a couple of times, one is inclined to believe them this time around.

    Of course, we won’t find out for certain until opening night, but jamesbond.de reports that before then we’ll get a sneak peak curtousy of a new trailer, which according CBn forum member dinovelvet will be broadcast during the season premiere of Nip/Tuck on Tuesday, 5 September at 10PM (ET) on the FX channel.

    It’s Game On….


    (Eventually)

    Turns out that the next James Bond game, the first from Activision, is not going to be released until May of 2008 – to tie in with the release of Bond 22. At this rate, we’ll be playing it on the Playstation 5. Sigh, I still remember playing Rare’s GoldenEye 64 way back in 1997-8. It was tremendous fun and after finishing it I couldn’t wait for the next decent Bond game.

    Still waiting.

    Give a hoot, read a book


    (The books of the month for this month)

    With 3 months still to go until Casino Royale, and apparently 21 to go until the next Bond game, you may be looking for something to quench your Bond thirst in the meantime. Fear not, fellow Bond fans, fear not, for there is an abundance of Bond related literature htting stores over the next month.

    Christopher Wood, screenwriter of the The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker, and author of the novelizations of those two films, will be releasing a new book in September, as reported by
    Dr. Shatterhand’s Botanical Garden    . Entitled James Bond, The Spy I Loved, the book will cover Wood’s move to Eon Productions and his work as a screenwriter on two of the biggest films in the series.

    Secret Servant: The Moneypenny Diaries – The second volume of Samantha Weinberg’s (writing as Kate Westbrook) The Moneypenny Diaries trilogy, is set to be released on 2 November 2006, and can now be pre-ordered from amazon.co.uk at a discounted price of £11.21

    With the original edition now out of print, a new edition of Ian Fleming’s James Bond: Annotations and Chronologies, boasting new illustrations by George Almond, clearer translations, and an additional foreward by Raymond Benson is now available, so if you don’t already have a copy, buy one. And if you do already have one, buy another one. You can never have too many. Aim to have one for every room of your house.

    The Science Of James Bond by Lois H. Gresh and Robert Weinberg is shipping early from amazon.com and amazon.co.uk. The Science of James Bond covers (make sure you’re sitting down for this) the science of James Bond: the gadgets, cars, and technology. It’s out now in the US, and will available in the UK from 6 September.

    And originally set for a 1 September 2006 release in the US,James Bond In The 21st Century: Why We Still Need 007 has hit book shelves early. While not yet released online at amazon.com, it can currently be pre-ordered there for a discounted price of $12.21. The UK release is set for 7 September.

    Bond, Young Bond


    (Weapons and women, coming up)

    We were treated to two helpings of Young Bond news this month, both reported by the Young Bond Dossier.

    First off, confirmation from author Charlie Higson of the apache weapon (as discovered by Commanderbond.net forum member ‘K1Bond007’) that will feature in Young Bond Book 3.

    Higson says: ‘Nice work on the apache pics. You’ve nailed it. Although my version has a slight adaption to the knuckle dusters in that the gun doesn’t have to be reversed to use them. I saw some pictures of these nasty little guns… and just knew that I had to use them in the book.’

    Sounds just like the one I got for my eighth birthday.

    That was followed by some Young Bond Book 4 news, with it revealed that the main villain in the fourth book, most likely to be released in 2008, will be a female.

    Sideshow Attractions


    (Juggling the figures)

    The Sideshow Timothy Dalton and George Lazenby Legacy Edition figures are now available to pre-order from Sideshow Collectibles.

    These new 12” figures are the fourth and fifth in the new “Legacy Edition” line of James Bond figures. No news yet on a “safari-suit clad Roger Moore with judo chop action”, but we live in hope. Each of these “Legacy Edition” figures includes an authentic portrait, fully articulated body with 30+ points of articulation, expertly tailored fabric costume, and a number of different accessories.

    The new figures are both estimated to ship in the fourth quarter of 2006, and can be pre-ordered at Sideshow for $44.99 each. So what are you waiting for? Pre-order Timothy Dalton and George Lazenby figures now. Do you hear me? NOW! Don’t bother with the rest of the dossier, you won’t be missing much. Just me waffling on about stuff that’s already happened (and stuff that wont even be happening).

    Ultimate Edition DVDs


    (Just how ultimate are they?)

    The Ultimate Edition DVDs and been released recently in UK (July 17) and Australia (August 14). For this new DVD release, the films have been restored with a “breakthrough digital process” by Lowry Digital, greatly improving both picture and sound, though according to some fans, with varying degrees of success. Apparently GoldenEye is rubbish (and the picture quality isn’t that great either – zing!), while Dr. No and Moonraker on the other hand look like brand new films.

    So are these Ultimate Editions a) very ultimate, b) pretty ultimate, or c) not yet ultimate enough?

    With the improved picture and sound, the all new extras, and the Roger Moore commentaries where he can be talking about the change in tone of For Your Eyes Only one moment, then jump into the story of how he took the part in Cannonball Run the next, it’s a definite “a” from me.

    Details on the Region 1 release where announced. They will be released as four separate volumes of 5 films each, with Volumes 1 and 2 due out on November 7th and Volumes 3 and 4 on December 12th. Doesn’t worry me as I’m about as American as humble pie, but many Stateside folk seem none to happy about the broken up release dates and the serious lack of attache case.

    Click here for CommanderBond.net’s round-up of all the latest James Bond 007 ‘Ultimate Edition’ DVD news: front and back cover art, worldwide release dates, menu and screen caps, new certificates, pre-ordering details, special features, technical specs, and more.

    Class Reunions


    (Together again, for the first time)

    Just a quick heads up about two upcoming James Bond “reunions” being held in September. The James Bond reunion at Collectormania 10 from Friday 29 September through Sunday 1 October with feature George Lazenby, Yaphet Kotto, Madeline Smith, Martine Beswick, Caroline Munro and Burt Kwouk.

    Also The STARCONUK show, which is set for 23-24 September 2006, will feature over 40 stars from the 007 films, including Bond girls Maud Adams, Maryam D’abo, Shirley Eaton, Britt Ekland, Eunice Gayson, Caroline Munro and Lana Wood.

    Breaking news: The following will not be happening…


    (Not that they were ever going to anyway)

    ‘I’ve signed up for two more, and then I can get on with my life!’ says Daniel Craig. Does this count as our first official bit of Bond 24 news (i.e. that Craig will not be doing it (at this stage (although of course things could change (but they probably wont (or at least everyone I know says they wont)))))? I think it does.

    Here are a couple of other things that we learnt will not be happening:

    The OHMSS theme will not be featuring on the Casino Royale Score

    Roger Michell will not be directing Bond 22

    That is all.

    CBn – The Bondiest Bond site on the web


    (and getting Bondier by the minute)

    You may have noticed that our main page has undergone a bit of a facelift. It now boasts a cool new colour scheme, a calendar of upcoming Bond related events and a Casino Royale countdown clock. Don’t like it? Well, start an online petition and get it signed by Bodnfan, BrosnanGirl79, and Bodnfan using a different alias (a delightful little entourage who refer to themselves as “most people”, and whose opinions / barely-coherent ramblings have been proven to carry incalculable weight , if the overwhelming success of previous online petitions is anything to go by (I’ve just discovered that sarcasm works better spoken than it does written)).

    The results of our member survey to find the 50 greatest moments of James Bond movies, books, and videogames are in, and it make for a truly fascinating read. Thank you to all who contributed. No doubt we’ll be running future surveys at some point, so be sure to join up on the CBn forums so that you can have your say.

    CBn is now on MySpace. It’s all part of our plot for internet domination. We start bombing Google in 5 minutes.

    If I could think of anything else worth mentioning I’d mention it.

    Stay in school,

    Freemo

    To discuss this month’s CBn Dossier visit this thread on the CBn Forums.

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