Pierce Brosnan Receives OBE

Current Bond star Pierce Brosnan is to be awarded the Order Of The British Empire this Saturday (19th June) by British Ambassador in Dublin, Stewart Eldon, CBn can report.

Brosnan has served tirelessly in a number of charitable roles, for instance in December 2001 he was made a Special Patron of UNICEF Ireland, and he also serves as Ambassador for Women’s Health Issues for Permanent Charities of the Entertainment Industry following the tragic death of his first wife, Cassandra, in 1991.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, commenting on the award, said: “From his first steps as an actor at the Drama Centre of London, through numerous starring roles on stage and screen, Pierce Brosnan has captivated audiences at home in Ireland, here in the UK and across the world.

“He has also worked very hard behind the scenes in supporting an array of charitable causes. This award celebrates a truly remarkable achievement.”

Thanks to Marktmurphy for the news.

Eon Deny Bond 21 Rumours

In an e-mail sent to the French James Bond Club earlier today, Eon Productions, the producers of the James Bond series, denied every rumour that filtered out throughout the course of the past week, saying:

“The rumors concerning an eventual return behind the camera for Martin Campbell as well as the shooting locations (South Africa, Liverpool, …) for the next film are false and without foundation.”

In the message received today, Eon Productions specifies equally that no script has been written and casting is not in course.

In the past, Eon are known to deny any rumours that surface until an official press release is issued, even if the rumours are true. Most notably back in 1998, when the fan community reported that the title of Bond 19 was going to be The World Is Not Enough, Eon claimed that it was untrue, however, what was supposedly conjecture turned out to be fact, and the title turned out to be the one previously denied.

As ever, you can discuss this topic in this thread of the CBn Forums, and CBn will keep you updated first regarding new developments in the Bond 21 saga.

Martin Campbell to Return for Bond 21?

Rumours surrounding the forthcoming Bond film continue to swarm across the Internet, and today is no different with directorial rumours coming out of the blue. A respected insider has reported that Martin Campbell, director of GoldenEye (1995) is “close to signing” to the film.

He would join the hallowed ranks of Terence Young, Guy Hamilton, Lewis Gilbert and John Glen to direct more than one Bond film if this rumour turned out to be fact.

The New Zealand born director, since helming Brosnan’s more than successful debut, has taken the director’s chair on The Mask Of Zorro in 1998, icy action movie Vertical Limit in 2000 and most recently Beyond Borders (2003). Vertical Limit featured Bond beauty Isabella Scorupco, Bond’s Russian programmer and lover Natalya Siminova in GoldenEye.

The news, however, comes a few months after Campbell was quoted as saying he’d rather not return to helm a Bond film as he was sick of ‘blowing things up’.

Die Another Day director Lee Tamahori went on record several times during the production of DAD to state that he felt Campbell had set the standard for future Bond films.

CommanderBond.Net must reiterate that this ‘news’ is merely a rumour and, as yet, has no grounding in fact as it has neither been confirmed nor denied by Eon Productions or MGM.

If you would like to discuss this news, then please take advantage of this thread of the CBn forums.

Bond Stuntman Fell To His Death

Safety advisor and stuntman on Die Another Day and former Royal Marine Richard Marsh plunged to his death from Snowdon.
The body of the 33-year-old commercial diver was found by rescuers on February 25, this year on Fantail Gully below Crib y Ddysgl.

Two days earlier during a mobile telephone conversation with a friend he said he was descending a scree slope but had lost the path in poor visibility. He later called the emergency services and a massive rescue operation was launched.

A self-employed diver by trade, Mr Marsh also acted as a safety adviser for the film industry and had worked on the hit movie Saving Private Ryan.

Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team member Charlie Graham told the inquest North Wales Police had contacted them on the Sunday to say Richard Marsh was stuck on an ice ledge.

“He said he was about 500m from the summit but had slipped down some rocks.”

Former National Park head warden John Ellis Roberts, who joined in the search, said there was a possibility inexperienced climber Mr Marsh had got lost.

“There is a strong possibility he did not know where he was at all. It would have been a very confusing place for him unless he had a very detailed knowledge,” he added.

Recording his verdict of accidental death at an inquest in Caernarfon yesterday, the coroner, Dewi Pritchard Jones, said: “This highlights the risk of mountainous places. There is no such thing as a safe mountain – there is always a risk.”

As a member of the Bond community, Richard Marsh will be missed, and our condolences go out to his family and friends at this sad and undoubtedly difficult time.

More Details Of Recent Rumours

Insider "Morton Slumber" has added more to the information he gave us two days ago:

• Finished first draft script
• The art department have been at work since April on concept art and set design
• Location hunting underway
• Construction at Pinewood to take place through the autumn
• Short list of directors exists
• Filming to start in January 2004

Again, CommanderBond.Net must state that at this time this news is only rumour, and must be considered as such. There has been no official comment from either MGM or Eon Productions as to the production status of Bond 21.

Be sure to discuss the news in this thread of CBn’s Bond 21 forums! And a big ‘thank you’ to ‘Morton Slumber’!

Unofficial Confirmation of Location Scouting

Previously CBn reported that South Africa was a rumoured possible location for the next Bond film, well the same has been echoed over at the Absolutely James Bond Forums by Bond insider Pierce-B, who has proved in the past that his information is usually bang-on.

Pierce-B has also made an interesting addition to the rumour; that Liverpool, England, home of the ‘scouser’ is also being scouted as a possible 00-destination. Which will be the third time in a film that Bond has been seen out of his home town in England if this rumour turns out to be fact.

It is possible, however, that the team are merely scouting for areas in Liverpool to double for certain locations, as Holywell Bay in Cornwall and Aldershot in the UK doubled for Korea in Die Another Day.

Morton Slumber has also just reported that filming on the next Bond film will start in January 2004, presumably for a November 2004 release, even though the next film had been projected for a 2005 release, continuing the three-year gap that existed between The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day. This is exciting news!

As usual, Commanderbond.net will keep everyone informed as further details come to light that confirm or deny these rumours. No official announcement has been made about any of this as yet.

Thanks to Pierce-B over at Absolutely James Bond for the information, and also thanks to Morton Slumber. Please feel free to discuss this in this thread of the CBn Forums.

Rumour on Bond 21 location scouting

Just a quickie to say that it is possible that locations in South Africa may currently be scouted for the next Bond movie designated for the time being as just Bond 21.

CBn Forum member, Morton Slumber, has posted a small note to say that “Locations are being scouted there now, apparently.”

Many fans have wished for Bond to travel to the southern part of the “Dark Continent” in one of his next adventures. The last time that Bond visited Africa was in 1987’s The Living Daylights when Bond was in Tangiers, Morocco, and before that, in 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me in which he was chasing after the submarine tracking microfilm in Egypt. However, both were in northern Africa, while the only other movie to be partly set on the continent was Diamonds Are Forever in 1971, which featured a diamond smuggling operation in South Africa, but Bond was never in that part of the world.

Commanderbond.net will keep everyone informed as further details come to hand that may confirm or deny this “rumour,” which unfortunately, is all it can be called at this stage as no official anouncement has been made about this yet.

Thanks to Morton for bringing us this tidbit of information, and please feel free to discuss this in this thread of the Bond 21 (2005) Forum in the CBn Forums.

Rentals Hit $29.8 million In US

Figures for Die Another Day‘s second week on the rental market have been released.

Yesterday CommanerBond.Net revealed that rental figures had reached US$16.5 million in the United States. The second week saw earnings drop to US$13 million, meaning the latest Bond film has reached rental figures of US$29.8 million in the United States alone.

In the consumer market, Die Another Day has dropped to the third most bought DVD for the week. Old School and Tears Of The Sun have taken first and second places respectively.

To discuss the figures visit this thread of the Die Another Day Forums. Thanks to Rich for the tip-off.

DVD Rental Hits $16m In First Week

Rental and sales figures for Die Another Day, the latest James Bond film on DVD and VHS, have exceeded US$16 million in the United States alone.

The film too approximately US$16.5 million dollars in the rental market in its first week, making it top rental film of the week. Figures for the second week of the films release to the rental market are yet to be released.

Over 8 million copies of Die Another Day on DVD were shipped to stores to supply the home consumer market in the United States. Of those, it is estimated that over 5 million copies were sold in the first week.

To discuss the figures visit this thread of the Die Another Day Forums. Thanks to Rich for the tip-off

Die Another Day, An Introduction