Official: 2005 Release Date

In an article about the boxoffice success of Die Another Day, Yahoo reports also about the further development of the franchise:

In recent years, MGM has tried to release a Bond movie about once every two years. But Yemenidjian said that was too fast in this case due to the strong success of “Die Another Day.”

“We are going to take three years to do the next one, because if this one does $500 million in worldwide box office, the next one should do more,” he told the investors at a UBS Warburg investors’ conference.

“I think there is a very big risk in rushing these things and screwing up the value of your franchise,” he added.

In interviews to promote the film last month, producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson said they would not even begin working on a new Bond script until early next year.

The news from the producers of the Bond series and MGM executives confirms previous speculation that another 3 year gap would be sought after the success of Die Another Day.

Be sure to discuss the news in this thread in CBn’s Bond 21 Forums! And thanks to ‘Alex Zamudio’ for the alert!

Bond Sees Fencing Surge

A surge in the interest in the sport of fencing has proved that the character James Bond has some very real world influences.

Bond’s latest cinematic adventure, Die Another Day, sees the British agent fight millionaire Gustav Graves in what promises to become a battle to the death. The scene, which featured in the media heavily since being filmed, is responsible for a surge in the public interest in fencing according to Barry Paul, owner and managing director of Leon Paul, the UK’s only fencing equipment manufacturer.

“Certainly for us there’s a sense that the Bond film has resulted in more people being interested in fencing, ringing up and looking at our website,” Paul commented, also revealing that a lot of e-mails and visitors to his store have mentioned their interest in the sport is thanks to its appearance in Die Another Day.

Leon Paul have reported a 25% increase in turnover over the past three months, and Paul admits that the figure is increasing as Die Another Day plays to more audiences.

Leon Paul supplied various weapons for the Blades sequence in Die Another Day.

If you’d like to discuss this news, please visit this thread of the Die Another Day Forums. Thanks to Luke for the tip-off.

Source: BBC

Israeli Promotional Tour Cancelled

It has been revealed that two Die Another Day promotional tours of Israel have been cancelled in light of security risks.

The first promotional tour was scheculed for November 27, and was cancelled at the last minute due to “security concerns”. Actor Pierce Brosnan would have attended the event as he would have attended the second.

While no direct reason has been given for the second cancellation, it is again believed to be because of security risks. Hebrew-daily Yediot Aharonot reported that the “original intention was to combine Brosnan’s visit with the opening of a new Cinema complex, located in central Israel.” Brosnan would also have travelled through Jerusalem’s Old City after requesting a tour of the location.

Die Another Day was released on November 22 in Israel.

Thanks to ‘SeanVale00V’ for the news alert.

Source: Alabawaba Middle East News.

Brosnan Wants Bond In Australia

He’s an International jet-setter, but the cinematic James Bond has never ventured to Australia and only author Raymond Benson sent him on a mission there. Pierce Brosnan has, however, professed a desire to see a future James Bond film set in Australia.

Melbourne based newspaper The Age reports:

Brosnan to Bond in Australia
Tuesday 10 December 2002, 08:30AM

The latest Bond flick, to the admission of the screenwriter and director, is more of the same – a sexy man who saves the world, gets the girl and drives the hot cars.

But the next one, the 21st in the series and Pierce Brosnan’s fifth as the irresistible British spy, could be set against a backdrop of two Australian icons, the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

Brosnan is keen, as is screenwriter Robert Wade’s wife.

But Wade was not so sure. “I mean it’s wonderful, full of Australians though,” he stumbled.

“No I mean it’s something about Australians … you’re too nice to have explosions going off around you,” he said as he tried to recover from the gaffe.

Bond was a little more endearing: “I’m up for it, I’d love it, sure, great town, great place.”

Despite Brosnan’s and Wade’s comments on Australia, the ‘desire’ is similair to Brosnan’s desire to film Die Another Day in Ireland.

Pierce Brosnan, Rosamund Pike and Robert Wade have all spent the past few days touring Australia to promote the impending release of Die Another Day to the Australian market. News.com.au  have published a similair article, here, which includes a picture of Brosnan and Pike.

Be sure to discuss the news in this thread of CBn’s Bond 21 Forums!

MGM Clarify DVD News

MGM have commented on details of the Die Another Day DVD to The R2 Project.

Despite an earlier list of extras, MGM have revealed that features on the DVD are still being created and as a result cannot be confirmed at this stage. Sources have told CommanderBond.Net that some features are ‘definites’ on the DVD, so parts of the previously released list may still be found on the final product.

MGM have revealed that the Region 2 DVD is expected to have a retail price of £24.99 and that it will be released in May 2003, though no date has been confirmed yet.

If you’d like to discuss the DVD please visit this thread of the Die Another Day Forums. Thanks to SeanValen00V for the news alert.

International Take Nears $100m

Die Another Day is continuing to perform strongly outside the US market, despite the fact that the film is yet to open to 70% of the International market.

Fox International, who are distributing the film to foreign markets, have reported that Die Another Day earned an estimated US$32 million internationally this past weekend, playing on 3,115 screens in 19 markets.

In individual markets Die Another Day has earned $37 million in the United Kingdom, $16.9 million in Germany and $7 million in Spain. The film gave both Fox International and a Bond film its biggest debut in South Africa, earning US$449,000 in its opening weekend.

If you’d like to discuss the current performance of Die Another Day, please visit this thread of the Die Another Day Forums.

Source: Box Office Mojo and Yahoo News.

Brosnan Hates Product Placement

Pierce Brosnan has admitted that he hates product placement.

Brosnan is currently in Australia promoting Die Another Day, which opens in the region on December 12, and revealed his dislike for product placement during a press conference. The actor did admit there was little he could do about product placement in the film and that the level of placement came as a complete shock to him when he first saw GoldenEye, his first outing as James Bond in 1995.

Die Another Day is reported as having the most product placement and tie-ins, with over 100 companies using the film, and the James Bond brand, for product promotion.

If you’d like to discuss this news, please visit this thread of the Die Another Day Forums. Thanks to Jamie007 for the news alert.

Return To #1 In Third Week

Die Another Day is moving from strength to strength at the United States Boxoffice, returning to the number one spot in its third week of release.

Die Another Day made an additional $13.3 million at the US Box Office last weekend, driving its total US intake to $120.36 million.

Analyze That, starring Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal, failed to knock Bond from it’s top spot, earning $11.3 million in its opening weekend. Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets dropped to third place, after winning the Thanksgiving Weekend, with an intake of $10 million.

Die Another Day faces more competition next week with the release of Star Trek: Nemesis, the tenth movie in the Star Trek series. Pierce Brosnan’s ‘Evelyn’, which United Artists is promoting as an Oscar contendor, will also open.

If you’d like to discuss this news, please visit this thread of the Die Another Day Forums.

Bond 21: Who Will Be The Director?

While Die Another Day is running the 3rd week in the United States and isn’t out in many countries in the world, the first rumours about Bond 21 surface.

Dark Horizons report that Hong Kong filmmaker Tsui Hark (“Black Mask”, “Zu Warriors”) is in talks to direct the 21st Bond movie.

The 51 year old Hark is the 2nd director mentioned in connection with Bond 21, which is due to be out in either 2004 or 2005. Pierce Brosnan himself wants Die Another Day director Lee Tamahori back.

Be sure to discuss the topic in this thread in CBn’s Bond 21 Forums! And thanks to ‘[dark]’ for the alert!

Korean Audiences Not Fond Of Bond

Die Another Day, which doesn’t open in South Korea for another few weeks, has generated strong criticism from some Koreans for its depiction of the peninsula and its residents, the Zap2it Website reported. The Korea Federation of University Student Councils (Hanchongnyon) is crusading against the 20th James Bond movie.

The controversy led one of the country’s leading actors, Cha In-pyo, to turn down a role in the movie.

Of concern are three scenes in which North Korea is perceived as being part of “an axis of evil” and South Korean-set scenes showing outdated images of the country, such as a local farmer walking a cow in the countryside and a scene in which Bond (Pierce Brosnan) makes love to a woman in a Buddhist Temple, a serious taboo in their culture, the Web site reported.

Please discuss this news in this thread of CBn’s Die Another Day Forums!