Bond Changes His Vodka Tastes

James Bond and the phrase “shaken, not stirred” have always gone hand in hand, and while Bond will be shaking those Vodka Martini’s for years to come it seems that’s Bond’s Vodka brand of choice are about to change with the release of Die Another Day.

The Wall Street Journal have reported that Finlandia will replace Smirnoff as Bond’s choice of Vodka brand. The change came about after Smirnoff decided not to use product placement in Die Another Day as they believed the Bond films no longer reach the target audience they were seeking to promote their products too.

Details about Finlandia’s contract for product placement have not been released. but Finlandia will tout its role with print ads, posters, magazines and contests, according to the Wall Street Journal.

If you’d like to discuss this news please visit this thread of the Die Another Day Forums. Thanks to ‘Jeff007’ for alerting us to the news.

Source: MKKBB: http://www.ianfleming.org

Die Another Day Title Song Release Dates

Over on Madonnarama, they have published the release dates for the DAD Title Song.

7th October – Radio stations.
10 October – Worldwide simultaneous video debut.
28 October – Commercial single release.

The making of video is being created by MTV for all the MTV channels internationally.

Ford Release James Bond Edition Thunderbird

To celebrate the collaboration of the Ford Motor Company and James Bond – Ford plan to release 700 special limited editions of their Thunderbird model due for release in spring, 2003.

The car will be built to the same specification’s as the one driven by Halle Berry in Die Another Day. It will also feature the specially produced “coral” paint colour as well as the 007 logo to feature prominently on its bodywork. Jan Valentic, vice president of Ford’s global marketing described product placement in the James Bond series by saying:

There’s no single product placement in the industry more iconic than James Bond’s car.”

And Ford make full use of this quote in the latest James Bond movie by also equipping producers with a 460-horsepower Aston Martin V12 Vanquish, and a 400-horsepower Jaguar XKR Roadster.

The news of the new car was announced this Thursday by Valentic, and follows on from previous James Bond car manufacturer BMW, who produced a limited edition – 007 edition Z3 model, which was built to the same specifications as the one driven by Pierce Brosnan in 1995’s GoldenEye. This move by BMW made them the talk of the marketing world and the car sold out within a matter of hours. Valentic also said;

No other films better capture the aggressive performance of the chase scene and sex appeal of the spy game better than the James Bond films.

Although the series is a marketers dream come true, to advertise in a James Bond film does not come cheap. It was rumoured that Ford is spending $70 million on its James Bond promotional deal. However, Valentic told reporters that this number was incorrect and has refused to reveal the correct amount.

The coral coloured Thunderbird will be produced beginning Spring 2003, however with such a small number being built, and the added appeal of James Bond, they are expected to sell very quickly. A final price has not yet been revealed, however pre-orders are thought to be taking place.

Official Site Updates With Trailer No. 2

The Official Site has just updated with a new Teaser Trailer! The much anticipated trailer arrived on the site today, and just after having a look at it, I must say it is excellent.

The trailer starts with [spoiler]The MGM Lion drowned out by the fanfare of the opening bars of the Bond theme, then we see a "telescope effect" around Jinx as she emerges from the water. The camera then cuts to Bond dressed in the blue summer shirt, binoculars in hand, quipping "Magnificent view…"
We then see Bond and Jinx meeting each other on the beach in Cuba, "My friends call me Jinx", Brosnan, cigar in hand replies "My friends call me James Bond," Jinx notes "That's a bit of a mouthful."

I won't synopsise the entire trailer, I'll merely note that possibly the most interesting aspect of the trailer is at the end, when Bond is seen pointing his P99 at someone off-screen, saying "So, you live to die another day…" (an obvious quote from Housman), I can only assume he is talking to Graves.[/spoiler]

The confidence in MGMs marketing grows marginally stronger with this trailer, but, much to my chagrin, there seems to be no reference to the[spoiler]three years in which bond is kept captive[/spoiler], and no dramatic American voice over, as seen in the last teaser, perhaps these issues will be dwelled on in the final release trailer?

All this aside, if you want to download the excellent trailer, it is found at the Official site in both streaming Quicktime and Windows Media Formats.

The trailer is also open for discussion in this thread of the Die Another Day forums. Enjoy!

Kenneth Tsang Kong To Portray General Moon

Bound to cause some confusion, actor Kenneth Tsang will be seen as General Moon in Die Another Day. The news was confirmed by the BKD, German JB Fan Club.

General Moon is the father of Colonel Moon. While his son has territorial ambitions it is believed that General Moon is a peace loving member of the North Korean Army. Will Yun Lee plays Colonel Moon in the film.

While appearing in monstly non-English language films Tsang has also appeared recently in Rush Hour 2 and Anna and the King.

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

'Trailer B' To Premiere On ET tomorrow!

'john007' has written in to let us know that the second teaser trailer for Die Another Day, Trailer B, will premiere on Entertainment Tonight tomorrow.

As usual ET have showed a slight preview which included at least three small clips;

1. Halle Berry emerging from the water in slow motion. She was almost jumping up out of the water. It looked like she was being watched through binoculars.

2. Halle Berry and Pierce Brosnan (Jinx and Bond) introducing themselves to each other in Cube. "My friends call me Jinx, my friends call me James Bond…"

3. A night-time scene outside the Ice Palace where Bond comes around a car (i think) and Miranda Frost pulls hium close to him and kisses him.

If you'd like to discuss the new trailers preview please visit this thread of the Die Another Day Forums.

Rough Version of DAD Theme Now Online

It's been promised for sometime, but MadonnaPower.com have put a rough version of the Die Another Day theme song online.

The 'rough' aspects of this version is due to the recording message, the song was is a recorded version of the theme song playing through speakers. Sadly, not dialogue in the song can be understood, however, this version does provide the general 'gist' of how the final version will sound.

Visit MadonnaPower.com's Media Section to download the rough version.

If you'd like to discuss it, please do so in this thread of the Die Another Day Forums.

Full Trailer To Hit Cinemas On September 5

It has recently been confirmed that a full Die Another Day trailer will hit cinemas in the United States on September 5. There is currently no word as to whether or not this is the final trailer that will hit cinemas, or when the trailer will premier online.

Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox Germany have confirmed that a new trailer will premier in Germany with some sessions of the Fox movie "Road to Perdition" next Thursday, September 5. Fox have revealed the trailer will be at least 1:50 minutes and will contain some dialouge.

Character Posters Hit Cinema Lobbies

Rich has written in to let us know that he's seen the Die Another Day 'character posters' in a local theatre. Rich saw 'Simone' at his local AMC Theatre and tells us hanging above the exit doors were oversized character posters.

Rich tells us that From left to right, there was Gustav Graves, Jinx (pointing a silencer to the sky), James Bond (aiming his Walther at the bottom corner of the poster), Miranda Frost, and Zao (with a pale, scarred face).

Great to hear that the publicity machine has already moved in to production!

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

Clip of Bond Song Unofficially Confirmed!…

Forum user Robster006 has tired his best to research the origins of the 35 second clip we've been hearing a lot about, and come up with this….Robster006 writes:

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A fellow Madonna-mad forum member MadGuy has been in touch with Hamad over at the madonna Queendom forum to see if he could confirm if the song was really the real thing. Hamad has a few friends in the business. He has been saying that he knows a few people that have the song. Apparantly he knows the person who actually ripped the song and leaked it on Kazaa in the first place! They told him that the song is real! The bad news is that that person doesn't have any intention of leaking the entire song anytime soon! But he did mention the following piece of information:

she talks a bit in the song [Erotica/Paradise-ish] and vocoders are used…

So, we have officialy been listening to the first 35 seconds of Die Another Day. MadGuy has also been in contact with Michel Colombier to see if the song is real, so we could have another confirmation, but we haven't heard from him yet!

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Interesting stuff, and a fairly solid confirmation on the song….Feel free to discuss this amazing development in this thread.