More Details On Emilio Echevarría's Character

'Diario de Cadiz' have published details on Emilio Echevarría's character in Die Another Day.

Emilio Echevarría will play a Cuban Detective in Die Another Day whose name is Raul. It seems that Raul will play a pivotal role in the film as he’s a contact for Bond in Cuba. To aid Bond’s mission Raul gives him some vital information.

Though earlier suggested, it seems that Echevarría’s role in Die Another Day won’t be a small one. The actor has reportedly spent the past month at Pinewood Studio’s in Britain filming scenes.

Thanks to Tim and 'Jaime Bond' for that information, if you'd like to discuss it please visit this thread of the Die Another Day Forums.

Pierce And Halle Fly To Iceland

Movie news site Dark Horizons has reported that Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry have flown out to Iceland to film a scene from Die Another Day at a place known as the Blue Lagoon. The area will reportedly feature in a Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read) love scene between Jinx and Bond.

However, the news comes at a strange time as Pierce and Halle are both required in Cadiz for filming and a press conference.

"That's My Little Octopussy."

“James Bond Will Return in Octopussy” read the tag at the end of For Your Eyes Only. Not knowing my Fleming at the time, I remember saying, "Is that a joke?" But by the time Octopussy was released in the summer of 1983, I was a big Bond fan with high expectations for the 13th James Bond film. I'll never forget that, after the movie on the way out of the theater, a young girl spontaneously shouted to anyone within earshot, "Great flick!" Had I been as inebriated as she was, I might have yelled the same thing because I just love Octopussy. In fact, I think it’s one of the most underrated Bond films. Maybe it was the threat of Sean Connery's return in Never Say Never Again that made EON rise to the occasion? Or maybe it was that fact that novelist George MacDonald Fraser had a hand in crafting the story? Whatever it is, Octopussy rates as my second favorite Moore/Bond film (the first being The Spy Who Loved Me) and consistently places somewhere in my top ten favorite James Bond films.

James Bond Goes to India. And why shouldn't he? It's not often pointed out that Octopussy was as much a reaction to the success of Raiders of the Lost Ark as Moonraker was to Star Wars. For me, genre mixing in the James Bond films is not a sin. Okay, I too cringe at the Tarzan yell and the "Sit-taaa!," but how about that killer pre-titles sequence? It's certainly one of the best of the series. And what about the action on the circus train? the Sotheby's auction? the helicopter gliding past the Taj Mahal to a very evocative John Barry score? Bond's backgammon game with Kamal Kahn is definitely one of the better casino face-offs. Magda spiraling off Bond's balcony by her slowly unraveling silk dress is, to quote a recently deceased news baron, "Delicious." And how about that no-nonsense, no-quip, high-speed, balls-to-the walls car chase on the autobahn? Great flick!

Then there are the moments of wonderful detail. The hitchhiking Bond getting snubbed by a carload of obnoxious teenagers, Kamal's car not turning over on the first try as he and Globina try to escape their own ticking nuke, Magda's hairdryer interfering with Bond's earpiece gadget, and the woman beating Bond to the pay phone as he rushes to prevent Armageddon. Yes, Connery's Bond would just yank that chatty woman from the phone booth and call in the marines. But Moore's Bond is not powered by his masculinity. He's powered by his Englishness. He could never do something so rude! So instead, he steals her car. I remember people clapping in the theater at that one. I don't think they were clapping at grand theft. I think they were clapping at clever storytelling.

And that's the real strength of Octopussy — VERY solid storytelling. Octopussy has one of the best crafted plots of all the Bond films. It's complex with many characters and conflicting agendas; yet it's never confusing. (The Living Daylights, anyone?) And like the best Bonds, Octopussy has at its core a terrific mystery. For me, a Bond film should always open with a provocative mystery. A girl is killed by gold paint? Two nuclear submarines vanish without a trace? In Octopussy, a priceless Faberge Egg rolls from the hands of a dead 009, who, for some yet unknown reason, is dressed as a clown. That's an opening worthy of Sherlock Holmes — or Ian Fleming. Then by the end of the film, we have 007 dressed as a clown, hurtling toward what could be his own death, along with the destruction of most of West Germany. Maybe that's why the rather risky move of putting 007 into floppy shoes and clown makeup works. By its finale, Octopussy has achieved a level of genuine suspense which, let's face it, only a handful of Bond films ever achieve. Was anyone biting their nails at the end of Tomorrow Never Dies?

As for Roger Moore? Hey, I don't dismiss Roger Moore the way some old thinkers do. I even like Moonraker — a lot! For me, Octopussy is one of Moore's best performances as Bond. He has that old pro's grace about him that Connery had in Diamonds Are Forever and NSNA. (It's interesting that Moore didn't have this quality in his next film, A View to a Kill. Maybe it's hard to relax around Grace Jones?)

So there you go. It was true in the summer of 1983, and it's still true today: Octopussy is a great flick!

Details Of Spanish Press Conference

'Jaime Bond' has just sent us in these details of the press conference scheduled for this Wednesday in Cádiz, Spain.

The press conference will be held at 'Baluarte de los Martires', which is an old scenic fortress located near where scenes of Die Another Day will be filmed. The conference will start at 18:00 and Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry and Lee Tamahori will be in attendance.

The Spanish wing of Fox 2000, who are distributing the film internationally, have estimated that around 150 media organisations will be represented at the event, which will see about 200 journalists in attendance.

It seems that we'll be able to get plenty of information on the event. When we do, you can be sure you'll read it here first!

Title Song May Not Have Films Title

Liz Rosenberg, who is Madonna's spokeswoman, has told Jaffa that Madonna's title song for Die Another Day may not be titled Die Another Day, indicating that the title of the track may be up in the air. A different title for the song wouldn't be a complete break from tradition, 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me had a title track called "Nobody Does It Better".

You can discuss this news in this thread of the Die Another Day Forums. Thanks to Tim for the alert!

'DAD' Footage Airs On UK TV

Footage from Die Another Day has aired on television in the United Kingdom. The ten minute segment aired “SM:TV Live” at 1100 GMT, SM:TV is a childrens Saturday morning television program that airs between 0925 and 1130.

The footage kicked off with a montage of footage from previous films and then headed onto Die Another Day, with a reporter on one of the stages at Pinewood Studio's where an interior set of The Eden Project is being constructed. This set will reportedly feature over the Diamond Mine belonging to Gustav Graves according to SM:TV. Other details were revealed about Gustav Graves' lair. For one, the inside of the 'Hot House' was shown, CommanderBond.Net exclusively revealed the purpose of the Hot House recently. Also it was revealed that part of the construction of the interior of a bio-dome includes a pit where a waterfall will feature.

The footage continued showing Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, gun in hand, in his office, this footage recently made its way to the Internet.

Interviews with Lee Tamahori and Michael G Wilson were then shown, and I'm told the footage was absolutely fascinating as it included details on how stunts in Die Another Day were coreographed.

This was followed by a feature on the surfing sequence shot in Hawaii, this included details on the storyboards as well as interviews with the three surfers Laird Hamilton, Darrick Doerner and Dave Kalama. While footage form the surfing sequence has already made its way online, this footage was longer.

SM:TV have promised more footage in the coming weeks, apparently this footage was the first in a ten part look into Die Another Day. It's not clear as to exactly when the next lot of footage will air, some people have interpreted it as weekly while others have told me "sometime between now and November". Either way, you can be sure that you'll read about it on CommanderBond.Net!

Finally, a big big thank you to everyone who sent in the news to me; Tim G, Tony P, Mark W and Stuart!

Equipment Arrives Back From Iceland

'This Is Grimsby' have reported that the equipment used to film scenes on Die Another Day in Iceland have made their way back to the United Kingdom.

The equipment, including the Aston Martin Vanquish, the Jaguar XKR, 'the Dragster' and all technical equipment such as lights and cameras, came on board the vessel Selfoss and docked at the Immingham Docks in the United Kingdom after a four and a half day journey. From there, they shall be taken back to Pinewood Studio's.

The transport company Eimskip was responsible for shipping the equipment from Iceland to North East Lincolnshire, which comprised of 23 containers and 13 trucks. The manager of Eimskip Mike McDonald said, "We've transported an Aston Martin, Jaguar, film props and lighting and electrical equipment which will now be going back to Pinewood Studios."

To the best of my knowledge, all of the second unit have now returned from Iceland.

Thanks to Tim007 for the news alert!

Another Press Conference Planned For April 3

The third press conference for Die Another Day will reportedly be held in Cádiz, Spain. This news has come from news source 'Diario de Cadiz'. While details are this stage unclear it seems that both Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry will be in attendance at the press conference as both are in Cádiz to film scenes for Die Another Day. Cádiz will feature as Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read) Cuba in Die Another Day.

The conference will reportedly be large scale with many Spanish and International media outlets in attendance. You can be sure that whatever is reported you'll read it on CommanderBond.Net.

This press conference will be the third in relation to Die Another Day. The first was held in January at Pinewood Studio's in Britain and the second was held at The Eden Project in Britain (this was however, organised by The Eden Project and not the producers).

Thanks to Jamie Bond and Draco for letting us know about the conference, which you can discuss in this thread of the Die Another Day Forums.

More Die Another Day Footage Online

German TV station RTL has published footage from Die Another Day on the Internet. To view it visit this link and click on 'EXKLUSIV: ERSTE FILMAUSSCHNITTE'.

The footage shows scenes from the pre-title surfing sequence and the scene we've all heard of by now with James Bond in his office.

Other features of the article video includes interviews with Halle Berry and Lee Tamahori, both sadly dubbed in German. However, there is also some footage of the storyboards being used to film Die Another Day.

You can discuss the footage in this thread of the Die Another Day Forums. Thanks to Christoph for letting us know about the footage!

New Pictures From 60 Minutes Footage

The Dame Judi Website has updated with a picture of the clapper board from the recent Die Another Day footage that was shown on 60 Minutes in the United States.

While giving us no true information on Die Another Day, we can work out roughly where the footage will be shown in Die Another Day. It's shot F of scene 154. And according to the slate David Tattersall was behind the camera.

Thanks to 'Mourning Becomes Electra' for the alert!