CommanderBond.net
  1. James Bond rocket belt on display at New York's Aerospace Museum

    By Devin Zydel on 2009-08-03
    'Thunderball'

    Thunderball

    007 fans in western New York will want to make a stop at the Ira G. Ross Aerospace Museum sometime this summer to check out the James Bond rocket belt.

    The Bell rocket belt, made famous when it was introduced in the precredits sequence of Sean Connery’s Thunderball four decades ago, is currently on display as one of the main exhibits.

    The Ira G. Ross Aerospace Museum is located in Buffalo, New York near the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park.

    The museum is open from 11am to 4pm on Wednesday through Sunday and closed on Monday and Tuesday. For further information on attending, phone 716-858-4340 or visit the official website.

    Keep watching the CommanderBond.net main page—and our brand new Twitter feed—for all the latest news on James Bond-related events happening around the world.

  2. Interview with Quantum of Solace main title designers MK12

    By Devin Zydel on 2009-08-02

    Design company MK12 recently sat down with Creativity Online for a brief interview regarding their work in the motion graphics industry.

    'Quantum of Solace'

    Quantum of Solace

    The group, based out of Kansas City, Missouri, is best known by James Bond fans for creating the main title sequence for last year’s Quantum of Solace. They were also responsible for the title sequences for two of director Marc Forster’s previous films, The Kite Runner and Stranger than Fiction.

    In describing their directorial approach, MK12 stated: ‘To state the obvious first, most of our shoots are fairly technical in nature, so we’re always keeping one eye on that. But we do try to iron out the logistics as best we can before a shoot so that they don’t become issues on set.’

    ‘Once that’s taken care of, we focus our attention on getting the best shots and performances. There is no tried-and-true method for doing this—at least, not that we’ve found. Every shoot is a unique animal, and we adjust accordingly. We’ve been working together for a while now, and we have good professional chemistry, so we’ll often work together on set, divvying up performance, compositional & technical concerns to be sure we get what we want.’

    When asked specifically about what it was like to enter the world of 007, they quipped: ‘Aside from the ride in the Bond Aston Martin, the bikini-clad women, the sets at Pinewood, trips to Panama, Austria and the premiere in London, it’s a pretty dull job.’

    They continued: ‘We’re pretty good at identifying the subtext of a film and finding the right tone and visual aesthetic to best communicate it’s message, and we’ve been very lucky to have worked with directors who have tapped us for that resource.’

    To check out the entire interview with MK12, visit Creativity Online. You can also visit their official website at www.mk12.com.

    Keep turning to the CommanderBond.net main page—and our brand new Twitter feed—for continued Quantum of Solace coverage.

  3. Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman go incognito for A Steady Rain research trip

    By Devin Zydel on 2009-07-30

    As regular CommanderBond.net readers are well aware, James Bond star Daniel Craig will be making his Broadway debut this upcoming September alongside Hugh Jackman in the Keith Huff drama A Steady Rain.

    Daniel Craig

    Daniel Craig

    A Steady Rain tells of two seasoned cops whose lifelong friendship is severely tested when a seemingly routine domestic disturbance call results in the death of a young boy. When the horrific truth of the situation is revealed, one of the two must take the blame for the fatal mistake.

    According to the Chicago Tribune, Craig and Jackman decided to give the officials at the Cook County Criminal Courts at 2600 S. California Avenue a surprise visit earlier today when they showed up unannounced.

    ‘They came in, best we can tell, with everyone else and walked around pretty nondescript,’ said Cook County Sherriff’s spokesman Steve Patterson, adding that the court was not told of their arrival in advance. The actors confirmed their identities when asked.

    Both Craig and Jackman were traveling incognito on a Chicago research trip to prepare for their roles as police officers in the upcoming play. According to a New York spokesman for the play, the visit to Chicago had been kept a closely guarded secret to allow the actors time and space to do the requisite research for their roles.

    Patterson further added that there were several female courthouse deputies ‘who gladly would have provided a personal tour’ for the two film stars.

    Keep turning to the CommanderBond.net main page–as well as our brand new Twitter feed–for all the latest James Bond news and coverage.

  4. Key West tour recognizes 20th anniversary of James Bond's Licence to Kill

    By Devin Zydel on 2009-07-29

    KEY WEST TOUR RECOGNIZES 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF JAMES BOND FILM,
    LICENCE TO KILL

    Film location tour and event planning team, Richard and Leslie Skillman of Themepartypeople (www.themepartypeople.com), led 50 James Bond fans, writers and photographers on a Licence to Kill 20th Anniversary tour, to recognize the release of the 1989 film.

    Click Here For A Slideshow Of Photographs From The Event

    “We created a series of film tours and events on a week-long cruise to great ports of call which included James Bond film sites; James Bond related discussion and trivia sessions, celebrations of the film characters and the new direction for the franchise, including a deck side large screen viewing of Quantum of Solace, remarked Richard Skillman. “Our guests joined us on the cruise in Fort Lauderdale and from there, we headed to Key West, Florida where we toured the major locations of the film, Licence to Kill and were treated to a behind the scenes insights with Captain Bill Grosscup, who doubled as ‘Q’ in the film.”

    “We also visited Ocho Rios, Jamaica for a bus tour to several of the sites from Dr. No and Live and Let Die, including access to the Reynolds Pier , the Ruins Restaurant and James Bond Beach. The tour included a lively climb up Dunn’s River Falls, where much of Dr. No was filmed. This was a wonderful opportunity for fans from all around the world to gather and enjoy their shared interests”.

    The tour included several sea days of Texas Hold’em, Martini tasting and culminated in a difficult James Bond Trivia Contest, in the style of the television show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, with questions submitted by the top editors of James Bond magazines. Themepartypeople included a post-tour James Bond scavenger hunt at Walt Disney World’s EPCOT Park, challenging teams to solve location based riddles throughout their day at the theme park.

    “There is an uncompromising passion and loyalty among fans of the James Bond novels and films. Leslie and I enjoy organizing these tours, as we both are avid Bond followers, and this gives us an opportunity to bring us all together in exotic locations where the films were created.”

    The Skillman’s had previously organized the 070707 Tour of Nassau , that successfully visited film sites and events for the 2006 James Bond film, Casino Royale and previous Bond films lensed in Nassau such as Thunderball and Never Say Never Again.

    Themepartypeople can be contacted at [email protected].


    Keep turning to the CommanderBond.net main page–as well as our brand new Twitter feed–for all the latest James Bond news and coverage.

  5. Sir Sean Connery backs nuclear test veterans film

    By Devin Zydel on 2009-07-27

    It’s been several years since Sir Sean Connery declared his retirement from acting, but the original James Bond could possibly return in the role of a narrator for a film centering on a Scottish war veteran.

    The Scotsman describes the true story as a David and Goliath-type battle between military bosses and veteran campaigner Ken McGinley, 71, who made history when he was granted the right to sue the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on behalf of thousands of former servicemen who were involved in nuclear testing on Christmas Island.

    Sir Sean Connery

    Sir Sean Connery

    More than 1,000 British soldiers claim they—and their children—were left with cancer and deformities after being exposed to severe radiation on the Indian Ocean-based island more than 50 years ago.

    Sir Sean is backing the campaign and also added that he would be willing to lend his voice for a film about the soldiers’ ordeal.

    After speaking with Mr. McGinley, Sir Sean further wrote a letter to his friend, journalist Alan Rimmer, to reveal his interest in the case. Discussing Mr. McGinley’s book, No Risk Involved, Sir Sean wrote: ‘It is a shocking history of events. I have already made my opinion regarding the possibility of filming the book to Mr McGinley … I am more than interested to see the end result and … I would be prepared to do narration.’

    Mr McGinley said: ‘Sir Sean was very interested in what we are fighting for. Having Sir Sean’s backing really gave me a boost. He is an icon in the film industry and I can’t think of anyone better to help raise our profile. If a film was ever to be made then it would be a great compliment to the veterans if Sir Sean was involved.’

    Sir Sean’s backing comes after a recent London High Court win by Mr. McGinley against the government for compensation. The MoD have until September to appeal the ruling.

    Keep turning to the CommanderBond.net main page—as well as our brand new Twitter feed—for all the latest James Bond news and coverage.

  6. Quentin Tarantino: I would have done Casino Royale with Pierce Brosnan

    By Devin Zydel on 2009-07-27

    Quentin Tarantino has once again chimed in with a woulda-coulda-shoulda statement regarding the James Bond series reports Showbiz Spy.

    He makes a special point regarding Daniel Craig’s 2006 debut in Casino Royale, which was a breath of fresh air for many fans of the 007 series.

    ‘The reason they did Casino Royale all comes down to me,’ he states.

    ‘I made it a point, I said I wanted to do Casino Royale. They were already on record as saying the movie was unfilmable but then after I said it and talked about it for a little bit—then the big thing on all the internets was that that was what all the fans wanted to see and so that’s when they said, “Oh, maybe it’s not so un-filmable.”‘

    He goes on to state that Craig also would not have been his Bond of choice for the film had he been sitting in the director’s chair: ‘Actually if I had done the film, I wouldn’t have done it with Daniel Craig, I would have done it with Pierce Brosnan.’

    What do you think of a Tarantino-directed Bond film starring Brosnan? Sound off here on the CommanderBond.net Forums.

    Stay tuned to the CBn main page for all the latest 007-related news.

  7. Tickets on sale for Daniel Craig's A Steady Rain

    By Devin Zydel on 2009-07-25

    Tickets are now on sale to the general public for the upcoming Broadway play A Steady Rain, starring Hugh Jackman and James Bond himself—Daniel Craig.

    The Keith Huff play, which will be produced by Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson (among others), is set to make its debut on Tuesday, 29 September at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, located in midtown-Manhattan, New York. Previews will take place earlier in the month.

    To purchase tickets and for further information, click here.

    Full details follow below in this release:

    Daniel Craig

    Daniel Craig

    Tickets are now on sale to the general public for the Broadway production of Keith Huff’s critically acclaimed two-character play A Steady Rain, starring Daniel Craig (Broadway debut) and Hugh Jackman.

    Directed by Tony Award nominee John Crowley, A Steady Rain opens at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on 29 Sep 2009, following previews from 10 Sep, for a strictly limited 12 week engagement through to 6 Dec 2009.

    A Steady Rain is a new American play that tells the story of two Chicago cops (Denny & Joey), who are lifelong friends and their differing accounts of a few harrowing days that changed their lives forever.

    The drama was first produced in 2006 at New York Stage and Film’s Powerhouse Theater. It had its professional world premiere in 2007 at Chicago Dramatists and was remounted in Feb 2008 at Chicago’s Royal George Theatre winning Jefferson Awards for Best New Work and Best Production. That production starred Randy Steinmeyer (Denny) and Peter DeFaria (Joey), and was directed by Russ Tutterow.

    It opened in Chicago to critical acclaim “riveting show is an exceptionally rich, gritty and emotional drama.” (Chicago Tribune); “Huff provides fiery, superbly rendered, often deeply poetic speeches, enough mood shifts, enough emotional cataclysms and action-packed storytelling to keep this hallucinatory roller-coaster ride in motion.” (Chicago Sun-Times); “crackerjack two-hander is like a snowball that builds to an avalanche with genuine dramatic power and a sense of true tragedy.” (Variety).

    Huff’s recent productions include Pursued by Happiness at Steppenwolf Theater, Gray City at American Repertory Theater, and The Bird and Mr. Banks, which just finished an acclaimed 4-month run at The Road Theater in Los Angeles featuring Sam Anderson (LOST). Huff’s recently completed works include The Detective’s Wife and Tell Us of the Night, which round out a trilogy of Chicago cop plays that began with A Steady Rain.

    A Steady Rain is produced on Broadway by Frederick Zollo, Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli, Raymond L. Gaspard, Frank Gero, Cheryl Wiesenfeld, Jeffrey Sine, Michael Rose and Robert Cole.

    Set and costume design are by two-time Tony Award winner Scott Pask, with lighting design by two-time Tony Award nominee Hugh Vanstone and original music and sound design by Mark Bennett.

    Daniel Craig (Joey). British Actor Daniel Craig’s theatre credits include leading roles in Hurlyburly with the Peter Hall Company at the Old Vic, Angels in America at The National Theatre, and A Number at the Royal Court Theatre. In 2006 Craig became the sixth ‘James Bond’ in Casino Royale, for which he received a BAFTA Award nomination (Best Actor) and the film became the highest grossing in the history of the 007 franchise. 2008 saw Daniel’s second outing as ‘James Bond’ in Quantum of Solace directed by Marc Forster, which became the highest grossing of the 22 films in the Bond franchise in America and Canada. Craig has recently finished making Steven Spielberg’s new film The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn.

    Hugh Jackman (Denny). Australian native Hugh Jackman won a 2004 Tony Award for Best Actor in a musical when he made his Broadway debut as the 1970s singer-songwriter ‘Peter Allen’ in The Boy From Oz. Previous theater credits include Carousel at Carnegie Hall, Oklahoma! at the National Theater in London (Olivier Award nomination), Sunset Boulevard (MO Award – Australia’s Tony Award) and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (MO Award nomination).

    Jackman made his first major U.S. film appearance as Wolverine in the first installment of the X-Men franchise, a role he reprised in the enormously successful X2 and 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, and most recently in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. In late 2008, Jackman appeared in 20th Century Fox’s romantic action-adventure epic Australia directed by Baz Luhrmann.

    John Crowley (Director). An award-winning theater director in his native Ireland, John Crowley has also served as associate director for London’s Donmar Warehouse. He received a 2005 Tony nomination for his work on The Pillowman. His recent work includes the National Theatre’s original production of The Pillowman, On an Average Day and Macbeth in the West End and The Turn of the Screw for Welsh National Opera. Productions at the Donmar Warehouse include Tales From Hollywood, Juno and the Paycock, The Maids, How I Learned to Drive and Into the Woods. For the National: Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem Cards. For the RSC: Shadows. Crowley won a BAFTA award for Best Director for his film Boy A.

    Keep turning to the CommanderBond.net main page–as well as our brand new Twitter feed–for all the latest James Bond news and coverage.

  8. Private signing featuring Sir Roger Moore in September '09

    By Devin Zydel on 2009-07-22

    Bondstars.com will be holding a limited private signing with Sir Roger Moore this upcoming September.

    Roger Moore is James Bond

    Roger Moore is James Bond

    The signing by the former James Bond star will take place on 13 September and all orders must be received by 10:00am (GMT) on 7 September (unfortunately, Bondstars.com will not be able to accept own items to be signed on this occasion).

    As there is limited time with Sir Roger, it is asked if those participating would keep dedications short and simple e.g. “To Chris, Best Wishes, Roger Moore” etc. Bondstars.com have the right to edit dedications if necessary. Sir Roger Moore will only sign his name, he will not sign character names such as “The Saint” or “007”.

    The cost per signed item is £40.00 plus a £3.00 handling fee. This price includes shipping worldwide. Items will be shipped week beginning 21 September.

    For full details, including purchasing a still to be signed by Sir Roger, visit Bondstars.com.

    Keep your browsers locked on the CommanderBond.net main page—and our brand new Twitter feed—for all the latest news on James Bond-related events occurring around the world.

  9. Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson purchase A Steady Rain film rights

    By Devin Zydel on 2009-07-20

    James Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson along with stage producer (and Broccoli’s husband) Frederick Zollo have grabbed the screen rights for Keith Huff’s Broadway play A Steady Rain.

    Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson

    Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson

    The Hollywood Reporter notes that Huff will adapt the screenplay in a deal for mid-six figures against $1 million.

    As previously reported on CommanderBond.net, 007 star Daniel Craig is attached to star alongside Hugh Jackman in the play, which begins production in late September at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in Manhattan, New York. Broccoli and Wilson are already producers on the stage version as well.

    A Steady Rain tells of two seasoned cops whose lifelong friendship is severely tested when a seemingly routine domestic disturbance call results in the death of a young boy. When the horrific truth of the situation is revealed, one of the two must take the blame for the fatal mistake.

    The play will mark the Broadway debut for Craig after starring in numerous films, the most recent of which included Quantum of Solace and Defiance.

    Keep turning to the CommanderBond.net main page–as well as our brand new Twitter feed–for all the latest James Bond news and coverage.

  10. Murren celebrates 40 years of James Bond

    By Devin Zydel on 2009-07-17

    With 2009 marking the 40th anniversary of George Lazenby’s one-and-only James Bond film, 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, the Mürren mountain village resort featured in the film has decided to put together an all new exhibition.

    Taking place until this October, Ski Rebel magazine reports that the Swiss resort will be displaying photographs capturing the making of the sixth 007 film. Full details follow below:

    Murren celebrates 40 years under the James Bond spell

    Four decades ago, the film crew of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service immortalized the slopes of Switzerland’s picture perfect Mürren ski resort and left a legacy that lasts to this day.

    This summer the resort is celebrating forty years since the James Bond film hit the screens with an exhibition of photographs on the 2970 metre summit. The pictures show how the filming on the Schilthorn mountain took place, and how James Bond and the film crew managed to cast a spell on the entire valley.

    Mürren built its famous revolving restaurant high on the Schilthorn with funding from the film company that made the movie, the first Bond film after the departure of Sean Connery from the role, and the only one starring George Lazenby.

    The restaurant still serves James Bond spaghetti, if not a shaken not stirred martini, apparently.

    The exhibition lasts to the end of October and is free to Schilthorn visitors.

    Keep watching the CommanderBond.net main page—and our brand new Twitter feed—for all the latest news on James Bond-related events happening around the world.