Win Ian Fleming's 'Quantum of Solace' Posters

CommanderBond.net has teamed up with Penguin Books to give away copies of poster artwork that accompanied the recently released US Ian Fleming collection, Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories.

Marking the centenary of James Bond creator Ian Fleming and featuring artwork used from the Quantum of Solace short story collection, the poster also features all the other Richie Fahey illustrated covers for the 007 novels.

This competition is open to all members of CommanderBond.net (CBn). You must be a registered member of the CBn Forums and answer the following question correctly to be eligible to win. Not yet a member of CBn? Register here now–it is free and only takes a minute!

How To Enter:

To enter, fill out the following questionnaire and send a Communiqué/Private Message on the CBn Forums to ‘CBn Competition’ (Subject: CBn Penguin) by Midnight EST on 9 January 2009 (simply click on the link in this paragraph).

1. In which Ian Fleming James Bond short story is Vermont a featured location?:

1. “For Your Eyes Only”
2. “Quantum of Solace”
3. “Risico”
4. “The Property of a Lady”

2. What is your CBn Forum Screen Name?
3. What country/state do you live in?

'Roger Moore: A Matter Of Class'

A forthcoming DVD release from independent distribution company Janson Media will give James Bond fans a closer look at Sir Roger Moore and his life with 007 and UNICEF.

Running just under 90 minutes in length and featuring clips from television shows and feature films such as The Saint and The Spy Who Loved Me, Roger Moore: A Matter Of Class will retail for $24.95 and is due for release on 2 January 2009.

The full announcement follows:

Roger Moore: A Matter Of Class

Roger Moore is James Bond
The Man With The Golden Gun © 1974 Danjac, LLC and United Artists Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Janson Media today announced the worldwide release of Roger Moore: A Matter Of Class. The title is the 11th to be released on DVD from the company’s HOLLYWOOD COLLECTION, an award-winning archive of 34 movie star biographies and retrospectives produced by Wombat Productions between 1985 and 1999.

Roger Moore, one of the most popular of actors, has travelled far… from working-class South London to the Riviera’s glamorous St. Paul de Vence, from another contract player to The Saint and 007, from struggling film extra to Hollywood superstar, from unknown office boy to UNICEF’s Ambassador-at-Large. Here is Roger Moore’s own story, as told by the famous actor himself.

This profile also includes the recollections of colleagues and friends like Gregory Peck, Michael Caine, Tony Curtis, Carroll Baker, Maud Adams, director Lewis Gilbert, and producers Michael G. Wilson, David Niven, Jr., and Roger’s son, Geoffrey, and features clips from television series The Saint, and The Persuaders, and feature films Diane, The Miracle, The Man With The Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, and Octopussy.

Roger Moore: A Matter Of Class was written and produced by Gene Feldman and Suzette Winter of New York-based Wombat Productions, and is now available for all television, DVD, VOD, non-theatric, and new media markets worldwide exclusively through Janson Media. The DVD also includes a Roger Moore Photo Gallery, a Meet the Producers slideshow, and trailers of other HOLLYWOOD COLLECTION titles.

• LENGTH: 50 Minutes – Total Content: 87 Minutes
• OUR PRICE: $$24.95
• CATALOG #: 20359
• UPC #: 6-4603203599-5
• ISBN #: 1-56839-249-4
• RELEASE YEAR: 2009
• PRODUCER: Wombat Productions
• NOTES: Street Date January 2, 2009

• Order the Roger Moore: A Matter Of Class DVD from Janson.com

Stay tuned to CommanderBond.net for all the latest James Bond news and coverage from around the world.

'Another Way To Die' Eligible For Best Song Oscar Nomination

Quantum of Solace title track ‘Another Way To Die’ is included in the newly released list of songs eligible for the Best Song Oscar nominations.

Alicia Keys

The Jack White-Alicia Keys duet is featured on the list along with 48 other tracks. Variety reports that members of the Academy Award’s music branch will vote on the final nominations at screening event scheduled to take place on Tuesday, 6 January 2009.

To be eligible, a song must contain original words and music written specifically for the film. In a change to the rules, only two songs from a single film may be nominated. Disney’s High School Musical 3: Senior Year leads this longlist with 11 eligible songs.

Click here for the full listing of eligible songs.

The 81st annual Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, 22 February at the Kodak Theater. The event will be broadcast live on ABC.

In related award news, the Quantum title song took home the top prize at the International Press Academy’s Satellite Awards this past Sunday.

Stay up-to-date with all the latest Quantum of Solace coverage at CommmanderBond.net.

Pierce Brosnan's 'Mamma Mia!' Becomes Biggest British Box Office Hit Ever

Pierce Brosnan doesn’t need a James Bond film in order to rule the box office charts.

The Telegraph reports that the musical comedy Mamma Mia!, featuring the former 007 star performing ABBA songs along with Meryl Streep has become the biggest box office hit ever in the UK.

Since its 18 July release, the film has grossed an astonishing £69.05 million (about $108 million), surpassing the previously untouchable Titanic and it’s £69.03 million total. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone follows in third place with £66.1 million.

Mamma Mia!, which co-stars Colin Firth and Julie Walters, cost £28 million to make and has grossed $571.1 million (£365 million) in box offices around the world.

‘Mamma Mia! is pure escapism, proving a fun and inexpensive way to forget about the state of the economy for a couple of hours,’ said David Kosse, the president of Universal Pictures International.

‘For Mamma Mia! to make history in this way and beat Titanic, which has held the record in the UK since 1998, is truly phenomenal. This film has exceeded our expectations and delighted audiences around the world since it opened in July.’

In addition to topping the UK box office charts, Brosnan’s musical comedy has become the most popular film of the year in 15 countries, including Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Greece, Hungary, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Cyprus, Iceland, Slovenia and Sweden.

Phil Clapp, chief executive of the Cinema Exhibitors’ Association (CEA) praised the film for contributing to what was the best summer for cinema attendance in 40 years in the UK. He called Mamma Mia! an ‘absolute phenomenon … in times of economic gloom, people seek affordable and escapist entertainment.’

Furthermore, Mamma Mia! broke records upon its recent DVD release–becoming the fastest selling title ever in the UK–selling 1.7 million copies on its first day, surpassing Titanic‘s previous record of 1.2 million.

As always, stay tuned to the CommanderBond.net main pages for all the latest news from the world of James Bond.

'Another Way To Die' Scores Satellite Award

James Bond has triumphed again at the International Press Academy’s Satellite Awards, landing a win in the Original Song category with Jack White and Alicia Keys’ Quantum of Solace duet, “Another Way To Die”.

Quantum of Solace

In 2006, Chris Cornell’s “You Know My Name” from Casino Royale also took home the award for Original Song.

Quantum of Solace scored five nominations at this year’s awards, including Original Score, Visual Effects and Film Editing.

Original Score

• David Arnold – Quantum of Solace
• Thomas Newman – WALL•E
• John Powell – Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!
• WINNER: A.R. Rahman – Slumdog Millionaire
• David Hirschfelder – Australia
• Danny Elfman – Milk

Original Song

• WINNER: “Another Way to Die”/Jack White – Quantum of Solace
• “If the World”/Guns N’ Roses – Body of Lies
• “Down to Earth”/Peter Gabriel – WALL•E
• “By the Boab Tree”/Angela Little et al. – Australia
• “Jaiho”/ A.R. Rahman and Gulzar – Slumdog Millionaire
• “The Wrestler”/Bruce Springsteen – The Wrestler

Visual Effects

• Quantum of Solace
• Iron Man
• The Dark Knight
• The Day the Earth Stood Still
• WINNER: Australia

Film Editing

• Quantum of Solace
• WINNER: Iron Man
• The Dark Knight
• Australia
• Slumdog Millionaire
• Frost/Nixon

Sound (Mixing & Editing)

• Quantum of Solace
• Iron Man
• WINNER: The Dark Knight
• Australia
• WALL•E
• The Day the Earth Stood Still

The winners were announced last night at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City.

“Another Way To Die” is also nominated for a Broadcast Film Critics Association award, while the music video has been nominated for a Grammy.

Stay up-to-date with all the latest Quantum of Solace coverage at CommmanderBond.net.

Daniel Craig's 'Defiance' Set For 6 January UK Premiere

The UK premiere for Daniel Craig’s upcoming war drama Defiance has been set for Tuesday, 6 January 2009.

Daniel Craig

The James Bond star will walk the red carpet along with co-stars Jamie Bell and Liev Schreiber at the Odeon Leicester Square event in London, which begins around 6:00pm.

In the film, Craig, Bell and Schreiber play three Jewish brothers who escape from Nazi-occupied Poland and join Russian resistance fighters, helping to build a village to protect themselves and help others who are fleeing. Based on true events, the film is directed by Blood Diamond‘s Edward Zwick.

Fans have a chance to win tickets to this grand premiere. Visit The Sun for ful details.

Craig recently sat down for an interview with Dark Horizons to discuss his role in Defiance, making Quantum of Solace and what the future holds for Bond.

As always, stay tuned to the CommanderBond.net main pages for all the latest news from the world of James Bond.

'A View To A Kill' Renault 11 Sells For 4,200 Pounds At Auction

The Renault 11 taxi that was featured in the early car chase from 1985’s A View To A Kill was sold for £4,200 ($6,400) earlier this month.

Going up for sale as part of a Coys auction, the James Bond vehicle (lot 402) was offered at no reserve.

Full details follow:

Lot 402
Registration Number: 359 ETD 75

A View To A Kill was the fourteenth James Bond movie, and the seventh and last to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent. In A View To A Kill, Bond is pitted against Max Zorin, played by Christopher Walken who plans to destroy California’s Silicon Valley.

In one of the most exciting and memorable sequences of the movie Bond steals a Renault 11 taxi from a Parisian cab driver and uses it to pursue an assassin through Paris at high speeds chasing May Day (played by Grace Jones), after she jumps from the Eiffel Tower and opens a parachute.

In a sequence coordinated by famed French stuntman Rémy Julienne, the Renault 11 suffers a few dings, first losing its roof then managing to jump onto and off a sight-seeing bus. Then the entire back of the car is severed in a collision with another car–leaving 007 to drive with only the Renault 11’s front wheels.

Rémy Julienne used three vehicles for the stunt scenes; one complete, one with its roof removed and finally 2 halves of a taxi.

This complete car was used for close up work and the initial scenes in the movie before Bond damaged the car during its high speed pursuit. The car had resided in Peter Nelson’s Cars of the Stars museum for several years where it was purchased by the vendor. Prior to this the car was bought by Mr Nelson direct from Rémy Julienne. The car has been used for various Bond displays including one in Paris and more recently in Edinburgh for the recent launch of the latest Bond movie, Quantum of Solace.

The car is described as being in good condition and is a desirable item for any Bond collector to get their hands on a genuine film car used by 007 himself. Offered at No Reserve.

Keep watching CommanderBond.net for all the latest James Bond news.

'Quantum of Solace' Grabs $9 Million Over The Weekend

Quantum of Solace grossed roughly $9 million worldwide over this past weekend, reports AFP.

Quantum of Solace

In its fifth weekend at the US box office, Daniel Craig’s second James Bond film finished sixth place overall (a drop of one spot from last week), falling 43% to $3.8 million. The film’s theatre count was heavily slashed by 788 screens from last weekend to 2,635.

Quantum‘s cumulative total stands at $157.6 million in the US, getting closer each day to the franchise record of $167.5 million, held by 2006’s Casino Royale.

Internationally, 007 continued to play strong on 4,200 screens in 70 markets. It grossed $5.2 million, bringing its international total to roughly $367 million.

The Bond film finished third overall, behind The Day the Earth Stood Still and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.

These new weekend grosses brings the worldwide total for Quantum of Solace up to $526 million.

Keep your browsers pointed to CommanderBond.net for the most up-to-date and complete Quantum of Solace coverage. Check out our continually updated box office report for all the latest news at how 007 is doing around the world.

Have you seen Quantum of Solace in theatres yet? Post your review and join in the discussion in the Member Reviews section on the CBn Forums.

'Quantum of Solace' Is Semifinalist For Visual Effects Oscar Nomination

Quantum of Solace

Quantum of Solace has made the shortlist of films in contention to receive an Academy Award nomination in the Visual Effects category.

The 22nd James Bond film competes against 14 other films that also made this semifinal round. January will see the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee narrow this list down to seven films and the final nominations will be announced on Thursday, 22 January 2009. The ceremony for the 81st Academy Awards is scheduled for Sunday, 22 February 2009.

Kevin Tod Haug, who had worked with director Marc Forster several times in the past, was the credited visual effects designer on Quantum of Solace.

The full list of films and press release follows below:

15 in Running for
2008 Visual Effects Oscar®

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 15 films were selected as semifinalists for Achievement in Visual Effects for the 81st Academy Awards®.

The films are listed below in alphabetical order:

Australia

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Cloverfield

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Dark Knight

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Hancock

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

The Incredible Hulk

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Iron Man

Journey to the Center of the Earth

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Quantum of Solace

The Spiderwick Chronicles

In early January, the members of the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee, who voted the semifinalists, will narrow the list to seven.

On Thursday, January 15, all members of the Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 15-minute excerpts from each of the seven shortlisted films. Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate three films for final Oscar consideration.

The 81st Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 22, 2009, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2008 will be presented on Sunday, February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Stay up-to-date with all the latest Quantum of Solace coverage at CommmanderBond.net.

"We're ready to begin again."

With James Bond surfing a wave of box office success around the globe, Dark Horizons sat down with Quantum of Solace star Daniel Craig.

Daniel Craig is James Bond

“The way that people have taken to [Quantum of Solace] is just amazing.” – Daniel Craig

When asked whether he was surprised that the critical reaction to Quantum of Solace was more mixed than that which Casino Royale received, the actor replied, “No, because Casino Royale was based on a novel and we’re always going to have that. When you do a movie like that, where the basis of a story is really strong and also the momentum of it, everyone thought that it was going to be sh*t. So when it wasn’t, they were all just completely surprised.”

“I think that Quantum of Solace is as good a movie as Casino Royale,” Craig continued. “I think that the difference is that last time people were surprised by the fact that they enjoyed it. The fact is that we get reviews in newspapers that we’d never had reviews in before. Certainly with the Internet we get seven and a half million reviews, which are all worth looking at, obviously.”

“I don’t try to intellectualise [Quantum of Solace‘s financial success]. I do know what we’ve done is make a movie that the first time I saw it I got a huge kick out of it. Ultimately that’s what we’re trying to do at the end of the day: putting a movie out that’s an entertaining, exciting, hopefully slightly moving Bond movie. That’s all our goal ever was. The way that people have taken to it is just amazing.”

Quantum of Solace

“Unless someone finds a dirty manuscript under the couch at Goldeneye, we’re stuffed.” – Daniel Craig

Craig promises a clean slate for the next James Bond outing. “I genuinely think we’ve got a blank page now. We’ve finished this story off. Quantum of Solace was exactly the right thing to do. We started something with Casino Royale and we wrapped it all up with Quantum of Solace. We’re ready to begin again and we can do what we want.”

The actor hinted that, while they are looking at Ian Fleming story elements for Bond 23, the film would likely feature another original story. “There’s nothing left. It’s all done. Unless someone finds a dirty manuscript under the couch at [Fleming’s Jamaican estate] Goldeneye, we’re stuffed.”

He also ruled out adapting any of the continuation novels. When asked about John Gardner’s 14 James Bond books, Craig responded, “I’ve never read them. I would bet any money that someone sort of optioned them and that they’re tied up in something else. It’s a very closed box.”

Keep watching CommanderBond.net for the most up-to-date James Bond news on the web.