Chris Blackwell going ahead with Goldeneye expansion

Chris Blackwell, current owner of Ian Fleming’s Goldeneye resort in Jamaica is going ahead with a $50 million expansion that will result in the creation of 11 beachfront cottages and a restaurant.

Full details follow below in the just-released press announcement:

Goldeneye, Birthplace Of 007, Eyes $50M Expansion

The luxurious Goldeneye retreat, where British author Ian Fleming created the literary and cinematic super spy James Bond, will undergo a $50 million expansion, the estate’s owner said Sunday.

Music and hotel mogul Chris Blackwell said in a statement that 11 beachfront cottages and a restaurant will be built at the sprawling property, which overlooks a harbor in St. Mary parish in eastern Jamaica.

Blackwell—who founded the Island Records label that launched Bob Marley to international stardom and who also owns luxury hotelier Island Outpost—said the work should be completed by 2013.

Fleming bought Goldeneye in the mid-1940s and wrote several books there, including Casino Royale, the first Bond novel. Fleming died in 1964, and some of his memorabilia are kept at the expanded site.

Several 007 movies including Live and Let Die and Dr. No were filmed near the estate, and it shares a name with the 1995 Bond film GoldenEye.

The property was also briefly owned by the late reggae great Marley, who bought Goldeneye in 1976 and sold it the following year to Blackwell.

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.

The Spy Who Loved Me screening on Sir Roger Moore's birthday

The Screen at Winchester theatre will be marking Sir Roger Moore’s birthday in October with a screening of his classic 1977 James Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me.

007 fans will be able to catch all the action on the big screen on Wednesday, 14 October at 20:30.

Ticket prices are £8.00 for standard members and £6.50 for students, seniors and children 14 and under. Reservations can be made online here or by phoning 0870 066 4777.

Screen at Winchester is located on Southgate Street, Winchester SO23 9EG.

For additional details on this upcoming James Bond screening, visit the official website.

Stay tuned to CommanderBond.net—and our brand new Twitter feed—for all the latest news on James Bond-related events occurring around the world.

Quentin Tarantino considers spy series to rival James Bond

It’s public knowledge that Quentin Tarantino has been interested in the James Bond film series for quite some time, despite not yet having the opportunity to direct one the films.

Now, the Kill Bill director is considering creating his own spy series that would likely rival 007’s own big screen adventures.

The Guardian reports that Tarantino is particularly interested in a spy trilogy penned by Len Deighton: Berlin Game, Mexico Set and London Match.

The books center on the cold war-era adventures of Bernard Samson, a jaded, middle-aged intelligence officer working for the fictional Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) in the 1980s.

‘One of the things I enjoy musing about doing is the trilogy of Len Deighton books, Berlin Game, Mexico Set and London Match,’ Tarantino explained. ‘The story takes place in the Cold War and follows a spy named Bernard Sampson. What is attractive is the really great characters and the wonderful casting.’

‘I love England. It would be a wonderful life experience to have an excuse to work here for six or nine months,’ he added.

What do you think of a rival spy series from Tarantino? Sound off here on the CommanderBond.net Forums.

As always, stay tuned to the CBn main page&—and our brand new Twitter feed—for all the latest James Bond-related news.

More 007 guests announced for Autographica 14

Since our last report on the CommanderBond.net main page, additional James Bond film guests have been announced as attending the upcoming Autographica 14 event in Birmingham, UK.

In addition to being headlined by one of the most memorable Bond girls of all time—Dr. No‘s Ursula Andress—the following 007 alumni will also be available:

• Carmen du Sautoy (Saida, The Man with the Golden Gun)
• Eva Rueber-Staier (Rublevitch, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only & Octopussy)
• Olga Bisera (Felicca, The Spy Who Loved Me)
• Edward Fox (M, Never Say Never Again)
• Julie T Wallace (Rosika Miklos, The Living Daylights)

More actors and actresses from the James Bond films are expected to be announced in the upcoming weeks.

Autographica is unlike any other similar event you have ever attended. At Autographica you will not just see and meet the guests, but get to know them, as the entire event is held in a luxury hotel, with all the facilities that that encompass. All of our guests stay in the same hotel, so you may well find yourself having breakfast with any one of our guests.

Most guests are available all day both days for signing, and some also offer talks or Q and A session too. In addition, and where time allows, we also have photo shoots with specific guests, and all of these can be booked in advance.

Autographica 14 will be taking place from Saturday, 12 September through Sunday, 13 September at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel in Birmingham, UK. Specific times follow:

• Saturday, 12 September: 11:00am – 4:00pm
• Sunday, 13 September: 11:00am – 4:00pm

Ticket prices are £10 per day. Early-Bird tickets are available at £15 per day.

Note that there are only 1,000 tickets set aside each day for at the door purchases, so pre-booking is strongly recommended. Pre-booked tickets are only available to buy in advance. Phone 01959 573792 for details or visit the official website.

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.

Moore James Bond in September on BBC America

007 fans will be treated to Moore James Bond all month long in September on BBC America.

The network will feature a marathon that includes some of Roger Moore’s most popular Bond films, starting 5 September. Furthermore, a Licence To Thrill All-Day Bond-athon is scheduled for 27 September and includes even more of Moore’s Bond outings.

Full details follow in the release below:

MOORE BOND ALL MONTH LONG

This month, BBC AMERICA gives you Moore, Moore, Moore – Roger Moore that is, starring as 007 in four classic James Bond films full of all the thrilling stunts, diabolical villains, cool gadgets, fast cars, and beautiful women you expect from Britain’s legendary secret agent.

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN – BBC AMERICA PREMIERE

When a golden bullet with “007” etched into its surface arrives at MI-6 headquarters in London, it can only mean one thing: Francisco Scaramanga, the world’s most lethal assassin, has been hired to go after James Bond. Instead, 007 turns the tables and tries to hunt Scaramanga down. In the process, he uncovers a dangerous and wide-ranging plot to disrupt the world’s energy supply.

The Man With The Golden Gun airs Saturday, September 5, 8:00 p.m. ET/PT

THE SPY WHO LOVED ME – BBC AMERICA PREMIERE

When British and Soviet submarines loaded with nuclear missiles disappear from the sea, both governments send their top agents to investigate. 007 is happy to learn that his Russian counterpart, Agent XXX, is a beautiful woman, but will her thirst for revenge against Bond – who killed her husband in an earlier mission – get in the way of them finding the lost subs and saving the world?

The Spy Who Loved Me airs Sunday, September 6, 8:00 p.m. ET/PT

MOONRAKER – BBC AMERICA PREMIERE

007 blasts off in this adventure that takes him to California, Venice, Rio, the Amazon Rainforest, and, eventually, outer space in an effort to stop an ultra-wealthy madman’s plot to destroy humanity and start society over with a new master race.

Moonraker airs Sunday, September 13, 8:00 p.m. ET/PT

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – BBC AMERICA PREMIERE

A British spy ship carrying a top secret communications device accidentally sinks, but it’s no accident when the sailor hired by the government to recover the device is murdered alongside his wife. That’s James Bond’s cue to get involved, and he joins forces with the daughter of the murdered couple to find the missing device before it falls into enemy hands – and to find out who, exactly, the enemy is.

For Your Eyes Only airs Sunday, September 20, 8:00 p.m. ET/PT

LICENSE TO THRILL ALL-DAY BOND-ATHON

It’s all-day action on BBC AMERICA with a day-long marathon of James Bond movies, including The Man With the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, and For Your Eyes Only. You won’t want to miss a second of the adventure as Roger Moore’s Bond travels the world, from the Amazon to the Alps, in submarine cars and space shuttles, on missions for Her Majesty’s Secret Service. License To Thrill All-Day Bond-athon airs Sunday, September 27 starting at 6:00 a.m. ET/3:00 a.m. PT

Stay tuned to CommanderBond.net—and our brand new Twitter feed—for all the latest news on James Bond-related events occurring around the world.

Arise Sir Sean Connery arrives in paperback in US

The new paperback edition of John Parker’s Arise Sir Sean Connery: The Biography of Britain’s Greatest Living Actor is now available in the US.

Originally published in hardback in 2005, this paperback edition of the biography of the first James Bond star is published by John Blake and retails for $14.95.

The official blurb:

Arise Sir Sean Connery: The Biography of Britain’s Greatest Living Actor

Sean Connery is one of the world’s true superstars, applauded by critics and filmgoers alike.

Now, John Parker traces the rise to stardom of the tough Edinburgh street kid, who left school at the age of 13. Arriving in London with gold teeth and tattoos to seek his fortune in the meat market of bodybuilding, Connery fought against snobbery to become a self-taught Shakespearean actor. Then came the big break. Auditioning for the part of James Bond, he told producers with typical bluntness how Bond should be played, and it landed him the job–and overnight stardom. Connery went on to become one of the world’s most versatile, highly paid actors, winning an Oscar for his role in The Untouchables. Here, John Parker offers an engaging portrait of one of the most glamorous, talented, and complex actors in movie history.

• Order the US paperback edition of Arise Sir Sean Connery: The Biography of Britain’s Greatest Living Actor from Amazon.com

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.

The James Bond Phenomenon: A Critical Reader available in US

Following a June release in the UK, the second edition of Christoph Lindner’s The James Bond Phenomenon: A Critical Reader has now been released this month in the US.

Originally published in the UK and US at the end of 2003, The James Bond Phenomenon: A Critical Reader features various essays examining from different perspectives the cultural icon that 007 has become.

This new edition of The James Bond Phenomenon: A Critical Reader is published in paperback by Manchester University Press. At 272 pages in length, it retails for £14.99 / $24.95. Pre-order links follow at the end of this article.

The book’s original blurb follows:

The James Bond Phenomenon: A Critical Reader (2nd ed.)

Sean Connery’s tuxedo, Ursula Andress’ bikini, Oddjob’s bowler hat, and Q’s gadgets are just a few defining features of the 007 world examined in this text. Drawn from the fields of literary, film, music and cultural studies, the essays in this collection range from revitalized readings of Ian Fleming’s spy novels to the analysis of Pussy Galore’s lesbianism, Miss Monneypenny’s filmic feminism and Pierce Brosnan’s techno-fetishism.

Together the essays not only consider the James Bond novels and films in relation to their historical, political and social contexts, from the Cold-War period onwards, but also examine the classic bond canon from an array of theoretical perspectives. What the text aims to show is that there is much more to the 007 series than cheap thrills, fast cars and beautiful women.

With essays by Umberto Eco, Tony Bennett, Tara Brabazon, Toby Miller and Jim Leach, among others, Lindner illustrates not only how the Bond character has conquered the globe, but has sustained its pre-eminence across six decades. Starting with the original books and moving through the films, the music and the marketing, this study should be of use to students of film, media, popular literature, marketing and cultural studies.

• Order the paperback edition of The James Bond Phenomenon: A Critical Reader (2nd ed.) from Amazon.co.uk
• Order the paperback edition of The James Bond Phenomenon: A Critical Reader (2nd ed.) from Amazon.com

Keep your eyes on the CommanderBond.net main page for all the latest literary 007 coverage.

Barbara Broccoli producing Catwalk Confidential for the stage

Even though there is still quite a wait for the 23rd James Bond film, producer Barbara Broccoli is keeping herself busy with an array of other projects.

Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson

In addition to producing the upcoming Broadway debut of Daniel Craig in A Steady Rain, WhatsOnStage reports that Broccoli is also acting as producer on Catwalk Confidential, Robyn Peterson’s one-woman show about her time as a supermodel.

The production, which is currently playing in the UK at the Edinburgh Fringe, is set to transfer directly to the West End’s Arts Theatre for a limited four weeks from 9 September to 3 October 2009. Previews are set to commence from 4 September.

Part fairy-tale, part memoir, part romance, this funny, cautionary and at times moving tale tells the story of 16-year-old Robyn fresh from Miami, who gets caught up in the world of high fashion amidst the boulevards of Paris in the early 1970s. In a whirlwind of glamour, sex and drugs, Robyn discovers there’s one thing to fear above all else: age. There is always a younger girl waiting to step into your shoes.

Catwalk Confidential is brought to the stage by Broccoli’s Eon Productions and Michael Rose Ltd, the team who were also behind the stage production of Ian Fleming’s classic children’s tale Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

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.

Additional Ian Fleming James Bond paperbacks on Amazon.co.uk

Octopussy and The Living Daylights cover

A few new listings have appeared on Amazon.co.uk for the 2009 centenary paperback printings of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels.

Originally published in hardback under the Penguin 007 imprint with striking new cover designs by artist Michael Gillette, these editions were quickly coveted by fans and went out of print after just a few months following their May 2008 release.

In addition to the 007 titles already available on online book sites such as Amazon, literary Bond fans can now also pre-order Casino Royale, Doctor No and Octopussy and The Living Daylights, all set for release on 1 October 2009.

Keep watching the CommanderBond.net main page—and our brand new Twitter feed—for the most up-to-date literary James Bond coverage on the web.

Ian Fleming died this day in 1964 after a heart attack

45 years ago today, Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, died of a heart attack at the age of 56.

As nearly all 007 fans are aware, Fleming’s legacy lives on today around the world through the films, books, fan events and lifestyles one attributes to ‘Bond, James Bond’.

The Guardian newspaper has dug into their archives and reprinted the 13 August 1964 report which marked the news and also bid farewell to secret agent 007…

Ian Fleming

Ian Fleming, the author and creator of James Bond, died in the Kent and Canterbury Hospital early yesterday following a heart attack. He was 56.

Leader: 007 – man or brute?

In his time, Bond was attacked by giant squid, hauled naked across razor-edged coral rocks and almost pulled apart by a rack-like apparatus. Always he survived to tell the tale; and returned, appetite undiminished, to his cars, his meals, and his girls. Yet even Bond, one imagines, can hardly survive his creator: 007 has bitten the dust at last.

But before he finally disappears he deserves at least a farewell glance. Bond was a symbol of the times. He appealed unashamedly to two powerful instincts: snobbery, and the latent sadomasochism which is present beneath the surface of all civilisations. Charged with this, his creator gave two replies. Bond’s snob-appeal he claimed as unintentional. In his first book he had given Bond a good meal—and what was wrong with that?—and the readers had clamoured for more. As for the sex, Bond was just a great, big, virile he-man whose healthy masculinity upset his critics because they lacked it themselves. These answers were, and are, unconvincing. Bond never fussed about the old school tie; and he would not have won millions of readers if he had…[continue reading]

The Guardian

Fleming was buried in the churchyard of the small Sevenhampton village, located in Wiltshire.

Read on for related CommanderBond.net articles centering on Ian Fleming and James Bond…

• James Bond Turns Up In The Strangest Of Places / Commemorating the centenary of Ian Fleming
• An Appreciation of Ian Fleming / Duncan Elliott examines the life of the author and the impact of his creation
• CommanderBond.net: Ian Fleming’s James Bond (1953 – 1966)

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