By Devin Zydel on 2006-05-31
Welcome to the May 2006 CBn Dossier, a wrap-up of all the James Bond 007 news and rumours for the month. In this month’s column, we’ll be examining the constant news coming in on 2006’s Casino Royale, the many upcoming literary James Bond releases, the ‘Ultimate Edition’ James Bond DVDs, the move from EA to Activision, as well as other 007-related events, and much, much more.
This month’s CBn Dossier will be delivered by Devin Zydel.
Enjoy.
Everything ‘Casino Royale’
In perhaps one of the busiest months news-wise since the announcement of Daniel Craig as the new James Bond, May brought us the Casino Royale teaser trailer, teaser poster, the launch of the official Casino Royale website, the Aston Martin DBS, and on, and on…
So, to start things off we’ll go back to the very beginning of the month. The English version of the Casino Royale trailer was released to fantastic reviews on the CBn forums and other Bond websites. For an interesting take on this teaser trailer, check out Stuart Basinger’s shot-by-shot analysis. This was followed a few days later by the official unveiling of the new Aston Martin DBS, which will ‘continue [the] proud and lengthy association with James Bond. The DBS is not of the understated elegance of a DB9, nor the youthful agility of the V8 Vantage. It is explosive power in a black tie and has its own unique character which will equal that of James Bond.’
Official ‘Casino Royale’ Teaser Poster
May was also filled with more visits to the set of Casino Royale, including those by Entertainment Tonight and The Insider. Daniel Craig is featured in both. In addition, a video featuring the Bahamas location in the film was released on the internet. Entitled ‘Bond in the Bahamas’, the video starts off with Dame Judi Dench as ‘M’ being awoken by a phone call informing her that ‘he’s in the Bahamas.’ A chase scene and a conversation between James Bond and M are two other scenes from the film featured. Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Caterina Murino, producer Michael G. Wilson, and director Martin Campbell are all interviewed. Things have apparently ‘settled down,’ according to Wilson, as the crew is ‘in week six and out of the frozen wastelands of Prague and into the sunny Bahamas.’ According to Murino, who plays ‘Solange’ in the film, ‘it’s like home for James Bond.’ On the many stunts in the film, one in particular, Craig had to say: ‘no time to have a fear for heights…you gotta get up there and do it.’
CBn’s Heiko Baumann reported on the Czech shooting titbits of Casino Royale, while mid-May brought a photo round-up, which included shots of Daniel Craig, Bond girl Eva Green, the Aston Martin DBS, and more. Other action shots of Craig outside of Hotel Splendide can be viewed here Lastly, photographs of James Bond and Vesper Lynd at dinner together can be viewed here.
Sunseeker motoryachts will be featured in the film. Sunseeker motoryachts, which were previously apart of the The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day James Bond films, will be providing the company’s XS 2000 and Predator 108 for sequences to be filmed in central Europe, the Bahamas, and in studio. In addition, Heineken is set to launch a world-wide promotional campaign for this newest 007 film. Eva Green (Vesper Lynd) will be featured in a television commercial, which will be filmed on the set in the Czech Republic and broadcast in November and December 2006. According to Green: ‘I’m delighted to be promoting Casino Royale in association with Heineken. Heineken continues to be a highly innovative partner in its support of film-making.’
The 19th of May saw the official launch of the Casino Royale website. Wallpapers, screensavers, AIM icons, photographs, the teaser trailer, Bond’s past, Yarborough’s production blog, and a poker game are just a few highlights to check out. Visit the website here. Collectors of the many Bond film posters will be pleased to know that the Casino Royale teaser poster is now available to purchase online. Also, CBn has rounded up the international release dates and full cast list for the film.
Some of the best things are often left until last. A CBn exclusive set visit to Casino Royale certainly qualifies. Check out Heiko Baumann’s report for all of latest news and pictures (of which there are many!).
Young Bond, Miss Moneypenny, The Man Who Saved Britain, and more…
The never-ending release of literary 007 gems that started several months ago continues on. One new release for 2006 is The Art of Bond, which will ship to US and UK fans in October. According to the official blurb, The Art of Bond ‘gives readers an insider’s look at the Bond evolution, from storyboard to screen, through all-new interviews with the series’ creative talents, as well as previously unseen art and behind-the-scenes photography from all 21 films.’ The Rough Guide To James Bond and James Bond: The Secret World of 007 will also both be revised and updated for new releases later in the year.
The paperback edition of Samantha Weinberg’s (writing under the name of Kate Westbrook) The Moneypenny Diaries: Guardian Angel was released in the UK on the 4th of May. Even bigger news followed a week later when the second volume of the The Moneypenny Diaries, Secret Servant: The Moneypenny Diaries was announced. It will be released in the UK in November. According to the author, ‘there are a couple of on-going story lines that I am bound to follow–Miss Moneypenny is going to keep on her father’s trail, for instance, there has to be some resolution over the Prenderghast affair and, of course, Bond does return, with a bang, at the beginning of The Man With the Golden Gun. I don’t want to give too much else away, but she will definitely be getting out of the office again, and probably heading eastwards, towards the Iron Curtain.’
Young Bond author kicked off a US tour to promote the upcoming release of Blood Fever (which was released early online). A flood of news of the third, currently un-titled Young Bond novel was released when Higson released several new details on the official Young Bond website. According to the author: ‘The third book in the series will be out in January 2007 (just realised there’s a 007 theme to the year! Hope that’s a good omen). The working title for the book is ‘Shoot The Moon,’ but as we never stuck with the working title on the first two books it’s unlikely we’ll end up calling it that. Another working title is ‘The Big Smoke’ (which is the nickname for London – where most of the book is set)… I wanted to send James to a big city, as the first two books had mostly taken place in the countryside. I chose London because I live in London, I know it well and I love it. There are some fascinating unknown corners, and I wanted to do a sort of Da Vinci Code about the city, in which James has to follow a series of cryptic clues, to find out what’s going on and save the day.’ Click here for the full story.
Charlie Higson also announced that SilverFin will be the first Young Bond graphic novel, with artwork by Kev Walker. Further news was released on the series, when Higson again released some details to the fans, this time about the fifth and final novel of the series (which will most likely be released in 2009). The author tells fans to ‘wait and see. All will be revealed in book 5. I have been planting some seeds, but nobody will really put it all together until the last book is published.’ For the literary collectors: the French edition of Blood Fever has been announced.
Simon Winder’s The Man Who Saved Britain is shipping early from amazon.co.uk. The book, initially described as ‘a funny, serious history of post-Colonial Britain as seen through the eyes of James Bond, part memoir, part history’ can be ordered for a discounted price of £9.89.
Several upcoming appearances by former continuation author Raymond Benson in June have also been announced.
Activision to Bond with 007
A surprise was in store for fans when it was announced that the video game rights for the James Bond series had been granted to Activision Inc., taking Electronic Arts (EA) out of the equation. According to Variety, their first 007 game is expected to be a Bond 22 tie-in. From September 2007 onwards, Activision will exclusively have the rights to the series for seven years.
For reviews of the PSP version of EA’s From Russia With Love, click here.
Double-Oh-DVDs
May saw the release of all of the special features and DVD covers for the upcoming ‘Ultimate Edition James Bond 007 DVDs. The covers feature the James Bond actor in the middle right panel, while often a Bond girl and/or prominent location are featured on the left. The top and bottom panels contain the title of the film in the original font as well as other scenes and characters from the respective film. They are set for release on 17 July in the UK, 30 August in Australia, and are supposedly set for a release to coincide with Casino Royale in the US.
Bond fans will be happy to note that both GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies will have several changes made, including several previously cut scenes. The result is an ‘uncut’ release for GoldenEye and a new ’15’ certificate for Tomorrow Never Dies.
A Living Legend, a Concert, a Boat Show, and a Birthday
Bond fans will want to take notice of the upcoming Boats of Bond exhibit, which is set for 1-5 June 2006 at the Auckland showgrounds in New Zealand. The event will be showcasing the Tow Sled from Thunderball, the Bath-O-Sub from Diamonds Are Forever, the Neptune Submarine from For Your Eyes Only, and the Q-Boat from The World Is Not Enough.
Other upcoming 007 events include a James Bond movie posters exhibit in New York throughout the summer, as well as a Live and Let Die – James Bond Spectacular concert. It will be performed by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under the direction of conductor Nic Raine, and is set for Friday, 11 August 2006.
CBn would like to wish another Happy Birthday to Pierce Brosnan, who celebrated his 53rd this year as well as congratulations to CBn forum member ‘Aussie21,’ winner of the CBn ‘The Moneypenny Diaries: Guardian Angel’ competition.
And in conclusion, all the very best wishes to Sir Roger Moore, winner of the Hall Of Fame ‘Living Legend’ award, which was presented by the Queen at Windsor Castle on 3 May.
With over 550,000 posts and endless discussion topics, there has never been a better time to join the CBn Forums to discuss Casino Royale and all other Bond topics. Registration is free and only takes a minute. It’s safe to say that as Bond fans, we have a lot to look forward to. As always, stay tuned to CBn for daily coverage of all things James Bond 007.
Related Links
- The CBn Dossier, April ’06
- The CBn Dossier, March ’06
- The CBn Dossier, February ’06
- The CBn Dossier, January ’06
- The CBn Dossier, December ’05
- The CBn Dossier, November ’05
- The CBn Dossier, October ’05
- The CBn Dossier, Special Edition covering ‘Casino Royale’
- The CBn Dossier, September ’05
- The CBn Dossier, August ’05
- The CBn Dossier, July ’05
- The CBn Dossier, June ’05
- The CBn Dossier, May ’05
- The CBn Dossier, April ’05
- The CBn Dossier, March ’05
- The CBn Dossier, February ’05
Bond doesn’t appear in this sequence, an interesting choice that would work out here but in the next film proves to be a very bad mistake. After the terrific song by Paul McCartney we get our first look at Roger Moore, at his home in bed with a beautiful woman. I like how rather than the standard briefing scene in M’s office, M comes to Bond’s home and briefs him on his mission. It’s a nice change and does a little to avoid comparisons with Connery’s Bond, an inevitable dilemma that wasn’t addressed properly in the sixth film. Another difference is the absence of Q as we get Bond explaining what his gadget does to the mild annoyance of M. I also enjoy Bernard Lee’s reaction to Bond’s coffee maker, a Rube Goldberg nightmare that makes more noise than coffee. Did this actually exist? This is the kind of stuff that just needs to be known.
The New York scenes in general work very nicely in terms of setting up some of the characters, Kananga/Mr. Big in particular. Yaphet Kotto does an excellent job of giving a cool sense of menace and the tape recorder gag he uses to throw off Leiter’s surveillance is a neat touch. Bond’s tailing of Whisper is pretty good with the new version of the James Bond theme blaring over the scene. It also gives us a nice sense of how efficient Mr. Big’s operation is. The ensuing confrontation with Solitaire and Mr. Big is a great example of Bond at his cockiest. More portrays Bond as unflappable in the face of, well… pretty much everything. He also adds in a lighter touch that really should be credited more to screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz than Moore himself. Mankiewicz wrote the screenplay for the previous movie and subsequently co-wrote the next film with Richard Maibaum. That being said, Moore plays the character with a certain coolness and confidence that immediately makes one comfortable with him in the role. To the filmmakers credit they don’t try to make him exactly like Connery, though there is a bit more edge to him here and the second outing that isn’t as pronounced in the following five. The introduction to Tee Hee is equally fun. Moore’s reaction to the claw and his dumping of the gun into the trash can is very amusing. Also good is the brief appearance of Mr. Big and the even briefer scuffle with the thugs in the alley.
Also uninspiring is the plane chase. It starts off well enough but the addition of Mrs. Bell is frankly unnecessary and detracts from a pretty neat, innovative stunt sequence. Making it a little better is the coda to the plane scene. David Hedison is fairly funny. His one sided phone conversation with the owner of the plane reminds me of a Bob Newhart routine.
The boat chase is equally impressive. The stunts are superb as usual and unlike the film that would follow, having a redneck sheriff appear actually makes sense and adds to the story. Clifton James is quite funny as Pepper here and though his shtick is quite politically incorrect, it works for the film. Bond’s escape from San Monique is nicely done with good use of Baron Samedi Geoffrey Holder is really good in one of the more unusual villain roles in the series, a nice couple of exchanges with Kananga and a decent enough fight between Bond and Kananga. The only real problem the fight has is the ending. I have two problems with it: First off, having a very cool villain super-inflated till be blows up is really not the best sendoff they could have used. Second, and this ties in with my first problem, any time you have a shark in your finale and it doesn’t eat somebody, you’ve just wasted money on a shark. Still, it doesn’t hurt the movie too much and the fight on the train with Tee Hee more than makes up for it and the final shot of Samedi on the front of the train is very cool. In the end, it’s a solid summer action movie that serves as a good entry in the franchise. Not the best, but also not the worst by a long shot.
