The CBn Dossier, February '05

Casino Royale (Bond 21)

After more than a year of silence, Eon finally made an official statement (coincidently on the same day hell froze over). We have a title (thank you Eon for saving us from a bazillion “Beyond the Ice” rumors); we have a director (GoldenEye ‘s Martin Campbell); and now the news is all about location, location, locations! The sometimes reliable Daily Record has reported that Eon is considering using the Scottish Parliament as a double for the casino of Casino Royale. However, this story seems suspiciously like P.R. for a somewhat controversial building. What better way to turn your local white elephant into a monument of civic price than to feature it as a Bond locale? (Then again, didn’t the Millennium Dome also start out as a very early rumor?) Eon diplomatically said the location hasn’t been ruled out.

Fan sites have also been buzzing about Fiji as a possible locale, but the Fiji Audio Visual boards says they have no idea of any interest. Still, fans warmed to his rumor in a big way; so maybe the good folks at Eon should ring up that commission and have a look-see.

The real CR bombshell of the month was dropped by director Martin Campbell himself. In an interview with the New York Daily News, Campbell revealed that the 21st James Bond film will be a fresh start for the series, taking Bond back to the beginning and showing us his first mission as a recently minted 007. Yes, it’s “Bond Begins!” Not a fan of this approach myself. To me the essence of James Bond is a veteran, a man of experience, a man with friends, enemies, and lovers in every hemisphere. Then again, I didn’t see anything all that wrong with Moonraker, so maybe I should just “Leave it to the professionals, Ms. Bouvier!”

Meanwhile, director Matthew Vaughn, who almost had the CR gig before Sony stepped in with the money and common sense to hire Campbell, now claims he turned down the project after it was delayed because he was committed to doing…well, that he didn’t say. He’s now writing THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. movie for Warner Bros. in which he promises to “Totally reinvent the genre.” Hey, an U.N.C.L.E. movie sounds great to me. Let’s just hope he and the studio that brought us Wild Wild West don’t totally muck it up.

Screenwriters Purvis and Wade arrived in L.A. and had a close encounter with the CBn crew at a screening of Diamonds Are Forever in Hollywood. Are they here to work on Casino Royale? We didn’t ask (come on, it was “the boys” night off). However they may have leaked to us the very first CR spoiler — “Hope you guys don’t mind the space station we put in the end.”

They were kidding — we think.

The Bond #6 Search

Is it going to be Julian McMahon, Daniel Craig, Rory McCann (who was he again?), or is the infamous AJB “insider” correct that the announcement of Clive Owen is imminent? Well, settle back for what may be a long wait. Word is the search for James Bond #6 is ongoing without a frontrunner in sight. Eon is considering faces both familiar and unknown. In that unknown category is Ingo Rademacher, who I can safely report will NOT be the man in the gun barrel, but it just goes to show that Eon is digging deep to find just that right “young” man for the job (yes, I’m afraid too).

And speaking of the right man for the job, Variety editor-in-chief, Peter Bart, revealed in an unnecessarily nasty editorial that Pierce Brosnan negotiated himself out of the part by asking for $40 million (the UK press decided to raise the figure to $42 million; U.S. conservative mouthpiece “Human Events” raised it to $52 million — “fuzzy math” indeed!). We at CBn have heard a lot of much more modest figures; so I didn’t buy this at first. But then I got word that the figure is indeed correct! It now looks like Pierce’s repeated talk of the producers being in a state of paralysis might have instead been a bad case of sticker shock!

Of course, PB was not asking for a $40 million paycheck upfront. He was proposing a “compensation package” that would include profit participation. Share the wealth, right? Wrong. Dollar signs are one thing to Eon, but a percentage sign is something else entirely. Just ask Sean Connery. Eon is reluctant to give its Bond stars profit participation, and this may have been the real reason (or excuse?) that Eon left “the billion dollar Bond” at the altar. That and there are those rumors that Pierce and Barbara Broccoli have been at each other’s throats since TND. Don’t mess with the iron lady, Pierce. Next!

Oh, and Pierce confirmed on his official website that it’s really, truly, definitely, unquestionably, over. Goodbye, Pierce. We’ll miss you.

Next!

The Literary Bond

The official SilverFin website opened with a countdown clock ticking down to its March 3 release — but isn’t that a bit like Blofeld blowing up Kansas? (“The world may not hear about it for 10 years.”) Okay, it’s easy to rip on a series about a 13-year-old James Bond, but the publishers are putting a heck of a lot of promotion behind it; so they must feel pretty good about their debut Young Bond novel. Early reviews have been very positive. Shame the release of Book 2 has been pushed from October to January ’06.

Author Charlie Higson talked about SilverFin and Young Bond series at length (including some juicy details about Book 2) in a recent CBn Interview. In this first (and so far, only) interview with a James Bond website, Higson was generous, candid, and funny, and this seems to have won him more than a few converts across cyberspace. Higson even revealed that he frequents Bond fansite forums and sometimes contributes under a pseudonym! Hmmm…let the guessing game begin.

U.S. publisher Hyperion Books for Children recently put the entire first chapter of SilverFin online …only to quickly remove it after it was discovered by fans (with the help of a CBn main page story). Whoops!

007 Gaming

Electronic Arts (EA) was expected to make an official announcement about its next Bond game, James Bond 007: From Russia With Love, but that announcement never materialized. I suspect I know what the holdup is all about, but if I say anything, EA will kill me (or at least Athena won?t get her free review copy — in which case she will kill me). However, EA did preview game footage at the University of Florida. The footage featured Sean Connery in a jetpack. I think it’s fair to assume from this that the EA game will expand outside the FRWL storyline just a wee bit (in fact, I know it will).

EA also said a second Bond game is in development at their L.A. studio (site of last year?s GoldenEye: Rogue Agent Community Day). I hope this is the original game Bruce Feirstein was working on until EA realized they wouldn’t have a new Bond actor in time for a 2006 release and shelved the idea in favor of the From Russia With Love remake…rethink…whatever the heck they are going to call it.

The Toy Box

Sideshow Collectibles unveiled their latest figure Moonraker Moore, at the New York International Toy Fair 2005. He looks great in his natty yellow Drax jumpsuit, and the first 500 pre-orders get an extra…extra (Bond’s cigarette case X-ray machine). This is a must buy for this guy!

Sideshow is now shipping their Wai Lin figure and slipped CBn an early figure to review. Our review: Hubba-hubba! Sideshow has dramatically improved the articulation of their figures — of course, this only matters to you madmen who actually take her out of the box. Trivia note: Wai Lin comes with real human hair. Not sure whether this is cool or creepy, but it looks great! Now, if only they would stop binding their figures inside the box with a dozen twist ties. Those things drive me nuts!

Sideshow has yet to officially announced their Pierce Brosnan HALO figure. CBn broke the news of this upcoming figure just as we did Wai Lin last year. While Sideshow didn’t deny the news (thank goodness), they’ve remained strangely silent. Could the Pierce situation have put the kybosh on this project? We would ask, but we’re shy.

Good Works

Talented artist and all-around cool guy, Jeff Marshall, joined with CBn and the entire online Bond community (well, one site told us to take a hike) to auction his own personal The Spy Who Love Me print signed by the stars. The starting bid was $200…and ended at $760.50! All the money went to the UNICEF: 2004 Tsunami Relief Fund…you know, the organization represented by that guy who used to play Bond? Seriously, of all the mischief we fansites get up too, this is some mischief we can be proud of.

You Read it on CBn First

Word is Sony wants Martin Campbell to wrap work on The Legend of Zorro by mid-June and start pre-production work on Casino Royale immediately. Sweet!

Until next time…

To discuss this month’s CBn Dossier visit this thread on the CBn Forums.

'Collecting 007' #20 Arriving Mid March

Collecting 007, the excellent fanzine of the James Bond Collectors Club, will be shipping to club members starting the week of March 14, reports club president Dave Worrall.

This latest issue will feature articles by club members, including two articles originally found right here on CBn; a report on the Diamonds Are Forever Mustang Mach 1 auction in Los Angeles, and the story behind the discovery of the Sanchez escape plane from Licence To Kill at last year’s Bond Collector’s Weekend (BCW7).

The issue will also feature articles about the recent purchases by the Ian Fleming Foundation of the Thunderball model plane and the Live And Let Die speedboat, as well as reviews of the latest James Bond action figures from Sideshow Collectibles and scale model cars from Corgi.

To subscribe to Collecting 007 in time to receive this latest issue, visit the Solo Publishing website.

To discuss this news visit this thread in the CBn Forums.
Thanks to Dave Worrall.

Campbell Chats 'Casino'

In his first interview since Eon’s recent Bond 21 announcement, Casino Royale‘s director, Martin Campbell has delivered some tantalising hints of what we can expect in 007’s new cinematic adventure.

Talking to New York Daily News, Campbell, who previously helmed Pierce Brosnan’s debut Bond flick GoldenEye, strongly reinforced the “back to basics” approach Casino Royale will take.

According to Campbell, the new film will take the storyline from Fleming’s original novel – his first – and tweak it for a 2006 audience. “There are things that will have to be changed from the original novel. The Cold War elements will have to be reconfigured, for example, but Casino Royale will be a grittier, tougher and more realistic Bond movie. We’ll be getting away from the huge visual effects kind of films.”

Perhaps the biggest revelation from Campbell is that Casino Royale will take James Bond back to his early 007 days (a similar idea was floated during pre-production on The Living Daylights). However, CBn can confirm that the movie will not be a period film.

“In the new film, Bond is essentially starting out in his career, and has just recently become part of the double-0 section,” Campbell said. “The idea is to put a bit of the dash back in Bond. By the end of the movie, the character will have been forged into the wiser, harder Bond we know.”

The interview touches on Bond’s romance with Vesper Lynd from Fleming’s novel, one of the most unique of the series. “The door is open for Bond, emotionally. He’s in love with Vesper and he sees there’s another side to all of this, that life might be far more pleasurable, more gratifying, than being a secret agent. And ultimately that door is slammed in his face, which makes him the tempered steel kind of guy that we know. I’m looking forward to humanising Bond a bit.”

Campbell also spoke of the infamous torture sequence, for which Fleming’s Casino Royale is arguably most well-known. “I don’t know what we’re going to do about that. It ranks up there with the teeth-drilling scene in Marathon Man,” Campbell said, referring to the 1976 film starring Dustin Hoffman and Marc Lawrence (of Diamonds Are Forever and The Man With The Golden Gun).

As Campbell winds up production on The Legend of Zorro, and begins the press junkets for the film, expect Casino Royale to be a hot topic!

Keep watching CBn for the latest news on Casino Royale.

Discuss these tasty hints of what’s to come in this thread on the CBn Forums.

The Charlie Higson CBn Interview

On March 3, 2005 Ian Fleming Publications and Puffin Books will release SilverFin, the first of a series of Young Bond novels written by Charlie Higson, co-creator of the hugely popular BBC comedy series, ‘The Fast Show’, and a successful screenwriter and adult thriller novelist. Today CBn has the extreme honour of being the first James Bond website to interview Mr. Higson about SilverFin and the Young Bond series.

Enjoy!

First off, can you tell us briefly how you got the job?

Ian Fleming Publications approached several writers–both children’s authors and adult novelists–in the end, I was the one they decided to go with. Exactly why is a question that only IFP can answer. But I think they were looking for someone who had a simple, direct writing style, who was a fan of Bond and who would be willing to work within the guidelines they had established for the books.

How did you go about researching life at Eton in the 1930s?

Eton is still there. Some of the buildings have been standing there since the Middle Ages. So the first place to start was at the school itself. The Flemings have a good relationship with the senior librarian there, Michael Meredith. Who has incidentally created a fine Ian Fleming archive in the library–including many first editions. I think the college is quite proud of its associations with James Bond (Ian Fleming of course went there in the twenties). Michael is a big Bond fan, and a great collector of books. He has been very helpful with my research and has been checking my manuscripts for authenticity and giving me the odd tip.

There is a wealth of material published about Eton, much of which I have read, but the most helpful book was one written by Bernard Fregusson about what it was like to be a boy at the school in the early thirties.

Will you go into the details about Bond’s expulsion from Eton at some point in a later book?

Of course I will. How could I not? I know this is going to be a sticky point about which the Bond fanatics will get most huffy–but, in my books, Bond is going to be at Eton for more than two halves! Shock horror. (A term is called a half at Eton) But, don’t worry, have patience, it’s all going to be explained in book 5–and it will work quite neatly with what Fleming wrote. I’m afraid you’ll just have to read the book to find out exactly how it works… (It will include an incident involving a boy’s maid and Bond’s removal from the school). But, do you really think that an obituary written by the head of the secret service about an active spy is going to be the whole truth?

I’m interested in how you came to use eels as such an integral part of the story. It’s brilliant, by the way…but how did it come about?

Nobody likes eels. My wife in particular has a thing about them. (Actually eels are fascinating and much misunderstood creatures, and I think I’ve given them a bad press in this book, which is a pity because they’re being wiped out at the moment.)

I needed a bad animal. Finding a new dangerous animal for a Bond project is tough (witness the killer bass in Austin Powers). We’ve had all the obvious ones–octopus, giant squid, tiger, sharks, crocodiles etc. etc. But I wanted something scary that kids could relate to and might actually think they could come across in their own lives. Eels were the obvious choice. But, as eels are fairly benign and would never attack a human, I had to make them mutated eels, which led me to some of the mechanics of the plot.

SilverFin is quite long for a children’s book–it’s actually the longest James Bond book yet written. Were you given a word restriction?

Is it longer than the Fleming books? Don’t be fooled by the page count, it’s large type for children!

(The second book is even longer, I’m afraid.)

I had no guidelines for length. I just wrote it as it came out, though it has of course been edited down and tightened since my first draft.

Kids like to be engrossed in books (Harry Potter seems quite popular, and something called Lord Of The Rings) and we also wanted to it to be clear that this was a proper novel not just a cheapo, quickie cash in, so I really wanted it to be something substantial.

Have you read any of the post Fleming novels, most notably “James Bond the Authorized Biography of 007” by John Pearson, which covers some of the same territory you cover in the Young Bond series?

No. I deliberately steered clear of anything post Fleming. My books are designed to fit in with what Fleming wrote and nothing else. I also didn’t want to be influenced by any of the other books, particularly the Pearson one (which I gather is actually rather good). One day I’ll read them. But for now my Bible is Fleming.

You choose to call him “James” throughout the novel instead of “Bond”, as Fleming, Gardner, and Benson did. Was this a deliberate choice, or, because of his age, did “James” just feel more natural?

Boys at Eton in the thirties called each other by their first names. And it just didn’t seem right to have a 13 year old boy referred to constantly by his surname in the text. I think it humanises him, calling him James, and makes him more of a real person for the young readers. OK, so he grows up to be James Bond, the icon, but he must once have been an ordinary boy.

(The girls in the films and books all call him “James” as well. It’s somehow more intimate.)

Aunt Charmian is established in Fleming, I believe, but is Uncle Max an original character? What made you give Bond a mentor who was a WWI spy?

Charmian is mentioned in You Only Live Twice. Max is my own invention.

It was decided very early on that James should very much not be a teenage spy figure; we didn’t want to go down the cheesy Cody Banks/Spy Kids route. We wanted him to be a real boy at a real school. Also, it’s clear from the adult novels that James didn’t get involved in spying until the Second World War. But I did want there to be some element of spying in the book, because that’s obviously what Bond is known for. So it felt right for him to have an uncle who had been a spy in the First World War. It gives us a taste of the world that James is going to be involved with when he grows up, and the man he is going to become.

Is the Bentley Aunt Charmian drives the same car Bond drives in the Fleming books?

It certainly is. I put an early Aston Martin in the book as well, for film fans, but I knew there had to be some mention of the Bentley for people who know Bond from the books (it also appears in From Russia With Love at the start of the movie when Connery is indulging in a spot of ‘lunch’ with Sylvia Trench). It says in Casino Royale that Bond bought himself a Bentley in the early thirties, but exactly how old he was when this happened is not definite (Fleming famously altered his timescale as he went along to keep Bond young.) But we will be covering this purchase in a later book.

Some fans have already expressed discomfort with what they sense are too many similarities to Harry Potter in the Young Bond series. Do you have any feelings or fears about SilverFin being perceived as being too Potteresque?

Oh, come on. Have they read the book?

There have been countless stories written about boys at school from Tom Brown’s schooldays onwards, you could say that they are all Potteresque! Or you could concede that they might all be different. If you write about a boy of thirteen (which is the correct age to appeal to our target audience) then he is going to be at school, there’s no way around it.

Bond was at Eton, a weird, crusty boarding school. Obviously, the success of the Potter novels meant that IFP were less nervous about whether kids of today could relate to someone at a weird, crusty, English boarding school, but otherwise there are no similarities. There are no wizards, goblins, magic spells or whatnot.

Bond has a regular set of friends at the school, but they are not a gang who go off on adventures together. James is very much his own man. Eton is the background to the books in much the same way that the secret service is the background to the adult books. It’s a springboard for adventures rather than the focus of all activity (as the school is in the Potter books).

The following question and answer contain SPOILERS. Highlight to read.

Near the end of the novel, Bond receives an injection of the SilverFin serum (meant to change people into ultimate and obedient soldiers). After the injection, Bond does undergo quite a radical change and in the end it’s said there something “cold and frightening” in his eyes. Are you suggesting that the SilverFin serum is what gave James Bond his darker, killer instincts and skills, and is this something that will be explored as the series goes on?

Do you know, I never thought of that! Honest to God, I didn’t. It’s an interesting idea… But no. I don’t want to imply that James in any way has superhuman attributes – the effects of the serum wear off. It was necessary for the action in the first book, though, for James to have some sort of help to get him through the otherwise impossible physical challenges (swimming underwater in a Scottish loch at Easter time for instance) without dying.

There are also echoes, of course, of his adult drug taking (he’s not averse to dropping a bit of speed to see him through a long night at the gaming table.) I think what has changed inside James in the book is not that he has taken this drug but that he has witnessed some awful things and seen death at close hand.

But I guess your idea might keep the websites talking for a while…

END SPOILER.

Fleming established that Bond lost his virginity–and his pocket book–to a prostitute in Paris when he was 16. Are you going to deal with this event, or Bond’s sexuality, in the later books?

I won’t be taking him that far, unfortunately. He’s only going be to about fourteen when my books finish. I’ll leave it to someone else to write about his first forays into adult sex.

Will your books become darker or more adult in tone as Bond travels into adolescence – sort of like how the Harry Potter books have matured along with their audience?

To a certain extent, yes, but not too much. I wanted to show Bond hardening and growing up through the books; becoming tougher and more cynical and disillusioned with the world. But they are designed to be a series of children’s books, and children don’t like things to change too much from one book to the next in a series. So, as long as I can write them quickly enough and not be outgrown by my initial audience, than he won’t age/change that much.

He’s going to have a very busy year!

Gardner and Benson both spoke about the difficulty of finding a title that satisfied everyone. Was SilverFin your title and your first choice? If not, can you tell us some of the unused titles?

There have been some amusing spoof titles on some of the websites and I can see how some fans might find SilverFin a little too close to Goldfinger. But I agree with B&G, coming up with a title was the hardest part. There have been too many other Bond titles over the years. We wanted something that sounded suitably Bondian but wasn’t too specific in it’s meaning. Between IFP, myself, the publishers and everyone else involved we came up with loads of titles – and in the end SilverFin was the one most of us agreed on.

You wait, after a while it’ll stand up in its own right, and you won’t think twice about it.

Some rejected titles.

My working title was ‘Out Of Breath.’ But this was a little too Elmore Leonard. Later on there were various permutations of ‘Silver’, including…

SilverBack (it’s a type of gorilla – rejected)
SilverSkin (it’s a type of onion – rejected)
SilverHead (it sounds a bit like a gay sex act – rejected)
SilverFist (it sounds even more like a gay sex act – rejected)

We’ve heard there are five books planned. Is this true? Which book are you currently writing at the moment?

That’s the plan. I have finished the first two and am about to start work on the third… which will be out in at least two years’ time…

I’m pleased to see you will be reading the SilverFin audio book yourself. How did this come about and will you be reading the future books as well?

So far I have recorded the abridged version. I don’t know if there are any plans for a full-length reading and if so who might read it.

I got the job after had to read a couple of passages for some American publicity and everyone thought it came out OK. I have a profile as a performer in Britain, so I suppose as something of a minor celebrity I was what they were looking for to read the audio book.

Whether I’ll do any more, I do know. We’ll have to see how people react to the first one. I enjoyed doing it, although I wish I hadn’t put in quite so many different accents. (My American accent is pretty rotten.)

Some fans have been hostile towards the idea of a series about a 13-year-old James Bond. Will you look at fan forums like the one here at CBn to gauge fan reactions to SilverFin? Or do you avoid the Internet and fan sites?

I look at all the websites and have been following the arguments with great interest (I occasionally join in, using a pseudonym), but it doesn’t mean I have to agree with them!

It’s useful to know what people are thinking, though, of course, these books are aimed at a younger readership than the fans who take part in the forums. It’s always interesting to see what people think. I fully understand the fans’ reservations and scorn – I’d have felt the same way if I’d heard that someone else was doing this project – but I hope I can prove a few people wrong.

(Though I do get the impression that a lot of the fanatics will be disappointed if these books are popular!)

If given the opportunity at some point, would you like to write an adult James Bond novel?

That’s a tricky one. What would you do with James Bond today that hasn’t already been done? That was the attraction of going back to the early thirties; it gives you a new canvas and you can go back to basics. But James Bond in the modern world… Hmm…

I’d love to work on a film script, but a novel, I don’t know, perhaps if it was set back in the forties during the war, on in the fifties between a couple of the Fleming books. But I haven’t been asked, so I don’t have to worry about this. Right now I’m enjoying writing the kids’ books and they’re going to keep me busy for a good few years…

Finally, can you share with us ANY details about Book 2–a title maybe?

The second book takes place largely in Sardinia and involves bandits, art theft and people smuggling. My working title was ‘Double M’, but don’t expect it to be called this when it comes out.

Book three will take place largely in the darker corners of London. Book four will be set in the Alps and book 5 in outer space (only joking).

Thank you so much for your time. Everyone at CBn wishes you the best
of luck with SilverFin and the Young Bond series.

To discuss this interview visit this thread on the CBn Forums.
Thanks to Laura Creyke, Jordan Charter, and Evan Willnow.

Purchase the UK paperback edition of SilverFin

Purchase the SilverFin audio book

Pre-order the U.S. hardcover edition of SilverFin (April 27, 2005)

Pre-order the U.S. paperback edition of SilverFin (April 27, 2005)

First Details of Young Bond Books 2, 3, and 4 Revealed

In a forthcoming CBn Interview, SilverFin author Charlie Higson has revealed the first details about his second Young Bond adventure (due in January 2006), as well as details of Books 3 and 4!

The second book takes place largely in Sardinia and involves bandits, art theft and people smuggling. My working title was ‘Double M’, but don’t expect it to be called this when it comes out.

Book three will take place largely in the darker corners of London. Book four will be set in the Alps and book five in outer space (only joking).

– Charlie Higson

Watch for CBn’s exclusive in-depth interview with Charlie Higson coming soon!

To discuss this news visit this thread in the CBn forums.

UPDATE: Read the full Charlie Higson CBn Interview HERE.

SilverFin – The Audio Book

The SilverFin audio book cover art has been revealed by publisher Puffin Books. The audio version of Young Bond #1 retails for £12.99 ($20.22 U.S.) and will be released on March 3, the same day as the UK paperback edition. As CBn first reported in October, author Charlie Higson will be reading the text himself.

Having the author read his own text is a first for a Bond novel, but in this case it’s a choice that makes sense. Besides being a novelist and a television writer, Higson is a talented performer, having achieved success in the BBC production The Fast Show.

Past James Bond audio books have been narrated by 007 veterans such as Joanna Lumley (who played one of Blofeld’s “Belles of Hell” in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) and Samantha “Moneypenny” Bond.

For an audio excerpt, visit the official Young Bond website.

Keep watching CBn for the latest news on SilverFin and the Young Bond series.

To discuss this news visit this thread in the CBn forums.

Purchase the SilverFin audio book (March 3, 2005)

Purchase the UK paperback edition of SilverFin (March 3, 2005)

Pre-order the U.S. hardcover edition of SilverFin (April 27, 2005)

Pre-order the U.S. paperback edition of SilverFin (April 27, 2005)

Outer Space Now Belongs To Sideshow Collectibles

Sideshow Collectibles have unveiled a new addition to their James Bond Collection at the 2005 American International Toy Fair in New York.

It’s Moore… Roger Moore from Moonraker!

This 12-inch figure comes from sculptor Oluf Hartvigson (See: The Sideshow CBn Interview) and is a great counterpart to Sideshow’s 2003 special 14-inch Jaws figure.

The 12-inch Roger Moore as James Bond action figure has over 30 points of articulation, comes dressed in his fully detailed Moonraker flight suit and astronaut boots, and is equipped with the Moonraker laser gun, wrist watch dart gun and a Moonraker 12″ figure stand.

The first 500 customers to PRE-ORDER directly from Sideshow will receive an exclusive bonus accessory available nowhere else — an x-ray machine disguised as a cigarette case!

To discuss this figure visit this thread on the CBn Forums.

Young Bond Book 2 Pushed to Jan. '06

Thanks to an early release by Play.com, CBn forum member Tanger has his hands on the actual UK release edition of SilverFin, the first Young Bond novel by Charlie Higson. The book is not due for its official UK release until March 3.

Tanger checks in with this “aesthetic review” of the book itself.

First of all, the cover – it has a glittery effect, the eels and writing are raised (ie. bumpy) and everything that looks white in the pictures is actually silver. The eels look particularly nice with their light blue metallic effect.

They’ve gone with the cover that says “Meet Bond. James Bond” rather than the one I preferred which said “A James Bond Adventure” but I believe that may be the US one. Or might there be alternate versions around? We’ll have to wait and see.

The novel is split into parts – there’s a prologue chapter called “Blood in the Water” and then PART ONE: ETON, PART TWO: SCOTLAND, PART THREE: THE CASTLE. There are 28 chapters.

That’s about it really. Oh, the book’s HUGE by the way. Much bigger than any other Bond paperbacks and quite a way bigger than any average paperback.

My only complaint is the card that the cover is made out of – if you bend it, it tends to stay in that shape, so my front cover is temporarily curled outwards until I have time to leave it under something heavy.

The biggest surprise is that the release of Book 2 has apparently been pushed to January 2006. The UK proof edition showed the book coming in November, and the description of SilverFin on Amazon.com notes “A hot sequel to follow in autumn.” Nevertheless…

With regards to Young Bond #2 – the release date is January 2006. This is shown on both the second page which says “Look out for the second YOUNG BOND book, coming in January 2006 and on the final page which has a picture of a dossier folder and says “The next mission for BOND will be security cleared for release in 2006” and then underneath “Great Adventures Are Worth The Wait”. There’s also a “TOP SECRET” stamp for those of you who wanted to know that.

Thank you Tanger!

Keep watching CBn for the latest news on SilverFin and the Young Bond series.

To discuss this news visit this thread in the CBn forums.

Pre-order the UK edition of SilverFin (March 3, 2005)

Pre-order the U.S. hardcover edition of SilverFin (April 27, 2005)

Pre-order the U.S. paperback edition of SilverFin (April 27, 2005)

Pre-order the SilverFin audio book (March 3, 2005)

The High Price of Bonding

An editorial by Peter Bart in yesterday’s Variety has apparently shed light on the real reason Eon unceremoniously dumped Pierce Brosnan as James Bond at exactly this time last year.

Surprise, surprise…it was all about money.

To star as 007 for a fifth and final time in next years Casino Royale, Bart claims Pierce was asking for a “compensation package” (meaning percentage of profits, etc.) that would “total out north of $40 million.”

Just to put this in perspective, this is more than the total budgets of the first nine James Bond films combined!

It now looks like Pierce’s repeated talk of the producers being in a state of paralysis might have instead been a bad case of sticker shock!

Pierce was reportedly paid $16 million for his last Bond outing, Die Another Day.

Do you think Pierce was worth this price? Or did Eon do the right thing in letting him go?
Join the debate in this thread on the CBn Forums.
Thanks to “hrabb04” for helping with this article.

'Goldfinger' Screening in The Chicago Area

The Northwestern University Block Museum of Art will be screening Goldfinger as part of their Production Design Series.

Thursday, February 17 – 8:00 PM
General Admission $6.00

Goldfinger (1964, MGM/UA, 112 min) Director Guy Hamilton. 007 (Sean Connery) is at it again – this time fighting international bullion dealer Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe), the man with the Midas touch. Goldfinger is one villain you don’t want to mess with, especially because his quirky sidekick Oddjob kills women by painting their entire bodies gold. With Fort Knox and entire national economies at stake, Bond must defeat the villain’s Operation Grand Slam. Ken Adam’s production design, with its impossible gadgets and diabolically huge, coiled lasers, sets the scene for Connery’s over-the-top performance and his dry throwaway lines.

Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art
Northwestern University
40 Arts Circle Drive
Evanston, IL 60208

For directions click here. Free parking is available in the lot directly south of the Museum. Doors open 30 minutes before show time.

To discuss this event visit this thread on the CBn Forums.
Thanks to CBn Member IndyB007 for the heads up