New Rumours Concerning The Next James Bond Actor

Who is going on to play James Bond in the next installment of the longest-running blockbuster franchise in film history?

Today British tabloid "Sunday Mirror" has struck again and reported that Dougray Scott is the next James Bond. "He has beaten an army of rivals including Hulk star Eric Bana plus fellow Brits Clive Owen and Ioan Gruffud to take over cinema’s most famous role from Pierce Brosnan.", reports the tabloid.

Dougray Scott is 38 years old and ironically from Scotland. He had his most famous role in Mission: Impossible 2. According to the paper he "won his role after discussions with Barbara Broccoli, producer of the long-running spy series. She wants to return 007 to his film roots." Furthermore they report: "A source revealed: ‘Producers have been eager to take Bond back to the broody and sexy figure that Sean was so brilliant at. Obviously it’s not possible for Sean to return at his age, so they have been looking for a young actor with similar characteristics. Since then Barbara and Dougray have been in talks – and she believes he will be the perfect new 007 for the 21st Century.’"

While it first seems that this is just another rumour, it could possibly be true. Dougray Scott was one of the names mentioned by sources in the past. But is this really how Eon would annouce the new Bond actor? Or was the story just leaked? It seems likely that details about Bond 21 are going to emerge soon, if the stories of the Time Warner/MGM deal are true. Maybe an official statement is to follow. Watch this space.

Today also another name made the news: Pierce Brosnan. Has he really lost his license to kill or was it just a big misunderstanding? In an interview about his new movie, After the Sunset, the Irish-born actor tells magazine "Los Angeles Confidential" that he isn’t out for sure. Asked "Speaking of seminal roles, Pierce, you recently announced that you were finished playing James Bond", Brosnan replied "There was no announcement. I think the reporter heard it wrong. I think what I said was, "I’ve had my fill of talking about Bond." The reporter further asked "So there was not an official announcement that you were finished doing Bond films?" and Brosnan answered that "it was not an official announcement."

So – where does that leave us? Is Brosnan in or out, is Dougray Scott the new Bond? Actually, there still seems to some "paralysis" at EON Productions. An insider over at "Absolutely James Bond" message board put it like this:

The project has been, let’s face it, "In Development Hell" for a while, you’ve had:

• The Death of Dana Broccoli
• Mickey and Babs’ "paralysis"
• Is Pierce doing it?
• Is there a new Bond?
• Who’s Directing it?
• Wade & Purvis’ "Writer’s Block"
• The MGM sale

AJB Insider

Stay tuned. CBn will keep you updated and informed.

To discuss the latest developments visit this thread in CBn’s Bond 21 forums.
Thanks to zencat and “Guest” for the tip-off.

The Gareth Hudson CBn Interview

A wonderfully balmy summers evening in London last July saw Bond fans flock from far and wide to the Royal Festival Hall on the South Bank of the Thames. The event? Just one night in a series by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra known as the ‘South Bank Summer Pops.’

On July 16th, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra presented a one-off James Bond concert in central London: Shaken Not Stirred- The Music Of James Bond included many of the title songs from the series as well as numerous action and romance cues from the film scores that rank among some of the most memorable in both popular and movie music genres.

Gareth Hudson, the conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra during Shaken Not Stirred is based in Dublin where, after being Executive Producer of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, he was recently appointed Associate Conductor of the orchestra with a brief to further develop the orchestra’s light music, family concert and entertainment output. He has conducted over 300 concerts and broadcasts with the RTÉ CO and he also conducts the BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Ulster Orchestra. After making his debut with the Odense Symphony Orchestra, Denmark, in the summer of 2003 he was immediately re-engaged to conduct the orchestra in the ’04/5 season. He recently made his first appearance as a conductor for BBC R2’s Friday Night is Music Night.

He has received a major national Irish award for his “Outstanding Contribution to Music in Ireland” in recognition of his work with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and the Ulster Orchestra. Gareth Hudson’s abilities on the podium as a conductor and presenter are matched by his innovative programming ideas from the lighter classical repertoire and the finest quality light music. He has conducted over 100 concerts in his series of family concerts Music for Fun with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra that has also been the subject of a TV Documentary.

His programmes are created for the individual needs of each orchestra from his library of first class arrangements of light classical and ballet music, music theatre and film music (including silent film accompaniment). Other programmes he has devised have included Elation, Movie Classics, Shaken Not Stirred, The Ratpack, The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Supertroupers, String Serenade, Valentine Day Classics and Love Against the Odds.

Gareth Hudson has a close association with the world of musical theatre. In 1995 he was selected from over 50 Broadway and West End conductors to be Principal Conductor and Musical Director of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s production of The Phantom of the Opera for which he recruited the singers and musicians from over 25 countries for a special production in Basel, Switzerland. This ran for two years, was recorded by Polygram and he was subsequently asked by Cameron Mackintosh to conduct the London Production. His work for the BBC has included a very favourably reviewed production of Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot (starring Paul Nicholas and Jason Donovan) for BBC Radio 2.

Half an hour before the concert started, CBn was able to sit down and have a chat with Gareth Hudson, the Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra about the series of 007-themed concerts and his views on the Bond cues that span 40 years of film music.

Do you follow all of the Bond film scores? Or are you just familiar with the title songs? If so, is there a favourite?

To an extent, the concert is a blend, mainly of the title songs. But what makes this concert different is that over the years there have been Bond concerts featuring orchestras and if you were lucky – with one singer, but generally doing an awful lot of “orchestrations” of the songs. I wanted to put the thing back to original sounds. So you’re talking about having three singers; we’re covering the main Bond songs; and there’s a certain amount of the instrumental music too.

One of the reasons this sort of thing hadn’t been done before is that a lot of the arrangements that would had been done for the film soundtracks; the actual orchestrations that had been done for the film had been lost, burnt or whatever. So sometimes these things never get reconstructed. So – if you like, some of the stars of tonight are the team of arrangers and orchestrators who put together the Bond sounds as originally heard.

But, yeah, you were asking about my favourite film; I guess of all of them – it’s very difficult when there have been 20 because you tend not to have seen the most recent ones as many times – but I think the George Lazenby one, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service [is my favourite]. I like it very much. I know it’s controversial, other people like it and other people give it the thumbs down and that’s partly because there were so many rumours like what he [George Lazenby] was like to work with. Was he fired after one? And then there’s another [rumour] that says he was actually more complicated than that. I personally think anyone replacing Sean Connery would have had a hell of a time. Looking at it from a musical point of view a lot of the best usage of music was in there. And it did have some solid acting in there: Joanna Lumley, etcetera. Telly Savalas didn’t do a bad job and Loius Armstrong’s song… things like that. It’s a bit different. Certainly John Barry’s finest score.

With David Arnold incorporating electronic sounds into the scores, was that an issue for you at all?

Obviously, one of the things that’s more different about symphonic Bond concerts is that we carry a full rhythm section. We do this concert on a three-hour rehearsal. If you had more time you’d be balancing it all with synthesisers and things like that. The truth of the matter is, it’s an acoustic concert and therefore you’re trying to give the taste of the original sound. It’s all there, but as you know they spent hours and hours recording and rehearsing the soundtracks and our concept is that we first walk in [to rehearsal] at 3pm and leave at 7:30pm. There is a full rhythm section so a lot – not all of the machine stuff – but what can humanly be done is actually there.

I think David Arnold has actually managed a very difficult situation because they went through a stage with the Bond scores where they wanted to sound hip and get more modern, but they turned their back on the old John Barry sound. Then David Arnold found this way of being hip and bringing it all up to date as well as paying homage to Barry. So I think he’s done an extraordinarily good thing. It seems to me that that whenever a composer turns their back on the original Barry sound, it never is quite so good. There was a French composer [Eric Serra] who almost deliberately said, “I’m not going to use Barry” – and that didn’t work. It’s rather funny that Barry has created this thing; can you imagine as a film composer for the phone to ring and [be asked] “Would you do the next Bond?” Superb. But actually, you couldn’t really be your own man. You’d have to pay tribute to Barry.

As these concerts are essentially your own project, how long has it taken in preparation from the start to now?

This is the fourth or fifth time we’ve done it. I’m attached to this professional orchestra in Dublin; they have a symphony and concert orchestra, rather like the BBC does. Part of my job is to look at new angles on things. We start working on something like this, I mean, I enjoyed it actually, it’s Bond, so it’s a question of listening to all the soundtracks and saying “What would work in a concert in this situation?” In actual fact, this isn’t in any way to insult the Bond genre, but there’s obviously a lot of incidental music, that from a purist’s point of view, you might put a record on and say “Oh, I remember what scene that is from…” however in a concert situation it just wouldn’t work. So, in actual fact, I found that there is about a two hour concert on what I would call the best music. Particularly with all the strict copyright, they don’t like us to show films. The marketing people had a hard job; Eon Productions are actually quite strict on what you can and can’t do. On one hand, a Bond concert sounds like a marketing dream, but in actual fact, it is a tough one because of what we can’t do.

Who would you like to perform the next Bond title song? Do you have a favourite? Should it be instrumental (as with “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”) or a more traditional lyrical number?

I think it would have to be with lyrics. Who is the contemporary person to fit into that genre now? It’s a very good question. Madonna would have been such an obvious choice for the last one. I don’t mind telling you, when it came to picking something from Die Another Day, I went all the way through the soundtrack and we had to get something in, and I’ve actually used this piece, “Welcome to Cuba”, which in the film, after a few bars is turned right down, but as a two-minute piece of Cuban music is actually lovely. But unfortunately there’s no way to take the Madonna piece and turn that around for the stage….At the moment there’s no-one that really jumps out at me as the singer for the next one.

You can discuss the concert in this thread in the CBn Forums.

With thanks to Gareth Hudson, patrickgarvey.com and Chris Evans at the RPO.

Related Articles:

• Shaken Not Stirred: The Music Of James Bond

Has Time Warner Purchased MGM?

MAJOR UPDATE! Sept. 13, 2004:

Time Warner has pulled their bid for MGM and Sony Corp has agreed in principal to purchase the studio for $4.8 billion. Full details HERE.

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James Bond may finally have a new boss. Defamer.com and Ain’t It Cool News are reporting that Time Warner has completed their purchase of MGM studios, home of Eon Productions and the James Bond film franchise. Both websites credit unnamed sources and caution that at this stage the news is just rumour, but it’s common knowledge that the two companies have been in talks for the past month and recently there have been indicators that a sale was imminent.

Variety and CNN are reporting that Sony Corp put in a last minute bid Thursday morning in a final attempt to buy the studio. In contrast to the reports on AICN and Defamer, Variety is reporting that while the board met to consider the rival bids, it didn’t reach a decision on either offer.

If news of the sale proves to be true, does this mean production on Bond 21, which has been delayed because of the extended sale talks, is now free to move ahead? Will Eon finally be free to make official announcements regarding a director and who will play 007? Or will Bond’s new boss want to tinker a bit under the hood before letting this prized acquisition leave the showroom floor?

Stay tuned.

To discuss this news visit the CBn forums.
Thanks to Spoon and Goldfinger007 for the tip

Related articles:

• USA Today: “Sony-led group near purchase of MGM studio”
• Forbes: “MGM Deal Draws Near”
• MGM Postpones Meeting, Sale Talks Heat Up
• Reuters: Sony And Partners Go After MGM

Official "GoldenEye: Rogue Agent" Box Art Revealed!

Today Electronic Arts revealed the official box art for their new James Bond video game, GoldenEye: Rogue Agent, which is set for release on November 17th in the US and December 3rd in the UK.

The Richie Fahey CBn Interview

In 2002, the numbers did the talking for 007. Die Another Day, the twentieth film in the series was released, 40 years after Dr. No, raking in over $430 million worldwide, more than any Bond film before it (inflation unadjusted). And 50 years after Ian Fleming sat down at his typewriter to create the character, Penguin, having acquired the publishing rights to Fleming’s 14 Bond books, set about rereleasing the original Bond novels for the first time since the early 1990s. Starting in early 2002, Penguin began reissuing Fleming’s novels in the UK, featuring sleek, modern-looking abstract photographs for the covers, shot by Toby McFarlan Pond. Such a surprise it was, then, when Penguin took a unique and entirely unprecedented approach to the rereleases in the United States, which went on to become the first complete set released in the US in more than 30 years.

Enter Richie Fahey, a New York-based photographer who specialises in pulp artwork. Inspired by the style used in the mid-1900s, Fahey, coupled with Penguin’s art director, Roseanne Serra, went on to create 14 stunning covers for Ian Fleming’s Bond novels. Where cover art of past rereleases of the novels had endeavoured to update the character, perhaps mirroring the ageless characteristic adhered to in the film series, Fahey’s covers boldly brought Bond back to the 1950s and 60s: the era of Ian Fleming. The result was a gorgeous set of strikingly different, yet exceptionally uniform covers that took the fan community’s collective breath away.

Tell us a bit about yourself. How did you come to be in this line of work?

I started to draw when I was a kid, mostly copying old Pogo comic strips. Both my grandmother and her father, my great grandfather, were professional painters. My folks gave me a 35mm camera when I was in high school. I thought photography would help my drawing and painting. I also had a great art teacher in high school. He taught us pin-hole photography (which I still like to do) and encouraged me a lot. I started using old cameras when a friend gave me her father’s old 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 speed graphic camera. We used to cut film down to shoot with this camera because we could not find any. Later I was able to locate the film and bought a bunch before Kodak discontinued it. I still shoot with this camera once in a while. I went to the University of South Carolina and received a BFA in painting. My photography was encouraged more than my painting and because I thought I had a better chance of making a living as a photographer, I went to Rochester Institute of Technology to study photography after a year of working in a photostore/lab. After two years of classes I moved to New York City.

I like to read old paperbacks so I decided to try and become a cover artist.

How did you get involved with the Ian Fleming reprints? Who was it that made the decision to create the cover art with a 1960s feel, as opposed to updating them with a contemporary look?

I first heard of the project when I received a call from Roseanne Serra at Penguin. I had never read any Ian Fleming books but, of course, I had seen some of the movies. I guess they picked me because they wanted more of a period look. I know that the Ian Fleming Estate wanted to seperate the literature from the movies and I thought they wanted something that referenced that time period: the late 1950s to ’60s. I found out after starting the project that the IFE really liked the British versions (which I think are very slick and sophisticated, very appropriate for James Bond) and I really didn’t know why I was chosen since my stuff is more pulpy. After hearing that the IFE was disappointed with the first cover I did, Casino Royale, I didn’t think I would be doing the series.

Take us through the process of designing one of these covers. What techniques were use to achieve the “retro” effect? Were the girls’ photos shot in black-and-white? What type camera did you use? Also, how exactly did the partnership between you and Roseanne Serra work on the project?

Here’s how the entire process evolved, including my collaberation with the art director, Roseanne Serra:
Penguin decided to start with Casino Royale. I read the book, researched old James Bond covers and made some sketches. I gave the sketches to Roseanne Serra and she presented them to Penguin and the Ian Fleming Estate. Together they chose one of the sketches which consisted of Vesper, nude standing on the left side of the cover; le Chiffre dealing baccarat with two players and James Bond in the foreground within a panel in the middle of the cover; title on lower-right and Ian Fleming’s name in the upper right-hand corner. However, the Ian Fleming estate specified that they did not want naked women nor James Bond on any covers. With the help of my wife Maria Cristina, who did the hair, make-up and styling for the series, Vesper was photographed in a black cocktail dress and James Bond was photographed with low-key lighting so he could not be recognized. I used a friend for le Chiffre, and my wife and I were the baccarat players. I photographed everything in black and white with a medium format camera.

From the contacts, I selected images and composed different versions to show to Roseanne. We picked one version and I made 11 x 14 black and white prints of Vesper, le Chiffre at the Baccarat table, and James Bond. I then colored them with photo oil paints using q-tips and bits of cotton wrapped around toothpicks. After they dried, I scanned them and arranged them and tried different type faces for the title and Ian Fleming’s name. I showed this all to Roseanne and we chose the type faces that worked best. Roseanne thought the cover was lacking something. We decided maybe falling playing cards would be good so I went and photographed, printed, colored and scanned falling cards.

Roseanne showed this version to Penguin and the Ian Fleming Estate. The Ian Fleming Estate did not like the cover (I think they really liked the British versions and mine are very different from them) but Penguin and the Estate were able to work it out by taking James Bond off the cover. The rest of the covers would basically go through the same process and follow the same guidelines we created for Casino Royale: Ian Fleming in the upper-right,
colourful background, panel in the middle, a female character, the villan and an element from the story with my inspirations coming from the particular story and old Bond covers. James Bond would only appear as a suggestion on a few covers, as a small and unrecognizable figure and as the hand holding the gun on the back. I photographed the women naked for the next two covers and the Estate did not seem to mind (true to the novel Doctor No, Honey is naked when James first meets her).

Some of the covers are quite risqué; were there any censorship concerns in designing the artwork? How much freedom was given in designing the covers?

Roseanne and Penguin were very open to a lot but the Ian Fleming Estate had some restrictions: for example, no James Bond and no naked women (they actually came to like the naked Bond girls, and later in the series they were disappointed when Roseanne and I chose clothed versions of the models, for instance, The Man With The Golden Gun). I would have definitely shot Vesper naked if I wasn’t specifically told no nudity at the start.

Did you read the novels – or were you already familiar with them – in order to get a feel for what each cover should look like?

I read each novel before making any sketches. Penguin only had the last published versions of the series but
the covers were pretty awful so I found older versions of the book to read; mostly the Signets from the 60s.

Was there any artwork that was rejected or changed for any of the covers? Were there any entirely different alternate covers?

The first cover I did, Casino Royale, was important because it determined whether or not I was going to do the series. To make the Estate happy I had to take out the James Bond character from Casino Royale and I did not get to use him for Doctor No either. I shot two different versions for Thunderball and just put the second version on the back.

The woman featured on your On Her Majesty’s Secret Service cover is actually Victoria Zdrok, one of the Playboy bunnies featured in continuation novelist Raymond Benson’s “Midsummer Night’s Doom” short story. Can you tell us about the other models featured on the covers?

I was not aware that any of the models did any other modeling for James Bond work. I always find it difficult to find the right models. I went to modeling agencies, used friends and friends of friends, my wife, and found some through the web like the model on You Only Live Twice who actually refered me to the model I used for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

Similarly, whose hand is that holding the Walther PPK on the back covers? And who was Bond on the covers that showed James Bond (for example, Goldfinger)?

With some effort, I eventually found a model through a New York modeling agency to portray James Bond whom both Roseanne and I liked. I photographed him to be used for the first three covers (Casino Royale, Doctor No and Goldfinger). Only the picture of Bond tied up for Goldfinger was chosen, along with, of course, the hand holding the gun on the back of every book. For the other covers that have a Bond character, I used a friend and once even my brother-in-law.

Speaking of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, two different versions of the cover have appeared online, featuring a different title font and background; why were these changes made to the cover, and were there any copies of the novels with the alternate artwork published?

The James Bond covers I have on my website are the versions I gave Penguin and not the final versions.
There are some slight differences, for example in Thunderball, but I think the differences of typefaces for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service were my mistake. I put the wrong version up.

Are you aware of the extremely positive reaction your artwork has received in the 007 fan community?

Roseanne had forwarded me some emails and I also received some emails through my website, from people who liked the covers.

Do you know how successful these rereleases have been?

Not exactly. After doing the first, Casino Royale, I didn’t think I was going to do any more because of the Ian Fleming Estate’s reaction. After I got the go ahead, Penguin’s plan was to wait to see how the first half of the series sold before doing the rest. I was just happy to be able to do the whole series and I assumed they must have been selling fairly well, since I was allowed to continue.

Which cover was the most difficult to get an idea of what you wanted to do with it? Which one created the most creative problems? Which covers went through the greatest amount of designing processes?

I think Octopussy was the hardest one. I had a hard time getting ideas from that story and I had to read it twice. I think I had to reread The Spy Who Loved Me also. The most difficult part for each cover was coming up with the background element and finding models.

Which is your favorite cover and why?

From the earlier ones I did, I like Casino Royale best. I think the later ones are better overall; of those I like For Your Eyes Only and The Spy Who Loved Me.

Have you seen any other James Bond book covers? If so, which other covers have you liked best?

When researching for my sketches I tried to find old versions to see what has been done before and to help me get ideas. In the beginning I had a difficult time finding samples. The Art of James Bond website was helpful for research, but I only stumbled upon it halfway through the project and before the website was complete – I think now they have a sample of every version of the covers ever published. I like the first Pan paperback editions and also the early American versions up to and including the Signet series. I also like some of the hardback versions. If you look hard enough you can find where I got some of my ideas from.

Tell us about your non-Bond related work.

I do mostly pulpy kind of work.

If there was one book – any book, any author, fact or fiction – that you would wish to design a cover for, what would it be and what would you do? In short, your dream project?

My favourite author is David Goodis.

And finally… the James Bond legacy has been a hugely popular institution for over 50 years now; how did it feel to be given the opportunity to put your own unique stamp on it? Did you have any hesitation, at all, in accepting the project?

As I mentioned, I questioned why Penguin wanted me for this project. I didn’t know how well my style would translate into the spy genre. I am just glad everything worked out. I enjoyed doing the covers and was very happy for the opportunity to do the whole series.

To discuss this interview visit this thread on the CBn Forums.
A very special thank-you to Mr Richie Fahey for his time.

Related links

• Richie Fahey’s official site
• Purchase the books from Amazon.com

The Richie Fahey James Bond gallery

Zip Code 007, Homes of the Bond Stars

Finally, Home & Garden Television HGTV is re-airing their James Bond special, Zip Code 007 which originally aired on Nov 17th 2002. So tune your tv to HGTV’s Zip Code 007 on Sunday, September 5th at 5pm EST/PST for a 1 hour tour, hosted by Bond Girl Jane Seymore, of a few of the homes of the actors behind the Bond villains and Bond girls. For an extra bit of flavor Ian Fleming’s Goldenye resort will also be thrown in the mix.

Zip Code 007

Luciana Paluzzi (Fiona Volpe from Thunderball)

Luciana Paluzzi’s house, more pics.

This Italian-born Femme Fatal lives in a stunning hilltop Mediterranean-style mansion in Bel Air, Calif. Paluzzi and husband Michael Solomon have decorated the home with true European style, including items such as a handmade marble table and a 16th century Spanish wedding chest. The home also features warm Mediterranean colors and original artworks. Outside Paluzzi and Solomon can relax by the pool in the lush backyard or entertain on the patio, which is equipped with a barbecue and wood-burning pizza oven.

Gloria Hendry (Rosie Carver from Live and Let Die)

Gloria Hendry’s house, more pics.

This Bond Girl shares a home on a quiet Southern California cul-de-sac with her jazz musician husband. The three-bedroom home received extensive damage from the 1994 Northridge earthquake, but Hendry went right to work repairing and renovating the home. The kitchen was hit hardest by the quake but today features a cool new look with white tiles and splashes of bright color. Hendry loves her parquet floors that remind her of her days in New York, and the large music room is the perfect home for the couple’s grand piano.

Jane Seymour (Solitaire from Live and Let Die)

Jane Seymour’s house, more pics.

This Bond Girl innocent and her husband, director James Keach, have made their home on the cliffs overlooking the sea in Malibu, California When they purchased the home it was decorated in a heavy, dark style. Seymour and Keach lightened the wood tones and used cool colors to capture the feel of the beach. The kitchen serves as the family gathering spot, with artwork from the couple’s children displayed on the refrigerator and Seymour’s own paintings on the walls. Seymour’s favorite area is the art studio–a light, airy room where she can get away from it all and work on her paintings or clothing designs.

Richard Kiel (Jaws from The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker)

Richard Kiel’s house, more pics.

The man who played possibly the most menacing villain (JAWS!!!) ever to face by James Bond, today lives in a quiet country home in the foothills of Yosemite National park with his wife Diane. The home reflects a love of family, with plenty of room for visiting grandchildren.

Back in May this year, Richard Kiel was kind enough to grant CBn an interview. If you haven’t yet read it, it may be time to check it out…
The Richard Kiel CBn Interview
“Bond fans are not ‘geeks’…”

Lynn-Holly Johnson (Bibi Dahl from For Your Eyes Only)

Ms. Johnson’s house, more pics.

This Bond Girl shares a 2,500-square-foot ranch house in Newport Beach, California, with her husband, architect Kelly Givens and their two children. The couple bought the home as a fixer-upper and has since poured a lot of hard work and imagination into the home, creating a beautiful seaside retreat. Givens designed a unique stone courtyard that serves as the center of the home. The living room features an adventurous South Seas theme, and Johnson has also used a nautical theme for the master bedroom. Even the children’s rooms are decorated with maritime motifs.

Tanya Roberts (Stacey Sutton from A View To A Kill)

Tanya Roberts’ house, more pics.

This Bond Girl shares a beautiful, 3,500-square-foot home in the Hollywood Hills with her husband, screenwriter Barry Roberts. Tanya decorated the house using Balinese bamboo furniture, 17th century carved wooden wall hangings and tropical fabrics. The home also features two beautiful rock wall fountains, a unique bleached redwood table and floor-to-ceiling windows that provide stunning views of the Los Angeles basin.

Goldeneye (Home of James Bond creator, Ian Fleming)

The Goldeneye resort, more pics.

Ian Fleming started work on the first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, in 1952 at his getaway on the island of Jamaica. Today, Goldeneye is a luxury resort situated on an 18-acre estate on a bluff overlooking the Caribbean. Fleming designed and built the home himself, and it still looks much the same. The U-shaped main house is centered on a swimming pool and is naturally cooled by the tropical breezes. The guest bungalows added were named for Bond characters such as Domino, Solitaire and Romanova. Balinese designer Linda Garland decorated the rooms with lots of bamboo furniture and sculptures. The al fresco bathrooms feature claw-footed tubs and huge showerheads.

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

Pre-Order the U.S. Edition of 'SilverFin'

The U.S. edition of SilverFin, the first ‘Young Bond’ novel by BBC comedy writer and thriller novelist Charlie Higson, is now available for pre-order from Amazon.com. The hardcover novel retails for $16.95 and shows a release date of April 27, 2005 (the UK edition is scheduled for March). While the cover art for the UK edition was revealed last month, there is yet no cover art for the U.S. edition.

This new series of ‘Young Bond’ novels are aimed at capturing a younger demographic of Bond fan, as well as those readers who have made the Harry Potter books such an international sensation. SilverFin sees a 13-year-old James Bond investigating mysterious goings-on in a remote Scottish castle where a wealthy American is conducting some very disturbing experiments.

The dark waters around a Scottish castle hold a sinister secret. One man with a thirst for power will use it – whatever the cost. SilverFin is dangerous. SilverFin is the future. SilverFin must be destroyed…

Bond, James Bond.

The legend begins with SilverFin.

SilverFin will be published in the UK by Puffin Books (a division of the Penguin Group), and by Hyperion Books for Children (in conjunction with Miramax Books) in the U.S. A second yet untitled novel is scheduled for November 2005. There are a total of five books planned in the ‘Young Bond’ series.

Pre-order Young Bond: Silverfin – Book #1 by Charlie Higson

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

Related articles:

• First ‘Young Bond’ Novel Title and Cover Art Revealed!
• Pussy Galore…make way for “Wilder Lawless”
• “Miramax Buys Rights to First Two ‘Young James Bond’ Novels”
• “No Laughing Matter”
• Charlie Higson Interviewed on Jonathan Ross BBC Radio 2
• 007 Fans Take Aim at IFP’s ‘Young James Bond’ Concept
• Ian Fleming Publications Announce New Series of “Young James Bond” Novels

Sir Roger Moore to Introduce Titan's 'Casino Royale'

James Bond art expert “Red Grant” (webmaster of the terrific The Art of James Bond website) has checked in with yet another exciting EXCLUSIVE for CBn.

James Bond #3, Sir Roger Moore, will be penning the introduction to Titan books upcoming Casino Royale. Sir Roger joins Lucy Fleming, Maud Adams, George Lazenby, and Shirley Eaton in what is becoming a prestigious lineup of Bond notables who have lent their words of support for Titan’s superb reprints of the classic Daily Express comic strips.

‘Red’ also reveals that the Casino Royale collection (due for release February 25, 2005) will include the full stories to Live and Let Die and Moonraker.

Keep watching CBn for all the lastest news and more exclusive updates on this exciting series.

Purchase all the Titan 007 graphic novels from Amazon:

• The Man With The Golden Gun
  – Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
• Octopussy
  – Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
• On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
  – Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
• Goldfinger (Pre-Order: release date Nov. 26, 2004.)
  – Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
• Casino Royale (Pre-Order: release date Feb 25, 2005)
  Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

To discuss this book visit this thread in the CBn Forums
Thanks to Red Grant!

Related stories:

• Details on Titan’s ‘Goldfinger’ Revealed
• Titan Books ‘OHMSS’ Now Shipping
• ‘Casino Royale’ Coming From Titan in 2005
• Titan’s ‘Octopussy’ to Include Introduction by Maud Adams
• Classic James Bond Comics To Be Released in February
• Titan to Release Classic James Bond Comic Strips in 2004

The Blades Library Book Club: From Russia, With Love

Welcome back to The Blades Library Book Club – the place for quality discussions of the books of James Bond!

Every two months a book is chosen for the club members to read. A thread is posted in the club forums listing locations on where you can find the novel. Discussions about the book will go on as the book is read and when it is finished. Another thread will be created so that club members can post their review and give a rating on the current book.

All fans of the Literary Bond are eligible for membership. All you need to do to sign up is register for the CBn Forums and then post your name in the sign up thread.

The Book Club’s Fifth Book:

Currently we are progressing though the novels in chronological order, since quite a number of members are using the club as an opportunity to read the books for the very first time.Therefore, From Russia, With Love will be the book in the hands of readers for September 2004. From Russia, With Love, written in 1957, is Fleming’s fifth Bond novel. And rated by many as one of the best.

Obtaining The Book:

Ordering online should be quite easy. From Russia, With Love can be ordered online from the following sources:

• BN.com
• Amazon.co.uk
• Amazon.com

Online sources for other older versions of From Russia With Love:

• Bookfinder.com
• Ebay

Discuss other places to buy From Russia, With Love or where you got your
copy in this
thread.

Discuss The Book While Reading:

Want to talk about the book while reading it. Post a new thread in The Blades Library. Be sure to title the thread with “From Russia, With Love” and the chapter number you have read through.

Review And Rate The Book:

After you have finished reading From Russia, With Love, you can dicuss it with other club members in The Blades Library,
and give the book your personal rating out of five in this
thread.

 
If you have any questions or suggestions just post them in a new thread. Happy reading.

Previous Books Read

• Diamonds Are Forever: July 2004 – August 2004
• Moonraker: May 2004 – June 2004
• Live and Let Die: May 2003 – June 2003
• Casino Royale: March 2003 – April 2003

PARIS: Ian Fleming Exhibit and Lecture

IAN FLEMING, CREATOR OF JAMES BOND — FORTY YEARS LATER

Wednesday, September 15, 2004, 8:00 pm
Free and open to the public.

American Library in Paris
10 rue du Général Camou
75007 Paris

For more information…
call: 01 53 59 12 60
e-mail: [email protected]

“The name is Bond… James Bond.” Spoken in clipped British tones by the darkly handsome screen star, these words have echoed across the world as movie audiences tense for the newest adventure of Ian Fleming’s legendary hero.

To commemorate the anniversary of Ian Fleming’s death in 1964 — Vincent Chenille, a collector of print materials on Bond and Fleming for nearly 20 years, will present an evening devoted to the discovery of the rather flamboyant creator of Bond, his background in the British Secret Service and in journalism, and how Fleming’s own background influenced British spy 007’s universe.

Chenille’s exhibit, which is now on display at the Library, showcases both original editions and reprints of Fleming’s work in a variety of languages and formats, together with photos, articles, and biographical materials. The background is designed by Armelle Aymonin.

Complementing Chenille’s discussion will be a second presentation by Pierre Rodiac of Club 007 France, who will describe the evolution of Bond from the pages of the bestselling paperback novels to the big screen and thence to a hero of mythic stature. His discussion will also encompass works of other writers who, in the past 50 years, capitalized on the Bond persona, including Kingsley Amis, John Gardner, and Raymond Benson.

Presentations will be in English; questions accepted in either French or English. Wine reception to follow.

To discuss this event visit this thread on the CBn Forums.
Thanks to Pierre Rodiac and Cesari for the heads up.