Die Another Day surpassed xXx‘s box-office takings in the United States over the past week, but few people have ever seen quite how he did it.
To view the whole picture, please click on the image.
The cartoon comes to us care of Phil Cornell, an artist who resides in the CommanderBond.net Forums as ‘White Persian’. A big thank you is extended out to him.
Keep watching CBn for all the latest news on all things James Bond 007.
Fans of collecting James Bond first editions will have hopefully snapped up a first printing of Raymond Benson’s Die Another Day novelisation in hardcover, because if you didn’t, you may be out of luck. Printed in small quantities anyway (due to the fact it was published simultaneously as a paperback) it’s come to light that the first print run of the Die Another Day hardcover was flawed.
Apparently, a production error produced a batch of copies, the exact number is unknown, that had pages cut short. These flawed copies were destroyed and the remains of the publisher’s stock double-checked. This is according to several online book dealers. Author Benson confirmed the production flaw, but confessed that he didn’t know if the short pages were the sole reason for the recall. Regardless, the book has already been issued in a second edition to meet demand. This means unflawed first editions are exceedingly rare! It looks like Die Another Day could very well become one of the most difficult of the post-Fleming Bond books to find in a true first edition, rivaling Tomorrow Never Dies, GoldenEye, and COLD, all of which currently sell for $300 and up.
A true first edition of Die Another Day is identified by the number string of 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 on the copyright page. All the numbers must be there. If the “1” is missing, it means the novelisation is a second edition.
Prior to the release of Die Another Day in the United States, debate raged as to the classification of the film. Inevitably, a PG-13 rated film was released to audience, but an MGM site indicates that the intended rating was original R.
The rating can be found on MGM and United Artists ‘For Your Consideration’ site, the purpose of which is to ask members of film groups such as the MPAA to consider various films for award nominations. For instance, Madonna’s ‘For Your Consideration’ campaign for Die Another Day garnered the performer with Golden Globe and Golden Satellite nominations.
The Die Another Day ‘For Your Consideration’ page lists the film as being rated R. The rating would mean that cinemat patrons younger that 17 would require a parent or adult guardian. The film was apparently given the rating for Action, Violence and Sexuality.
The different rating comes as the closest official indication that scenes from the United States cut of Die Another Day were removed in order to achieve a PG-13 rating.
MGM has put Die Another Day forward for the following award considerations;
BEST PICTURE
Michael G. Wilson And Barbara BroccoliBEST DIRECTOR
Lee TamahoriBEST ACTOR
Pierce BrosnanBEST ACTRESS
Halle BerryBEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Toby Stephens
Rick Yune
John CleeseBEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Rosamund Pike
Judi DenchBEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Neal Purvis and Robert WadeBEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
David Tattersall BSCBEST FILM EDITING
Christian WagnerBEST ART DIRECTION
Peter Lamont, PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Simon Wakefield, SET DECORATORBEST COSTUME DESIGN
Lindy HemmingBEST MAKEUP
BEST SOUND
BEST SOUND EDITING
[SUPERVISING SOUND EDITOR]
Martin EvansBEST VISUAL EFFECTS
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
David ArnoldBEST ORIGINAL SONG
Madonna and Mirwais
“Die Another Day”
Performed by Madonna
If you’d like to discuss the rating, or nomations, please visit this thread of the Die Another Day Forums. Thanks to Jim for the tip-off.
Sideshow Toy and CommanderBond.Net have teamed up to give visitors the chance to win one of two sets of James Bond 12 Inch Figures based upon 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
There are two sets to give away and each set comes with a George Lazenby/James Bond 12″ figure and a Telly Savalas/Ernst Stavro Blofeld 12″ figure.
Each prize is valued at over $80.
Competition Details
To enter the competition all you have to do is answer two questions;
1) Where does Bond visit Sir Hilary Bray in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service?
2) Which is the only Bond Girl 12″ figure currently announced as in coming soon by Sideshow Toy?
E-mail your answers to [email protected] before January 15 for a chance to win one of the two sets.
More On The 12″ Figures
Lazenby’s Bond comes with the signature blue suit from the movie’s gun battle finale, a Sterling machine gun, the standard 9MM Walther PPK, and cold weather gloves. Savalas’ Blofeld comes well prepared to handle Bond with US Fragmentation grenades, a hand mortar tube, a Colt .45 automatic pistol with removable magazine and holster, ski goggles, binoculars and belt case.
Terms And Conditions
Held in London a day before the premier of Die Another Day the BBC will show footage from James Bond: A BAFTA Tribute this Saturday.
The tribute event was hosted by Michael Parkinson and was attended by many people involved in the James Bond world. From producers to actors the telecast promises to show the best highlights of the evening. Bond actors George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan attended the event; Sean Connery was represented by a taped interview. Also in attendance were the main cast of Die Another Day Toby Stephens, Rosamund Pike and Halle Berry.
The event will be televised on BBC1 on 6:10pm this Saturday.
Incidently, the film adaptation of Ian Fleming’s childrens story Chitty Chitty Bang Bang will be shown on BBC1 at 1:50pm on Saturday.
Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann has revealed that he’d love to helm a James Bond movie.
The extravagant Aussie director was contemplating future projects when he let slip, “I think to myself I’d love to do a James Bond film,” adding “Wouldn’t that be fun?”
Luhrmann then continued, saying the day may come when he not only wants to make a 007 flick but that he has to, reasoning, “It might be that I need to make a James Bond film. That could happen. I really need to make a James Bond film. Anything could happen.”
Be sure to discuss the news in this thread of CBn’s Bond 21 Forums!
Joe Strummer of The Clash fame has died at the age of 50.
During his music career Strummer was the guitarist, singer and songwriter The Clash amongst other bands. One of The Clash’s most famous songs, ‘London Calling’, features in the most recent James Bond adventure Die Another Day. Strummer died of a heart attack according to his official website, though it is noted that an autopsy is pending.
Outside of the music industry Strummer also pursued an acting career appearing in Alex Cox’s Straight to Hell and Jim Jarmusch’s Mystery Train.
Strummer’s death came only three months before the Clash were due to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Since the bands split up Strummer had been involved in several group and solo works, most recently The Mescaleros with whom he had been recently touring.
Joe Strummer is survived by his wife, Lucinda, his two teenage daughters and his stepdaughter.
An official site for the works of Ian Fleming has be unveiled today at http://www.ianflemingcentre.com. The site is run by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, a company owned by the Fleming family.
The site details the work of Ian Fleming, including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and other non-Bond works. Visitors to the site can also find information on the life of Ian Fleming as a biography is provided detailing his life before the Second World War, his wartime career and his subsequent writing career.
The site also looks at the continuation of the James Bond novel series by authors Kingsley Amis, John Gardner and Raymond Benson.
Madonna’s Die Another Day theme song has received another nomination for ‘Best Original Song’.
The new nomination was announced by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, making the theme song a possible contender for a 2003 Golden Globe Award. The theme song faces competition from;
The Golden Globe nomination is the theme songs second nomation after it was recently nominated for a Golden Satellite award.
The 2003 Golden Globe Awards will be held on January 19, 2002.
If you’d like to discuss the nomination please visit this thread of the Die Another Day Forums. Thanks to solitaire for the news alert.
The nominees for the 7th Annual Golden Satellite Awards have been announced and Madonna’s Die Another Day theme tune is among the contendors.
Madonna’s theme song for Die Another Day has been nominated in the category for best Original Song. It faces competition from five other songs;
The awards ceremony will be held on Sunday January 12, 2003 with the award winners announced online shortly afterwards.
If you’d like to discuss the nomination please visit this thread of the Die Another Day Forums. Thanks to solitaire for the tip-off.