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“Think on your
sins...”
The Royal
World Charity premiere of Skyfall at London's Royal Albert Hall
on Tuesday October 23, 2012 was the culmination of a
year of events celebrating the 50th Anniversary of James Bond as a
cinematic icon. Skyfall also marked the longest gap between films
without a change of actor in the lead role up to that point. With the
exception of Albert Finney (who plays Kincade), all the leading players in
Skyfall were in attendance at the premiere. Like Die Another Day
which also had its premiere at the Royal Albert Hall a decade earlier,
Skyfall was similarly graced with the presence of a number of James Bond
alumni including Sir Christopher Lee (Scaramanga in The Man With The
Golden Gun), Colin Salmon (Charles Robinson in Tomorrow Never Dies,
The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day), Minnie Driver (Irina
in GoldenEye), five-time James Bond director John Glen, Stunt
co-ordinator & 2nd unit director Vic Armstrong, and special effects
supervisor Chris Corbould. In addition to the
behind-the-scenes talent in attendance were four-time Miss Moneypenny,
Samantha Bond, and a quartet of former Bond Girls dating back to the very
first James Bond film. Eunice Gayson (Sylvia Trench in Dr. No and
From Russia With Love), Shirley Eaton (Jill Masterson in
Goldfinger), Maryam d'Abo (Kara Milovy in The Living Daylights)
and Caterina Murino (Solange in Casino Royale) all appeared on the
red carpet before joining the 5000+ attendees inside the historic concert
hall in South Kensington. |
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Skyfall then
transferred to the ODEON Leicester Square from Wednesday October 24, 2012,
where it played for six weeks; and opened at 587 cinemas across the country
on Friday October 26th, going on to take a staggering £102-million at the
box office to then become the highest-grossing film
of all time in the UK. In addition to the general release
quad-crown posters, a series of alternate versions celebrating the
critical and commercial success were also displayed across the country
in late 2012. Skyfall also played for eight weeks at the ODEON
Marble Arch from Friday October 26 - Thursday December 20, 2012. |
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Skyfall also
opened at the BFI IMAX cinema at Waterloo on Friday October 26, 2012 where
it played for three weeks on the largest screen in the UK. Skyfall
was shot with the Arri Alexa M digital camera
and the version screened at the BFI IMAX was formatted to the 1:90:1 aspect ratio.
IMAX worked with the filmmakers in the post-production process to increase the
aspect ratio and designed the IMAX presentation
to allow audiences to see up to 26% more of the originally captured image
than was seen in the conventional 2:40:1 general release version. Although Skyfall's
posters all bore the text ‘in IMAX’ this was misleading as the film was
not shot using IMAX cameras but merely reformatted for projection to
utilise the larger screen area. The BFI IMAX presentation and worldwide
IMAX screenings were the only time Skyfall has been seen
theatrically in this format, and all other screenings showcased the film
in the traditional widescreen aspect ratio of 2:40:1. Although the composition of some shots is noticeably different, the
IMAX version more accurately
reflected what was originally captured by Academy Award nominated cinematographer Roger Deakins. |
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“Bond is Back at the
PCC”
The Prince Charles Cinema (PCC) is an independent repertory venue
located in Leicester Place, 40 metres north of Leicester Square in the
West End of London. The PCC originally opened as a live theatre on
December 26, 1962 and became a full-time cinema in 1965. In June 1967
Casino Royale played at the PCC for four weeks following its initial
West End engagement at the ODEON Leicester Square. The PCC did not screen
another James Bond film until they programmed GoldenEye (1995) in
May/June 1996. Currently showing a rotating eclectic programme of arthouse
and classic films alongside recent Hollywood releases, the cinema has
achieved cult status over the years and often uses the canopy above its
front doors to display messages and obscure comments in addition to
advertising the films on show. The PCC was converted to a twin screen
cinema in December 2008 with seating for 302 in the former stalls, which
has a screen measuring 21.5 feet wide by 11.5 feet high, and a 104-seat
screen in the former circle. The Prince Charles found its niche as a
repertory cinema and is the only remaining independent venue in London's
West End. The cinema has retained its film projectors, which allows for
regular screenings of 70mm prints, as well as 35mm and digital
presentations. The PCC famously also plays host to sing-along screenings,
film festivals and frequently programmes themed film seasons. In recent
years the Prince Charles has become home to anniversary screenings and
all-night marathons of the James Bond films. |
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In January 2015 the
Prince Charles Cinema showed every James Bond film from Dr. No to
Skyfall in what was easily their most ambitious season yet. Thanks
to distributor Park Circus, the PCC managed to secure every single James
Bond film for a one-off screening on consecutive Sunday nights starting with Dr.
No on January 4, 2015. All films were shown in their newly restored 4K DCP format
and the retrospective also included Casino Royale (1967) and
Never Say Never Again (1983). The PCC had hoped to screen the entire
series in chronological order but Goldfinger (1964) was screened
out of sequence due to the new 4K digital restoration receiving its
premiere at the 65th Berlin film festival on February 7, 2015.
Goldfinger therefore screened at the PCC on Sunday April 5th, the week
after For Your Eyes Only (1981). Composer David Arnold was also
interviewed on stage before the screening of Casino Royale (2006)
on Sunday June 14th. The six-month 007 retrospective
concluded with Skyfall (2012) which was shown at 8.15pm on Sunday June
28, 2015. |
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“The Dead Are Alive”
On November 15, 2013 Danjaq LLC, the producer of the James Bond films, and
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the long-time distributor of the Bond films,
announced they had had acquired all rights and interests relating to James
Bond from the estate of the late Kevin McClory (1924-2006). It therefore
came as little surprise when on December 4th it was revealed that the
title of the 24th James Bond film would be Spectre, and the international
crime organisation headed by Ernst Stavro Blofeld could now be
reintroduced into the cinematic timeline. Within days of this news came
the announcement that the screenplay for the new Bond film was amongst
material stolen and illegally made public by hackers who infiltrated the
Sony Pictures Entertainment computer system. |
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Empire Design once again
provided the rather uninspired photographic advertising campaign, with
teaser posters appearing in the London Underground and on buses in the
weeks leading up to the release. The Aston Martin DB10 from Spectre
was on display in the foyer of the ODEON Leicester Square from Sunday September 27th until Monday October 5th, and then joined by the Jaguar
C-X75 driven by Hinx (Dave Bautista) in front of the Royal Albert Hall for the World Premiere. |
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Spectre was the
third James Bond film to premiere as a Royal Film Performance after Die
Another Day (2002) and Casino Royale (2006). Proceeds from the
evening supported the Cinema & Television Benevolent Fund.
The World
Premiere of Spectre was held once more at the Royal Albert Hall in
South Kensington on Monday October 26, 2015 in the presence of Their Royal
Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. In
attendance were Daniel Craig, Léa Seydoux, Monica Bellucci, Naomie Harris,
Christoph Waltz, Dave Bautista, Andrew Scott, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw,
Stephanie Sigman, Jesper Christensen, Rory Kinnear, Director Sam Mendes,
Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, and ‘Writing's on the
Wall’ singer/co-writer Sam Smith. Maryam d'Abo who played Kara Milovy in
The Living Daylights (1987) also attended, as did three-time James
Bond title singer Dame Shirley Bassey.
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Spectre was also
the first film to open simultaneously on the same night as the premiere across
the UK and Ireland and had an even a wider release than its predecessor;
playing in 647 cinemas (including 40 IMAX screens), compared to Skyfall's
587 locations and 21 IMAX screens. The BFI IMAX at Waterloo was one of the
venues showing the reformatted version of Spectre from Monday October 26th, which like
Skyfall was only screened in this version at selected IMAX cinemas
worldwide. Spectre had the biggest opening in UK box office history
taking £6.3-million on its Monday debut, and an estimated £41.7-million
from the 2,500 screens where it played in the first seven days of release.
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Controversially,
ticket prices to see Spectre were significantly
higher than those charged for other films, with Londoner's paying almost £10 more at the ODEON Leicester Square, where
the film played for the rest of its
West End run. |
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“Nobody Does It Better”
Two years after its ground-breaking 25-film 007 retrospective, the
Prince Charles Cinema programmed a James Bond All-Nighter featuring one film from each of the six actors who have played 007. The
marathon began with
Goldfinger (1964) at 9.00pm on Saturday January 28, 2017;
followed by On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), The Spy Who
Loved Me (1977), The Living Daylights (1987), GoldenEye
(1995) and Casino Royale (2006) which started at 8.20am on Sunday
January 29th for those who were still awake!
On May 23, 2017 came the sad news
that much-loved seven-time James Bond actor Roger Moore had died at his home in
Switzerland at the age of 89. A week later a double-bill of two of his
best James Bond films The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and For
Your Eyes Only (1981) were re-released in selected ODEON cinemas
in the UK and other venues worldwide. The newly restored 4K versions
of the films
were screened for one night only on Wednesday May 31, 2017 as a tribute to
the actor, with 50% of all
proceeds benefiting UNICEF. As a Goodwill Ambassador, Sir Roger had
been a dedicated and passionate supporter of UNICEF since 1991.
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The first James Bond All-Nighter
at the Prince Charles Cinema had been a sell-out success and the same
line-up of six films was then repeated starting at 9.00pm on Saturday July
29, 2017. |
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“Casino Royale in Concert”
On Saturday September 30 and Sunday
October 1, 2017, eleven years after its West End premiere, Daniel Craig's
debut film as James Bond was screened at The Royal Albert Hall, with its
score performed live by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra conducted
by Gavin Greenaway. This marked the first time an entire James Bond
score had ever officially been performed live, with David Arnold’s powerful
score in sync with the film on the big screen. The composer discussed his
collaboration with the 007 franchise in an on-stage Question and Answer
session before each of the performances at 2.30pm and 7.30pm each
day, and played guitar on ‘The James Bond Theme’ that closes the film. The sell-out performances were presented as part of the Royal Albert
Hall's ‘Films in Concert’ series which had begun in 2009 with The Lord
of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. |
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“Happy Anniversary 007!”
At 6.10 pm on Tuesday November 21, 2017 the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester
Place hosted a 40th Anniversary screening of the 1977 classic
The Spy Who Loved Me. Roger Moore's third James Bond film had
originally premiered a few hundred yards away at the ODEON Leicester
Square on Thursday July 7, 1977. |
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As part of their ‘Big
Screen Classics’ season the BFI Southbank programmed Goldfinger (1964) which was screened five times
during March 2018. The performance on Saturday March 10th took
place in the 138-seat NFT3; whilst all other screenings were in the
38-seat Studio. Opened in 2007 the NFT Studio is the smallest of the
four screens at the BFI complex on London's South Bank.
The Prince Charles
Cinema screened From Russia With Love at 6.00pm on
Wednesday December 26, 2018 to celebrate the 55th Anniversary of the
Sean Connery classic.
Four further anniversary screenings followed in 2019. Licence To
Kill was screened at 6.10pm and 9.00pm on Friday June 14, 2019 to
celebrate its 30th Anniversary, with a further performance at 8.50pm on
Sunday July 14th. Moonraker had its 40th Anniversary screening
at 8.45pm on Thursday June 27th; with Goldfinger having its 55th
Anniversary commemorated at 8.45pm on Wednesday July 17, 2019. Two
months later on Sunday September 29, 2019 the National Film Theatre
celebrated three anniversaries ahead of ‘Global James Bond Day’, with
their own triple-bill of 007 adventures all screened in the 450-seat
NFT1. |
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Before the 50th
Anniversary screening of On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
comedian and writer David Walliams presented a Q&A with one-time 007 George Lazenby.
Aston Martin also displayed their new DBS Superleggera Special
Edition, and also a heritage Aston Martin DBS (the same model as seen in
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) outside the Light Box
entrance in Theatre Avenue from 12noon until 6.00pm. Before the 40th
Anniversary screening of Moonraker there was a discussion with
five-time James Bond composer David Arnold, who also introduced the 20th
Anniversary screening of The World Is Not Enough (1999) which
concluded the celebrations at 8.00pm. |
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“Skyfall in
Concert”
The Royal Albert Hall saw the return of James Bond in October 2019
with the World Premiere of ‘Skyfall in Concert’. Thomas Newman’s
BAFTA award-winning original score was performed live by the Royal Philharmonic
Concert Orchestra in sync to the picture, with his brother David as
conductor. Skyfall was screened at 2.30pm and 7.30pm on Friday
October 4, 2019; and again at the same times on Saturday October 5th, which
was also ‘Global James Bond Day’, marking 57 years since the release of
Dr. No in 1962. The same day also saw the release of the first teaser
poster for the new James Bond film No Time To Die. |
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Rounding off 2019 were
three more anniversary screenings at the Prince Charles Cinema. The
World Is Not Enough screened at 8.45pm on Tuesday November 26th, which
was closer to the actual 20th anniversary of its European premiere than
the event at the National Film Theatre two months earlier. The screening
of On Her Majesty's Secret Service which took place at
3.10pm on Thursday December 19, 2019, was just one day later than its
World Premiere at the ODEON Leicester Square in 1969 50 years earlier.
Similarly the screening of The Man With The Golden Gun at 3.10pm on
Friday December 20th, was also one day later than its debut at the ODEON
Leicester Square 45 years before. Repeat screenings of both films took
place at 3.25pm on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th December 2019. |
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