JAMES BOND
NEWS

28 May 2022
For the Saturday 28th May screening of Licence To Kill (part of their James Bond Season), London's Prince Charles Cinema welcomes Stunt Coordinator Paul Weston to a post-film Q&A moderated by Jon Auty in conjunction with the ‘Really, 007!’ podcast. PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

Paul Weston is one of the world's very best stunt professionals. He started his career back in the 1960s on British television shows including The Saint, Danger Man and The Avengers, where he doubled for Patrick Macnee as John Steed.

On the big screen he has been responsible for the action on many box-office favourites including Aliens, Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, Daylight, Dragonheart and Spies Like Us, not to mention both of the Timothy Dalton James Bond adventures, The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence To Kill (1989). Not only working as stunt coordinator, Paul Weston also doubled Timothy Dalton occasionally during filming of Licence To Kill; including the sequence where Bond hangs onto a seaplane as it takes off, and the scene where he escapes from Ernest Hemingway's house in the Florida Keys (pictured left).

24 April 2022
The noted American artist and illustrator James Bama has died at the age of 95. Born in Washington Heights, New York on April 28, 1926 Bama is perhaps best-known for his realistic paintings and etchings of Western subjects. James Bama also had a long and successful career as a prolific commercial artist, producing paperback book covers, movie posters and illustrations for noted US publications including Argosy, The Saturday Evening Post and Reader's Digest. Beginning in 1964 with The Man of Bronze, James Bama created a set of 62 covers for the Doc Savage series of paperbacks published by Bantam Books. He also painted the box cover art for several Aurora monster model kits, including The Wolf Man, Frankenstein, Dracula and The Mummy.

James Bama's first foray into James Bond artwork was with the covers of Popular Science Magazine in January 1966, featuring an illustration of Sean Connery and the gadgets from Thunderball (1965); and again on the June 1967 issue with an illustration of ‘Little Nellie’ from You Only Live Twice. Bama then illustrated the cover for Bantam's 1967 paperback Alias James Bond - The Life of Ian Fleming by John Pearson, followed by the first US paperback edition of COLONEL SUN by Kingsley Amis (writing as Robert Markham) in May 1969. Bantam later issued paperbacks of CASINO ROYALE, FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE, DOCTOR NO and GOLDFINGER in 1971/72, and finally a reissue of COLONEL SUN in 1972 using the same artwork as the 1969 paperback but this time in reverse. Given the style of the artwork, James Bond poster artists Frank C. McCarthy and Robert McGinnis have both been erroneously credited with the cover paintings for these five paperbacks. James Bama had frequently used American model/actor Steve Holland (1925-1997) as a photo-reference for his paintings; most notably as heroic-adventure character Doc Savage. It is undoubtedly the square-jawed Steve Holland who also provided the facial reference for the GOLDFINGER cover (pictured left) at least.

James Bama (top left) died just four days before his 96th birthday.

15 April 2022
Blockbuster set of original James Bond screenplays, film scripts and storyboards to go on sale for £500,000

The most extensive collection of James Bond film scripts, screenplays, manuscripts, storyboards and film treatments will be jointly offered for sale by world-leading London-based rare book dealers Peter Harrington and Adrian Harrington Rare Books for £500,000, in time to celebrate the 60th anniversary of 007 on the big screen. The set of approximately 120 original and inscribed screenplays, scripts, costume designs, storyboards, publicity material and even legal correspondence related to some of the franchise’s most memorable characters and moments on and off screen, and constitutes a dream haul of collectables for any fan of Bond’s onscreen escapades over the past 60 years.
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From April 15, 2022 all 25 James Bond films from Dr. No (1962) to No Time To Die (2021), will be able to stream on Prime Video in the UK only. The announcement comes as Amazon last month finalised their $8.45 billion deal to secure MGM Studios, which owns 50% of the film rights in the franchise.

The latest James Bond film No Time To Die which starred Daniel Craig in his final performance as 007 will be available on the platform a year, whereas the rest of the series will only be available for two months. Also included as part of the James Bond package is the 2012 documentary Everything Or Nothing: The Untold Story Of 007. Although the rights for Casino Royale (1967) and Never Say Never Again (1983) are now controlled by EON/MGM, the two ‘unofficial’ James Bond films do not form part of the package.*

*Update: These two films are now included as part of the package available to Amazon Prime subscribers. It should be noted that the version of Never Say Never Again is the unrated US edition featuring the unedited horse fall not previously seen in UK prints of the film. No Time To Die is also the US version omitting the Universal logo at the start, so therefore features the uninterrupted gun barrel sequence.

23 March 2022
To commemorate Daniel Craig’s final appearance as James Bond in No Time To Die (2021), the Faroe Islands have commissioned a custom gravestone to honour the character, who died on the island of Kalsoy which served as the location of the abandoned missile base headquarters of villain Lyutsifer Safin (played by Rami Malek).

The grave is positioned near the Kallur lighthouse on the island and reads, “In Memory of James Bond, 1962–2021,” as reported by the official Guide to the Faroe Islands page. “Local villagers have taken it upon themselves to erect a tombstone in memory of the renowned spy,” the statement reads. “Made from Faroese basalt, the gravestone has been cut by an acclaimed stonemason in the village of Skopun. It has then been transported to the exact location on Kalsoy, where Bond meets his fate in No Time To Die.” Unveiled by The Prime Minister on March 23, 2022, the design of the grave matches Bond’s parents’ tombs seen in Skyfall (2012), and the quote read by ‘M’ (Ralph Fiennes) in No Time To Die is included on the grave: “The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.” The second part of the quote by novelist Jack London: “I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time”, was used by Ian Fleming in his 1964 novel YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE to conclude Bond's obituary printed in The Times when the character was missing, presumed dead.

Fans can now book a tour through the Guide to Faroe Islands website for a special James Bond sightseeing excursion, which includes stops in Borðoy island, Kalsoy island, and crossing the Kalsoyarfjørður strait. The No Time To Die filming locations tour will culminate in the village of Trøllanes, where the James Bond crew shot on Kalsoy island.

14 March 2022
Lashana Lynch won the award for ‘Rising Star’ at the 75th British Academy Film Awards held last night at London's Royal Albert Hall. No Time To Die also won the BAFTA for Best Editing and was awarded to Elliot Graham and Tom Cross, who said working on a James Bond film had always been a dream and dedicated his award to legendary editor Peter Hunt who worked on Dr. No 60 years ago.

Last night's BAFTA ceremony kicked off in style with a spirited performance of ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ by 85-year-old Dame Shirley Bassey to celebrate 60 Years of James Bond in the Cinema.

LASHANA LYNCH WINS THE EE RISING STAR AWARD

DAME SHIRLEY BASSEY PERFORMS ‘DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER’

19 February 2022

Following last year's appearance of the West End cinema marquee for Thunderball in Edgar Wright's Last Night in Soho (2021), comes another British title with a strong link to the James Bond films. Starring Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren, The Duke tells the story of the disappearance from London's National Gallery in August 1961, of the recently acquired portrait of The Duke of Wellington by Spanish artist Fransisco de Goya. After an extensive worldwide police search and the receipt of several ransom demands, the painting remained unrecovered until July 1965. However, in the interim, the theft of the portrait was still front page news across the UK, and a memorable appearance in the first James Bond film Dr. No (1962) kept the story alive, implying that it was the eponymous villain who was behind the crime, when in actual fact it was stored in a cupboard in the Newcastle council flat of an unemployed 61-year-old bus driver!

Also a look at the other significant works of art that have prominently featured in the James Bond films.

Art For Art's Sake

10 February 2022 - Online Auction: 3–10 February 2022
This distinctive ring was one of only two designed by the jeweller Charles de Temple for the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The first ring which sold at Sotheby's in 2019 garnered international press attention and ended up hammering down for a spectacular £52,500 against a pre-sale estimate of £6,000-£8,000. The ring is central to the film's narrative, as it serves as the wedding ring given by Bond (George Lazenby) to the Contessa Teresa ‘Tracy’ di Vicenzo (Diana Rigg) on the occasion of their wedding, 007's only marriage. The romantic message ‘All the Time in the World’ spelled out by the ring's design is a recurring theme throughout the film, and also the title of the film's theme song, performed by Louis Armstrong. However, the phrase also takes on a poignant tone as the final words of the film - Bond's bride is tragically killed shortly after their wedding, and Bond reads the words on the ring aloud as he cradles her in his arms.

The ring's eye-catching bi-coloured design and its unusual prominence in the film brought de Temple considerable success, and to meet demand, de Temple produced a limited edition of 50 copies, of a similar design to the original but reading ‘All the Love in the World’.

The present owner bought the ring from a close family friend who is thought to have purchased it from Charles de Temple in the early 1970s. Lot #87 Estimate: £15,000-£20,000.     SOLD FOR £56,700

1 February 2022
Announced by HarperCollins in November 2021, Double Or Nothing is the start of a brand new spin-off trilogy following MI6’s agents with a licence to kill, that blows the world of James Bond wide open! The new novel by Kim Sherwood is now available to pre-order from Amazon with the website revealing the brief synopsis:

James Bond is missing…
007 has been captured, perhaps even killed, by a sinister private military company. His whereabouts are unknown.
Meet the new generation of spies…
Johanna Harwood, 003. Joseph Dryden, 004. Sid Bashir, 009. Together, they represent the very best and brightest of MI6. Skilled, determined and with a licence to kill, they will do anything to protect their country.
The fate of the world rests in their hands…
Tech billionaire Sir Bertram Paradise claims he can reverse the climate crisis and save the planet. But can he really? The new spies must uncover the truth, because the future of humanity hangs in the balance.
Time is running out.

Eagle-eyed fans will notice that 003 is named after the first female screenwriter who worked on the first three James Bond films.

29 January 2022
A fascinating and eclectic sale of the Paul Gallico estate library and contents was sold by Chiswick Auctions in London this week. Included in the sale was furniture, original art, posters (including the very desirable poster for the first James Bond film Dr. No) and a complete set of Ian Fleming’s Bond novels in their Jonathan Cape first editions, with eight of these inscribed by Fleming to Paul Gallico.

Paul Gallico (1897-1976), was one of the great storytellers and writers of the 20th century. Journalist, novelist and screenwriter, Gallico was born in New York and died in Monaco, but spent much of his life living in Saltram in Devon. Paul Gallico is known for writing a number of major books and films of the mid-20th century, and probably best known for The Snow Goose (published in 1941), and The Poseidon Adventure, (published in 1969) with film adaptations made in 1971 and 1973. Gallico was a good friend of Ian Fleming, working with him on the Sunday Times, sharing Fleming’s interests in golf, diving and fencing. Fleming sent an initial typescript of his first James Bond novel CASINO ROYALE to Gallico asking if it was publishable – Gallico replied to Fleming ‘The book is a knockout!’ The rest is history. Gallico also wrote an introductory essay to the first James Bond Omnibus Gilt-Edged Bonds, published by The Macmillan Company in New York in 1951.
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1 January 2022
007 actor Daniel Craig, James Bond film co-producers Barbara Broccoli and her half-brother Michael G. Wilson, are among those honoured by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, in the New Year's Honours List.

Daniel Craig is awarded the CMG (Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George), usually given to senior diplomats and spies. The CMG is the same honour received by James Bond in the novels by creator Ian Fleming — and a nod to the character Daniel Craig has played since 2006 up to his fifth and final 007 film, No Time To Die (2021). Craig was also made an honorary Commander in the Royal Navy in September 2021.

James Bond co-producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson are awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in recognition of their services to Film, Drama, Philanthropy and Skills.

Best-selling author Anthony Horowitz, whose 3rd James Bond novel WITH A MIND TO KILL will be published on May 26, 2022, is also awarded a CBE for services to Literature.

Joanna Lumley who played the ‘English Girl’ in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) is made a Dame for services to Drama, Entertainment and Charitable Causes.

16 December 2021
The JAMES BOND SEASON is back at the Prince Charles Cinema in January 2022! Once again the PCC will screen every official James Bond film from Dr. No (1962) to Spectre (2015), and will also include Casino Royale (1967) and Never Say Never Again (1983). The season begins on Saturday January 15, 2022 - and will continue through the first half of the year, culminating in August. Each film will have one afternoon screening each week on Thursday and Saturday, with You Only Live Twice having an additional screening on Sunday June 16, 2022 to celebrate its 55th anniversary.

The Living Daylights will also receive an additional 35th anniversary screening at 18.00 on Monday June 27, 2022. The PCC is working hard to get the latest James Bond film No Time To Die (2021) added in August to fittingly finish the season off. Thanks to Park Circus Films, the PCC have secured these 26 James Bond films for this epic season. Booking is now open to PCC Members, and available to everyone from 10am Thursday December 16, 2021. Book now to enjoy a twice-weekly serving of James Bond on the big-screen, where he belongs! FULL DETAILS AND HOW TO BOOK