JAMES BOND
NEWS

21 January 2021
French driving stunt arranger/performer and stunt coordinator Rémy Julienne has died at the age of 90, after contracting COVID-19.

A veteran of over 1,400 films including The Italian Job (1969) and six James Bond adventures (five of which were directed by John Glen). Rémy Julienne's first Bond assignment was driving stunts arranger on For Your Eyes Only (1981), when he choreographed the spectacular chase through the olive groves on the island of Corfu. Julienne returned to the series as driving stunts arranger on Octopussy (1983) and again for A View To A Kill (1985), also doubling for Roger Moore (uncredited) during the car chase in Paris.

Rémy Julienne also served as driving stunts arranger on The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence To Kill (1989), where he doubled for Timothy Dalton when Bond tilts a tanker onto its side to avoid an oncoming missile. After many aborted attempts with other drivers, Julienne took to the wheel and performed the stunt himself in one take. Julienne's final James Bond film was GoldenEye (1995) starring Pierce Brosnan, which included the memorable tank chase filmed on location in St. Petersburg and at Leavesden Studios.

18 January 2021
The BOND IN MOTION exhibition has now come to the end of it’s time at the London Film Museum. In January 2014, production began on the BOND IN MOTION exhibition in partnership with Eon Productions opening a new chapter in the London Film Museum's history. BOND IN MOTION was the largest official collection of original James Bond vehicles and props including concept drawings, storyboards, scripts, model miniatures and full-size cars, boats, and motorbikes. Highlights included the Aston Martin DB10 from Spectre (2015), the Aston Martin DB5 from GoldenEye (1995); the ‘Wet Nellie’ Lotus Esprit S1 from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977); the Rolls-Royce Phantom III from Goldfinger (1964); and the ‘Little Nellie’ Wallis WA-116 Agile Autogyro from You Only Live Twice (1967).

Read the 007 MAGAZINE review of BOND IN MOTION

7 January 2021
Michael Apted, who directed Pierce Brosnan's third James Bond film The World Is Not Enough (1999), has died at the age of 79.

Born in Aylesbury on February 10, 1941, Apted began his career at Granada Television in Manchester. One of his first assignments was researcher on the ground-breaking documentary series Seven Up! (1964), which charted the lives of fourteen British children from a range of socio-economic backgrounds. Apted then directed the eight subsequent series which returned to the children every seven years. The last series 63 Up was broadcast by ITV in 2019. Apted also directed several episodes of the long-running Granada soap opera Coronation Street, and two episodes of the popular Yorkshire Television children's series Follyfoot (1971-73), which featured Desmond Llewelyn as Colonel Maddocks, owner of Follyfoot Farm.

Michael Apted's feature film debut was Triple Echo (1972) starring Glenda Jackson and Oliver Reed. Apted then alternated work on TV and film with character-based dramas including Agatha (1979) starring Vanessa Redgrave, Dustin Hoffman and Timothy Dalton, Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) starring Sissy Spacek, Gorky Park (1983) starring William Hurt and Lee Marvin, and Gorillas in the Mist (1988) starring Sigourney Weaver as naturalist Dian Fossey.

Michael Apted was therefore an unusual choice when he was approached to direct The World Is Not Enough (1999) in August 1998. Having agreed to direct, Apted also had some input at the scripting stage and made many suggestions that were ultimately incorporated into the final uncredited rewrite by Dana Stevens (Apted's then wife). Most of the changes focussed on the strengthening of the character of Elektra King played by Sophie Marceau. In June 1999 Michael Apted was reunited with Follyfoot star Desmond Llewelyn (1914-1999) for his three-day shoot in Q's lab, which was the final appearance in the series for the much-loved actor. At the time of its release The World Is Not Enough became the highest-grossing James Bond film to date, taking over $350-million at the box-office.

In addition to his television and feature film work Apted also continued to direct documentaries including The Official Film of the 2006 FIFA World Cup narrated by Pierce Brosnan.

4 January 2021
American Actress Tanya Roberts, who played Stacey Sutton in A View To A Kill (1985), has died at the age of 65 - a day after her agent and partner prematurely announced the news.

Born Victoria Leigh Blum in New York City, Roberts began her career as a model in TV advertisements, and started acting in off-Broadway plays in the late 1970s. In 1980 Roberts was chosen from some 2,000 candidates to replace Shelley Hack in the fifth season of the popular US television series Charlie's Angels. The show ultimately suffered from low ratings and was cancelled in June 1981. Roberts then starred in the adventure fantasy film The Beastmaster (1982) which she promoted with a PLAYBOY pictorial in the October issue. Roberts followed this by playing the secretary to private detective Mike Hammer (played by Stacy Keach) in the television movie Murder Me, Murder You (1983), although she declined to appear in the follow-up series to work on Sheena: Queen of the Jungle (1984), which proved to be a critical and box-office disaster. Tanya Roberts then appeared as geologist Stacey Sutton in A View To A Kill (1985) opposite Roger Moore in his final James Bond film. After appearances in several more forgettable US films Tanya Roberts played the recurring role of Midge Pinciotti in three seasons of the popular US television period sitcom That '70s Show (1998-2000). She later appeared as a special guest in seasons 6 & 7 (2004), before leaving the series to look after her terminally ill husband Barry.