The name's Bond, James Bond
The name's Bond, James Bond
The new James Bond film has broken box office records on its opening weekend in the UK — taking £15.5 million in three days, according to early figures. ‘Quantum of Solace' took a further £14.2 million in France and Sweden, according to industry journal ‘Screen Daily'.
The movie, which premiered in London last Wednesday and the UAE last Sunday, does not open in the US until November 14. The film — the 22nd official entry in the James Bond film series — is directed by Marc Forster, of Monster's Ball and Finding Neverland fame.
James Bond 007 is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in 12 novels and two short story collections.
The character has also been used in the second longest running and second most successful film franchise to date, starting in 1962 with Dr No.
After Fleming's death in 1964, subsequent James Bond novels were written by Kingsley Amis (as Robert Markham), John Pearson, John Gardner, Raymond Benson and Sebastian Faulks. In addition Charlie Higson has begun to write a series of books detailing the Young James Bond.
Moreover, Christopher Wood novelised two screenplays, while other writers have authored unofficial versions of the character.
Apart from movies, TV and radio, Bond has also been adapted for many other media, including comic strips and video games.
Bond is portrayed as an SIS agent residing in London. From 1995 onwards, SIS would be officially acknowledged as MI6. Bond holds code number 007, except for in You Only Live Twice, where he temporarily becomes “7777''.
The double-0 prefix indicates his discretionary licence to kill in the performance of his duties. In the films, he is famous for introducing himself as “Bond, James Bond'' whenever the opportunity arises and for ordering his vodka martinis “shaken, not stirred''; his usual and characteristic formal clothing is a dinner jacket, usually also wearing a Rolex watch or, in later films, an Omega.
He has been portrayed on film by Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig.
Sinclair McKay, the author of The Man with the Golden Touch: How the Bond Films Conquered the World, reveals a few little-known facts about the series.
- Casino Royale is the first time one of the Bond films doesn't feature female dancing silhouettes in the opening titles. McKay speculates its because the producers wanted to indicate that the film was going to be much tougher than others.
- In 1995, for Golden Eye, Izabella Scorupco did not want to be referred to as a ‘Bond girl' because it was demeaning. Instead, Scorupco asked that she be referred to as a ‘Bond woman'.
- In 2002, Halle Berry, after starring in Die Another Day, said she was happy to be called a ‘Bond babe'.
- Sean Connery thought Ian Fleming, the author behind the James Bond novels, was a “terrific snob but very good company.''
- Fleming was rumoured to have thought Connery was “too working class to be Bond''. However, McKay said Fleming's agent told him that the author was all for Connery from the very beginning and that there wasn't any “class issue''
involved. - John Gavin, who played Julius Caesar in Spartacus, was signed up to star as Bond in Diamonds Are Forever but producers managed to get Sean Connery back and ended up paying off Gavin.
- Prior to his role as Bond in the 1969 film On Her Majesty's Secret Service, George Lazenby was the highest paid male model in the world. In 1968, he was to appear in a publicity campaign for roll-on deodorant but as soon as he got the role of Bond the producers had to buy up the adverts to make sure they weren't seen by the public.
- Producer Harry Saltzman, who co-produced the James Bond film series with Albert Broccoli, thought Shirley Bassey's rendition of Diamonds Are Forever was bordering on obscene and laced with sexual innuendo.
- The only Fleming titles left that haven't been turned into films are: Risico and The Hildebrand Rarity — both short stories.
– With inputs from www.bbc.co.uk, www.ctv.ca and http://en.wikipedia.org
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