This Month In Bond (April 2025)
Perhaps we should add this butterfly to our collection, n'est-ca pas?
Home video releases for the series have been inconsistent over the decades as the medium de jour evolved through various standards such as Laser Disc, VHS, VCD, DVD, UMD, and now Blu-ray. Marketers have faced the challenge of selling a large collection of films, avoiding the sticker shock of the upfront cost, whilst managing revenues from the weaker titles. The UK release of the first Special Edition DVDs took the simplest route of releasing the titles in pairs over several months in the early 2000s, whereas the US took a completely different strategy, equal parts infuriating and intriguing.
MGM Home Entertainment took the approach of splitting the (then) 19 films across 3 boxset volumes in 2002 and 2003. As 19 doesn’t divide equally by 3, they were already off to a bad start. For an added sprinkle of inconsistency, the 20th film - ‘Die Another Day’ - would have its own independent release in 2003 during the same window.
Their tactic seemed to be quite deliberate and cynical: hook fans on Volume One with some of the most popular films, and then later release the other two volumes with weaker titles intermingled with must-haves. If your collecting OCD wasn’t strong enough to justify getting volumes two and three simply because you had bought the first volume a year earlier, MGM made sure you would have to hold your nose just to get the films you wanted. As dedicated fans, this may not have been much of a concern (we would buy them all, anyway, wouldn’t we?), but for the casual fan, this may have seemed like a distressed purchase.
Volume One, released in 2002, comprised seven films: ‘Dr. No’, ‘Goldfinger’, ‘The Man With The Golden Gun’, ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, ‘Licence To Kill’, ‘GoldenEye’, and ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’. That’s three stone-cold classics, one of the most recent outings (at the time), the debut adventure, and two weaker entries to pad out the set. Whilst ‘Golden Gun’ has not had a renaissance since its release and is still considered one of the lesser films in the series, the same cannot be said of ‘Licence To Kill.’ At the time, it was ranked lowly by the general public, and it is easy to see why MGM would bundle these in with stronger films to avoid a sales problem later. 20+ years on, you could make the argument that ‘Licence’ should not be lumped in like this, as it has grown in appreciation.
America had to wait a full year for another wave, and then both would come at once.
Volume Two would have quite a different flavour. Its six films were ‘On Her Majesty`s Secret Service,’ ‘Moonraker’, ‘Octopussy’, ‘A View To A Kill’, ‘The Living Daylights,’ and ‘The World Is Not Enough.’ Lazenby’s solo outing was still quite divisive in the US home video market at the time, and would not have been the headliner it may now be. Then there is a run of 5 almost consecutive films from ‘Moonraker’ to ‘Daylights,’ save ‘For Your Eyes Only,' which would be held over. Volume Two was rounded out with ‘TWINE’ which was the penultimate title in the series at the time. Where things went wrong for the collection was that, rather than package in ‘Die Another Day’ with a Special Edition sleeve, the set left a slot empty for the standalone release that you had to buy separately. Whilst this saved doubling up on a film most would have bought upon release, it left an annoying inconsistency in the spine design of the boxsets.
Volume Three leaned into the US market’s strong pull for Connery with four of the remaining six films: ‘From Russia With Love,’ ‘Thunderball,’ ‘You Only Live Twice,’ ‘Diamonds Are Forever.’ It was rounded out with two Moore outings: ‘Live And Let Die’ and ‘For Your Eyes Only.’
Sales data on the volumes is not available, so aside from some MGM bean counters that have long-since moved on, we may never know how successful their strategy was.
Four years later, for the release of the Ultimate Edition DVDs, MGM were up to the same tricks in the USA (whereas the UK released two films separately every fortnight). Films were mixed together from across the 20-film series into four sets of five films. You want all the Connery films? You need to buy at least three of the sets. Moore fan? You’ll need all four.
Phase 1 in November 2006 saw the release of Volume One ('Diamonds Are Forever,' 'Goldfinger,' 'The Living Daylights,' 'The Man With The Golden Gun', 'The World Is Not Enough') and Volume Two ('Die Another Day,' 'License To Kill,' 'The Spy Who Loved Me,' 'Thunderball,’ 'A View To A Kill').
A month later in December 2006, the final two sets were released: Volume Three ('Goldeneye', 'Live And Let Die', 'For Your Eyes Only', 'From Russia With Love', 'On Her Majesty’s Secret Service') and Volume Four ('Dr. No', 'You Only Live Twice', 'Octopussy', 'Tomorrow Never Dies', 'Moonraker').
Digging through the MI6 archives from the time shows that the first phase in November 2006 brought in an impressive $49m in revenues. Data is not available for the second phase in December.
It was easier to track the sales in the UK as the films were released individually. A few months ahead of the Ultimate Edition release in 2006, we took a snapshot of Amazon pre-order rankings across DVD on the platform. The standout performer is ‘Licence To Kill’ at #4, and #5 is proof that ‘O.H.M.S.S.’ was on the rise in the UK ahead of ‘Casino Royale’s theatrical release.
Goldfinger #351
Doctor No #562
From Russia with Love #670
Licence To Kill #683
O.H.M.S.S. #703
Live and Let Die #1074
Thunderball #1099
GoldenEye #1150
You Only Live Twice #1153
The Spy Who Loved Me #1176
The Living Daylights #1269
Moonraker #1282
The World is Not Enough #1406
Die Another Day #1800
Tomorrow Never Dies #2110
Diamonds Are Forever #2830
The Man With The Golden Gun #4593
For Your Eyes Only #4698
Octopussy #8501
A View To A Kill #11290
Analogous to this chart is the UK box-office for the 25 film cinema re-releases in 2002. Some of the basement dwellers are the same.
The clamour for a 4K home media release of the films has been answered - partially - with the announcement of the Sean Connery 4K collection coming this June (and before you ask, it does not include ‘Never Say Never Again’). Daniel Craig’s five films have previously been released in a 4K boxset. Many comments have been wondering about holding off for a complete 25-film 4K set. Is this likely? Maybe, maybe not.
Before the Amazon acquisition, MGM extended their contract with Warner Bros to manage releases of its catalogue on Blu-ray. It will be up to them if they see a viable market for such an expensive boxset, rather than Bond’s owners. Is a ‘George Lazenby’ or ‘Timothy Dalton’ 4K collection likely? Probably not. Following a potential ‘Roger Moore’ collection of 7 films, would they throw Lazenby, Dalton and Brosnan together for another 7?
Now that there are 25 films, the math on breaking up the series into boxsets is a little easier. 5 volumes of 5 films is a nice round number.
How would you break up the series into volumes? Would you go by decades (and if so, how do you reconcile the 3-film ‘90s and ‘00s)? Is there a theme or other rationale you can use to group them?
Perhaps another way of looking at it is, what order makes sense if you throw out chronological release? Is it heresy to have them on your shelf in alphabetical order?
We will be discussing this on a future episode of the James Bond & Friends podcast, and we would love to hear your ideas beforehand. You can email us at contact@jamesbondandfriends.com
Listen
Before many of us had fully processed the news that Broccoli & Wilson were stepping away from the franchise, Amazon MGM Studios dropped the bombshell that Amy Pascal and David Heyman would produce the next film - the first to not have a Broccoli name attached. We discuss the merits of the two new producers and what they might bring to Bond 26 (if we are still calling it that?) and review some of Pascal's creative feedback on the scripts when she was leading Sony Pictures through most of the Daniel Craig era. Do we agree with her comments in retrospect? Could we have enjoyed better movies if she had been listened to? We also poke around the areas of the new production that may be up for grabs given EON Productions will not have day to day involvement anymore, and place bets on when the next big news will break.
Listen
After a five-year break, Toby Stephens is back as James Bond for the 10th adaptation of Ian Fleming’s James Bond in ‘Casino Royale’ for BBC Radio 4. The production was originally broadcast last week, but you can listen online via iPlayer.
Exit Through The Gift Shop
Every year, we produce a 100-page special based on a single film or aspect of the franchise and we are immensely proud of our latest MI6 Confidential special - ‘Skyfall: Production Diary.’
It is now shipping around the world - secure your copy today!
As the 007 cinematic franchise celebrated its golden 50th anniversary in 2012, Skyfall emerged not merely as a top-tier James Bond film but as a triumphant homage to its storied legacy – a fusion of audacious modernity and reverence for tradition. Directed by Academy Award winner Sam Mendes, the 23rd instalment in the Bond canon transcended expectations, delivering a narrative as emotionally resonant as it was action-packed. This special edition of MI6 Confidential invites you behind the curtain of Skyfall’s production history and bold creative choices that solidified its place as a landmark in cinematic history.
From the vertiginous skyscrapers of Shanghai, to the historical rooftops of Istanbul and the haunting moors of the Scottish Highlands, Skyfall redefined Bond’s world with visceral authenticity. Cinematographer Roger Deakins, whose lens transformed neon-lit skyscrapers and floating dragons into chiaroscuro masterpieces, elevated the film into a visual symphony. Meanwhile, the resurrection of Bond’s iconic Aston Martin DB5 from Goldfinger whispered of nostalgia, even as the story charged forward with themes of betrayal, obsolescence, and loyalty.
Delve into the logistical triumphs: the construction (and explosive destruction) of the Skyfall Lodge set, the adrenaline-fueled practicality of stunts performed on moving trains, and the heart-stopping tube crash created by the best VFX team in the business. Discover how MGM’s financial turmoil nearly derailed production, only for perseverance to yield the series’ first billion-dollar triumph.
In this edition, we honour Skyfall as both a tribute and a revolution - a film that confronted Bond’s past to secure his future.
In This Special Issue
100 page special magazine; professionally printed; perfect bound
An exhaustive day-by-day account of Skyfall's principal photography
Details of cut scenes, reshoots, and scrapped ideas
Rarely seen photography from the production
Comprehensive diary of the 2nd Unit's work in Turkey
Historical account of the film based on access to production documents and contemporaneous interviews
Insights and memories from cast & crew
Order online via MI6 Confidential
More Bond
In need of some daily 007? Check out our other outlets:
Great stuff as we wait on the next Bond!
If I were to release boxed 4K sets, the way I'd break it up (although I really like having a complete collection) would by by actor! That way I could completely skip buying the Roger Moore disks again. (Lazenby and Dalton could be packaged together)