This Week In Bond (May 24th, 2022)
Now put your clothes back on and I'll buy you an ice cream
This week marks 5 years since we lost Sir Roger Moore. Not only was he the most prolific James Bond (7 films in quick succession beats Daniel Craig’s long-drawn-out tenure of 5 in our book), but the best ambassador for the franchise we’ve ever had. Who else would have the humility and self-deprecation to host an anniversary special after departing and publicly hand over the reins to the guy taking over the tuxedo? In later years we had Dame Judi Dench and, most recently, the fabulous Naomie Harris doing the ambassadorial duties, but we’ll forever miss that cheeky smile and raised eyebrow. When it came to promoting the Brand Bond, nobody did it better.
We had the fortune to work with Sir Roger on a number of projects and events over the years. Back in the early 2000s, when ‘Everything or Nothing’ was nearing release and Pierce Brosnan was heading for the exit (unceremoniously), we developed a concept for EA to bring Moore’s 007 back for a videogame set in his timeline. We chose the gap between ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ and ‘Moonraker’ for the game, with a plot involving the discovery of a long-dormant disease that could wreak havoc upon the earth, an aging tycoon with plans to build apocalypse survival shelters for the rich and famous, his adventurous daughter, underwater swimming, a fantastic action sequence on automated jungle clearing highway road-building machine, and the return of Tee-Hee (he only fell out of a window, after all). Just as the outline was taking shape, EA threw a Hail Mary to Sir Sean Connery and offered him $1m to appear in a remake of his choosing. He unexpectedly said yes, picked ‘From Russia With Love’ (much to the chagrin of executives), and the rest, as they say, is history.
News
It’s refreshing now when a Bond tenure ends without killing off the central character. Anthony Horowitz publicly promised to do no such thing at the end of his third and final continuation novel ‘With A Mind To Kill,’ and we’re pleased to say he kept his word. We were delighted to be invited to the launch event in London earlier this week. Joining Horowitz (above centre) at the party was Young Bond author Charlie Higson, Fleming biographer Andrew Lycett (above right), and Some Kind of Writers Ajay Chowdhury and Matthew Field. Has there ever been such a higher combined page count of Bond authors in one bar? Failing that, they would make a great pub quiz team. Ajay kindly reviewed the new book for MI6 - you can check that out here.
Who knew Connery bought himself an Aston DB5 in 2018? The car, which is in immaculate condition, will be coming up for auction next month. Even without the Bond connection, the DB5 would fetch over $1m. Sadly, Sir Sean did not really get to enjoy the car much, as after the restorative work was complete, the pandemic hit and travel between his home in the Bahamas and this house in Switzerland, where the car is stored, was not possible. The sale price is likely to be lower than the limited edition DB5 gadget recreation cars that were produced last year ($3.5m).
Dynamite Comics will be launching a new James Bond series in the summer titled ‘007.’ By our counting, that’s their 16th title since they took on the licence. Russia is the backdrop for this story, much like Horowitz’s ‘With A Mind To Kill’ and Danny Boyle’s scrapped Bond 25 story. Abandoned by his superiors, facing suspension at MI6, and questioning his waning sense of duty, 007 gets an urgent message from former 00 agent Gwendolyn Gann, a mentor and old flame from his earliest days. Gann's gotten back in the spy game, and needs Bond's help... The series will debut this summer and will likely be told over 6 parts.
Listen
This week we are joined by Phil Nobile Jr, Ben Williams, and fellow Australian Natalie Bochenski to discuss George Lazenby’s one-and-done as ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ returns to UK cinema screens this week. Big Fry himself kindly retweeted this week’s episode:
Watch
Here is a rarely seen interview with Sean Connery in Paris after a Scotland v France rugby match in 1987. His wife Micheline Roquebrune does the translating.
MI6 Archives
The first draft ‘Moonraker’ script was jam-packed with ideas that were cut and later recycled in later films. In this snippet below, Bond and Goodhead are flying personal jets to escape Drax. The mini-jet would come back for the ‘Octopussy’ pre-title sequence, and the idea of Bond and the leading lady having personal aircraft would also return in ‘Die Another Day.’ Never let good ideas go to waste.
Exit Through The Gift Shop
Issue #64 of MI6 Confidential magazine will be shipping next week. Its feature interview had to be held back for reasons which will become obvious! If you have not signed up for the 2022 season yet, you can start or renew your subscription here.
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LOVE the BOND series since 1965 !