On HER Majesty’s Secret Service. Ever since Ian Fleming launched his hero James Bond into the world in 1953, 007 has pledged his loyalty to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II - through dozens more books by numerous authors, comics, games, and of course 25 official films. He’s always had the same boss.
As the Queen celebrates her platinum jubilee this coming weekend, with bunting and cakes heaving on street party trestle tables, there are bound to be a few PA systems blaring ‘Nobody Does It Better’ as part of the very British celebrations. It’s difficult to fathom our favourite agent raising a toast to anyone else.
Given that Her Royal Highness is 96 years old, and how long EON takes to make films nowadays (and also a reboot this time), the seventh incarnation of the big screen Bond could be reporting to a new head of state. On HIS Majesty’s Secret Service? It doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.
News
Vindicated. That’s how long time fans of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service should feel, especially those who lived through the decades where the film was almost airbrushed out of the series. UK cinema goers turned up in force last weekend, earning the film £11,114 across 110 screens. That’s the second-highest gross for a Bond re-release this year, only behind Goldinger and out-performing all the other Connery adventures by over 25%. Cinema chains also correctly predicted increased demand for the film by adding more locations than usual. Where can the legacy of the film go from here?
No Time To Die director Cary Fukunaga’s fall from grace continues as Rolling Stone picked up the story and ran a detailed expose today. It’s behind a paywall, but Indie Wire has a lengthy recap of the article. For the first time since the accusations about inappropriate behaviour began several weeks ago, Fukunaga has lawyered up and given a statement. But we’ll go out on a limb here and say he won’t be doing any publicity for the James Bond franchise again, let alone direct another film.
Listen
With Diamonds Are Forever back in UK cinemas this week, we round up a panel of James Bond & Friends to discuss 007’s sleaziest (?) outing. See if you agree with the opinions of Calvin Dyson, Joe Darlington, and Bill Koenig:
Watch
It’s almost 30 years since this VHS trailer for the Sean Connery era was released, which in turn celebrated 30 years from the start of that. So, whilst the film series was dormant in the early 90s, this is one of the few official pieces of content we have from what is now the halfway mark in the franchise. It’s also the last time a home media collection used posters for their cover art. There are a few questionable claims in this promotional package:
MI6 Archives
Tom Cruise jumping off a cliff on a motorbike ends the trailer for the latest Mission: Impossible movie, but of course, it’s all been done by Bond before (Pentex has a great shot-for-shot remake you can watch here). When 007 did it, he caught up with a plane! Here’s an original storyboard for stunt (circa 1994).
Exit Through The Gift Shop
Issue #64 of MI6 Confidential magazine is back from the printers and will be shipping to subscribers around the world this week! We sit down with Anthony Horowitz to talk about his new book With A Mind To Kill and have exclusive interviews with the crew of No Time To Die. If you haven’t subscribed or renewed yet, there’s still time to make sure you’re amongst the first batch that leaves MI6 HQ.
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