This Week In Bond (September 20th, 2022)

For King & Country

When ‘Skyfall’ was first released back in 2012 it hit on a wave of British popularism, from the London Olympics to Andy Murray winning Wimbledon - and everything in between. You were at risk of tripping over bunting in any town or city centre, and you couldn’t turn in any direction without seeing a Union Jack.

It’s not often that a piece of entertainment, such as a Bond film, is timed so well (and accidentally) that it captures the mood of a nation. ‘Skyfall’ had it all, including the series’ 50th anniversary celebrations, and it made the most of it, earning £103m at the UK box-office alone and making it the most successful film ever. The export market was ripe too, with the film taking $1.1b worldwide, smashing the long-held inflation-adjusted record by ‘Thunderball.’

10 years later, ‘Skyfall’ returns to UK cinemas and once again the timing is impeccable. On the weekend of HM Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, Bond will be seen escorting a matriarchal figure to a Scottish estate, only for her to pass away, with the Union Jacks flying when a lone figure looks across the London skyline, and the torch is passed to her male successor.

The magnification of the emotional ending is not only through the connections between Bond and the Crown, but particularly Daniel Craig’s performance with Her Majesty. It is both a celebration of Britain and a reflection on the passing of time. The end of a reign and the promise of a new future.

How many people went to enjoy ‘Skyfall’ during this once-in-a-lifetime moment in the UK will be revealed tomorrow when the BFI releases the weekend box-office statistics.

News

$10,000. You were wondering how much it cost, Mr. Bond. Although pricing has not been confirmed, new tables from Stern Pinball typically start at $8,000 without all the bells and whistles on the new James Bond game. We’ve been warned this is likely to land in the 5-figure bracket. The official announcement is still to come, but we understand the Premium edition (seen above) may be made to order. It does include a SPECTRE rocket, Sean Connery on a jetpack, and scale model DB5, so this is not your regular pinball game.

Almost forgot… A GoldenEye 007 re-release has been confirmed! It will have a 4K make-over for the Xbox and feature local split-screen multiplayer, whereas the Switch will be more of a straight port of the N64 game but will enable online multiplayer (requiring a subscription). Not interested in subscriptions? If you have an Xbox you can purchase the Rare Replay bundle now for just $7.49 and GoldenEye 007 will be automatically added for no additional charge when it’s released.

Listen

With ‘Skyfall’ back in UK cinemas this week, we assembled a panel of Tom Butler, Ben Williams, and Dr. Lisa Funnell, to discuss the impactful elements of the film.

Watch

Ian Fleming had a grudge with an architect which lead to the naming of one of James Bond’s most famous villains. It didn’t go down well. The omnipresent Simon Whistler takes up the story of Erno Goldfinger for the current episode of Today I Found Out.

MI6 Archives

Here is some lovely concept art for ‘Skyfall’ that demonstrates just how fully realized the film is before cameras even roll.

Exit Through The Gift Shop

If you are a fan of ‘GoldenEye 007’ or gaming history in general, we would recommend the new titular book by Alyse Knorr for Boss Fight Books. It’s a tight 220-page story of the game from concept to today with first-person accounts of those who were there. You can pick up a paperback copy from Amazon US or Amazon UK.

More Bond

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