No Time To Die will be released in cinemas globally on 8 October 2021.
Casino Royale’s Runway Chase
Bond (Daniel Craig) pursues bomber Carlos (Claudio Santamaria) through Miami airport in Casino Royale (2006). Part of the chase was filmed at Prague airport and the rest at Dunsfold Aerodome, Cranleigh in the UK.
Michael Apted (1941-2021)
“It is with very heavy hearts that we share the news of the passing of Michael Apted. He was a director of enormous talent and range and unique in his ability to move effortlessly and successfully between all genres. He was beloved by all those who worked with him. We loved working with him on The World Is Not Enough and send our love and support to his family, friends and colleagues,” Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
Tanya Roberts (1955-2021)
Tanya Roberts, who played Stacey Sutton in A View To A Kill, has died suddenly at the age of 65. Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said: “We are saddened to hear of the passing of Tanya. She was a very lovely person and shall always be remembered by Bond fans as Stacey Sutton in A View To A Kill. Our heart goes out to her family and friends.”
Roger Deakins awarded knighthood
Skyfall cinematographer Roger Deakins has been awarded a knighthood in the New Years Honours List 2021. Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said: “Roger is truly a great visionary of our time. His cinematography always brings depth and humanity to the screen. His uncompromising commitment to the work is unparalleled, he is a wonderful collaborator. We feel incredibly privileged that he created the stunning visual identity of Skyfall. Many, many congratulations to a great master.”
The Ultimate James Bond Quiz
Do you think you’re brainier than Q? Then it’s time to try The Ultimate James Bond Quiz. Perfect for a lockdown family quiz! Simply download the PDF and then all you need to do is decide who’s going to be Quizmaster.
Download here: UltimateBondQuiz
Daniel Kleinman’s Top Five Title Sequences
A prolific commercial and music video director, Daniel Kleinman has designed the title sequences for eight of the last nine Bond films including Casino Royale, Skyfall and the upcoming No Time To Die. We asked him to select his favourite title sequences from all 25 films in the franchise…
You Only Live Twice
“I think it’s my favourite sequence because I love the Japanese imagery. Directed by the legend Maurice Binder, I think it’s so clever with the parasols making these amazing patterns, and the colours are really spectacular with the geishas and the volcanos. There is something just very cool and very sexy and slightly of its time. I love that era of imagery, so it’s nostalgic for me as well. It’s such a great song and Nancy Sinatra does it so well – it’s a great sequence, I love it.”
Goldfinger
“This was created by Robert Brownjohn and not Maurice. I loved the idea of projection onto bodies. There’s the marvellous shot of the rotating number plate on teeth and I just think those sorts of ambiguous images he did really well. It’s very Sixties but it’s got a sexy sort of otherworldliness about it. I can imagine when you first saw it in the Sixties it just transported you to a world of exoticism, beauty, mystery and excitement. I think it’s a real classic, that one.”
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
“It’s classic Binder – silhouettes used in collage to create unusual juxtapositions. Time is the theme, I love the Harold Lloyd-type clock face and the use of the hour glass with images falling through it as a way of depicting what has gone before, reminding us of the heritage despite the new Bond. Then silhouettes create an hour glass shape, it’s very inventive, quite beautiful and evocative of the era. Interesting that the theme is instrumental so the images have to work extra hard. It was a great film as well.”
Skyfall
“I was very pleased with Skyfall. I thought, ‘OK, this sequence is what’s going on in his mind, you’re almost going inside his head as he sees his life flashing before him. He’s getting sucked under, it asks the question is he going to the other world because he’s died or is he not?’ I felt out of the title sequences I’ve created it’s the one that’s got closest to the vision I had in my mind to begin with. I suppose what most people don’t realise is the actual physical process of creating the imagery at such a high resolution is very time-consuming and very complex. These days it requires a lot of people. It’s very easy for it not to turn out how you want, and for things to be not quite right or go off in directions you didn’t imagine.”
Casino Royale
“The cover of the original book, a playing card, was actually designed by Ian Fleming himself. I thought that’s so great how the iconography of playing cards and the graphics of roulette and money could be made into patterns. It was so unusual and different and it was quite fun to do. It was my first one with Daniel Craig and originally we were filming his stunt double, but Daniel came down to the shoot and he was watching what we were doing and he said, ‘Look, I’d really like to do this because I think I move in a slightly different way.’ So quite a lot of the figures we rotoscoped and animated are actually him doing the action. I didn’t think he’d want to do it, but he was very up for it. He is a perfectionist so it was great to get him to be part of it.”
Remembering Peter Lamont (1929-2020)
One of the world’s most renowned production designers, Peter Lamont has died at the age of 91.
Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said: “Peter was a much beloved member of the Bond family and a giant in the industry. Inextricably linked with the design and aesthetic of James Bond since Goldfinger (1964), he became Production Designer on For Your Eyes Only (1981) working on 18 of the 25 films including nine as Production Designer. He was a true success story proving that with talent and hard work you will achieve your dreams. He won the Academy Award for Titanic in 1998 as well as nominations for Fiddler On The Roof (1971), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), and Aliens (1986). Our hearts go out to his family and all those who worked with him over many years. He will be very sorely missed.”
Peter Lamont was born in 1929. Having left school in 1946, he landed a job at Pinewood Studios where he spent two years as a print boy runner. Following two years in the RAF, he returned to Pinewood as a junior draughtsman. In 1964, Lamont was asked by art director Peter Murton if he wanted to join the art department of Goldfinger as a draughtsman. Lamont had just seen From Russia With Love and was “knocked out by the film”. Production designer Ken Adam tasked him with drawing the exterior of Fort Knox as his first assignment.
Over the years, Lamont stayed within the Bond family, learning his trade and receiving promotions from chief draughtsman to set decorator to art director before becoming Ken Adam’s right hand man on both The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), for which he was Oscar® nominated, and Moonraker (1979). With Adam unable to do For Your Eyes Only due to a scheduling conflict, Lamont was asked to be production designer. He remained in that position on every 007 film, save Tomorrow Never Dies until Casino Royale in 2006. The latter won him the Art Director’s Guild’s Excellence In Production Design Award.
He created some of the series most iconic elements such as the titular weapon from The Man With The Golden Gun (1974) created out of the cigarette lighter, pen, cuff links, cigarette case) and most memorable sets such as the Kremlin war room from Octopussy (1983) or the ice palace in Die Another Day (2002). Yet much of his work remained invisible. His deft recreation of the streets of St. Petersburg on the backlot of Leavedsen Studios for GoldenEye (1995) allowed the team to create carnage with a tank without danger of damaging any historical buildings.
Outside of the 007 series, Peter worked on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) for EON Productions and Fiddler On The Roof (for which he received his first of four Oscar® nominations). He won an Academy Award® for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration for Titanic in 1998.
Die Another Day Sword Duel
Bond (Pierce Brosnan) and Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens) duel it out in the corridors of the Blades Club in Die Another Day (2002). The sword fight was choreographed by former Olympic fencer Bob Anderson who also doubled for Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi’s lightsaber duels.
Destruction Of Skyfall Lodge
He never liked the place anyway… today’s clip is the destruction of Bond’s ancestral home in Skyfall (2012). Special effects supervisor Chris Corbould said: “We built a third scale model of the house and two-third-scale models of the helicopter.” The scene was devised with two explosions. A small explosion that creates debris which knocks the helicopter off course and sends it careening into the house. The fuel tanks then ignite, causing a massive second explosion. “We used 150 stacks of dynamite and a couple of hundred gallons of fuel for that one,” said Corbould proudly.
The World Is Not Enough Ski Chase
There’s going off-piste and then there’s going off-piste 007 style. This sequence from The World Is Not Enough (1999) was filmed in Chamonix, France. To test the special winterised cameras they were left in the British Airways refrigerator at Heathrow over night to make sure they ran and that the batteries were up to speed. Filming wrapped, five and a half days over schedule, due to heavy snow, overcast skies, diesel freezing in the trucks, and stopping for avalanche warnings.
theory11 Release 007 Playing Cards
Whether you’re playing chemin de fer or Texas hold’em, these new Bond playing cards are the perfect choice. Made by premium card creators theory11, the deck has custom artwork inspired by 007 history, from the gilded 3D embossed Bond family crest on the box, to the gadgets and weapons subtly woven into the card designs. Eagle eyes will spot the GoldenEye pen grenade, Bond’s trusty Walther PPK, The Spy Who Loved Me ski pole gun, Jinx’s knife from Die Another Day and more. Order now at 007Store.com.
