1st July 2014

Hi

There is some big news this month relating to Bond 24, which I'll talk about below. However, the first thing to announce this month is an change to the newsletter.

At the moment it is delivered to you on the first Tuesday of every month, but from today you have the following options:

• Monthly newsletter (you don't need to do anything)

• Weekly bulletin (sign up here)

• Daily bulletin (sign up here)

I occasionally get comments that the news is out of date, particularly when reporting on forthcoming auctions or live events and this will ensure that you need never miss out.

If you sign up for one of the other options you will stop receiving the monthly newsletter, but if you click the subscriber options link at the bottom of the email you will be able to select those too if you wish.

And if you ever want to simply stop receiving these emails you can do so by clicking the unsubscribe link.

I hope you won't do that, but if you do you're welcome to rejoin whenever you like.

The big news in this edition is that Purvis and Wade are back for Bond 24.

Although John Logan was signed for Bond 24 and 25 the script wasn't quite ready and the long time Bond scribes have been brought back in. As a result filming is reportedly being pushed back to December rather than starting in October.

While many fans are critical of the duo, I do think they have some talent. After all, they were responsible for the first drafts of Casino Royale and Skyfall, which most Bond fans love.

So, read the newsletter and join one of the other bulletins if you prefer to be update more often. And as always you can reach me by responding to this email address.

I don't usually reply immediately, but do try and reply to every email I get, positive or negative, whatever you have to say.

David Leigh
The James Bond Dossier

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Is this the face that launched a thousand ships? Considering that George Lazenby only starred in one ‘James Bond’ film, the answer is unequivocally, no. Fresh, young, good looking, Lazenby had it all, attributes exemplified in the greatest role in showbiz. Then he did the unthinkable. Fresh from filming  the brilliant On Her Majesty’s Secret […] Read more...

Following the recent paperback release of Solo in the UK, yesterday saw William Boyd’s novel available in paperback in the United States. The novel follows on from Ian Fleming’s chronology and sees Bond celebrating his 45th birthday before being sent to West Africa on a mission that eventually leads him to Washington DC. The US paperback […] Read more...

Joanne Froggatt, who plays Anna in ITV’s period piece Downton Abbey, has reportedly been in talks with Eon about the Bond girl role in Bond 24. Virgin Media cites the Sunday Daily Star as quoting the usual unnamed source, but a search on the Daily Star website has failed to find the article mentioned. Our friends […] Read more...

Matt Sherman, who runs the James Bond List on Google Groups and the man behind Spyfest and the organiser of 007 Tours has started a crowdfunding campaign to finance publication and marketing of a new book of James Bond’s food. Eating James Bond: OO7's Every Last Meal will cover 56 novels and short stories and all the James Bond […] Read more...

After a successful two year run at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu March saw the “Bond In Motion” exhibition move to the London Film Museum at Covent Garden. Here we take a look at what to expect. The official launch party for “Bond In Motion” was attended by various luminaries of the Bond world including stunt director […] Read more...

Designing 007: 50 years of James Bond Style has just opened in Moscow, running from 11th June through to 7th September at the city’s Multimedia Arts Museum. The exhibition, which started out life at the London’s Barbican Centre on the South Bank and has toured the world since takes a look at all the films, from […] Read more...

A first edition copy of Ian Fleming’s sixth James Bond novel, Doctor No, is now available for sale from Oxfam’s website. The first edition, first copy of the book is one of 20,000 copies printed in 1958 and although it is in poor condition and without a dust jacket, proceeds of the sale go to a good […] Read more...

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the release of one of the most iconic Bond films of all, Goldfinger, and to help celebrate its half century the film is being released as a special limited edition Steelbook version. As yet there are few details, but the cover artwork shown above and below makes it […] Read more...

Our friends at MI6 are reporting that Bond 24 is to be shot on film rather than digitally as was Skyfall. The report comes via their forums, where one user repeated the claim from a user on Skyfall cinematographer Roger Deakins’ own forum that the filmmakers were returning to film for Bond 24, stating “I know […] Read more...

Think you know what vodka James Bond drinks? While it is clear in the films, it is notable that only one vodka brand was ever mentioned throughout Fleming’s stories. Here we take a closer look. Since James Bond is so closely associated with vodka and given the frequency by which Ian Fleming namechecked brands it […] Read more...

An original British quad poster for the first James Bond film, Dr No, is expected to fetch between £5,000 and £7,000 in an online auction run by Christie’s. The poster, designed by Mitchell Hooks and in excellent condition and backed on linen, measures by 76 by 102 cm and has a starting bid of £4,800 and is part […] Read more...

Pinewood Studios is well known as the film studio most associated with 007. Most of the Bond movies have filmed on the soundstages at Pinewood starting with Dr No in 1962. Although the producers have sometimes used other studios for reasons of budget, such as Moonraker, which except for special effects work was filmed in France and Casino Royale, […] Read more...

Mattel is to launch a number of premium Hot Wheels cars and has revealed plans at prior to the launch at Comic Con next month. Everyone remembers playing with these cars with the bright orange track as a kid, but these new cars seem to be aimed firmly at collectors; the Aston Martin DB5 from […] Read more...

While vodka brands are barely mentioned in the books, the films are a different matter. While a bottle of vodka can be anonymous in print, on the big screen there always has to be a label to identify it.   While Ian Fleming named a vodka brand on just one occasion throughout all his novels and short […] Read more...

It has just been announced that former James Bond stuntman Terry Richards passed away earlier this month at the age of 81. Richards had a long career as a stuntman in the Bond films and many others, working on From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, You Only Live Twice, Tomorrow Never Dies […] Read more...

James Bond is to be represented this summer in the Books About Town project by the National Literacy Trust. From the beginning of July until mid-September visitors to London will be able to enjoy the fifty unique benches dotted around London, each shaped like an open book and decorated to represent an individual work of […] Read more...

Screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade are on board Bond 24 and filming is delayed until December, if a report by the Daily Mail’s Baz Bamigboye is to be believed. He also says that Sam Mendes and his team have started scouting for locations. Bamigboye turned out to be right on the money with a […] Read more...

Alexander Witt has been confirmed as Director of Photography on the second unit by the website of The Murtha Agency, which represents him. Witt previously worked on both Casino Royale and Skyfall , since when he has worked on Hercules, Cinderella and is currently shooting Terminator: Genesis. Witt also worked on XXX, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of […] Read more...

Although many believe Sean Connery is the first actor to have played James Bond, Barry Nelson took on the role eight years earlier in a television adaptation of Casino Royale. Here we present the television version to watch on YouTube. Watch the TV version of Casino Royale above. Click the YouTube logo (bottom right) to watch […] Read more...