James Bond

"007" redirects here; for other uses, see 007 (disambiguation). For other uses of "James Bond", see James Bond (disambiguation). For information about the character, see James Bond (character).

The James Bond 007 gun logo

James Bond, also known as 007 (pronounced "double-oh seven"), is a fictional British spy created by writer Ian Fleming in 1952. Fleming wrote numerous novels and short stories based upon the character and, after his death in 1964, further literary adventures were written by Kingsley Amis (pseudonym "Robert Markham"), John Pearson, John Gardner, Raymond Benson, and Charlie Higson. In addition, Christopher Wood wrote two screenplay novelisations and other authors have also written various unofficial permutations of the character.

Although initially made famous through the novels, James Bond is now best known from the EON Productions film series. Twenty films have been made as well as two that were independently produced and one American television adaptation of Fleming's first novel under legal licence. However, it is generally considered that only the EON films are "official". Albert R. (Cubby) Broccoli and Harry Saltzman produced most of these up until 1975, when Broccoli became the sole producer. From 1995, his daughter, Barbara Broccoli, and his stepson, Michael G. Wilson, jointly continued production duties.

To date, six actors have portrayed James Bond in the official series. They are:
*Sean Connery (1962â€"1967; 1971)
*George Lazenby (1969)
*Roger Moore (1973â€"1985)
*Timothy Dalton (1987â€"1989)
*Pierce Brosnan (1995â€"2002)
*Daniel Craig (2006â€"present)

In addition, Barry Nelson portrayed Bond in an Americanised television episode adaptation of Casino Royale in 1954. Bob Holness portrayed James Bond in a 1956 South African radio adaptation of Moonraker. David Niven played the role in a non-EON production of Casino Royale in 1967, and Connery reprised the character in another non-EON film, Never Say Never Again in 1983. Since none of these films was produced by EON, they are not considered official.

The twenty-first official film, Casino Royale, with Daniel Craig as James Bond, is in post-production and is scheduled for a November 17, 2006 release.

Broccoli's family company, Danjaq, LLC, has co-owned the James Bond film series with United Artists Corporation since the mid-1970s, when Saltzman sold UA his share of Danjaq. Currently, Columbia Pictures and MGM (United Artists' parent) co-distribute the franchise.

In addition to novels and films, Bond is a prominent character in many computer and video games, comic strips and comic books, and has been the subject of many parodies.

Overview

Fleming's commissioned impression of 007 used as an example to aid the Daily Express comic strip artists.

Ian Fleming's creation and inspiration

Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR is an agent of the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). He was created in February 1952 by Ian Fleming while on vacation at his Jamaican estate called Goldeneye. The hero of Fleming's tale, James Bond, was named after an American ornithologist of the same name who was an expert on Caribbean birds and had written a definitive book on the subject: Birds of the West Indies. Fleming, a keen birdwatcher, owned a copy of Bond's field guide at Goldeneye. Of the name, Fleming once said,

"I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest-sounding name I could find, James Bond was much better than something more interesting like 'Peregrine Maltravers.' Exotic things would happen to and around him but he would be a neutral figure â€" an anonymous blunt instrument wielded by a Government Department.

After completing the manuscript for what would later be titled Casino Royale, Fleming allowed his friend William Plomer, a poet and later Fleming's editor, to read it. Plomer liked it enough that he gave the manuscript to Jonathan Cape, who did not like it as much, but published it anyway in 1953 due to the fact that Ian was the younger brother of Peter Fleming, an established travel writer who also put in a good word for Ian.

Since the fictional James Bond's creation, hundreds of reports by various news outlets have suggested names for Ian Fleming's inspiration of Bond. Usually these people have a background of some kind in espionage or other covert operations. Although some names share similarities with Bond, none have ever been confirmed by Fleming, Ian Fleming Publications or any of Ian Fleming's biographers such as Fleming's assistant and friend, John Pearson. Most researchers agree that James Bond is a highly romanticised version of Fleming himself; the author was known for his jetsetting lifestyle and reputation as a womaniser. Both, for the most part, went to the same schools, like the same foods (e.g., scrambled eggs), have the same habits (e.g., drinking and smoking), share the same view on women (e.g., how they should look and how they should dress), and have similar education and military careers both rising to the rank of Commander. Although the character of Bond is not known to be based on anyone but Fleming himself, the look of James Bond, famed for being "suave and sophisticated," is based on a young Hoagy Carmichael. In Casino Royale the character Vesper Lynd says of Bond, "He reminds me rather of Hoagy Carmichael, but there is something cold and ruthless." Other characteristics of Bond's look are said to be based on Fleming, such as his height, his hairstyle and his eye colour.

Fleming has, however, admitted to being inspired by true or partially-true events that took place during his career at the Naval Intelligence Division of the Admiralty. Most notably, and the basis for Casino Royale, was a trip to Lisbon that Fleming and the Director of Naval Intelligence, Admiral Godfrey, took during World War II en route to the United States. While there they went to the Estoril Casino in Estoril, which, due to the neutral status of Portugal had a number of spies of warring regimes present. Fleming claimed that while there he was cleaned out by a "chief German agent" at a table playing Chemin de Fer; however, Admiral Godfrey tells a different story, that Fleming only played Portuguese businessmen and that afterwards Ian had fantasised about them being German agents and the excitement of cleaning them out.

The franchise

The James Bond franchise is currently the second all-time highest grossing film franchise in history, after Star Wars, and one of the longest running film series in history, spanning 20 official films, 2 unofficial films, 1 TV episode based on Casino Royale, and a cartoon television series spinoff. Casino Royale, the twenty-first film will be released on November 17, 2006 with a followup film currently using the working title Bond 22 that will be released on May 2, 2008.

Every Bond film has been a box office success to a lesser or greater degree. They continue to earn substantial profits after their theatrical run via videotape, DVD, and television broadcasts; in the UK, Bond holds three of the top five spots of the most-watched television movies.

The first actor to play Bond on-screen was American Barry Nelson in the 1954 CBS television production of Casino Royale in which the character became a U.S. agent named "Jimmy Bond." In 1956, Bob Holness provided the voice of Bond in a South African radio adaptation of Fleming's third novel, Moonraker.

Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli started the official cinematic run of Bond in 1962, with Dr. No starring Sean Connery. The films made by their production company, EON Productions are regarded as the "official films" by all parties, although the 3 "unofficial" adaptations were authorised.

The official series had set up a semi-regular schedule of releases: initially annually, then usually once every two years, although there have been a couple of times where the gap was larger, usually due to external events.

From Russia with Love is the novel credited with sparking the James Bond craze when it was listed as one of John F. Kennedy's favourite books.

Since Bond's peak of popularity in 1965, with the release of Thunderball, critics have often predicted that his successful run would come to an end, usually believing that the films were out of touch with the times. After the release of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, George Lazenby quit the lead role for this very reason, even though he was offered a seven-film contract. By the 1980s, some critics had grown tired of the series, commenting that the perennial sexism and glamorous locales had become outdated, and that Bond's smooth, unruffled exterior didn't mesh with competing movies like Die Hard. The hard-edge of Timothy Dalton in the Bond films of the late 1980s met a mixed response from moviegoers: some welcomed the earthier style reminiscent of Fleming's character, while others missed the light-hearted approach which characterised the Roger Moore era. While Dalton's final outing, Licence to Kill (1989), was financially successful, it did not prove as popular as previous installments. Its relative failure is usually blamed on a poor promotional campaign in the United States, Dalton's darker portrayal of Bond, and its status as the first Bond film to be rated PG-13 in the U.S. and "15" in the UK. Regardless, a new Bond film was scheduled for release in 1991. However, legal wrangling over ownership of the character led to a protracted delay that would keep Bond off movie screens for the next six years, during which time Dalton had moved on.

The 1990s saw a revival and renewal of the series beginning with GoldenEye in 1995. Pierce Brosnan filled 007's shoes with an elegant mix of Sean Connery cool and Roger Moore wit. The combination saw Bond's success return to a level it hadn't enjoyed since 1979's Moonraker. In all, Brosnan made 4 films before being replaced in 2006 by Daniel Craig, who will star in a reboot of the series. Although Craig's Casino Royale is the 21st film of the series, it will be Bond's first mission after obtaining his double-O status from MI6.

The James Bond novels and films have ranged from realistic spy drama to science fiction. The original books by Fleming are usually dark â€" lacking fantasy or gadgets. Instead, they established the formula of unique villains, outlandish plots, and voluptuous women who tend to fall in love with Bond at first sight â€" the feeling often being mutual. The films expanded on Fleming's books, adding gadgets from Q Branch, death-defying stunts, and often abandoning the original plotlines for more outlandish and cinema-friendly adventures. The cinematic Bond adventures were initially influenced by earlier spy thrillers such as North by Northwest, Saboteur, and Journey Into Fear, but later entries became formulaic dramas where Bond saves the world from apocalyptic madmen. Inevitably, Bond's nemesis tries to kill him with a deathtrap, during which the villain reveals vital information. Bond later escapes and uses this intelligence to thwart the evil plot. In many cases, Bond then kills his opponent himself, although early films often ended with the enemy either escaping or dying by someone else's hand.

Novels

By Ian Fleming

Ian Fleming. Photo by Horst Tappe.

In February 1952, Ian Fleming began work on his first James Bond novel. At the time, Fleming was the Foreign Manager for Kemsley Newspapers, an organisation owned by the London Sunday Times. Upon accepting the job, Fleming asked that he be allowed two months vacation per year. Every year thereafter until his death in 1964, Fleming would retreat for the first two months of the year to his Jamaican estate, Goldeneye, to write a James Bond novel.*1953Casino Royale
*1954Live and Let Die
*1955Moonraker
*1956Diamonds Are Forever
*1957From Russia with Love
*1958Dr. No
*1959Goldfinger
*1960For Your Eyes Only
*1961Thunderball
*1962The Spy Who Loved Me
*1963On Her Majesty's Secret Service
*1964You Only Live Twice
*1965The Man with the Golden Gun
*1966Octopussy and The Living Daylights>Between 1953 and 1966, twelve James Bond novels and two short story collections by Fleming were published, with one novel and one short story collection issued posthumously. To this day, it is still debated whether Fleming himself actually finished 1965's The Man with the Golden Gun, as he died very soon after completing the book. His first anthology of short stories, For Your Eyes Only, mostly consisted of converted screenplays for a CBS television series based on the character. When the project fell through, Fleming turned them into short stories: (i) "From a View to a Kill", (ii) "For Your Eyes Only", (iii) "Risico", plus two additional stories, "The Hildebrand Rarity" and "Quantum of Solace", which were previously published. The second anthology, Octopussy and The Living Daylights (in many editions titled only Octopussy), originally only contained two short stories, "Octopussy" and "The Living Daylights"; a third story, "The Property of a Lady" was added in the 1967 paperback edition, and a fourth, "007 in New York", was added in 2002.

Post-Fleming James Bond novels

After Fleming's death, Glidrose Productions attempted to continue the Bond series with Colonel Sun.

Following Fleming's death in 1964, Glidrose Productions, publishers of the James Bond novels, planned a new book series, credited to the pseudonym "Robert Markham" and written by a rotating series of authors. Ultimately, only one Markham novel saw print, 1968's Colonel Sun by Kingsley Amis. Amis had previously written two books on the world of James Bond, the 1964 essay The James Bond Dossier and the tongue-in-cheek 1965 release The Book of Bond, or Every Man His Own 007 (written under the pseudonym "Lt.-Col. William ("Bill") Tanner", a recurring character in the Bond novels. Amis had also been claimed for many years as the ghost writer of The Man with the Golden Gun, although this has been debunked by numerous sources. See The controversy over The Man with the Golden Gun.)

In 1973, Fleming biographer John Pearson was commissioned by Glidrose to biograph the fictional character James Bond. Pearson wrote James Bond: The Authorised Biography of 007 in the first person as if meeting the secret agent himself. The book was well-received by aficionadosâ€"readers and viewers, alike. Since the book has many discrepancies with Fleming's Bond (for example his birth year), the canonical status of James Bond: The Authorised Biography of 007 is debated among fansâ€"some consider it apocryphal, though at least one publisher, Pan Books, issued it as an official novel along with the rest of Fleming's series for its first paperback edition. Glidrose reportedly considered a new series of novels written by Pearson, but this did not come to pass. Prior to writing this, Pearson had written an early biography of Ian Fleming, The Life of Ian Fleming.

In 1977, the film The Spy Who Loved Me was released and was subsequently novelised and published by Glidrose due to the radical difference between the script and Fleming's novel of the same name. This would happen again with 1979's Moonraker. Both novelisations were written by screenwriter Christopher Wood and were the first official novelisations, although technically, Fleming's Thunderball was a novelisation having been based on scripts by himself, Kevin McClory, and Jack Whittingham (although it predated the movie), and the For Your Eyes Only collection was also, for the most part, based upon unproduced scripts.

In the 1980s, the series was finally revived with new novels by John Gardner; between 1981 and 1996, he wrote fourteen James Bond novels and two screenplay novelisations, surpassing Fleming's original output. The biggest change in Gardner's series was updating 007's world to the 1980s; however, it would keep the characters the same age as they were in Fleming's novels. Generally Gardner's series is considered a success although their canonical status is disputed.*1981Licence Renewed
*1982For Special Services
*1983Icebreaker
*1984Role of Honour
*1986Nobody Lives For Ever
*1987No Deals, Mr. Bond
*1988Scorpius
*1989Win, Lose or Die
*1989Licence to Kill (novelisation)
*1990Brokenclaw
*1991The Man from Barbarossa
*1992Death is Forever
*1993Never Send Flowers
*1994SeaFire
*1995GoldenEye (novelisation)
*1996COLD>In 1996, Gardner retired from writing James Bond books due to ill health, and American Raymond Benson quickly replaced him. As a James Bond novelist, Benson was initially controversial for being American, and for ignoring much of the continuity established by Gardner. Benson had previously written The James Bond Bedside Companion, a book dedicated to Ian Fleming, the official novels, and the films. The book was initially released in 1984 and later updated in 1988. Benson also contributed to the creation of several modules in the popular James Bond 007 role-playing game in the 1980s. Benson wrote six James Bond novels, three novelisations, and three short stories.*1997"Blast From the Past" (short story)
*1997Zero Minus Ten
*1997Tomorrow Never Dies (novelisation)
*1998The Facts of Death
*1999"Midsummer Night's Doom" (short story)
*1999"Live at Five" (short story)
*1999The World Is Not Enough (novelisation)
*1999High Time to Kill
*2000Doubleshot
*2001Never Dream of Dying
*2002The Man with the Red Tattoo
*2002Die Another Day (novelisation)>Benson's three short stories remain uncollected, unlike previous short stories from Ian Fleming. Benson also wrote a fourth short story entitled "The Heart of Erzulie" that was rejected for publication.

Benson abruptly resigned as Bond novelist at the end of 2002, despite having previously announced plans to write a short story collection. Low sales figures for the books, and plans by Ian Fleming Publications to focus on reissuing Fleming's original novels for the 50th anniversary of the character, were among reasons speculated by fans as to why Benson departed. The year 2003 marked the first year since 1980 that a new James Bond novel had not been published.

Young Bond

In April 2004, Ian Fleming Publications (Glidrose) announced a new series of James Bond books. Instead of continuing from where Raymond Benson ended in 2002, the new series featured James Bond as a thirteen-year-old boy attending Eton College. Written by Charlie Higson the series is intended to align faithfully with the adult Bond's back-story established by Fleming. Since the concept was announced, the series has taken heavy criticism for being aimed at the "Harry Potter audience" and has been seen by some as a desperate attempt to find a new audience for Bond. Regardless, the first novel became an international bestseller and was released to good reviews. The second novel, released in 2006, did even better, topping the children's best-selling list in the UK and holding the spot for over a month. SilverFin only went as high as #8 on the same list.

The series is currently planned out for five novels, but will also include graphic novels beginning in 2008. The first, according to Charlie Higson, will be an adaptation of SilverFin, while other graphic novels coming out afterwards may feature original storylines.*2005SilverFin
*2006Blood Fever
*2007 Young Bond Book 3
*2008 Young Bond Book 4
*2009 Young Bond Book 5>

The Moneypenny Diaries

The Moneypenny Diaries is a planned trilogy of novels chronicling the life of Miss Moneypenny, M's personal secretary. The novels are penned by Samantha Weinberg under the pseudonym Kate Westbrook, who is depicted as the book's "editor." The first installment of the trilogy, subtitled Guardian Angel, was released on October 10, 2005 in the UK. A second volume, subtitled Secret Servant is scheduled for publication on November 2, 2006 in the UK [1].

Weinberg is the first woman to write officially licenced Bond-related literature, although Johanna Harwood had previously co-written the screenplay for Dr. No and had adapted From Russia with Love for the screen.

The novels had originally been touted as the secret journal of a "real" Miss Moneypenny and that James Bond was a possible pseudonym for a genuine intelligence officer, an idea shared by John Pearson's earlier biography, James Bond: The Authorised Biography of 007. The publisher, John Murray, admitted on August 28, 2005 that the books were a spoof after an investigation by The Sunday Times of London. Ian Fleming Publications, who had previously refused to comment as to whether the book was authorised, officially confirmed the book was and always had been a project by them on the day of the book's publication.*2005Guardian Angel
*2006Secret Servant
*Date TBAMoneypenny Diaries book 3>

Centenary novel

Ian Fleming Publications has announced that a new James Bond novel will be published in May 2008 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Ian Fleming's birth. Reportedly, a "well-known and respected writer" has been commissioned to write the book, which will see the first literary appearance of the adult version of James Bond since the Die Another Day novelisation of 2002, although IFP is promising that the book will be "far removed from the gloss of 007's cinematic incarnation, marking a return to the dark and complex nature of Fleming's early works." The identity of the author has not yet been announced; IFP intends to keep the writer's identity secret until the book's release. [2].

Other Bond-related fiction

In 1967, Glidrose authorised publication of 003½: The Adventures of James Bond Junior written under the pseudonym R. D. Mascott. The book was written for young-adult readers, and chronicles the adventures of 007's nephew (despite the inaccurate title). To this day the real author of the novel has never been acknowledged or confirmed by the Ian Fleming Estate. According to the reference work The Bond Files by Andy Lane and Paul Simpson, there are claims that Mascott was really Arthur Calder-Marshall, but Lane and Simpson indicate no definitive proof has yet been uncovered.

In 1991 an animated television series, James Bond Jr, ran for 65 episodes. The series was mildly successful and spawned six novelisations published in 1992 by John Peel writing as John Vincent, a 12 issue comic book series by Marvel Comics published in 1992, as well as a video game developed by Eurocom for the NES and the SNES in 1991.

Russians were often the villains in Fleming's Cold War-era novels in at least some form. In 1968, they hit back with a spy novel of their own called Avakoum Zahov vs. 07 by Andrei Guliashki, in which a communist hero finally and forcefully defeats 007.

In addition to numerous fan fiction pieces written since the character was created, there have been two stories written by well-known authors claiming to have been contracted by Glidrose. The first in 1966, was Per Fine Ounce by Geoffrey Jenkins, a friend of Ian Fleming who claimed to have developed with Fleming a diamond-smuggling storyline similar to Diamonds Are Forever as early as the 1950s. According to the book The Bond Files by Andy Lane and Paul Simpson, soon after Ian Fleming died, Glidrose Productions commissioned Jenkins to write a James Bond novel. The novel was never published. Some sources have suggested that Jenkins novel was to be published under the Markham pseudonym. The second story, 1985's The Killing Zone by Jim Hatfield goes so far as to have been privately published as well as claim on the cover that it was published by Glidrose; however it is highly unlikely that Glidrose contacted Hatfield to write a novel since at the time John Gardner was the official author. The text of The Killing Zone is available on the Internet and can be found here.

In 1997, the British publisher B.T. Batsford produced Your Deal, Mr. Bond, a collection of bridge-related short stories by Phillip King and Robert King. The title story features James Bond, M, and other characters and features an epic bridge game between Bond and the villain, Saladin. No credit is given to Ian Fleming Publications, suggesting this rare story may have been unauthorised; a photo of Sean Connery as Bond is featured on the cover of the book.

In Clive Cussler's novel, "Night Probe", there is a character named Brian Shaw, whom the hero, Dirk Pitt suspects to be James Bond. Brian Shaw's choice of pistol, a .25 calibre, echoes that of James Bond's preference for the .25 calibre Beretta. Shaw's old office was located in Regent Park, and he was supposed to have been on SMERSH's hit list.

Lance Parkin's Doctor Who novel Trading Futures features a Bond-like character named Jonah Cosgrove, described by the author thus: "Cosgrove is (and I mean 'is' here in the very precise, non-trademark violating, sense of the word) the Sean Connery Bond, but one who never retired and who's been a secret agent for fifty years. So he's about eighty, and all the time he's just been piling on more muscles and getting more wrinkled, and ever more set in his ways and bitter and anachronistic. He's Sean Connery in The Rock, as drawn by Frank Miller, and by now he's been promoted to M."

Films

Official

The James Bond film series has its own traditions, many of which date back to the very first movie in 1962.

Since Dr. No, each film begins with what is known as the James Bond gun barrel sequence, which introduces agent 007. Appearing to be filmed through a rifled gun barrel, as if from a bullet's perspective, the scene is a side-on view of Bond walking, then quickly turning and shooting. The scene then reddens (signifying the spilling of the would-be assassin's blood), the gun barrel dissolves to a white circle, and the film begins.

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in the gun barrel sequence

After this introduction, every film (with the exception of Dr. No) would start with a pre-credits teaser, also popularly known as the "opening gambit". Usually the scene features 007 finishing up a previous mission before taking on the case from the film, and does not always relate to his main objective. Some of the teasers tie in with the plot (as in Live and Let Die). Since The Spy Who Loved Me in 1977, they have often involved attention-grabbing action sequences, which have tended to become larger and more elaborate with each film. The World Is Not Enough (1999) holds the record for the longest, running more than 15 minutes, whereas most are under five.

Title credits from GoldenEye representing the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War

After the teaser sequence, the opening credits begin, during which an arty display of scantily clad and even (discreetly) naked females can be seen doing a variety of activities from dancing, jumping on a trampoline, to shooting weapons. This title sequence is a trademark and a staple of the series. The best known of the Bond title designers is Maurice Binder, who created them for fourteen films from 1962 to 1989. Since Binder's death in 1991, Daniel Kleinman has designed the credits and has introduced CG elements not present during his predecessor's era. While the credits run, the main theme of the film is usually sung by a popular artist of the time. Until GoldenEye, which featured motifs such as a two headed 'Janus' figure, the backdrop was unrelated to the plot of the film, although the design may reflect an overall theme (e.g., You Only Live Twice uses a Japanese motif as well as images of a volcano, both of which are elements of the movie itself). Goldfinger uses short glimpses of the film projected on to women's bodies. For Your Eyes Only begins with Sheena Easton singing the title song on-screen. Die Another Day's titles are unusual in that the images advance the storyline by depicting Bond's torture following his capture by the North Koreans. The credits for GoldenEye depict the fall of the Soviet Union and thus provide a transition from the pre-fall era of the opening sequence to the post-fall setting of the rest of the narrative. The Bond films are unusual in retaining full opening and closing credits: since the late 1990s it has become common for most 'blockbuster' films to save detailed credits for the end, with only the title shown at the beginning.

Countries James Bond visited in the films

Agent 007's famous introduction, "Bond. James Bond", became a catchphrase after it was first muttered (with a cigarette in the corner of his mouth) by Sean Connery in Dr. No. Since then, the phrase has entered the lexicon of Western popular culture as the epitome of polished, understated machismo. On June 21, 2005 it was honoured as the 22nd greatest quotation in cinema history by the American Film Institute as part of their 100 Years Series . Bond's customary beverage order, "A martini. Shaken, not stirred", which was first uttered by him in Goldfinger (although it is actually first said on screen by the villain in Dr. No, and referenced even earlier in the same film), was also honoured as #90 on the same list.

Every film, except Dr. No (1962) and Thunderball (1965), has the line: "James Bond will return..." or "James Bond will be back" during or after the final credits. Up until Octopussy (1983) the end-credit line would also name the next title to be produced ("James Bond will return in..."). Over the years, the sequel has been incorrectly named three times. The first, 1964's Goldfinger, announced in early prints that Bond would return in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. However, the producers changed their mind shortly after release and subsequently corrected future editions of the film. In 1977, The Spy Who Loved Me stated that 007 would be back in For Your Eyes Only, but EON Productions decided to instead take advantage of the Star Wars craze and release Moonraker, whose plot was changed to involve outer space (unlike Goldfinger, however, EON chose not to correct the credits of The Spy Who Loved Me, so the error remains). Thirdly, Octopussy incorrectly states the next film as being From a View to a Kill, the original literary title of A View to a Kill. In the most recent Bond films, the title of the next film has been omitted, saying simply 'James Bond will return'. The liner-notes of a 'Best of Bond' music compilation CD stated that this was because the early films all used titles from Fleming's novels; having outpaced the novels with the current Bond films, the abbreviated version is used instead.

Every aficionado has a favourite James Bond: Sean Connery â€" the tough guy, his machismo ready beneath the polished persona; George Lazenby â€" the controversial ultra-macho man, equally loved and despised; Roger Moore â€" the sophisticate, a perfect gentleman, rarely mussing his hair while saving the world; Timothy Dalton â€" the hard-edged literary character; and Pierce Brosnan â€" the polished man of action.

There is also lively debate on the best Bond movie, with most major film critics giving the top mark to either From Russia with Love (Connery's favourite, as he re-asserted in a 2002 ABC interview with Sam Donaldson) or its brassy follow-up, Goldfinger. Despite George Lazenby's short tenure in the tuxedo, some reviewers have also warmed to On Her Majesty's Secret Service -- Leonard Maltin's Movies on TV review book states it might have been the best Bond film ever had Connery appeared in it; Raymond Benson says exactly the same thing in The James Bond Bedside Companion.

Sean Connery

George Lazenby

Roger Moore

Timothy Dalton

Pierce Brosnan

Daniel Craig

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No.	Title	Year	James Bond	Director	U.S. Box Office	Total Box Office	Total Admissions
1	Dr. No	1962	Sean Connery	Terence Young	$16,100,000	$59,600,000	72.1 million
From Russia with Love	1963	Sean Connery	Terence Young	$24,800,000	$78,900,000	95.3 million
3	Goldfinger	1964	Sean Connery	Guy Hamilton	$51,100,000	$124,900,000	130.1 million
4	Thunderball	1965	Sean Connery	Terence Young	$63,600,000	$141,200,000	166 million
You Only Live Twice	1967	Sean Connery	Lewis Gilbert	$43,100,000	$111,600,000	81.7 million
6	On Her Majesty's Secret Service	1969	George Lazenby	Peter R. Hunt	$22,800,000	$87,400,000	62.4 million
7	Diamonds Are Forever	1971	Sean Connery	Guy Hamilton	$43,800,000	$116,000,000	70.3 million
8	Live and Let Die	1973	Roger Moore	Guy Hamilton	$35,400,000	$161,800,000	91.6 million
9	The Man with the Golden Gun	1974	Roger Moore	Guy Hamilton	$21,000,000	$97,600,000	51.6 million
10	The Spy Who Loved Me	1977	Roger Moore	Lewis Gilbert	$46,800,000	$185,400,000	83.1 million
11	Moonraker	1979	Roger Moore	Lewis Gilbert	$70,300,000	$210,300,000	85.1 million
12	For Your Eyes Only	1981	Roger Moore	John Glen	$54,800,000	$195,300,000	70.3 million
13	Octopussy	1983	Roger Moore	John Glen	$67,900,000	$187,500,000	59.5 million
A View to a Kill	1985	Roger Moore	John Glen	$50,300,000	$152,400,000	42.9 million
15	The Living Daylights	1987	Timothy Dalton	John Glen	$51,200,000	$191,200,000	48.9 million
16	Licence to Kill	1989	Timothy Dalton	John Glen	$34,700,000	$156,200,000	39.1 million
17	GoldenEye	1995	Pierce Brosnan	Martin Campbell	$106,400,000	$353,400,000	81.2 million
18	Tomorrow Never Dies	1997	Pierce Brosnan	Roger Spottiswoode	$125,300,000	$346,600,000	75.5 million
19	The World Is Not Enough	1999	Pierce Brosnan	Michael Apted	$126,900,000	$390,000,000	77.1 million
20	Die Another Day	2002	Pierce Brosnan	Lee Tamahori	$160,900,000	$456,000,000	78.6 million
21	Casino Royale	2006	Daniel Craig	Martin Campbell
22	Bond 22 (working title)	2008	Daniel Craig

Unofficial

In 1954, CBS paid Ian Fleming $1,000 USD for the rights to adapt Casino Royale into a one hour television adventure as part of their Climax! series. The episode featured American Barry Nelson in the role of "Jimmy Bond", an agent for the fictional "Combined Intelligence" agency. The rights to Casino Royale were subsequently sold to producer Charles K. Feldman who turned Fleming's first novel into a spoof featuring actor David Niven as one of six James Bonds. The instrumental theme music was a hit for Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. For more information, see the history of Casino Royale.

When plans for a James Bond film were scrapped in the late 1950s, a story treatment entitled Thunderball, written by Ian Fleming, Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham, was adapted as Fleming's ninth Bond novel. Initially the book was only credited to Fleming. McClory filed a lawsuit that would eventually award him the film rights to the title in 1963. Afterwards, he made a deal with EON Productions to produce a film adaptation starring Sean Connery. The deal specifically stated that McClory couldn't produce another adaptation until a set period of time had elapsed, and he did so in 1983 with Never Say Never Again, which featured Sean Connery for a seventh time as 007. Since it was not made by Broccoli's production company, EON Productions, it is therefore not considered a part of the official film series. A second attempt by McClory to remake Thunderball in the 1990s with Sony Pictures was halted by legal action which resulted in the studio abandoning its aspirations for a rival James Bond series. To this day, McClory claims to own the film rights to Thunderball, though MGM and EON assert they have expired. For more in-depth information, see the controversy over Thunderball.

Barry Nelson

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