0158: Touching Grass

What has been going on with James Bond this year? You wait around for news for months and then... well, nothing much happens. It has been a very quiet year so far in terms of 007 big screen developments, but there has been Bond content flowing elsewhere in the literary, comics, and gaming wings of the franchise. We take a close look at the state of the box-office and ask if the movie business being in such flux may cause significant delays for EON, and also reveal some production news about a former 007 and how his next project may have knock-on consequences. Digitally restored Casino Royale 1954: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNp6-qTWYvo The recording took place on June 6th, 2024 in the USA and Spain.  James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential David Leigh runs thejamesbonddossier.com Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2024

Where in the world should Bond travel next? This epsiode we dip into the MI6 archives to play an interview with Black Tomato co-founder, Tom Marchant. Regular Bond followers might remember that mid-last year Black Tomato - a UK-based travel company - came out with a unique European Bond themed travel experience. 'The Assignment' is a twelve day mission across UK, France, and Italy, stopping in at key landmarks from the Bond films.  Just recently Black Tomato announce a second tranche of travel adventures with a Bond twist. These now include tours to Chile, Mexico, Thailand and Japan.  Tom Marchant was speaking with MI6-HQ.com and MI6 Confidential co-founder Vipul Patel. This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2024.

We asked 100 James Bond fans...  Taking a break from our usual discussion format, we play Family Feud (or Family Fortunes, depending on where you're from) with two teams of Bond savants battling it out for the festive honours. Who can best guess the results of the top 100 answers from an MI6 survey? Play along and see how many you can get. Who will walk off with the star prize and who gets cold brussels sprouts? The recording took place on December 19th in the USA, UK, and Canada.  James Page is co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential  Phil Nobile Jr is editor of Fangoria and shares his expertise at @PhilNobileJr  Ben Eslinger (@CICSpypod) is co-host of the Central Intelligence Podcast  Dr. Lisa Funnell (@DrLisaFunnell) is Associate Dean of Creative Industries at Mohawk College Sean Longmore shares his artwork @ThatTallGinger  Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com Mark Edlitz is author of 'James Bond After Fleming', 'The Many Lives of James Bond' and 'The Lost Adventures of James Bond' This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC 2023

What do we think of the new 007-themed reality show? In a drought of James Bond action, an oasis appeared on the horizon: an officially branded streaming series! 007: Road To A Million is the first (and only, according to Barbara Broccoli) venture into spin-off territory. Will the budget of Amazon Prime, the deep lore of the Bond series, and the savvy of experienced producers create something fans and casual viewers can enjoy alike? We ask the panel to find out - and if not - how the show could be improved for the already commissioned second series. The recording took place on November 17th, 2023 in the USA, UK, and Spain.  James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential Sean Longmore shares his artwork @ThatTallGinger  Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com David Leigh runs thejamesbonddossier.com This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2023

What has been going on with James Bond this summer? You wait around for news for months and then it all comes at once! We round up the latest developments on the 007 franchise with a new game, new books, new rumours on Bond 26, a 70th anniversary event for Casino Royale, and some continuation controversy. We round out with a discussion about the state of home media releases and whether or not we'll ever see a 4K Bluray boxset.  The recording took place on September 8th, 2023 in the USA and Spain.  James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential David Leigh runs thejamesbonddossier.com Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2023

What was the second draft of Timothy Dalton's unmade third film like? Timothy Dalton's third James Bond film is one of the great 'what ifs' of the series, and over the years various incarnations have come to light. In episode 0151, we covered the first attempt to pen Dalton's third in 1990. In this episode, we pick up the writing several months later when William Davies and William Osborne delivered the next version of the story in 1991. Several key elements were added including Bond facing up to his age, elements from Diamonds Are Forever, a second act in Las Vegas that featured cowboys and a monster truck chase, as well as a different climax. We also stumble into the reasons why EON Productions probably backed away from this script after 'True Lies' came out in 1994 when 'GoldenEye' was in pre-production. Join us as we run through the story and discuss the characters, plot, killer robots, and ponder what this film could have been in the early 1990s.  The recording took place on April 19th, 2023 in the USA and Spain.  James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential David Leigh runs thejamesbonddossier.com Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2023

How many James Bond stories are out of circulation or out of reach? Mark Edlitz is the author of two books about James Bond, but it wasn’t his intention to write them both. The product of years of research and carefully selected interviews, these books tell the stories in the subjects’ own words. ‘The Many Lives Of James Bond’ talks to as many people who have developed, drawn, played or voiced James Bond, to better understand the character and the various portrayers’ interpretations of the iconic spy. The second book, and the subject of this discussion, is something of a spillover from the meticulous research that went into the first. ‘The Lost Adventures of James Bond’ is all about the missed opportunities, forgotten instalments or adventures beyond the reach of fans. The properties he discusses span unmade films, out of print books, limited releases in a non-English territory, or in the worst cases – such as the South African ‘Moonraker’ radio adaptation or a POV motion adventure park ride – simply mislaid and likely gone, forever. This wide-ranging conversation touches on many of the subjects from the second book, but also what the loss or rejection of certain ideas tells us about our collective conception of James Bond and his world. The recording took place on January 6th, 2023 in the USA and New Zealand.  Paul Atkinson is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential Mark Edlitz is author of 'The Many Lives of James Bond' and 'The Lost Adventures of James Bond'  This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2023

What was the very first draft of Timothy Dalton's unmade third film like? Timothy Dalton's third James Bond film is one of the great 'what ifs' of the series, and over the years various incarnations have come to light. Recently, we dusted off the first-ever draft of what could have been Dalton's follow-up to Licence To Kill. Dated July 7th, 1990, this rarely-seen script was penned by Michael G. Wilson and American writer Alfonse Ruggerio. Many of its elements would survive in later films for Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, but the locations and tech elements of this draft lend their own distinct flavour. Join us as we run through the story and discuss the characters, plot, killer robots, and ponder what this film could have been in the early 1990s.  For further coverage of Bond 17 (1990), check out this article on MI6: https://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/bond17-1990 The recording took place on March 16th, 2023 in the USA and Spain.  James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential David Leigh runs thejamesbonddossier.com Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2023

Is the GoldenEye 007 re-release everything we hoped it would be? It's a time we thought we may never see: an official re-release of the revolutionary record-breaking James Bond videogame 'GoldenEye 007.' Originally published for the Nintendo 64 back in 1997, fans can now step back in time with a Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series S/X release that dropped on January 27th 2023. How did we get finally get here? What are the differences between the versions? Has the power of nostalgia papered over some of the cracks, or will new gamers genuinely enjoy this classic today? We also reveal the (alleged) story of how the title got greenlit back in the day.  The recording took place on February 1st, 2023 in the USA and UK.  You can contact the show at [email protected]  James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential Calvin Dyson Reviews Bond channel can be enjoyed at youtube.com/calvindyson Sean Longmore shares his artwork @ThatTallGinger  This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2023

How crazy were Sean Connery and Kevin McClory's script ideas back in 1978? Based on 'James Bond of the Secret Service' written in the 1950s, which would eventually become the novel 'Thunderball,' then a film of the same name, and years later even more script variations, 'Warhead' 1978 is the topic of this episode of our 'Unmade' season of episodes about James Bond films that never got filmed as intended. How much would survive in to the production that ultimately became 'Never Say Never Again'? Hold on to your hats for invisible cliffs, nuclear powered undersea cities, robotic sharks, underwater jetpacks, a fetish for building scale models, twin sisters, alien and time travel theories on the Bermuda Triangle, and many, many more bonkers plot ideas in a film where Blofeld was front and centre. The recording took place on January 6th, 2023 in the USA and Spain.  James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential David Leigh runs thejamesbonddossier.com Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2023