Trailer for Bravo Reality Competition Show SPY GAMES

EW shared the first teaser today for Bravo's upcoming reality competition series Spy Games. According to EW, the show "features 10 contestants living together in a large house and attempting to gather intel on their fellow players while competing in challenges designed by three former spies, alumni of the CIA, Secret Service, and FBI. Players will be eliminated until one remains to claim a $100,000 prize." Apparently the format is in some ways based on a real-life World War II-era scheme known as Station S, "in which civilians were recruited and relocated to a 'remote estate' to be trained as spies." Spy Games, which is hosted by model and martial artist Mia Kang, premieres on Monday, January 20, 2020, at 10/9c. I tried to embed the video, but Bravo's own awful, awful video platform (which is really quite terrible) automatically plays a Real Housewives promo instead. So check out the trailer here.
Thanks to Jeff for the intel alert!

Final Trailer for Agent 47

Fox has released a final trailer for their video game-based neo-Eurospy reboot Hitman: Agent 47. It looks better than the previous ones, at least, but still makes it look like the hero is too much of a superman. Still, this could offer some fun end of summer action. Hitman: Agent 47 opens August 21.

New Trailer and Poster for Hitman: Agent 47

Fox has released a fairly cool poster design along with a new trailer for its videogame-based neo-Eurospy reboot Hitman: Agent 47, starring Rupert Friend (Homeland), Hannah Ware (Oldboy), Ciaran Hinds (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and Zachary Quinto (Star Trek). The reboot sees Friend taking over the role of the enigmatic Agent 47, played by Timothy Olyphant in the 2007 original (review here). Hitman: Agent 47 opens August 21. Check out the trailer below:

Hitman: Agent 47 Trailer Hits

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. wasn't the only spy trailer to debut yesterday. But it was so good that I didn't want to step on it at all by posting this one then, too. Fox also released the first trailer for their reboot of their 2007 videogame-based neo-Eurospy movie Hitman (review here), Hitman: Agent 47. Homeland's Rupert Friend takes over for Timothy Olyphant as the bald and barcoded titular assassin Agent 47, and Zachary Quinto (24), Thomas Kretschmann (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) and Ciaran Hinds (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) round out the cast. It looks... okay (even if it brazenly cribs one of its only lines of dialogue from Alan Moore's Watchmen)... but it certainly suffers from being released on the same day as something as awesome as Warner Bros.' U.N.C.L.E. trailer. Bad timing, Fox. But I'm sure I'll still check out the movie when it opens in August. (After I see U.N.C.L.E., anyway. And Mission: Impossible 5...)

Lamborghini Unveils the Perfect Spy Hunter Vehicle

Now this is the car they should use in that new Spy Hunter movie! (For the uninitiated, Spy Hunter is a videogame that centers much more on a gadget-filled supercar than Angleton-style mole hunts. Ruben Fleischer is directing a movie adaptation for WB.) At the Geneva Motor Show this week, Lamborghini unvelied the new space-age Veneno... and tell me that's not the pixelated G-6155 Interceptor come to life? I've previously pitched the Jaguar C-X75 and the new Lotus Esprit for this crucial role, but now my heart is set on this wicked looking Lambo.

Of course, the top and rear views are the most important in determining a good Spy Hunter vehicle... and this crazy vehicle doesn't disappoint from those angles. Just think of the weaponry and gadgetry you could load onto this thing! It looks like a submarine already, without even undergoing a Lotus-like transformation. Or a jet.

Tradecraft: Spy Hunter Moves Forward at Warner Bros.

After a decade of fits and starts, this latest incarnation of the forever-in-development videogame adaptation Spy Hunter seems to be moving healthily forward with director Ruben Fleischer (Gangster Squad), who was first attached to the project last October, still involved. Deadline reports that Carter Blanchard (Good vs. Evil) has been hired to pen the new script to Fleischer's specifications. Comingsoon has a very enlightening quote from Fleischer on his approach:

If I can make any movie, it would be a James Bond movie. I've always loved the genre but I don't think they'll hire an American to direct a James Bond movie, I've been told, so for me, Spy Hunter is an opportunity to create a new spy franchise. It sounds silly but that was my favorite video game when I was a kid and it had a great title and a great theme song, but there's no real other associations that people have with it other than a cool car, so I feel like there's a lot of room for us to invent a new character and a new series. I think just the Spy Hunter that is the most bad-ass spy who hunts down rogue spies is a really cool launch pad for an idea and I hope that we can bring it to life.

Sounds like the right direction to me! Any Eurospy fan knows that many highly entertaining movies have come from emulating James Bond.

Tradecraft: Tom Hardy Swaps Clancy Spies

Deadline reports that Tom Hardy (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) is still determined to play a Tom Clancy spy... just not the one we'd thought. Hardy was previously rumored for the role of John Clark in the Clark origin story Without Remorse, with the plan to build a parallel franchise to the rebooted Jack Ryan series with Chris Pine so that the two characters could eventually team up, as they do frequently in Clancy's novels. I liked that plan, as I like both actors and think they deserve a better spy team-up than This Means War turned out to be. Hardy seemed like a great choice, to me, for Clark, who was previously played by Willem Dafoe (in Clear and Present Danger) and Liev Schrieber (in The Sum of All Fears). But that casting seems unlikely now, as yesterday the trade blog reported that Hardy has become attached to another Clancy property, Splinter Cell. Splinter Cell is a hugely popular series of videogames Clancy created (or at least lent his name to), which in turn spawned a series of paperback original novels, two of which were written by James Bond continuation author Raymond Benson under the pseudonym of David Michaels. In June, videogame publisher Ubisoft began talking to studios about setting up a Splinter Cell film. (And it's not the first incarnation of such; a few years ago Peter Berg was attached to direct a different version.) Then, Paramount seemed like the frontrunner, because of their other Clancy properties. There's still no studio attached now, but Ubisoft has begun attaching elements themselves. Besides Hardy, who will play top covert operative Sam Fisher, screenwriter Eric Warren Singer (The International) is attached to pen the screenplay. In related news, the trade blog also reports that Clancy switched agencies this week, signing with WME.

Reuben Fleischer to Helm Spy Hunter

This is another one of those projects that's been floating around in perpetual development at various studios for as long as I've been writing this blog. (Longer, in fact.) But studios remain determined to make a movie out of the popular 80s arcade game Spy Hunter, a vertical scroller in which a secret agent in a gadget-laden supercar, um, hunted spies (I guess) by blowing up lots of other vehicles (that was the important part). As I said last time I wrote about this project, back in 2010, Spy Hunter combines two of my very favorite things: spies and their cars. At that time I was blogging about a potential Chad St. John-scripted version at Warner Bros. Prior to that incarnation, the property had been churning at Universal for a number of years with The Rock attached to star, and first John Woo and later Paul W.S. Anderson attached to direct. Now Vulture reports (via Dark Horizons) that Warner is still keen to make this movie happen, but St. John appears no longer involved. Instead, the studio has tapped Zombieland and Gangster Squad helmer Ruben Fleischer to direct and executive produce. Apparently he's not using St. John's script, but searching for a new writer to flesh out his vision. (Spies and cars? My hand just went up, Warner Bros.!)

While most videogame adaptations immediately spark discussion of what actor could best realize a beloved pixelated hero, in the case of Spy Hunter the question is what car could play the famous Interceptor? I put forth a number of suggestions back in 2010, but of course the vehicular landscape has changed since then. Since the version depicted on the side of the arcade console looked kind of like a cross between a Lamborghini and a Lotus, I think my top choice now would be the brand new Lotus Esprit. It's a cool car, it looks the part, and of course the Esprit has a proud history with spy gadgets.  The 2013 Aston Martin Vanquish would be pretty cool, too, though that marque is obviously pretty closely associated with another spy franchise. (Still, when EON opted not to use the new Vanquish in Skyfall, they might have given up their claim on the car...) Lest I lean too heavily on former Bond vehicles, I'll also suggest the new Jaguar C-X75. Actually, that might be the best option! I still can't believe that amazing concept is actually getting made. It simply cries out for a starring role in a spy movie!

Tradecraft: Another Tom Clancy Property Might Become a Movie

Deadline reports that videogame publisher Ubisoft is talking to studios hoping to develop the Tom Clancy game franchise Splinter Cell into a film. Paramount is seen as the frontrunner, as they are already home to Clancy's Jack Ryan franchise (the latest reboot of which seems perpetually in limbo) and have spent decades developing Without Remorse. The Splinter Cell series revolves around Sam Fisher, top covert operative for an ultra-secret U.S. spy agency known as Third Echelon. He's basically licensed to kill, which makes it particularly appropriate that former James Bond continuation author Raymond Benson wrote two novels in the series of Clancy-endorsed paperback originals based on the game, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and Operation Barracuda. The books, told in the first person, are well worth seeking out for fans of Benson's Bond novels, but probably won't serve as the basis for a film version. According to the trade blog, "Ubisoft will be very involved and retain control over how the game is translated into a film."

BBC America Website Offers Bond Trivia, Games and More 

BBC America is just wrapping up a month-long James Bond marathon called "007 '11," and to promote it they set up a dedicated mini-site devoted to 007. It's actually a pretty good site! It's got some fun, silly stuff like a "What's my Bond name?" quiz and some surprisingly challenging trivia. You can play separate trivia challenges for the first four Connery movies, and while I was fully expecting to breeze through them, I must sheepishly admit that I got some wrong.  There are some tougher questions than I was expecting from this sort of thing!  Give it a try.  I might be too late to promote the marathon (although if you're reading this site I suspect you already own all these movies anyway), but I imagine the site won't go anywhere. BBC America shows Bond movies all the time.
Thanks to Josh for calling my attention to this!

New Spy-Related DVDs And Games Out This Week

No straight-shooting spy titles out this week, but quite a few spy-ish DVDs.  Plus, of course, a few videogames that have a lot of Bond fans excited. 

First up, from MGM Home Entertainment, is the1968 film musical adaptation of Ian Fleming's children's book, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, on Blu-ray/DVD and DVD/Blu-ray combo packs.  Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was produced by 007 producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, scripted by You Only Live Twice screenwriter Roald Dahl and counts Bond alums Desmond Llewelyn and Gert Frobe among its cast. Dick Van Dyke stars as inventor Caractacus Potts, and Sally Ann Howes plays the Bond Girlishly-named Truly Scrumptuous. The new combo release comes in two configurations: a BD/DVD combo pack in a Blu-ray size case, and a DVD/BD combo in a more kids' section-friendly standard DVD Amray case.  All of the special features are on the Blu-ray.  The only new ones (besides the high-def transfer, of course, and newly upgraded 7.1 audio) are kid-oriented (“Toot Sweet Symphony melody maker – the Toot Sweet Toots Musical Maestro" and “Chitty's Bang Bang Driving Game”), but happily all of the interviews and vintage promotional material from the last DVD edition is ported over, including "Remembering Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with Dick Van Dyke," the featurette “A Fantasmagorical Motorcar” (about the actual car used in the film and its current owner, if memory serves), the original Sherman Brothers demos of the film’s most popular songs, vintage featurettes including “The Ditchling Tinkerer,” “Dick Van Dyke Press Interview,” and “The Potts Children's Featurette,” a photo gallery and a vintage advertising gallery including English and French versions of the theatrical trailer and several television spots. There's also a sing-a-long version of the film for the tots. Both combo variations retail for $34.99, but are available considerably cheaper from Amazon and other online vendors.

An old woman detective may not seem very spy-like at all, but there's actually plenty in Agatha Christie's Marple: The Geraldine McEwan Collection, from Acorn Media, to interest spy fans.  First and foremost, there's Timothy Dalton (in The Sittaford Mystery), who leads a pack of spy-friendly guest stars that also includes Joanna Lumley, Jane Seymour, Keeley Hawes, Herbert Lom, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Richard Armitage, Jane Asher, Robert Powell, Tim McInnerny, Mark Gatiss and many, many more.  (Besides being an actor, Gatiss is the co-creator of the BBC's new Sherlock series and author of the wonderful Lucifer Box spy novels.) This set includes all 12 feature-length mysteries that McEwan starred in on 12 DVDs, plus plentiful extras including an hour-long "backstage" documentary with cast and crew interviews, behind-the-scenes featurettes, a history of Miss Marple adaptations (that sounds fun!), photo galleries, an Agatha Christie biography, and cast filmographies. Retail is $99.99.

It's a good week for Timothy Dalton fans, because in addition to his debut on Chuck, we also get the aforementioned Marple DVD set and Toy Story 3, in which he voiced the adorable stuffed hedgehog with delusions of Shakespearean grandeur, Mr. Pricklepants.  It's not a huge part, but it's great to hear a hedgehog talking like Timothy Dalton.  Plus, Toy Story 3 is an amazing movie.  I think it's my favorite of the Pixar trilogy, and one of my favorite movies of the year.  It's available on standard DVD, Blu-ray and a 4-disc Blu-ray/DVD Special Edition Combo pack. For the huge Disney fans out there, it's also available as part of the massive, 10-disc Toy Story Trilogy Blu-ray/DVD combo set. That one will cost you dearly, though, so you might want to save it for Santa.

There are also two new James Bond videogames out today: James Bond 007: Bloodstone and GoldenEye 007, the latter a remake of the classic N64 first-person shooter of over a decade ago (though not from the same makers).  I don't really cover videogames here simply because I don't play them.  I'm no good at them.  I kind of wish I was, though (and that I had the hours required to devote to them, but I'm afraid this blog takes up all of those!), because these games both look pretty neat based on the trailers.  Both star Daniel Craig, which in the case of GoldenEye is pretty weird, since Pierce Brosnan, of course, starred in the movie. 

The new GoldenEye 007 should actually hold interest for Bond music fans as well as Bond gamers, because David Arnold composed the score.  I'm really curious to hear it.  The movie GoldenEye has one of the worst Bond scores, by Eric Serra, and I've often fantasized about what an Arnold score might have been like for it since he did all the other Brosnan Bonds.  Now I guess we can find out!  I really hope that the score is released in some format, be it on CD (unlikely, I guess) or at least as a digital download.  The one part we can hear so far struck me as a tad disappointing.  Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger steps in for Tina Turner to cover the movie's original title song, penned by U2's Bono and the Edge.  With David Arnold producing the cover, I was hoping for something along the lines of his fantastic 1997 Bond covers CD, Shaken and Stirred, which paired classic songs with unexpected performers for uniformly impressive results.  Unfortunately, instead of an indie artist of the caliber of Aimee Mann or Natacha Atlas, we get a Pussycat Doll.  And Scherzinger simply doesn't have the vocal chops to deliver an interesting or worthy rendition.  Too bad.  I did like the orchestration, but was a bit taken aback at how familiar it sounded.  Based on Shaken and Stirred, I'd expected a more radical reinvention.  Oh well.  I hope the score is good, and for people who are into first person shooters, I hope the game is good too!  Let me know. 

GoldenEye 007 retails for $49.99 for the Wii, $29.99 for the Nintendo DS and $69.99 for a special edition of the Wii version that comes with a special Golden Gun controller.  James Bond 007: Bloodstone retails for $59.99 for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions, and $49.99 for PC.

Upcoming Spy(ish) DVDs: Edward Woodward In Whodunnit?

It's not "Wet Job," but it's a Callan reunion of sorts in Whodunnit?, a unique panel gameshow from the Seventies hosted by Edward Woodward on which Russell Hunter (Lonely on Callan) is one of the guests.  And it's coming to Region 2 DVD this fall from Network.  Whodunnit? challenged celebrity contestants to solve a fictional murder mystery.  I'm not familiar with the show myself, but UK readers who were around in the Seventies probably remember it.  Here's Network's description: "The show’s brilliantly original formula, devised by comedians Lance Percival and Jeremy Lloyd (and revived in the 1990s for Cluedo), presented short dramas laden with clues to be pieced together by the panellists, who would then question the characters involved and finally point the finger at the most likely suspect; lively repartee was the order of the day." Other guests appearing on the first season (which is what you get, along with the pilot, on this 2-disc set) include James Bond author Kingsley Amis and real-life private eye Anne Summer.  The PAL Region 2 DVD comes out on November 29 and retails for £19.99, though it will be available from Network's website discounted to just £11.99.

New Spy CDs: From Russia With Love Video Game Soundtrack Offer

Buysoundtrax is offering another exclusive James Bond score CD as a premium when you spend $100 or more.  Once again, I'm really bummed that that's the only way to get this CD, but it is.  And I never happen to have $100 extra cash lying around.  But if you do, spend it at the soundtrack site and you'll get composer Christopher Lennertz's score for the 007 Electronic Arts video game From Russia With Love for free!  (Er, free plus $100, that is.)  This is a factory-pressed promotional CD, not available in stores.  And it's got such cool cover artwork!  You can sample tracks at BSX or on the composer's website (which also offers some cues from his Quantum of Solace game score).  I really wish they'd officially release these Bond video game soundtracks.  I certainly hope they do when David Arnold scores the new GoldenEye game this fall.  I'd love to be able to add an Arnold GoldenEye soundtrack to the Pierce Brosnan section of my Bond CD shelf (even if the new version of the game weirdly stars Daniel Craig in his stead).

Tradecraft: Spy Hunter Redux

After a high-profile film version of Midway's classic Eighties videogame Spy Hunter failed to get off the ground at Universal several years ago, Warner Bros. is giving the title another go.  According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio has hired writer Chad St. John to adapt this time.  St. John has a bunch of other projects in various stages of development at Warners, including a remake of the Sean Connery Space Western Outland and a new, future-set version of Sgt. Rock.  Spy Hunter combines two of my very favorite things: spies and their cars.  The trade summarizes the game as centering on "a highly trained spy whose job is to eliminate rogue agents when they become liabilities to their governments.  He travels in a G-6155 Interceptor, a sports car tricket out with an array of weapons that frequently is challenged by enemy vehicles."  I would have said it was a vertical scroller where you drive a car and shoot things.  I remember the car looked about as cool as a car could look in giant, chunky pixels, and the art on the side of the arcade version made it look sort of like a combination of a Lamborghini Countach and a Lotus Esprit, which were pretty much the pinnacles of mid-Eighties transportation.  (Well, except for the Ferrari Testarossa!) 

Usually when a book or game is adapted to film, talk immediately turns to what actor will be chosen to star.  The actor is almost beside the point in Spy Hunter; the crucial question is what car will star?  The movie's success depends on the studio forging a product placement deal with the right car company.  We're probably fortunate that GM no longer has the money to throw around for such frivolities, as a Camero simply wouldn't do the Interceptor justice.  One likely candidate is probably the Audi R8 (which already co-starred in Iron Man), as it sort of looks the part and Audi recently signed the company that placed BMW in the Bond films in the late 90s to give them a more agressive presence in Hollywood.  The Ford GT sports car would be a great option from the one American car company that might be able to afford such a deal, but sadly it was discontinued after the 2006 model year.  Personally, I think the Lotus Exige best looks the part, and I'd love to see that get the role since Lotus has such an illustrious history with spy gadgets.  But the Exige may not be high-end enough.  If they decide to go truly exotic, you couldn't do much better than the Spyker.  It almost looks as if the designers used the game for inspiration–and it's even got "spy" in the name! 

The Universal version was set to star The Rock and be directed by John Woo.  I believe the plan with that one was to create a car expressly for the film.  That's not as interesting to me.  What I like about gadget cars in spy movies is that they're actual cars you might see on the street (in Los Angeles or London, anyway, for those exotic ones) that look normal but hold all these secrets.  If the car is one-of-a-kind, it might as well be a tank.  It no longer matters that the gadgets are hidden, as it will stand out so much already.  After Woo departed over budget issues, Paul W.S. Anderson briefly flirted with the project before deciding to make Death Race his killer car vehicle instead.  None of those people are involved in Warners' fresh start. 

New Spy CDs: Quantum And Sebastian

Two new spy CDs are available today at BuySoundTrax.com: Jerry Goldsmith's score for Sebastian (1968) and Christopher Lennertz's score for the Activision videogame of Quantum of Solace (2008). The latter (which is entirely different from David Arnold's score for the film), unfortunately, is a rare promotional CD available only as a premium for shoppers who spend $100 or more on the site. That's really too bad, because the track samples they make available sound great. I would love to have this CD! (But, like many fans, I'm sure, I sadly don't have $100 to spend there.)

For those who haven't seen it, Sebastian is a rarity well worth seeking out. The always fantastic Dirk Bogarde plays a British codebreaker whose department (comprised entirely of beautiful women) is infiltrated by a Russian spy. Is it the lovely Susannah York, who Bogarde's slowly falling for? It's got a cool LSD sequence, but despite that it's very much not one of those Modesty Blaise-type Swinging Sixties spy trips. It's kind of hard to categorize, but it's entertaining (check out David's review) and it's got a really great Jerry Goldsmith score. I'll be happy to replace my copy that I burned from LP with this new release from Harkit, the same label that put out the Modesty Blaise score a few years ago. (If only they'd deliver on that mooted Fathom release that never materialized!)

Robert Ludlum Video Games

Dark Horizons reports that Ludlum Entertainment has signed an exclusive deal with Electronic Arts to produce video games based on all of the late author's oeuvre. According to the website, "the deal includes his popular Jason Bourne novels, and the first game set to be released under the arrangement is based on the Bourne series. Sweden-based Starbreeze Studios (Chronicles of Riddick) is working on that game. A previous Bourne game was published by Sierra Entertainment." This license also covers games based on any of the many Ludlum movies currently in development. In discussing those movies, the Dark Horizons article also reveals that Brazilian director Jose Padilha is attached to direct The Sigma Protocol for Universal. That's the first I'd heard of it!

I'm not a gamer, but I've got to say that the idea of Robert Ludlum-based video games really appeals to me. I love the notion of a massive multi-player online game set in Ludlum's world! That would be cool. (Not that any such thing has been announced.)