Random Intelligence Dispatches: Glam Rocker Likes Bond

This really is a random one! I'm a big fan of Seventies glam rock: Bowie, Eno, Roxy Music, Iggy Pop, New York Dolls, Lou Reed, Mick Ronson, Steve Harley, Suzi Quattro, Slade and, of course, The Sweet. Pretty much the lot. The Sweet (of Ballroom Blitz, Fox on the Run and The Six Teens fame) have split off into different factions over the years. Pretty much each of the original members at one time or another have fronted their own version of the band. There are currently two incarnations touring: Steve Priest's Sweet, who are playing the House of Blues in Hollywood tonight and which I would be seeing if I wasn't stuck home sick (and which prompted my Sweet-related web surfing today to begin with) and Andy Scott's Sweet, who are playing tonight somewhere in Germany. Andy Scott has a blog on his band's website, where he professes his love of James Bond. And I just found this random enough to warrant a mention. I mean, it's kind of weird to me that a shaggy glam rock musician in many ways responsible for the whole hair metal look of the 80s would write, "I always connected with Bond and therefore as a fictional character this was how I perceived myself." Weird... but cool! On his blog, Scott laments that he's feeling more like Blofeld than Bond these days (which gets him down), but also reveals that he owns first editions of almost all the Fleming novels:

I have a lot of books in my house, almost a library or a bookshop. I have also realised that many are unread which is unforgivable. So to put things right I am setting about this task by reading the John Gardner “Bond” books and this has left me with a dilemma. I read the original Ian Fleming novels in the 1960s and have subsequently returned to them on a regular basis so much so that I now have them as 1st editions (all bar Casino Royale, you would need a small fortune to buy this book). I always connected with Bond and therefore as a fictional character this was how I perceived myself (Bond, Sherlock Holmes, Number 6 etc) so why am I feeling more like Blofeld?

If you're intrigued, click here to read his entire post and find out why he's feeling more like Blofeld! (Hint: it has something to do with a cat.) I know there aren't too many readers who will even be interested in this item, but I'm always fascinated when two of my own disparate interests come together in weird ways, so I had to share. Anyway, I hope Andy Scott enjoys the Garner novels, and decides to move on to Benson, Higson and Weinberg!

Random Intelligence Dispatches For March 18, 2009

M:I:IV Still in the Cards?

Ain't It Cool has a story that doesn't really contain any specific news, but does confirm that Tom Cruise is still interested in perpetuating his Mission: Impossible franchise. The gist is that Cruise says he's working on a story for the fourth installment. (Surely what he means is that he's working with a writer on the story?)

Clemens Remade

Avengers mastermind Brian Clemens will see one of his early Seventies theatrical thrillers remade. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Karl Urban has joined the cast of a remake of Clemens' creepy classic And Soon the Darkness (co-written with frequent ITC contributor Terry Nation and directed by Avengers director Robert Fuest). Amber Heard and Odette Yustman star, and the action has been moved from France to Argentina but the plot (involving a girl who disappears while on a bike trip abroad) remains the same. The trade doesn't mention Clemens or Nation or Fuest in their story.

New Young Bond Paperback Out in America

The Young Bond Dossier reports that Charlie Higson's third James Bond novel, Double Or Die(full review here), has been released in paperback in the United States. This comes hot on the heels of re-covered reissues of the first two books a week ago. You should be able to find them all at your local bookstore! The hardcover edition of the fourth volume, Hurricane Gold, is set to hit American stores in a few weeks.

In another article of interest at YBD, Zencat mentions that the success of the Young Bond novels for Puffin in England has prompted rival publisher Macmillan to emulate the formula with a series of officially-sanctioned Young Sherlock Holmes novels. This has no relation to the Steven Spielberg-produced movie of that name; it's an original series of books by Andrew Lane. Three have been commissioned. I hope Lane's good, because the reason for the success of Young Bond isn't the concept (which could have easily turned out as terrible as it sounds on paper), but Charlie Higson, who pulled it off brilliantly!

Random Intelligence Dispatches For February 3, 2009

My Own Worst Enemy Cover Art

TVShowsOnDVD has revealed the cover art for Universal's previously announced upcoming DVD of My Own Worst Enemy: The Complete Series. I've gotta say, that artwork's kind of neat! All nine episodes will be included on two discs. The set is available for pre-order on Amazon.

Echelon Conspiracy

Usually I report on upcoming spy movies when they're first announced in the trades, and sometimes again as the cast is revealed or more news comes out. But sometimes they get by me completely. I just saw a trailer for a movie called Echelon Conspiracy that appears to be a spy movie. The cast includes Edward Burns, Ving Rhames, Jonathan Pryce and Martin Sheen... so it is a real movie. It comes out in theaters in the United States on February 27. It should not be confused with The Echelon Vendetta, a similarly titled novel by David Stone that was optioned last year and is being adapted for the screen by the director of The Wackness.

Echelon Conspiracy (the one that's coming out in a few weeks) concerns a guy whose cell phone starts giving him mysterious instructions that attract the attention of the CIA and the NSA, so it sounds a little bit similar to last year's Eagle Eye. According to Wikipedia, "ECHELON is a name used in global media and in popular culture to describe a signals intelligence (SIGINT) collection and analysis network." In other words, an all-knowing computer system, pulling data from phone calls and email and eavesdropping and other electronic resources all over the world via sattellite. It comes up again and again in modern spy movies and TV shows, from Alias (which made wide use of it) to the aforementioned Eagle Eye. The website for Echelon Vendetta lets you input questions for ECHELON and have a conversation. Here is a conversation I just had with it at its own website:

Visitor> when does echelon conspiracy open?

ECHELON> What if I said it never does?

Visitor> Does it?

ECHELON> Suppose I said it does.

Visitor> Is the movie any good?

ECHELON> If it is, then I'll be very surprised.

So there you have it, from the mouth of the computer itself! Good advertising, that.

Random Intelligence Dispatches For September 8, 2008

Trying to catch up on a few stories from last week...

Bond Repackaged

Commander Bond.Net reported that in addition to the new Blu-Ray Bonds, the entire Bond back catalog will be reissued on regular old DVD this fall in the UK. The covers are much better than the most recent wave of Ultimate Edition covers... though still leave a lot to be desired. Why can't MGM just leave the Photoshopping alone and use some of that excellent poster art in their archives? For some reason, despite having some of the best theatrical poster art of all time, Octopussy always loses out the worst with the video and DVD covers. The new wave is no exception, although even that is better than the last one! CBN follows up that story today with news that at least the Bonds will be getting re-jacketed in America, too. All content remains the same as the last release, so there's no reason to rebuy.

24 Title Redeemed

Fox sent out a press release announcing the the title of the upcoming 24 TV movie, the prequel to January's Season 7, has undergone a title change. Ditching its former moniker, Exile, the movie now boasts the uncharacteristically hopeful title, 24: Redemption. It airs on Fox November 23 and hits DVD two days later.

Double O Fashion

American reality series Project Runway, a competition for aspiring fashion designers, finally challenged its contestants to design a spy dress in last week's episode, "Double O Fashion." Unfortunately, they didn't base the competition on Sixties Bond fashion, which would have been great (and could make a terrific tie-in with Quantum of Solace, if a minor Bond Girl were to wear the winning dress at a premiere or something... oh well), but instead on glamorous 1940s spywear, as typified by Marlene Dietrich in A Foreign Affair. That's a good look too, but most of the designers didn't seem to get it. My friend Liz has a full write-up on the episode at her Project Runway blog. A viewer poll during a commercial break asked the audience to vote on what host Heidi Klum's spy name should be, and they dubbed the Teutonic beauty "Venus Schnitzel"... perhaps forgetting that she's actually been a Bond Girl already with the rather mundane name Katya Nadanova.

Len Deighton Site

There's a new spy website out there aiming to fill a conspicuous void on the Internet... The Deighton Dossier aims to be the one-stop source for all things related to the Ipcress File author, and it's off to a great start! Check it out.

Bond Cars On DVD

A new DVD, The Cars of James Bond, available in Australia on October 23. EZYDVD have the artwork, which David Foster passed along. Curiously, the cover appears to picture toy Bond cars rather than the real thing, along with a publicity still of Craig with the Aston Martin DBS from Casino Royale. Is the documentary about the toys? That would be cool, but it doesn't appear so. According to the copy, "Second only to the sleek lines of the Bond girls, the British secret agent's cars have been an essential part in making the most successful movie franchises of all time. Starting with the Aston Martin DB5 from Goldfinger, our documentary chronologically details the history of the James Bond film cars, including Bentley, Aston Martin, Lotus, Jaguar and Ford with manufacturer interviews and rare archive footage from building and testing." Well, that sounds pretty cool too! I hope this becomes available in the US eventually; the price tag on the import is a little steep...

Random Intelligence Dispatches For August 14, 2008

Not So Fast, Jack Ryan

Moviehole has an update on the progress, or lack thereof, of Sam Raimi's supposed Jack Ryan reboot at Paramount. Despite the trade announcement, there's apparently still no deal in place with Raimi, whose capacity would probably be that of producer and not director anyway.

New Body Of Lies Trailer

The first one just debuted before The Dark Knight, but already there's another trailer for Ridley Scott's Body of Lies--and it looks awesome. This looks like a really great modern, post-9/11 spy thriller. It also looks like the first spy movie I can think of to really make use of those CIA drones you're always hearing about on the news. (Well, I suppose Syrianna did, but only briefly.) Watch the new Body of Lies trailer here.

Tradecraft Roundup

Animated Teen Spies On The Big Screen

...not Kim Possible, though, unfortunately. Instead, the popular animated kids' series Totally Spies will make its theatrical debut next summer, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Says the trade: "Based on the TV series about three teenage girls from Beverly Hills who accidentally become international secret agents, the film will explain what the series has yet to address, namely how the heroines became secret agents to begin with." The article goes on to describe the series as "Clueless meets James Bond" and quotes a production executive as saying, "We didn't want to just make a long episode of the series. Our job is to make a good film for fans and also show parents they won't be bored."

I've only seen a couple of episodes of Totally Spies, and it didn't really capture my interest too much. I don't think there's as much there for adults as Kim Possible offers, but it is very popular among its target demographic. So far the show, produced in France, has spanned five seasons and 130 episodes, plus countless merchandise tie-ins. The Hollywood Reporter says it's one of the five highest rated kids' programs in the world. The movie is budgeted at $12 million and aiming for a Summer 2009 release in France, with the rest of the world presumably to follow.

More On The 24 TV Movie

The Hollywood Reporter reveals that former Bond baddie Robert Carlyle and Chuck's Tony Todd have joined the cast of this fall's 24 TV movie, the "prequel" to next January's long-delayed Season 7. Eric Lively and Gil Bellows will also appear. Predictably, "Bellows, best known for his role on Fox's Ally McBeal, will play a State Department officer ordered to serve Bauer with a subpoena to appear before the Senate." Lively plays the son of the new President (Cherry Jones). Todd will play "cruel African dictator General Juma," a character expected to recur during the regular season.

Leo As Fleming?

As has been widely reported (originating in a Los Angeles Times story), Leonardo DiCaprio has come aboard to produce the Ian Fleming biopic that was first announced way back when Daniel Craig was first announced as the next James Bond. Media speculation has quickly attached the actor to the role himself, but so far he's committed only to produce. Co-producer Andrew Lazar promises, "It's going to be very different from the Bond films." Screenwriter Damian Stevenson appears to immediately contradict him, explaining: "It's the real James Bond. In England, Ian Fleming's exploits are much better well known. Talking to people out here, no one had any idea that M was based on a real person, Miss Moneypenny was based on a real person." So it sounds like the same approach taken by the 90s TV movies Goldeneye (with Fleming doppelganger Charles Dance) and Spymaker: The Secret Life of Ian Fleming (with Jason Connery), both of which went to great lengths to equate Fleming's actual adventures with those of his famous fictional spy. I'd love to see a big budget version of Fleming's life filmed; I just hope they stick to facts. There's enough fascinating stuff there that you don't need to put him on secret missions he never really participated in, as Spymaker did.

Also, I really, really hope that DiCaprio sticks to producing on this one! He looks nothing like Ian Fleming, and I can't see him pulling off the accent, either. He's a great actor, but his boyish looks don't really lend themselves to playing every historical figure he wants to. They didn't work for Howard Hughes, either.

Fritz Lang's Man Hunt Coming To DVD

DVD Drive-In reports that Fox Home Video will release Fritz Lang's WWII spy movie Man Hunt, starring Walter Pidgeon and George Sanders, as part of their "Fox Classics" line later this year. Man Hunt follows a British big game hunter (Pidgeon) who decides to put his talents to use by taking a shot at Hitler on the eve of WWII. Upon returning to England, unsuccessful, he finds himself in a deadly cat-and-mouse game with Gestapo agents (including John Carradine) who want him to sign a confession saying he was acting on behalf of the British government in his assassination attempt. The title has long been requested on DVD. According to the website, though, "no date has been set yet, but expect [it] to appear in '08!"

Random Intelligence Dispatches For March 8, 2008

(Young) James Bond Will Return In...

By Royal Command. That's the title of Charlie Higson's fifth and (for now, anyway) final "Young Bond" novel, according to the source for news on the series, Young Bond Dossier. The Dossier also confirms that Higson has finished the novel. By Royal Command doesn't conform as neatly to the rigid Bond title formula Ian Fleming Publications have previously adhered to (SilverFin, Blood Fever, Double or Die, Hurricane Gold), but it does evoke what turned out to be one of Fleming's most resonant titles, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. And it seems like an appropriate title for the final novel in the series (aimed at young adult readers, but offering plenty of enjoyment for adult Bond fans), as it seems to foreshadow James' ultimate career path and dedication to Queen and Country. By Royal Command comes out in hardcover in England September 4.

Jack Bauer Will Return In...

...a 24 TV movie this fall, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The movie, like Sci-Fi Channel's Battlestar Gallactica TV movie last year, will bridge the extraordinarily long gap between seasons, serving as a prequel to Season 7, now set for broadcast in January 2009, minus creator/showrunner Joel Surnow. And it should serve to keep Kiefer Sutherland's dour mug in the public conscience, lest Jack Bauer be forgotten. The article says producers are trying to secure the whole cast, but doesn't go into specifics. It's unknown whether the TV movie will follow the show's trademark real time formula, or if it will take advantage in the break from routine to utilise a more traditional narrative structure. That would definitely be cool to see (as the show sometimes becomes a slave to its gimmick), but I was pretty excited for the oft-mooted 24 theatrical movie to be the first instance we see Jack Bauer out of real time. There's also something to be said for a real time mission that takes only 120 minutes to crack rather than a whole day. There could be a lot of urgency in that, and hopefully it would work out better than when Johnny Depp tried it in Nick of Time... Presumably, Fox Home Entertainment will push for a quick sell-through on DVD for the feature, probably in December so as to suitably whet the public's appetite for Season 7.

Michael Caine Returns

... to Sixties heist movies this month! It may not be a new spy film, but fans of the Ipcress File actor will likely be as excited as I am about his return not only to heist flicks, but to one set in the Sixties, recalling his iconic roles in movies like Gambit and The Italian Job (1969)! Caine teams up with star/producer Demi Moore (who also produced the Austin Powers movies, of which Caine was in a particularly awful example) for a diamond heist tale set in what the press materials refer to as "Swinging London," but the trailer tells us is actually 1960, still several years before London started to swing. Still, it's Michael Caine, it's the Sixties and it's a heist. I'm there. And if you don't want to wait until March 28 to trek to the theater, Flawless will premiere earlier as video on demand on HDNet Ultra. In fact, it already has! If you get that service, you can go ahead and check it out now.

Random Intelligence Dispatches For March 4, 2008

More Devil May Care Cover Art

CBN pointed the way yesterday to Entertainment Weekly, which offers our first glimpse of the cover art for the American edition of Sebastian Faulks' upcoming James Bond pastiche, Devil May Care. As I predicted before, it's different from the British cover art. I knew America wouldn't be able to handle a nipple! (Even on a weird flower faery.) It's still not ideal (I would have preferred a Richard Chopping-style approach for a novel celebrating the centenary of Bond creator Ian Fleming), but it's pretty damn good nonetheless, and a definite improvement over the UK version, which is rare. Historically, England has usually made out with the better Bond covers.

Unfortunately, the US version retains that offensive, disrespectful and completely inexcusable author credit that reduces the great writer who created James Bond to nothing more than a Franklin W. Dixon (or Robert Markham)-esque pseudonym to be passed down from writer to writer. If it's intended as some sort of tribute, it's a woeful misfire. I hate this, and frankly, it's coloring my opinion of the whole book (which I should be looking forward to more than any other this year) quite negatively in advance. Faulks had better have written a damn good book to climb his way out of the hole that the marketers at Ian Fleming Publications have already stuck him in!

Burn Notice DVD Update

TVShowsOnDVD has another, more substantial report on Burn Notice: Season One DVDs today. The site claims that retailers have been informed of a June 3 release date and a retail price of $49.99, but Fox has yet to officially confirm this.

Tradecraft: Coens' Spy Movie To Open Wide

Variety reports that the Coen brothers' upcoming spy movie, Burn After Reading, will have a wide release. Most of their movies open with platform releases, starting out in New York and LA, then gaining word-of-mouth momentum before going wider. "Everyone feels [Burn After Reading] has the capability to play wide at that September [12] playtime," the trade quotes Focus Features head of distribution, Jack Foley, as saying. One presumes the brothers' recent Oscar success can't hurt, either! This year's Best Actress, Tilda Swinton, co-stars with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich and Frances McDormand. The articles describes the movie's plot as "[revolving] around an ousted CIA official whose memoir inadvertently falls into the hands of two bumbling Washington DC gym employees."

Astrologer To The Spies

Yahoo has a fascinating AP story about newly-declassified MI5 files pertaining to Louis de Wohl, an astrologer hired by British military intelligence during WWII to write horoscopes for Hitler and other Axis and Allied leaders under the guise of a "Psychological Research Bureau." He served as a British agent until he wore out his welcome and MI5 pursued various options to "dispose" of this embarassing "State Seer," as he billed himself, "including interning him in a camp or moving him to a remote corner of the country" as well as "two other options [that] are blanked out."

New Get Smart Trailer, Poster

A new poster (not as good as the first one) and a new trailer have recently hit the web for the upcoming big screen remake of Get Smart starring Steve Carell. I like Carell a lot, and I was really excited about this movie—until I actually saw it, that is.

Belated Happy Birthday To Daniel Craig

The current 007 celebrated his 40th birthday this weekend, while filming the twenty-second James Bond film (and direct sequel to Casino Royale), Quantum of Solace in Panama. Here's wishing him a great year!

Random Intelligence Dispatches For Feb. 22, 2008

Rare Patrick McGoohan Series Coming To DVD At Last!

DVDActive reveals the titles in the latest wave of Disney Treasures DVDs, set for release November 8, 2008... and it includes the long-awaited Patrick McGoohan mini-series Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow! Best of all, the release will include both the original, three-part TV version (aired as The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh), and the edited theatrical feature. If previous Treasures releases are anything to go by, it should contain other extra features as well. (The ubiquitous Leonard Maltin introductions are a given, but dare we hope for the reclusive Prisoner star to break his silence and participate in some of the special features?) Disney has teased McGoohan fans in the past by announcing The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh and then withdrawing it from its schedule, but presumably that was in order to prep this more elaborate edition. Meanwhile, Universal released Hammer's (quite good) version of the same legend, Captain Clegg, starring Peter Cushing, as Night Creatures in their Hammer Horror Franchise Collection a few years ago.

Dr. Syn tells the tale of a former pirate turned quiet English vicar who transforms himself into a horriffic vigilante outlaw dressed as a scarecrow to fight injustices perpetrated by the Crown. A Robin Hoodish figure, he fights the King's dragoons to protect the townspeople (mostly smugglers) from exorbitant taxation and impressment.

New Bond Toys On The Way

MI6 has the rundown on a whole wave of new James Bond toys on the way... and they don't look nearly as fun as their Sixties counterparts! In addition to the fantastic-looking action figures they'll be releasing later this year, Corgi will also issue a line of play gadgets. Proving just how mundane and commonplace gadgets have become since 007's inception, these new toys include a lot of faux cell phones, good for "sending messages between the devices" and "sending MP3 audio tracks." Yawn! The 21st Century version of Bond's classic attache case contains a "removable LED flashlight" and "secure compartment with whiteboard message board." Consider that the Sixties equivalent, produced by Gilbert and modeled on the From Russia With Love film version, included a toy version of Bond's collapsible sniper rifle, spring-loaded knives and trick locks, among other gimmicks! We have not progressed. Luckily, some things never change, and the new product line does include some spy toy classics, like invisible ink pens and various decoders.

Want To Pay $100 For A Dead Format?

Trying desperately to cash in on the death throes of a losing format, Paramount will release The Jack Ryan Collection on HD DVD next month for $99.99, according to DVDActive. The set includes The Hunt For Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger and The Sum of All Fears. All four films are the same bare-bones versions currently available on regular DVD in various configurations, with no added bells or whistles.

Random Intelligence Dispatches For February 13, 2008

Doug Liman To Direct Valerie Plame Movie?

AICN tips a story on MTV Movies Blog today reporting that Bourne Identity director Doug Liman is prepping a real-life spy movie based on the Valerie Plame affair. I can't really make heads or tails of their actual story (is all that redacting his joke or theirs?), but the gist appears to be that Liman has worked closely with Plame to devise a unique take on her story that won't run afoul of the same CIA censors that chopped up her book. Liman talks a big game: “I have a really, really insane take on how to tell it. It’s so outrageous,” the director gushes. “Ultimately, I’d be doing something no one has ever done before. Therefore it’s automatically appealing to me. I’m just starting to explore whether [what I have in mind] is even possible to do.” Okay... Interesting! I've loved Liman's previous spy movies, and I've always thought that Valerie Plame's story sounded right out of a John Le Carré novel: the agent in the field outed and betrayed because it served the political needs of her masters. It's a story we've heard before, but even more interesting because it really happened... and happened very publicly. Furthermore, Liman's in a good position to tell such a story, having grown up surrounded by the inevitable controversy that occurs whenever espionage and politics mix; his father Arthur Liman served a chief counsel on the Senate's Iran-Contra hearings!

Oh, and he's got Nicole Kidman playing Plame. That's good too. Very good.

Rod Lurie, meanwhile, is developing a rival Plame movie, told not from Plame's point of view like Liman's film, but on that of a Judith Miller-like journalist. Vera Farmiga plays the Plame role in Lurie's Nothing But the Truth.

Jackson Is Still Fury

MTV Movies Blog (why do I keep wanting to type "MTV's Movie Blog?") also has a post today throwing gasoline on the ages-old "Is or isn't Sam Jackson Nick Fury in Iron Man?" fire. At this point, it seems pretty widely assumed that he is (MTV aptly calls the casting "the worst-kept secret in comicdom"), but Jackson himself still won't quite admit it. "I am indeed Nick Fury," he tells MTV, "but I don't know if I'm gonna be in [Iron Man]." Make of that what you will. Possibilities include that he will show up as Fury in this summer's The Incredible Hulk (which has also been rumored, originally to tie the two movies together), that he will play Nick Fury in the long-in-the-works Nick Fury film, or that he will indeed be in Iron Man (and possibly any combination of those other possibilities as well) and is just playing coy. I lean toward the latter...

Tradecraft: Show Runner Joel Surnow Leaves 24

Variety reports that 24's co-creator (with Bob Cochran) and showrunner Joel Surnow is leaving the series when his contract with Fox expires in April. Howard Gordan, who's already been overseeing day-to-day operations for some time, will take over showrunning duties. Surnow was widely considered the mastermind behind the series (although it's clear from the behind-the-scenes features on the DVD sets that it's a collaborative effort) and attracted a lot of attention for his political views, once describing himself as a "right wing nutjob." He also came under fire recently in the media for Jack Bauer's frequent reliance on torture at a time when the issue has been in the spotlight so much in real life. One of Surnow's earlier series (as writer and supervising producer), The Equalizer, was just released on DVD this week. 24 won't return for Season Seven (which has been troubled from the get-go) until January of 2009.

Weird James Bond Casting Rumor

Aintitcool is running a very bizarre rumor today about possible villain casting in Quantum of Solace. If true, then it's potentially a huge spoiler, so proceed with caution. I highly doubt it's true, but stranger things have happened. The rumor pertains to who might be playing the mysterious Blofeld-like mastermind of the villainous organization behind Le Chiffre and the events in Quantum of Solace. We don't even know for sure that we'll meet such a character in this movie, or that it isn't Mathieu Amalric's character, Dominic Green. All we know about the organization is that based on Casino Royale's Mr. White and some of the new villains' names revealed for QoS, its members appear to take codenames based on colors, ala Reservoir Dogs. (Hey, Mr. Blond was in Die Another Day, wasn't he? That was almost as weird as today's casting rumor!) It's a kind of cheesy tactic, but at least different from SPECTRE's numbering system which has been so parodied by Austin Powers and others. My secret hope is that the new organization actually turns out to be SPECTRE, as Daniel Craig hinted at last year. I think EON has sewn up the rights at this point, and they could even use Blofeld again if they wanted to (though that might open the door for more unwelcome lawsuits). I, for one, would love to see a new incarnation of Bond's oldest cinematic enemy!

Random Intelligence Dispatches For February 11, 2008

Agent 077 Covered At Cinema Retro

Cinema Retro, the excellent glossy publication whose fabulous current issue showcases Deadlier Than the Male and its star, Elke Sommer, has another great Sixties spy write-up--this time on its website. Dean Brierly looks at the trio of official "Agent 077" Eurospy movies--specifically at the wonderful DVD releases from Dorado Films. I say "official," because the popular codename (itself a ripoff of something, I'm sure!) spawned a whole slew of imitations, all covered in The Eurospy Guide. The Guide lists nine films (including Espionage In Tangiers) that qualify as 077 movies for one reason or another, whether they actually call their hero by that number, were just marketed as such, or even just feature the numbers scrawled on a napkin! My favorite of these attempts to cash in on the popular series was perpetrated by Piege pour un espions, which the Guide says was "marketed as an 'OSS 77' film to confuse fans of both the 077 films and the OSS 117 films!" Eurospy promoters were nothing if not shameless. Anyway, go ahead and check out Dean's teriffic article on the series!

R.I.P. Barry Morse

Cinema Retro also reports some sad spy news: Barry Morse, the actor who played Mr. Parminter on the ITC series The Adventurer, has passed away at the age of 89. Fortunately for Mr. Morse, he's better remembered for playing the relentless Lt. Gerard on the vastly superior show The Fugitive! Still, Morse was by far the best part of the hilariously awful Adventurer, and his contributions to the bonus features on Network UK's recent DVDs of the show are priceless. Morse also costarred on the ITC adventure series The Zoo Gang. He will be missed.

Another Interpol Movie

In a sign that the world might be sick of British and American agents as their heroes, and hungry for more international-friendly agents, there is yet another Interpol movie in the works(following Hitman and the forthcoming The International, among others). Variety reports that Thomas Jane has signed on to star in Run for action maestro John McTiernan. Run will shoot in Argentina and, according to the trade, "has an American Interpol agent happening upon a conspiracy during a thrills-and-spills high-speed pursuit across the country." BMW has signed on to provide cars for the chase, which will also feature a supercharged Mustang. Presumably Jane is replacing Karl Urban, who was originally attached when the movie was set to shoot in Europe. That's too bad. I think The Bourne Supremacy's Urban has what it takes to be an action star and I'd like to see him get the chance. Jane, on the other hand, didn't convince me of this in The Punisher, but he is a good actor so maybe given the right, ahem, vehicle, he will break out.

More Burn This Summer; No More Chuck Till Fall

With the Hollywood writers' strike finally drawing to an end, TV Guide's Michael Ausiello reports that we sadly still won't see any new episodes of NBC's Chuck until the fall. The good news, however, is that last year's best new spy show, Burn Notice, will return as early as July! The second season was originally scheduled to air on USA beginning early this summer, and shouldn't arrive too much later than that now. Ausiello claims shooting is slated to begin in late April.

Random Intelligence Dispatches For February 4

New Raymond Benson Anthology Cover

Raymond Benson has revealed the cover for the upcoming anthology of three of his James Bond novels on his website. The collection includes the "Union Trilogy," Benson's equivilant of Fleming's "SPECTRE Trilogy," wherein 007 battles a single villainous organization for three books. Doubleshot, the middle chapter of the Union Trilogy, is, in my opinion, Benson's best book. While I'm very happy that Benson's continuation novels are being anthologized and will be back in print, the obvious highlight of this collection is the inclusion of the entire, uncut version of his short Bond story, "Blast From the Past." I like the cover art, though it puzzles me why the designer didn't use a Walther PPK since that's the iconic weapon most associated with James Bond, and especially since Benson made such a big deal of re-arming 007 with the PPK after John Gardner had him using various other guns, most notably the ASP 9mm. Weird.

Game, Set, Match, Remake?

Dark Horizons quotes a recent interview with Sight and Sound Magazine wherein Quentin Tarantino expressed an interest in making a film based on all three of Len Deighton's "Game, Set, Match" novels. (That would be Berlin Game, Mexico Set, and London Match.) This was the first of three trilogies featuring British Intelligence officer Bernard Samson, and was previously filmed as a television miniseries in 1988 starring Ian Holm as Samson and Mel Martin as his wife, Fiona. Many fans consider this version pretty definitive, but not among them, apparently, was Deighton. It's been rumored that his displeasure with the adaptation is what's kept the series from being available on DVD. If that's truly the case, then it's too bad, because it would be a welcome addition to any collection of great spy DVDs. If true, it would also seem to bode poorly for Tarantino's chances at securing the rights, as it's unlikely Deighton would want to be burned twice, and Tarantino's already suggested that he would radically alter the source material by excising the whole double agent plotline! Still, I've never been let down by Tarantino yet, and it would be great to see him finally make a spy flick. (He's previously mooted a Man From U.N.C.L.E. feature and, very loudly, a James Bond movie. He takes credit for the idea of filming a straight version of Casino Royale, but I seriously doubt that that hadn't occurred to the Broccolis already as soon as they won the rights to the novel!)

All of this should be taken with two large grains of salt:

1. Tarantino constantly talks about possibly remaking various movies he loves, but has yet to actually take the plunge with any of them. And why should he? He usually comes up with better stuff on his own by taking all of that source material and throwing it in a blender.

2. Dark Horizons is already jumping the gun a bit in its reporting. In the actual interview, Tarantino makes it clear that he's speaking in hypotheticals. The only reality of the conversation is that at the time of the interview, he was currently re-reading Berlin Game. The rest of the discussion is what he calls "an exercise," discussing how he would adapt if he were to do so.

Of Deighton's novels (and as much as I'd like to see the existing Game, Set, and Match available on DVD), I'd honestly rather see Harry Palmer revived (and not in a Midnight In St. Petersburg sort of way). I'd still love to see a movie made of Horse Under Water, which was at one point supposed to be the fourth Michael Caine movie, and then once Caine got out of his contract was still slated to go ahead starring his Play Dirty co-star Nigel Davenport in the lead. Unfortunately, the box office disappointment of Ken Russell's brilliant Billion Dollar Brain killed those prospects. I'd especially love to see it filmed as a period movie set in the Sixties…

Charlie Wilson's DVD

DVDActive reports a rumored April release date for Universal's DVD of Charlie Wilson's War, and they even have the snazzy cover art. Extras include a Making-Of and a featurette called "Who Is Charlie Wilson" which promises "a profile of the real Charlie Wilson" with interviews with Charlie Wilson, Tom Hanks, Aaron Sorkin and others. That one sounds pretty interesting; I'd be very curious to know how closely the movie stuck to reality.

British Hitchcock Spy Movies On British Hitchcock DVD

Network DVD in the UK will release a Region 2 collection of Hitchcock's early British films including the spy movies The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The 39 Steps, Secret Agent, Sabotage and The Lady Vanishes, as well as The Pleasure Garden, The Lodger, Downhill, Jamaica Inn and Young and Innocent. (Is that one a spy movie? I've never seen it.) Many of these titles have only been issued in the U.S. on budget DVDs in dire need of remastering, so the Brits really luck out getting this kind of collection from a superior distributor like Network. Extras include script PDFs, trailers, "On Location" featurettes for Sabotage and The 39 Steps, a documentary called "Hitchcock: The Early Years," rare interviews with the director, a booklet by film historian Charles Barr and introductions by Barr to all of the films, among other things. Whew! Oh well, at least we Americans have that recent, amazing Criterion version of The Lady Vanishes to cherish...

Random Intelligence Dispatches For January 25

Smart New Trailer

The new Get Smart trailer is now online here. I've gotta say, I think it looks really good. I know there's been some negative buzz about the movie, but I like Carrell, I like the rest of the cast, and I like everything I've seen from it so far. Here's hoping the final product is good!

From Le Carré To Clancy?

AICN ran a rumor that originated on Moviehole that Paramount is seeking Fernando Meirelles to direct that new Jack Ryan movie, By Any Means Necessary. Meirelles will be familiar to spy fans for his superb Le Carré adaptation The Constant Gardner, but even that wasn't as impressive as the movie that put him in the international spotlight, the Brazilian gangster epic City of God. He's an excellent director. I'd love to see him direct a real spy movie. (The Constant Gardner was more of a diplomatic story.) However, he and supposed star Ryan Gosling seem an odd match for a Jack Ryan movie. It sounds like Paramount is eager to give the Ryan franchise a Casino Royale-like reboot, shape it more in the Bourne mold. But Jack Ryan isn't really that rich a character, honestly. He doesn't have the dark soul to explore that Craig uncovered in Bond, or the haunted past that drives Damon's Bourne. He's always played second fiddle to the technology, both in Tom Clancy's books and in the previous movies. That's the rap that Bond always gets, but it was never really the case in Fleming. It is the case in Clancy. It's not a bad thing; some of the Jack Ryan books are very enjoyable. But not really because of a compelling lead character. The whole idea strikes me as weird, but if Fernando Meirelles directs a spy movie, I will undoubtedly be there to watch it.

Tanner In Quantum

Finally, in a bit of casting it doesn't seem appropriate to ignore on this blog, CommanderBond.Net reports that Rory Kinnear, son of the great British character actor Roy Kinnear, will portray Bill Tanner in Quantum of Solace. Tanner is, of course, M's Chief of Staff and (in the books) Bond's best friend in the Service. He's been portrayed blandly by Michael Goodliffe in The Man With the Golden Gun, entirely inappropriately by an exasperated James Villiers in For Your Eyes Only, and rather perfectly by Michael Kitchen in two Pierce Brosnan movies. Based on the BBC report that CBN cites as its source, it sounds as if Tanner may have been reimagined as more of a Personal Assistant to M than a Chief of Staff. In Casino Royale, Tobias Menzies did a great job as a character named Villiers (perhaps in tribute to FYEO's Tanner), who was a sort of combination of Tanner and Moneypenny. He's not returning in QOS, so Kinnear's Tanner is probably filling a similar role. I liked the way M's support staff were developed in the Brosnan movies, but I don't like the idea of giving M random PAs! That position is Miss Moneypenny's! I really don't understand the producers' reluctance to bring her back. According to MI6.co.uk, Michael G. Wilson said at yesterday's press conference that in order for Moneypenny and Q to have appeared in the new film, moments would have to be carved out for them which would not have felt "organic." I don't know about Q, but to me, if there's a role for M's Personal Assistant, then that is quite organically Moneypenny! I don't understand the reluctance to reintroduce her.

Random Intelligence Dispatches For January 21, 2008

Stiller Persuades Clooney and Grant?

This one's ollllllld news, but somehow I missed it last May, so I better play catch-up! Last I heard, Ben Stiller was developing a movie remake of the classic Tony Curtis/Roger Moore television series The Persuaders (my second-favorite British spy series, after The Avengers) to star himself and Steve Coogan as playboy adventurers Danny Wilde and Lord Brett Sinclair. But apparently news emerged from last year's Cannes Film Festival that George Clooney and Hugh Grant are in talks to take over the roles, with Stiller still on board to produce. I still believe that the Stiller/Coogan pairing could have worked (and it would have been cool to see Coogan realize his ongoing Roger Moore fixation by stepping into his shoes), but there was certainly a lot more potential for that version to go horribly awry, too, and turn into Starsky and Hutch 2. To me, Clooney and Grant leave a lot less room for error. (My dream cast for such a remake has always been Grant and Bruce Campbell.) Clooney is actually perfect for Danny Wilde, and an Ocean's 11 tone is just the right thing for The Persuaders, which despite its share of more dramatic episodes, was always first and foremost about fun. It would be great to see this version happen, become a hit, and spawn a whole series of glamorous spy action on the French Riviera! (And I can't wait to see a red Ferrari 599 GTB square off against a gold Aston Martin DBS to a pulsing remix of John Barry's sublime theme music.) Of course, it all really depends on what kind of chemistry Clooney and Grant have together...

More Jack Ryan On The Horizon?

Moviehole runs the rumor today that Paramount is reviving its Jack Ryan spy franchise with Ryan Gosling as the fourth actor to step into the role of Tom Clancy's action-prone CIA analyst(following Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck) . The new movie, they claim, won't be based on a Clancy novel at all, but will be an original Jack Ryan film adventure titled By Any Means Necessary. This is a little bit surprising as, unlike the Bond series (whose producers have-with the obvious exception of Casino Royale-been creating original plotlines since Licence To Kill, having basically exhausted the Ian Fleming source material), there are still unfilmed Jack Ryan novels. Some of those are unsuitable for a younger actor (taking place after Ryan implausibly became President), but Clancy wrote Red Rabbit, about a younger Ryan, specifically with the goal of continuing the Ben Affleck-led series reboot. Oh well. This Gosling rumor comes on the heels of far more tantalizing rumors about either Alec Baldwin or Harrison Ford returning to the role.

Defiance Trailer

The first trailer is out now for Daniel Craig's next star vehicle, the Ed Zwick-directed Defiance. Frankly, I'm underwhelmed. Hopefully it's not too indicative of the actual film...

New Transporter Director

Not quite spy news, but as I've made the case before, essentially so: Dark Horizons reports that a director has been selected to helm the Jason Statham sequel Transporter 3. Olivier Megaton, director of the 2002 Asia Argento thriller The Red Siren will take the reins. I hope he manages to capture the same ideal "Roger Moore Bond movie" feel that Louis Leterrier found for Transporter 2. There aren't enough action movies in that tone these days, and while I wouldn't advocate Bond himself heading back in that direction, I like the idea of someone else doing it. And Statham's perfect for it. I haven't seen The Red Siren (though it sounds pretty cool), but I have seen Hitman, for which Megaton directed second unit. And I wasn't impressed by the second unit stuff. I didn't find any of the action scenes particularly memorable. So I really hope that Transporter [1] co-director Cory Yuen returns to his Transporter 2 position of "action choreographer" to ensure that doesn't happen here! On the plus side, maybe Megaton will bring along Argento to co-star. She'd fit right into the Transporter world!

Shooting on Transporter 3 is expected to begin this summer. If you need a Jason Statham fix in the meantime, be sure to check out the awesome trailer for The Bank Job. Again, not a spy movie (why doesn't he do a straight-out spy movie?), but something that looks like it will appeal to fans of The Italian Job and other great Sixties and Seventies heist flicks!

Random Intelligence Dispatches For Friday, December 7, 2007

New Young Bond Cover Art

The Young Bond Dossier spotted this excellent new artwork online for the upcoming (and long overdue) American hardcover edition of Charlie Higson's third Young Bond novel, Double Or Die. (Yes, America is just getting around to Number Three even though the fourth, Hurricane Gold, has already been released in the UK.) This cover, by regular Young Bond promotional artist Kev Walker, comes as welcome news after the recent revelation of a fairly lacklustre cover for the upcoming Bond novel Devil May Care.

Nick Fury In The Incredible Hulk?

Aintitcool News runs a rumor that Nick Fury might not only appear in the upcoming Marvel film Iron Man (which itself is still unsubstantiated), but also in The Incredible Hulk! It would be pretty cool to see the one-eyed superspy popping up regularly around the Marvel Film Universe, but I still can't get behind the supposed Sam Jackson casting.

New Nick Fury Figure

Speaking of Fury, there's a great new 4-inch metal figurine of him (classic version, Steranko-style) out now from Corgi! Pictures and further details coming soon...

New Eurospy Double Feature DVD

"Euroguy," a member of the Eurospy Forum, discovered a new legitimate Eurospy DVD in the offing from Wild East Productions (who generally specialize in Spaghetti Westerns). Spy Double Feature: Red Dragon and Five Golden Dragons will be available sometime next year. The latter film co-stars Christopher Lee.

More Chan From Fox

Even though they've now released all the surviving Charlie Chan films starring Warner Oland, Fox will continue to release Chan collections with a brand new set of DVDs starring Sidney Toler in the title role. The Charlie Chan Collection: Volume 4 will be out on February 12, 2008 and include the films Charlie Chan In Honolulu, Charlie Chan In Reno, Charlie Chan At Treasure Island and Charlie Chan in the City of Darkness. The latter is a spy movie set in Paris on the eve of WWII. The set includes more of the incredible extras that have made all of Fox's previous releases in the series such a joy, and seems like a good indication that the studio plans to continue these releases until all the surviving Chans are on DVD. Once WWII hits, most of the Toler entries involve espionage elements.

Random Intelligence Dispatches For November 28, 2007

Rendition On DVD

According to The Digital Bits, New Line will release this fall's politically-minded CIA drama Rendition on DVD on January 15. DVDActive adds that extras will include "an audio commentary with director Gavin Hood, an 'Intersections: The Making of Rendition' documentary, an 'Outlawed' featurette, deleted and alternate scenes, and the theatrical trailer." The film, which stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep and Reese Witherspoon, was one of several high-profile flops this year that dealt with current events.

Final Season Of Wild Wild West Due In March

TVShowsOnDVD.com reports that the fourth and final season of the Avengers-ish spy Western hybrid The Wild Wild West will be released March 18, 2008 by CBS/Paramount. It's set to include all twenty-four fourth season episodes, but there is no word now on the two TV reunion movies, The Wild Wild West Revisited (1979) and More Wild Wild West (1980). I was hoping those would be included as bonus features. Maybe Paramount has plans to release them on their own down the line, but that somehow seems unlikely... The Third Season came out last week, and I should have a full review up soon.

More Alex Rider To Come!

I had been under the impression that Anthony Horowitz's popular and influential series of novels about teen spy Alex Rider were set to conclude with Book 7, which materialized earlier this month in the form of the bestselling Snakehead. (I haven't read it yet because I'm not caught up with the series, but reviews have been wildly positive.) However, as Snakehead's publication drew near, it became clear that that wasn't the case. (Whether it ever was or I was just plain mistaken, I'm not sure.) Now Horowitz foresees three more books, ending the series with number ten. The author told Reuters, "The big secret is to stop while the books are good. I dread stopping. I love the books and the books are loved." I guess it is a classy move to wrap up the ongoing story and cut off the series before it starts to sag, but I'm definitely glad he's at least planning a few more. (I wish Charlie Higson would do the same with Young Bond!) Horowitz estimates the final three books will take him five years to complete.

He's much less enthusiastic about prospects for an Alex Rider film franchise, blaming the failure of the first movie, Stormbreaker, on its American distributor's perplexing decision to dump the promising feature. "Harvey Weinstein decided not to distribute it [in the United States]. It is one of the most bizarre and annoying things that the film didn't get given its shot in America. To this day I don't know why." I certainly sympathize with the author, and share his frustration. I really can't understand why the film was so unceremoniously dumped last fall, with virtually no advertising and a terrible (and misleading) poster in hardly any theaters! Horowitz says he's written a screenplay for the second book, Point Blanc, but "the chances are fairly slim" of that getting made.

Random Intelligence Dispatches For November 27, 2007

On DVD Today

Today's the day... TimeLife's long-awaited Complete Series set of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is officially released! (As a mail-order only item.) However, if you order on their website now, they're listing a ship date of next week. And the 3-Disc Collector's Edition of Hot Fuzz is out today, including the Timothy Dalton commentary track found on the original Region 2 release.

Tradecraft: Chuck Gets A Full Season

The Hollywood Reporter reveals that NBC has picked up the "back 9" episodes for Chuck, giving the new series a whole season's order of 22 episodes total. (Whether that whole season ever actually materializes, of course, depends on the progress of the latest negotiations between the WGA and the AMPTP and a quick resolution of the writers' strike.) Chuck has been getting better and better as it's gone on, and it's definitely one of my favorites of the new TV season. The recent revelation of Alias-like cabals and secret organizations within the CIA could be a bad sign, though, if it means we should expect this show to become as convoluted as that one...

Now let's play catch-up...

Equalizer Artwork

Amazon has now posted artwork for Universal's upcoming DVD release of The Equalizer: Season One. The set is due out Feb. 12, 2008 and costs $49.98. The Equalizer starred Callan star Edward Woodward as a former British intelligence officer who rights wrongs. It kicked off the career of 24 co-creator Joel Surnow, and certainly influenced Matt Nix's summer spy hit Burn Notice.

Moneypenny Diaries Come To America!

Some great news that I failed to report sooner (but later mentioned in passing): CommanderBond.net has reported that Samantha Weinberg's superlative trilogy of James Bond novels, The Moneypenny Diaries (which I've raved about plenty), will at last see a U.S. release! The first novel, Guardian Angel, will be published by Thomas Dunne Books (a division of St. Martin's Press) on May 13, 2008, just a week after Sebastian Faulkes' eagerly awaited new Bond novel, Devil May Care. Amazon doesn't have a cover image yet, but I really hope they hire Stina Persson, who did the cover for the paperback of the second book, and will do the British edition of the third, to do the artwork. I also hope that Thomas Dunne Books does a better job marketing this excellent series than the British publisher did. This could be an opportunity for Weinberg's books to really catch on, and find the vast audience they richly deserve!

John Frankenheimer Collection

MGM has announced a new John Frankenheimer Collection including three of the director's spy classics: The Manchurian Candidate, Ronin (still the largest collection of Bond villains on screen together, I think) and The Train, as well as the DVD debut of The Young Savages. The collection is due out January 22, and will retail for $39.98.

Random Intelligence Dispatches For November 3, 2007

Tradecraft: New Joss Whedon Spy Show!

Just before the writers' strike was called, Fox made public a deal with Buffy the Vampire Slayer mastermind Joss Whedon for a new TV series called The Dollhouse. The Dollhouse stars Buffy alum Eliza Dushku as one of a small group of secret agents who are reprogrammed for each assignment with different memories, abilities and an entirely new personality. "After each assignment," says Variety, "...the characters have their memories wiped clean, and are sent back to a lab (dubbed the 'Dollhouse'). Show centers on Dushku's character, Echo, as she slowly begins to develop some self-awareness, which impacts her missions." The network has given the series a seven episode commitment. I'm a huge fan of Whedon's previous work, and can't wait to see him turn his attention to the (sort of) spy genre! I just hope the strike doesn't seriously impact plans for this show.

Casino Royale 40th Anniversary DVD NOT Out Next Week

Despite some recent excitement over an updated Amazon listing with a November 8, 2007 release date for Fox/MGM's upcoming Casino Royale 40th Anniversary Edition DVD, I'm sorry to report that a Fox spokesman has confirmed that the title is definitely delayed until next year (when it will no longer be the 40th anniversary of the Peter Sellers/David Niven/Woody Allen spoof). My contact didn't provide any details as to why, but it's easy to speculate. Perhaps EON Productions, who've long made clear their desire to have no association between their legitimate series of James Bond movies and those red-headed stepchildren, Casino Royale ('67) and Never Say Never Again, requested that Fox not release the title to coincide with the release of their James Bond Ultimate Collector's Set this Tuesday.

Kaleidoscope Soundtrack Issued On CD

Speaking of Casino Royale, the '67 all-star spoof wasn't the only movie of its time to loosely borrow a plot from Ian Fleming's novel of that name! The 1966 Warren Beatty vehicle Kaleidoscope also takes the book's central device of British Intelligence sending a man in to bankrupt an enemy by beating him at cards... and plays it straighter than the Sellers version. Kaleidoscope is quite a fun little Swinging Sixties spy movie, co-starring Susannah York and the great spy character actor Clive Revill (Fathom, Modesty Blaise). Memorable Prisoner Number 2 Eric Porter plays the Le Chiffre role. It's certainly essential viewing for Ian Fleming fans for its unauthorized use of his famous plot, which was close enough to warrant coverage in the first published study of the Bond films, John Brosnan's James Bond in the Cinema. Unfortunately, I'm not mentioning all this because the movie is coming out on DVD (although it really should, WB!), but at least its soundtrack is officially available. The score by Stanley Myers, who also composed the music for another great Swinging London spy movie, Otley, is a fantastic fusion of Barry and Bacharach sounds, ideal Sixties spy/caper music. FSM recently released it on CD paired with Johnny Keating's music for Hotel. (I'm unfamiliar with that movie, although it starred The Liquidator himself, Rod Taylor.) I burnt my LP of the score onto CD a while ago and have listened to it often enough that I'm certainly eager to upgrade! It's good background sound when you're in a mod spy mood.

Random Intelligence Dispatches For October 30, 2007

Tradecraft: Bond 22 Script Done

In a story about the impending Writers' Guild strike on the cover of today's Hollywood Reporter, it's revealed that Paul Haggis has delivered his completed draft of the next James Bond movie to anxious Sony Executives. If the writers strike on Thursday, Haggis won't be able to do any further work on the script. But since he's finished, hopefully the movie will be unaffected by any strike and proceed on schedule. If there's still work to be done, I wonder if producer Michael G. Wilson would do it himself? He's got a number of Bond writing credits under his belt, but I doubt he'd want to piss off the Guild. An interesting prospect to consider, nonetheless.

Poor Pierce Goes Direct To DVD

I hope this isn't indicative of where Pierce Brosnan's post-007 career is headed. His latest movie, which he also produced through his Irish Dreamtime production company, is going direct-to-DVD in the United States, courtesy of Lionsgate. Formerly titled Butterfly On A Wheel, the movie has had its title changed to the infinitely more generic (and more direct-to-DVD sounding) Shattered. It's also been given an awful cover that fails to elevate it above the direct-to-DVD status. See the details at DVDActive. That's really too bad. I can't speak for this film because I haven't seen it, but Brosnan deserves better. Based on his recent performances in Seraphim Falls and, particularly, The Matador, I can't imagine he fails to give it his all as a murderous kidnapper. Furthermore, co-star Gerard Butler should have been able to get this movie theatrical bookings on the success of 300! What a shame. The DVD hits stores Christmas Day, and features a director commentary and some deleted scenes. Retail is $26.98.

The Equalizer Finally Comes To DVD

One of the last 80s action shows still unavailable on DVD will finally be released by Universal on February 12, 2008, reports TVShowsOnDVD.com. Callan star Edward Woodward plays McCall, a former British Intelligence operative who goes to work for "The Company," using his unique skill set to right wrongs and generally equalize things. 24 mastermind Joel Surnow contributed a number of scripts, and got his start as a producer on this show. All twenty-two Season One episodes will be included on Universal's 5-disc set, which will cost $49.98.

Dr. No Gets Limited Theatrical Re-Release

As part of United Artists' 90th Anniversary celebration (aren't they jumping the gun by a decade on the festivities?), there will be part a travelling film festival including Dr. No. It will come to twenty cities around the US, playing in arthouse theaters. Other titles on the bill will be A Fistfull of Dollars, Annie Hall and Rocky. Dr. No also features in a recently issued collection of UA titles including Fistfull and The Pink Panther, and may be included in a massive ninety-film collection released this Christmas.

Moneypenny Diaries Plot Revealed

The Literary 007, a fantastic new blog from the creators of the excellent Young Bond Dossier on all things bookish and Bond, has landed a plot description for Samantha Weinberg's third and final novel in the Moneypenny Diaries series. (Minor SPOILERS follow for people who haven't yet read the first two volumes.) Final Fling is set in 1964 and '65, and some major events impact the Bond universe. Apparently Bond gets sacked, Moneypenny demoted, and M forced to resign! I'm glad to see that Weinberg is taking advantage of not being bound to Fleming texts for those years (the last two entries having been closely tied in with Fleming's You Only Live Twice and The Man With the Golden Gun), but I wonder how this will all work with Sebastian Faulkes' Devil May Care, which is set in 1967. Are the series meant to stand entirely on their own? That would be kind of strange, since The Moneypenny Diaries is already tied in with Charlie Higson's Young Bond series. Maybe everything will return to the status quo by the end of Final Fling, but that seems somewhat unlikely based on the build-up involving present-day events in the first two volumes. Curious! I really can't wait for this book.