French Champions Parody Video

The Medium is Not Enough points the way to a pretty hilarious French parody of the classic Sixties ITC spy show The Champions. It doesn't matter if you don't speak French; this short sketch (which does a great job of mimicking the Sixties ITC look) will still resonate with anyone who's familiar with the show. The best gags are visual anyway. I love their send-up of William Gaunt's odd, mouth agape pose in the opening credits, the map in Tremayne's office and the way the trio moves into rooms as a posed unit. It's not all fair to a very entertaining series, but it is pretty hilarious and clearly crafted with love by people who know the show well. (Not sure about the fly-eating bit though; that doesn't work for me.)

CONTEST: Win A&E's Cult Spy Collection!

This is the ultimate prize for Double O Section readers: a fourteen-disc collection comprising such fantastic ITC spy shows as The Persuaders!, The Protectors, The Prisoner and The Champions... all in one set! All you have to do to win a copy of A&E's luxurious new Spy Collection megaset (more details here) is send an email with the subject heading "SPY COLLECTION" including your name and mailing address to the Double O Section by midnight, Pacific Time on Thursday, March 5, 2009. Winners will be announced in one week's time, next Friday. This is the ideal introduction to all of these great series, as it includes A&E's first set of each of them. (For all but The Prisoner, that comprises half the series.) The Spy Collection is a great way to discover which ones you like (which will probably be all of them!) and then delve deeper later by picking up the second set. Good luck!

One entry per person, please. Double entries will be disqualified. One winner will be drawn at random and announced on Friday, March 6, 2009. The winner's name will be posted here and they will be notified via email. All entries will be deleted immediately after the contest’s close, and no personal information will be retained or transmitted to any third parties. The contest is open to anyone, in any country, although this DVD set is NTSC Region 1, so make sure that you have a compatible player. Unfortunately, the Double O Section cannot assume responsibility for items lost or damaged in transit.

New Spy DVDs Out This Week: A&E Sampler

This week brings the perfect box set for American spy enthusiasts looking to dip their feet into the vast pool of ITC adventure series, eager to expand their cult TV horizons beyond The Avengers and The Saint. A&E's The Spy Collection Megaset features the first sets (of two total each) of The Protectors, starring the man from U.N.C.L.E. himself, Robert Vaughn, and The Persuaders!, starring Tony Curtis and an immediately pre-Bond Roger Moore, along with half of The Champions (the cult show about secret agents with superpowers that’s currently being remade for the big screen with a script by Guillermo Del Toro)–which is all that A&E has released of that show to date, unfortunately. In addition to all that, you also get a taste of the ultimate cult spy series, The Prisoner with the first two discs of the renowned Patrick McGoohan vehicle (amounting to just three episodes). The whole bundle is a tad pricey... but much cheaper than what the individual volumes of these series originally retailed for. It's really the ideal sampler for discovering the wonderful world of ITC series. And if you like what you see of The Prisoner or The Persuaders! (which you will) or The Protectors (which you might), you can still go out and buy the rest separately. If you like what you see of The Champions (which you will), well then you're kind of out of luck (at least until the movie gets made) because that's all that's available from A&E so far. But at least you'll have it all! If you've already got these, then obviously there's no reason to get this set. But if you don't... then, trust me, this the coolest release imaginable, and a must-have!

While that's the only major spy release out this week, as long as I'm talking about new discs I'm compelled to also point out that my favorite Dario Argento movie, the ultra-rare, previously near impossible to see Four Flies on Grey Velvet makes its American DVD debut today! There's nothing spy about it, but if you're into gialli, make sure you pick this one up. You won't regret it!

Champions Soundtrack Coming From Network

As I mentioned briefly in my article about their upcoming DVD set of Espionage, UK distributor Network continues their superb releases of soundtracks to classic Sixties ITC series in March with The Champions! The three-disc set includes original music by Prisoner and Danger Man veterans like Robert Farnon, Edwin Astley, Albert Elms and Tony Hatch. The Champions was a 1968 series in the Avengers mold about a trio of secret agents imbued with superpowers by an Eastern mystic when their plane crash-landed in the Himalayas. Okay, so it's very 1968, but it's a pretty awesome show. It starred Stuart Damon, William Gaunt and the drop-dead gorgeous Alexandra Bastedo (Casino Royale '67). Half of the episodes are available on Region 1 DVD from A&E in the United States; all of them are available in a features-laden Region 2 set from Network in the United Kingdom. As has been widely covered here, there is a movie remake in development originated by Guillermo Del Toro. Tom Cruise is tentatively attached to star. Should that movie go forward, I have assurances from A&E that they would release the rest of the episodes.

Network's soundtrack set (and this series had some great music) will be available in March as a web exclusive. There's no listing for it yet on their site, but look for it soon! I also have it on good authority that we can look forward to some more oft-requested ITC soundtracks from Network before the year's out (think halos)... and that I may even get my frequently-stated wish in the form of a Persuaders! set!

Tradecraft: Cruise Still Championing Champions

Tradecraft: Cruise Still Championing Champions

Variety today has an article that provides an overview of the many, many projects that Tom Cruise has attached himself to lately–most of them spy movies. Five different studios are trying to get the actor to commit to their films. While most of these have been covered previously on the Double O Section, the article does mention one new relevant project in which Cruise would play "an undercover agent who gets thrown together with a woman who has man trouble." That movie, Wichita, is being eyed as a possible team-up with Cameron Diaz. The article also recaps old information on The Matarese Circle and The Tourist, as well as mentioning Cruise's possible involvement with Motorcade (the Secret Service thriller written by Breach's Billy Ray). While the star is attached to all of them, he isn't yet firmly committed to any. The most interesting bit, however, pertains to the long-percolating bigscreen revival of the ITC cult classic The Champions:

Studios expect that Cruise will do two films this year, and while some questioned his enthusiasm for finding a big project, sources said that he will likely star next year in The Champions, a feature adaptation of the British TV series about a team of government agents rescued from a plane crash in the Himalayas by an advanced civilization and given superhuman abilities.

[Christopher] McQuarrie is writing that project, and producing it with Guillermo del Toro, who originated it with intentions to direct before he committed five years of his life to two Hobbit films for MGM and New Line.

Interesting! I'd speculated that Cruise's interest in The Matarese Circle precluded his involvement in The Champions, but apparently not. In fact, the Variety article makes that one sound like the closest to a sure thing! I've definitely come around on the idea. Cruise even looks appropriately like Stuart Damon. I'm very excited for that one, so I hope it happens!

Schreiber Salted

Meanwhile, Daniel Craig's Defiance co-star and former Mr. Clark Liev Schreiber has come aboard a high-profile project famous for not starring Tom Cruise: Salt. Formerly titled Edwin A. Salt, Cruise had been attached to this project in the title role for quite a while. But he dropped out late last year only to be replaced by Angelina Jolie (which obviously necessitated a change in the character's first name and title). Variety reports that "Schreiber will play Salt's boss and friend on the Russian desk at the CIA." For those who haven't been paying attention, the trade also provides a nice recap: "The story centers on Evelyn Salt, a CIA officer who is fingered as a Russian sleeper spy. She eludes capture by superiors who are convinced she is out to assassinate the president. While trying to reunite with her family, she struggles to prove someone else is the traitor." Without knowing anything more than that (and therefore not in a position to provide any real spoilers–so don't worry and take this with a grain of, ahem, salt), I predict that Schreiber turns out to be the traitor!

WB to Distribute Darkness

Variety also reports that Warner Bros. has acquired North American distribution rights to Martin Campbell's bigscreen remake of Edge of Darkness. Campbell (Goldeneye, Casino Royale) directed the original British mini-series, which followed a detective (Bob Peck) getting caught up in a conspiracy involving the security services while investigating the death of his daughter, and he's also directing the movie, which stars Mel Gibson.

Massive Network DVD Sale!

You know that awesome British DVD company, Network, that I was raving about only yesterday in my review of their excellent documentary The Saint Steps In... To Television? Well, today they announced a massive sale on their website that runs through January 25, with everything discounted by at least 40%, and often more! This includes their superb soundtrack CD sets as well as their feature-laden DVDs. The DVDs are PAL and mostly Region 2, so if you're not in Europe, be sure that you have the capabilities to play them. (Most people with a DVD drive on their computer and some free software do these days.) The Saint Steps In... To Television, for instance, is reduced from £11.06 ($16.29) to £5.10 ($7.51). For UK customers, the bargain is obvious. For US ones, consider that the current exchange rate is a reasonably favorable 1 GBP = 1.47 USD. That makes the disc just $10.80 including shipping to the United States! I swear, I don't work for Network and I'm not paid to shill for them... I just know a great DVD bargain when I see one and I can't shut up about it!

Among the many other spy-related bargains are:

Mister Jerico starring Patrick Macnee (review here) for only £4.59

The Bulldog Drummond Double Bill featuring both the sublime Deadlier Than the Male and its (somewhat lesser) sequel Some Girls Do plus special features for the unmissable price of £5.10. (If you consider yourself any sort of spy fan at all and you don't own this, then you can't afford not to buy it at this price! Absolutely essential.)

Michael Powell's Espionage for £5.10

The Ipcress File Special Edition (the two-disc one that comes with the Len Deighton book and the John Barry soundtrack CD as well as loads of special features) for just £10.21

The (unintentionally?) side-splitting adventures of the world's smarmiest spy, Gene Bradley, in The Adventurer for £12.76

The Sandbaggers: The Complete Series (the greatest "serious" spy show of all time, featuring a few extras not available on the US versions) for just £15.31--and individual seasons as low as £6.63

The Baron for £20.42

Return of the Saint (the most feature-laden version of this hard-to-find series in the world) for only £22.97

The Prisoner: Special Edition (remastered to the highest imaginable quality with loads and loads of unmissable special features not included on the US or Australian releases), The Persuaders! (bursting at the seams with mouthwatering extras), Danger Man, Department S, Jason King, and The Champions (all ditto) all for just £25.53 each (around 60% savings on some of those titles!)

Even their normally pricey Saint sets (The Complete Monochrome Series is a whopping 18 discs!) are drastically slashed by more than 50%! (Although The Saint is available in sets of varying quality in most countries, Network's is again the one with by far the most special features.)

Also on sale, in addition to DVDs, are the company's many multi-disc ITC soundtrack sets (including The Prisoner, Department S, Man In A Suitcase and two volumes of Danger Man), most ranging from £10 to £15!

When one of the world's largest distributors of spy DVDs has a sale like this, it's an event not to be missed! What are you waiting for? Start bargain-hunting! (That's what I've been doing all night long.) Be warned, though, that the site has been acting really weird all day due to the high volume of traffic the sale's attracted. Hopefully they have that straightened out by now. Also, I sometimes found that I ended up with an even lower price than the one listed after I put an item into my cart. Weirdness.

Tradecraft: Champions And Clancy... And Some Tourism

Tradecraft: Champions And Clancy... And Some Tourism

Championing Tom Cruise

Well, I suppose it was bound to happen. Since Guillermo Del Toro's bigscreen remake of the Sixties ITC cult classic The Champions is set up at Tom Cruise's studio, United Artists, it was probably only a matter of time before the star attached himself to the project. And that's probably a good thing, as it will give the project a much better chance of actually getting made. And Cruise does look a little bit like Stuart Damon, if you squint... (Though Damon's Adventurer co-star Gene Barry would probably point out that Damon is a good deal taller than Cruise!) But I'm not sure he's right for the part. And he's already got his own spy franchise! But I'm willing to give the star the benefit of the doubt, and I'd rather see a Tom Cruise Champions than no Champions at all. The other big news in Variety's story is that Cruise's go-to writer, Valkyrie scribe Christopher McQuarrie is doing a rewrite on Del Toro's script. Here's what the trade says:

McQuarrie also is writing and producing with Guillermo del Toro the previously announced United Artists project The Champions, penning the script with an eye toward hammering it into a Cruise vehicle. The British TV series transfer concerns a team of government agents rescued from a plane crash in the Himalayas by an advanced civilization and given superhuman abilities.
MGM brass has long felt that the project was UA's strongest chance for a big-ticket franchise vehicle that could star UA co-owner Cruise.

The same article reports that McQuarrie is also polishing up the other spy movie Cruise is currently eyeing to potentially star in, The Tourist:

The Cruise-McQuarrie collaboration with the most urgency is Spyglass espionage drama The Tourist. McQuarrie is rewriting for Cruise to star with Charlize Theron in the Bharat Nalluri-directed remake of the 2005 French thriller "Anthony Zimmer." Julian Fellowes originally scripted the redo.

Cruise just can't stop spying! (Not that I blame him.)

Jack Ryan Version 4.0

Meanwhile, Paramount is at it again with their unceasing attempts to revitalize their long-dormant spy franchise based on Tom Clancy's CIA analyst character, Jack Ryan. Most recently Sam Raimi was tipped to shepherd the newest incarnation of Ryan (played in the past by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck), and before him Fernando Meirelles. Everyone from Ford to Ryan Gosling has been rumored to star. Now The Hollywood Reporter reports that the studio has hired The Wings of the Dove and Four Feathers screenwriter Hossein Amini to tackle a new Jack Ryan movie. After so many false starts at reviving this franchise, forgive me if I remain skeptical until this sucker actually starts rolling! While producer Mace Neufeld remains involved, there's no word yet on a director, but Raimi is definitely out of the picture because "his packed schedule made his involvement unworkable."

Tradecraft For August 14, 2008

Cruise Still Set On Spying

Despite dropping out of the long-in-development Edwin A. Salt, Tom Cruise still seems intent on making another spy movie. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Cruise "has entered into negotiations for the thriller The Tourist, a remake of a French film, which would be produced by Spyglass Entertainment and Canal Plus. Bharat Nalluri is to direct screenwriter Julian Fellowes' adaptation of the 2005 feature, which follows an American tourist used as a pawn in a spy game by a female Interpol agent." Nalluri has shown a flair for espionage dramatics by directing several episodes of MI-5. This project apparently has nothing to do with the spy thriller George Clooney is developing with an eye to star in also called The Tourist. That one's adapted from an unrelated novel.

Paula Wagner To Produce Champions

No, I'm not predicting Olympic Gold for the Mission: Impossible producer's offspring; I'm talking about Guillermo Del Toro's adaptation of the cult Sixties spy show The Champions. The same Hollywood Reporter article (focusing on Wagner's departure from United Artists) mentions that "Wagner will produce independently as well as with UA on several projects still in development, including Del Toro's Champions." That's it. But I'm still in shock (delighted shock!) that this unlikely project is even happening, so I like to call attention to any report on its progress (or continued existence), no matter how slight. I cannot wait for this movie!

Severence Package Picked Up

Variety reports that Lionsgate has nabbed the rights to Duane Swierczynski's novel Severance Package for Swierczynski and Brett Simon to adapt, Simon to direct, and Mark Platt and Adam Siegel to produce. According to the trade, "The protag [of the action-comedy] is a media relations director of a financial company who learns that the firm was a front for a covert intelligence agency that is being shut down immediately, with every manager scheduled to be terminated--literally."

Gangster Spy

According to Variety, a new biopic of notorious gangster Lucky Luciano will focus on the mobster's espionage achievements during WWII. Bond writer Paul Haggis's Crash partner Bobby Moresco is penning the feature, which will race another Luciano biopic (written by Joe Cortese) into production. Says the trade, "A big part of both stories is how the government put Luciano away on a 30-year stretch for pimping and pandering and then leveraged his cooperation in America's WWII efforts with the promise of a pardon. Moresco said that Luciano used his mob clout on the New York docks to root out spies whose reports of ship movement to Nazi U-boats led to the sinking of more than 250 ships. Luciano also arranged for safe passage when troops landed in Sicily."

While serving in British Naval Intelligence, Ian Fleming got wind of Luciano's work for the Americans, and became fascinated by the man. He later talked his friend Raymond Chandler into interviewing Luciano (then "retired" in Naples) for the Sunday Times, and eventually tried himself. But the wily old mob boss proved himself a match for both writers; neither man could get him to open up about his racketeering or his spying.

Like Fleming, I've always found Lucky Luciano to be a fascinating figure. He's turned up in previous mob movies - like Bugsy and Mobsters - and served as the model for a Godfather character, but to date no film that I know of has focused on his exciting wartime activities.

Update On Guillermo Del Toro's Champions Movie
It's Still Happening!

I had a chance to speak with Guillermo Del Toro last week while he was on his Hellboy 2 press junket (great movie, by the way; check it out this Friday!), and asked him about the status of his movie version of the cult Sixties ITC show The Champions (which still strikes me as one of the more surprising TV remake announcements ever!). I was afraid The Champions was doomed when Del Toro committed to spend the next half decade in New Zealand directing The Hobbit, but he assured me it's very much still in the works. He will not direct it, however, just write. He said that he's finished a treatment and will be turning in his script draft shortly. He also revealed that the characters remain the same, though he has an interesting new twist on the material. I concluded our conversation by asking him if he thought he'd be able to cast anyone as beautiful as Alexandra Bastedo as Sharron, and he responded, "I don't think there is anyone as beautiful as Alexandra Bastedo!" Well said, Guillermo, well said.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I can't wait for this movie! It will be interesting to see who Cruise/ Wagner and United Artists select to direct it.

Tradecraft For April 30, 2008

Martin Campbell Keeps Busy

Whew! The spy news is coming so fast and furious these days it's hard to keep up with it! Goldeneye and Casino Royale director Martin Campbell himself is generating a lot of it, with two new spy film announcements in the trades in as many days.

Edge of Darkness

First, Variety reports that Campbell will remake his own 1985 cult British miniseries Edge of Darkness with Mel Gibson stepping into the role that Bob Peck created over two decades ago. I haven't seen Edge of Darkness since I was a teenager, but it left quite a lasting impression. As I recall, it's fantastic television, hinged on some arresting performances by Peck, Joanne Whalley (pre -Kilmer) and Joe Don Baker, playing his first CIA agent for Campbell. (His Darius Jedburgh is equal parts Texan charm and sinister creepiness.)

The original story (written by Troy Kennedy Martin, writer of The Italian Job and Reilly, Ace of Spies, which Campbell also co-directed) followed a dedicated cop (and former intelligence officer) as he investigates the murder of his environmental activist daughter. The investigation uncovers layer upon layer of nuclear conspiracy involving the CIA, MI5, the Thatcher government and big business. As he peels away these layers, though, he exposes himself to great danger--both physical and mental. Is his daughter's ghost really helping him? Or is he going mad? Dark Horizons notes that the series' original ending was truly surreal, with Peck's character turning into a tree! Don't worry; I haven't spoiled anything; it doesn't end like that... but it's not exactly a feel-good ending either. One wonders how Hollywood will alter that. With Campbell once again at the helm, and Oscar-winning screenwriter William Monahan (Body of Lies) handling the script, it should be in good hands. But Gibson will certainly have his work cut out for him living up to Bob Peck's towering performance.

Just writing about this makes me want to see the original miniseries again. Hopefully the impending movie version will spur a Region 1 DVD release!

Campbell, Surnow and Cruise Join Forces

Hot on the heels of that news comes the news in today's Variety that Campbell will also direct a "contemporary spy thriller" written by 24 scribes Joel Surnow and Michael Loceff for Tom Cruise's United Artists. "This is an original concept that both UA and I feel will have an impact creatively and commercially," Surnow tells the trade. The plot is being kept under tight wraps, and there's no word yet on whether or not Cruise is eying the project as a star vehicle for himself. If he were, that would be a pretty cool spy dream team, though, combining talents associated with James Bond, Jack Bauer and Ethan Hunt! According to Variety, "UA ... has made it a priority to find a commercially viable franchise for Cruise, though the studio wouldn't confirm whether the Surnow/Campbell project was specifically designed for the Mission: Impossible star.

Champions Movie Still in the Works

The same Variety article also contains a small update on the bigscreen version of cult UK TV show The Champions: "The new project gives UA two plum commercial projects, the other being The Champions, an adaptation of the '60s British TV adventure series that had Guillermo del Toro attached. The helmer will likely have to be replaced, after committing to four years in New Zealand making two films based on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. UA parent MGM shares The Hobbit with New Line Cinema and Warner Bros."

Wow! I never thought I'd hear anyone refer to The Champions, a cool but very obscure (in the U.S., anyway) ITC spy/superhero hybrid that lasted just one season as a "plum commercial project!" But it's great to know that UA sees it that way, and plans to proceed with the project even without Del Toro. I was wondering what was going to happen to The Champions when he committed to The Hobbit. Guess it might still happen! Something to look forward to. I hope they manage to find a director at least half as cool as Del Toro to ensure a quality adaptation.

Tradecraft: The Champions Return!

Variety reports some extremely unexpected, out of the blue - and fantastic! - spy news today: Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro will write and direct a big screen version of the classic Sixties ITC series The Champions for United Artists. The Champions is a terrific (if dated) lesser-known show from the ITC stables that ran from 1968-69 and starred Stuart Damon, William Gaunt and the stunningly beautiful Alexandra Bastedo (The Blood-Spattered Bride). They played secret agents whose plane crashed in the Himalayas, only to be rescued by an advanced civilization who not only healed them but imbued them with super powers. The trio worked for NEMESIS, an elite intelligence unit of the United Nations based in Geneva. They had to keep their powers a secret from everyone, from rival agents and organizations and even from their own boss. Del Toro has traditionally made only horror movies (and once said he had no interest in venturing outside of that genre), including the Oscar-nominated Pan's Labyrinth last year. The fantastic element of The Champions probably appeals to him, and it's great to see him lured into the secret agent genre! Among his horror movies is Blade II, in which he demonstrated a true gift for action scenes. Hellboy successfully blended that talent with the rich characterizations characteristic of his Spanish language work. Hopefully The Champions will provide another such opportunity.

The first half of The Champions' only season (it ran for thirty episodes) is available on DVD in the US from A&E, but it's been available for years and there's still no sign of Volume 2. (Maybe the movie will prove the impetus for them to release the rest, but that's still years away.) In England, Network DVD released the whole series in a lavish special edition complete with actor interviews, commentaries, the Legend of the Champions TV movie which was cobbled out of existing episodes in the early '80s, and a new documentary. The Champions is one of the shows covered in James Chapman's excellent book Saints and Avengers: British Adventure Series of the 1960s.