Barack Obama

Last week, Daniel Craig caused a stir when he said that now that Barack Obama has been elected as the 44th President of the USA, the time was perfect for a black James Bond. Well, Pierce Brosnan has taken that statement one step further by saying that Obama himself would make a quality 007.

According to ET Online, “He’s cool enough. He’s definitely got the walk and the talk, yes,” the actor told People magazine at the second annual Jane Goodall Institute Global Leadership Awards Celebration in Washington, D.C. “But I think he’s going to make a greater president,” Brosnan said, adding, “And Mr. Daniel Craig is a great Bond of his time.”

To discuss this story and all the latest James Bond news with 007 fans from around the world, please visit the MI6 Debriefing Room

This year, Big Apple Con is proud to say that George Lazenby is appearing at the convention in addition to several other guests. Also appearing will be Gloria Hendry and Lynn-Holly Johnson. There is also an extensive list of guest artists as well as several other Celebrity personalities such as Kate Mulgrew from Star Trek and Michael Uslan, producer of several Batman films as well as a dealers room with a variety of vendors.

Big Apple Con takes Place in NYC at the Penn Plaza Pavillion, 401 Seventh Ave at 33rd Street. New York City.

2008 November 14th, 15th and 16th

Friday 1pm-8pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am-7pm

Kids FREE Sunday – Under 12 with adult

To discuss this story and all the latest James Bond news with 007 fans from around the world, please visit the MI6 Debriefing Room

Given the recent US presidential election victory by Barack Obama, Daniel Craig has gone on record saying that he now believes the world is ready for a black James Bond.

Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States of America

According to the Sydney Morning Herald:

“I think the role could easily be played by a black actor, because the character created by Ian Fleming in the 50s has undergone a great deal of evolution and continues to be updated.”

However, the idea might not be well received by Fleming, Craig said.

“I think he’d probably turn in his grave … [at the thought of a black Bond],” said Craig.

Craig last month suggested Senator Obama himself might make a good James Bond. At the least, he’d make a better Bond than opponent John McCain, he said.

“Obama would be the better Bond, because, if he’s true to his word, he’d be willing to quite literally look the enemy in the eye and go toe-to-toe with them,” he told American magazine, Parade.

“McCain, because of his long service and experience, would probably be a better M. There is, come to think of it, a kind of Judi Dench quality to McCain.”

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Forget Harry Potter…there’s now a new king of the one-day UK box office opening. On October 21, 2008, its first day of release, Quantum of Solace took £4.9 in ticket sales, beating out Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’s £4.025 million take back in 1995. These numbers also eclipsed Daniel Craig‘s first James Bond movie, Casino Royale, which pulled in £2.9 million in ticket sales on its first day of business in the UK.

Source: The Press Association

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Pierce Brosnan, the fifth James Bond, 007

Daniel Craig has recently revealed that he went up to Pierce Brosnan at an awards show a few weeks before accepting the role of James Bond to ask the current 007 for advice.

According to Craig, “After dinner, after having enough to drink, I just went over and said, ‘Look, it’s not on the cards(but) it might be on the cards. If it were to be on the cards, what should I do?’”

Pierce Brosnan replied, “Go for it. Just go for it. You’ve got to have a go at this.”

Source: OneIndia

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Daniel Craig - The 6th 007

While he is signed on to do a total of four James Bond movies, Daniel Craig recently told Playboy magazine “I did sign on for four so a piece of paper says there are two more to do. But let’s see how this one goes. In the film business, everything doesn’t always go according to plan”. He added that “We’ll wait and see. If it goes wrong, we’ll have to rethink things.”

In all likelyhood, the actor is simply trying to hedge his bets having seen how nasty the press can get when people are unhappy with their James Bond. And it’s true…based on what happened to Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan, you never can tell who will be 007 from one movie to the next. Still, despite his trepidation it’s a safe bet that Craig will have to make good on the four movies stipulated on his “piece of paper.”

Source: Den of Geek

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While it has long been known that Sean Connery was not Ian Fleming’s first choice to play James Bond, it has just been revealed that things were far worse than anyone ever knew. During an October 15 interview with the South Bank Show, Connery told interviewer Melvin Bragg that he had “little time” for Fleming and that 007′s creator was initially angered that a “working class Scot” had earned the role.

Sean Connery and Ian Fleming on the set of Dr. No

These recent revelations come on the heels of another 50 year old secret: that Ian Fleming had a list of seven actors for the part including Cary Grant and David Niven, but not Connery. In fact, according to Connery, he and Fleming never met until they were on the set of Dr. No. After running through a list of his preferences, they came to Connery because they “couldn’t afford most of the people they wanted.”

This is all especially interesting, as Fleming certainly warmed up to Connery during his final years of life, to the extent that in his final Bond novels Fleming gave 007 a Scottish background.

According to the Daily Express:
Now Sir Sean has revealed more about tension behind the scenes as cameras started rolling on the first Bond film in 1961. In an interview with Melvin Bragg to be shown on the South Bank Show on Wednesday, Sir Sean says he had little time for the secret agent’s creator.

He says: “I never got introduced to Fleming until I was well into the movie but I know he was not happy with me as the choice.

“What was it he called me, or told somebody? That I was an over-developed stunt man. He never said it to me. When I did eventually meet him he was very interesting, erudite and a snob – a real snob.

“But his company was very good for a limited time for me.”

Fleming’s first choice of actor to play 007 in Dr No, the first Bond book to reach the big screen, was Cary Grant – but he was too expensive. David Niven, James Mason, Patrick McGoohan, Rex Harrison, Richard Burton and Stewart Granger were also on his list. Niven turned down the role because he felt he was too old.

Sir Sean, who confesses he was surprised to get the part, says: “They couldn’t afford most of the people they wanted. That was the start. They were seeing people, they were advertising in the papers. Then they brought me in to see them and they wanted me.”

Sir Sean’s performance won Fleming over and in later books he gave 007 a partly Scots ancestry. Sir Sean tells the South Bank Show he was convinced that the Bond movies were doomed to failure.

“Anybody that says it was going to be a success is lying. I must say that from the beginning. I think about it quite a bit. If I see it on a screen I think, yeah, they could have done this better or that better.”

He says he believes now that the series can continue for years. “The ingredients are all there for a kind of movie that people want to see. It’s very good, entertaining value. It’s a spectrum of actors, from myself to Daniel Craig, who I thought was fantastic in the role.”

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When Bond fans see Daniel Craig emerge from the ocean wearing only teeny blue swimming trunks, it immediately makes them think of Ursula Andress emerging from the sea in her white bikini in Dr. No. The scene in Casino Royale was used for all sorts of press releases and helped cement Daniel Craig as a worldwide sex symbol. However, according to a new interview with The South Bank Show, the homage was accidental.

Daniel Craig in his iconic blue bathing suit

“It was actually by accident,” he said. “Where we filmed, off the Bahamas, it’s just one of those places where there is a sand shelf and the sand shelf happens to be three feet deep. Because the idea was, I was supposed to swim in and sort of float off, but I swim in and stand up. And it was just one of those things.”

Craig said he realised almost immediately that it would be compared to the Andress moment.

“It was going through my mind… as I did it, I went, ‘Oh f***.’ But I didn’t realise the repercussions of it,” he said, adding with a laugh: “I had no idea I would be haunted by it for the rest of my life.”

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Click here to see the Daniel Craig Sony HDTV Ad

If it’s not in the movie but it still uses Daniel Craig and the title Quantum of Solace to sell a product, is it product placement? Either way, Sony has just released a new minute long TV commercial for their HD TVs featuring Daniel Craig dodging a series of HD explosions.

The ad, which was directed by Baillie Walsh, premired on October 15 before a England football match on Setanta in the UK.

Personally, I think it’s quite boring and in no way makes me excited for Quantum of Solace OR going out and buying an HDTV. But that’s just me.

Click here to view the ad featuring Daniel Craig avoiding explosions in an effort to sell Sony HDTVs.

To discuss this story and all the latest James Bond news with 007 fans from around the world, please visit the MI6 Debriefing Room