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Bond Called to Duty .: || 05/08/2008 - 9:32 PM ||
In Activision's Q4 / Fiscal 2008 Earnings Conference Call posted earlier today, Activision's President and Chief Executive Officer of Publishing Mike Griffith spoke briefly about what to expect with the company's first game based on the James Bond franchise. Activision will be launching a Quantum of Solace videogame concurrently with the release of the movie, and the company is psyched up to be bringing Bond fans their next encounter with the world's greatest secret agent.
Only a few seconds were dedicated to talking about this new Bond game, but at least one bullet point was a doozy: Activision announced that Quantum of Solace will use the same amazing engine (at least on some platforms) that powered 2007's graphically-astounding Call of Duty 4. According to Griffith, Quantum of Solace, "uses the Call of Duty 4 engine and technology to bring Bond games to a new level."
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James Bond jinx strikes again; 'Quantum' has third mishap .: || 05/05/2008 - 3:23 AM ||
Another mishap has befallen the set of "Quantum of Solace", as a film's technician has reportedly been knifed by a woman he picked up in an Austrian bar.
The 58-year-old British man, who was working on Quantum Of Solace, was reported by the UK Daily Mail as being found "lying unconscious in a pool of blood yesterday morning after a night out."
Police say an unidentified woman he had met that night in a bar attacked him in the bedroom of her house in Austria. A police spokesman said: "The woman appears to have attacked the man with a steak knife in the bedroom.
He survived the attack, is listed as "critical" and is now said to be recovering in hospital, according to Bond production offices, reports the Mail.
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007 villain to play Bond on radio .: || 05/05/2008 - 3:21 AM ||
Actor Toby Stephens, who played villain Gustav Graves in Die Another Day, will play James Bond in the first full radio adaptation of Dr No.
Poirot star David Suchet will play villain Dr No in the Radio 4 adaption, being broadcast on May 24th to mark 100 years since author Ian Fleming's birth.
The station will also air a documentary following Fleming's niece's attempts to find out more about her uncle.
Work on a possible James Bond film theme has been abandoned because singer Amy Winehouse is not ready to make music, producer Mark Ronson has said.
The Brit award winner told Sky News that "unless by some miracle of science it gets recorded and someone sings a vocal," the song would not materialise.
Winehouse's spokesman said the decision was taken because she had "other ideas" about how the song should be developed.
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Daniel Craig is the £5million man .: || 04/28/2008 - 2:21 AM ||
The 007 star insists on doing most of his own stunts - and suffered a string of injuries while filming his first outing as the superspy.
So, with his second Bond movie promising to deliver twice as much action, his body is now insured for up to £5million.
A source at EON Productions, the company behind the film, said: “It’s fair to say that with this movie, Daniel’s insurance premiums have gone through the roof.
“I can’t say for sure how much but there has been talk of him being insured for at least a few million, even five.
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Amy Winehouse Records Song For New Bond Film .: || 04/28/2008 - 2:19 AM ||
Amy Winehouse has recorded a song that could be used in the next James Bond film, says producer Mark Ronson.
Ronson tells the BBC that although the pair have written the song, it will not neccesarily be used in the film: "Hopefully it will get used. But I don't think we've been guaranteed it, so we're working on it and we'll see happens."
"I'm not sure, but hopefully I'll still be alive for at least twelve more Bond themes. If we don't get this one maybe we'll get another one."
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James Bond 'curse' prompts Italian investigation .: || 04/26/2008 - 2:58 AM ||
Italian prosecutors have opened a legal investigation into the making of the new James Bond film after three accidents hit the "cursed" production in five days.
The latest incident left Aris Comninos, an “experienced” Greek stuntman, in a coma after his car collided with a lorry and then crashed into a wall.
Scene of the latest James Bond crash in Italy
The driver of the car was airlifted to hospital
Mr Comninos was involved in filming a 15-minute car chase along the shore of Lake Garda which was to form the opening sequence to the new Bond film, The Quantum of Solace.
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Stuntman accident halts work on new Bond film .: || 04/25/2008 - 12:05 AM ||
Filming on the new James Bond movie has been stopped after a stuntman was seriously injured in a car crash while shooting in Italy. It was the second accident on the set in four days, and the third since January.
The near fatal collision happened in heavy rain near Lake Garda during a chase scene for Quantum of Solace, which stars Daniel Craig as 007.
In the carefully choreographed scene, which involved two Alfa Romeo cars and a lorry, only one car was set to crash, but the stunt went wrong. The collision badly crushed the front of the car driven by Greek stuntman Grecous Angelus. A second black Alfa Romeo car was left hanging over the edge of the mountain road after smashing through road barriers.
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Video of Bond's Aston Martin DBS that crashed in Lake Garda .: || 04/24/2008 - 12:02 AM ||
We reported on Sunday about the crash of an Aston Martin DBS car used in the filming of the new James Bond movie Quantum of Solace. A video of the crashed DBS after it was pulled out of the lake has appeared on Youtube.
The driver did a great job. The DBS is totally trashed. It is surprising that the driver only had minor injuries.
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Driver of James Bond's Aston Martin cheated death in dramatic crash .: || 04/23/2008 - 1:31 AM ||
The driver of James Bond's Aston Martin DBS which plunged into an Italian lake during filming yesterday described how he cheated death just like the hero spy.
Fraser Dunn, 29, was at the wheel of the £134,000 car when it skidded off the road and plunged into the icy waters at high speed.
He was left shaken but not stirred despite being knocked unconscious by the impact and when he came to the car was at the bottom of the lake - at a depth of more than 150ft.
Mr Dunn, who is an Aston Martin engineer and not a stuntman, suffered only minor injuries and was able to kick his way out of the car and swim to the surface - just like Her Majesty's favourite secret agent.
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Bond car plunges into Lake Garda .: || 04/20/2008 - 1:52 AM ||
A stunt driver has crashed the car used by movie secret agent James Bond into Italy's Lake Garda during filming of 007's latest movie, Quantum of Solace.
The driver was delivering the iconic Aston Martin DBS to the film scene in heavy rain when he lost control around one of the lake's narrow curves.
Italian TV showed the car, reportedly the only one available for use in the film, being winched out of the lake.
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Bond.com domain name goes for $1 million .: || 04/20/2008 - 1:50 AM ||
The web address Bond.com has been put up for auction today, for a reserve price of $1million.
With the hype surrounding the latest Bond movie and yesterday’s opening of the Ian Fleming exhibition at the Imperial War Museum, the web address is likely to be snapped up for a record price.
The auction, which is being run by domain name marketplace Sedo, kicks off today and wraps-up next Thursday.
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Bond memorabilia on display .: || 04/20/2008 - 1:48 AM ||
Memorabilia from the life and works of James Bond creator Ian Fleming has gone on display in a new exhibition in London.
The exhibition features rare material including Fleming's desk and chair from his Jamaican home Goldeneye, where all the Bond novels were written.
A blood-splattered shirt worn by Daniel Craig in Casino Royale is displayed along with prototypes for Rosa Klebb's flick knife shoes featured in From Russia With Love.
The exhibition will run from April 17 to March 1, 2009 at London's Imperial War Museum.
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Olga Kurylenko: A different kind of Bond girl .: || 04/13/2008 - 3:50 AM ||
Olga Kurylenko may be a relative newcomer in Hollywood, but when chatting with the press she has the coy, teasing part down pat. When asked during a set visit last week why her character, known simply as Camille, is assisting James Bond in the new film 'Quantum of Solace,' she wasn't very forthcoming.
"There is probably a reason," Kurylenko says with a smile.
Pestered for more, Kurylenko succumbs and adds, "She's driven by revenge. And for the whole movie she's just determined. She's not the girl who is trying to please. When men get in her way, she quickly figures them out. But if they can't serve her in a certain way? She just wants to get rid of them very quickly."
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Daniel Craig finds 'solace' in Bond .: || 04/12/2008 - 2:28 AM ||
"I love the fact we are doing James Bond," Craig says. "I could deny it all my life that I wasn't a huge fan. I have grown up with the franchise. Some of my favorite movies are Bond movies, and, as an actor, it's a huge challenge, but also a huge honor."
Craig also says that, while the critical success of 'Royale' wasn't a surprise, he wasn't expecting almost $600 million worldwide at the box office. Now, after an extended period of celebrating, Craig is hard at work on a new 007 thriller, 'Quantum of Solace.' Speaking from a stunning locale in the Atacama Desert in Chile, Craig makes it clear he's happy the character's emotional arc will be developed even more this time around, but wants fans to know that those beloved action set pieces are still key to making a good Bond film.
Letters between James Bond author Ian Fleming and his "Miss Moneypenny" have fetched £14,340 (17,860 euros/28,260 dollars) at auction - almost five times more than expected.
The collection, which included four letters signed by Ian Fleming and an annotated invoice with his initials, were sold by Dorset auctioneers Duke's.
The letters showed a close relationship with Jean Frampton, a secretary hired to type his 007 manuscripts.
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Bond's Goldeneye retreat in Jamaica .: || 04/12/2008 - 2:22 AM ||
Nowhere on earth is more tightly bound up in the James Bond story than Goldeneye, the beautiful Jamaican villa where Ian Fleming wrote all of the original 007 adventures.
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Daniel Craig wants to remain 007 eternally .: || 04/05/2008 - 1:01 AM ||
Despite strenuous shoots, it seems actor Daniel Craig can't get enough of his James Bond character. The star says he has no plans of abandoning his 007 roles.
"Until my joints go I will keep going as Bond. I have no intention of giving up just yet," The Sun quoted him, as saying.
Earlier, rumours were making rounds that Daniel might only complete his current three-movie deal, but when quizzed about the reports, Danny denied them.
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New Bond villain gets subprime era twist .: || 04/05/2008 - 12:57 AM ||
Gone are the days of James Bond villains with bleeding eyes or scars and fluffy cats -- the fictional super-spy's latest adversary has been given a contemporary twist for the subprime era.
Mathieu Amalric, who plays nefarious businessman Dominic Greene in the new Bond adventure 'Quantum of Solace', will have no physical villain traits and says his evil character's anonymity makes him all the more real -- and frightening.
"It's so difficult to know who are the villains today. They look like wallpaper," Amalric, one of Frances leading screen stars, said during an interview with Reuters on a remote desert mountainside in northern Chile that will serve in the movie as an eco-tourism hotel and his lair.
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James Bond's Aston Martin DBS arrives in Australia .: || 04/05/2008 - 12:50 AM ||
James Bond's last ride has finally made it to Queensland. Described as a DB9 on steroids, the DBS was unveiled at the Sunshine Aston Martin dealership at Southport.
Four DBS vehicles have been sold and the dealership's next allocation is not expected until late next year.
For $520,000 fully optioned including all on-road costs you get the most technological Aston ever built, full of space-age materials and lashings of carbon fibre.
Under the V-shaped bonnet, which can be lifted with your little finger, hides a 6-litre V12 that screams to 6500rpm and maxes out at 380kW of power and 570Nm of torque.
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Irate Chilean mayor storms Bond set .: || 04/02/2008 - 7:21 PM ||
James Bond has an unlikely new nemesis. Carlos Lopez, the mayor of Baquedano, a remote town in northern Chile, burst on to the set of the fictional super-spy's new film, Quantum of Solace, earlier this week and was detained by police.
"He got angry, entered into a private enclosure ... caused public disorder and was detained," said a police official from Baquedano. "Now it is in the hands of the prosecutor."
Mr Lopez is reported to have been angered by what he called an "excessive" police presence in the small town during filming, and the fact that Chilean soil was being used to represent neighbouring Bolivia. This anger caused Lopez to drive on to the set between the cameras and Bond actor Daniel Craig, interrupting the shoot.
Fast cars and improbable chases have been key ingredients in the James Bond films since the series began in 1962. From modest beginnings in Dr No, when 007 outran his pursuers in a rented Sunbeam Alpine, the Bond car has grown in speed, sophistication and sex appeal. With each new model, James Bond has been able to impress us with his impeccable driving and unflappable demeanour and, more importantly, to transport us to a place where our fantasies and envy collide like so many henchmen in a car chase.
Here’s a list of the ten most impressive Bond cars in the 21 films to date...