EXCLUSIVE ARTICLE

“Celebrate 60 Years Of Bond On The Big Screen!”
Following celebrations in Hollywood at the 94th Academy Awards^® ceremony, and in London at the BAFTA’s, the 60th Anniversary celebrations continued with UK and Irish cinema screenings of all 25 James Bond films from mid-April 2022, culminating in ‘Global James Bond Day’ on 5th October. The films were projected in stunning 4K and screened chronologically with a new film each week at VUE, ODEON and Cineworld cinemas across the UK, and Omniplex venues in Ireland starting Friday April 15, 2022 with the 60th Anniversary of Dr. No (1962), through to No Time To Die (2021) in September. The 60th anniversary reissues were generally screened at the weekend in the UK and Ireland, and usually on smaller screens with limited capacity. No new posters were created for the 2022 60th Anniversary reissues and unusually all cinemas chose the American 1-Sheet poster artwork to advertise each film on their websites. This is somewhat anachronistic as all 25 ‘official’ James Bond films were only shown in the UK as part of this anniversary reissue series, and never promoted with these posters upon their original release. In fact, the 60th anniversary of Dr. No in the USA technically isn't until May 2023, as the first James Bond film didn't open Stateside until a full seven months after its original UK release.

For the 60th Anniversary reissue of On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) and Diamonds Are Forever (1971), the ODEON Luxe Leicester Square added an additional Sunday afternoon screening for each film which did not prove any more popular than the Tuesday evening slot. With the reissue season also playing at the VUE West End on Saturday evenings (and the Prince Charles season still playing in Leicester Place), it was evident that there was now only a limited number of people still willing to pay to see the films on the big screen. The 60th Anniversary screenings were also hampered by the fact that ITV were also showing the same films in primetime Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon slots on free-to-air terrestrial television in the UK at the same time they were playing in cinemas. Despite being on the small screen, interrupted by adverts and routinely cut for their timeslot, the films still attracted a sizeable audience and no doubt affected box-office receipts. The ODEON Luxe Leicester Square did not programme a Sunday afternoon screening of Live And Let Die as the nation was preoccupied with celebrations commemorating the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, which included a parade of James Bond vehicles as part of The People's Pageant on June 5, 2022. Nevertheless, Roger Moore's cinematic debut as James Bond did prove successful at the UK box-office that weekend, taking £10,916 across 114 cinemas, which was significantly more than any of the Sean Connery films (with the exception of Goldfinger) re-released as part of the 60th Anniversary. The Spy Who Loved Me performed even better, taking £12,844 at the 101 venues screening the film over its opening weekend June 17-19, 2022. However, the box-office receipts for the 60th Anniversary reissues have been disappointing to say the least, with often only a handful of audience members attending most screenings.

Die-hard Bond fans who attended most screenings reported at least two anomalies in the presentations across the country. Advertised as 4K DCP screenings, the season should have been identical wherever the films were shown, but it appears this was not the case. Several audience members in some provincial cinemas claimed that The Spy Who Loved Me opened with the United Artists Transamerica logo attached to the film when it first played in 1977, and that the sound was not the DTS 5.1 remix as advertised, but the more robust original mono soundtrack. Similarly, some fans reported that the version of Casino Royale (2006) screened in their local cinema was the recut American version of the film, which slightly differed from the UK ‘12’ certificate version. The US version substituted certain shots in the opening bathroom fight scene and later stairwell fight in order to achieve its MPAA ‘PG-13’ rating in 2006, although this did not significantly affect the overall running time. 007 MAGAZINE contacted distributor Park Circus for comment. It would appear that the Digital Cinema Package containing the elements needed for projection of the films are made up of several different sections called ‘reels’ (in a throwback to the days of 35mm projection), and these files did include alternate opening logos and versions of the films (including subtitles, audio tracks etc.), so the same DCP could be screened in an alternate configuration in different locations. When programming the running order of the ‘reels’ it would appear that a few cinemas in the UK did change the preset format, resulting in alternate versions of the advertised film being screened in error at some venues. It is not known how many cinemas screened the alternate versions, but these rare occurrences would be limited to the single showing of the film during the week it was re-released.

Unusually the ODEON Luxe Leicester Square chose not to screen A View To A Kill (1985) or GoldenEye (1995), although they were still shown 100-yards away at the VUE West End. Pierce Brosnan's debut as 007 then became the highest-grossing film of the reissues so far, with a weekend take of £16,800 across the 137 cinemas where it was shown. The remaining three Pierce Brosnan Bond films averaged just £7,000 each over their opening weekend at 99 cinemas. More cinemas opted to book the the Daniel Craig films, with the VUE West End showing Casino Royale (2006) on three the separate days from 3rd–5th September in the 80-seat screen 2. Saturday September 3, 2022 was also designated ‘National Cinema Day’ - an annual event where all venues charge £3 per ticket to any film regardless of its format. The resulting increase in screens and performances saw Casino Royale take £21,441 during its opening weekend at 122 cinemas as reported by the British Film Institute. The ODEON Luxe Leicester Square continued with its Tuesday evening slot for the 60th Anniversary reissues, but once Daniel Craig's 007 debut failed to sell out in its 35-seat screen 2, although its takings would not be included in the weekend statistics. The BFI weekend figures, whilst a useful guide to the overall performance of the films, do not tell the full story as some cinemas still continued with their midweek scheduling. Quantum of Solace (2008) proved less popular across the country, and was released as news of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II dominated the headlines. Booked into 121 cinemas Quantum of Solace grossed £9,404 over its opening weekend 9th-11th September, 2022.

As part of the 60th Anniversary of James Bond in the cinema, CHRISTIE'S held a free-to-attend pre-sale exhibition from September 15th-28th at its headquarters at 8 King Street, London, showcasing highlights from the ‘Sixty Years of James Bond’ auction. The live auction held on September 28th realised over £6.1-million.

With the United Kingdom then in a period of national mourning, the ODEON Luxe Leicester Square took the gamble of moving the screening of Skyfall (2012) to Sunday September 18th (the eve of the State Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II) in the main 800-seat Dolby Cinema, but like Dr. No at the start of the season, failed to sell any more tickets that those films shown on the smaller screens. However, Skyfall did prove very popular across the country, with a total of 162 venues screening the film over the weekend of 16th–18th September, when it grossed £21,361. No doubt the popularity of Skyfall was helped by the fact that its re-release accidentally coincided with a period of national patriotism - a fact which mirrored its debut a decade earlier. The following weekend Spectre (2015) played in 120 cinemas with the weekend gross dropping back down to £8,992. The 25th James Bond film, No Time To Die, was reissued exactly one year after its oft-delayed cinema release on September 30, 2021. Once again the ODEON Luxe Leicester Square chose to play the film in the larger Dolby Cinema, and moved the screening to Wednesday October 5th - ‘James Bond Day’. Unfortunately audience take-up was still very low, and Daniel Craig's swansong as 007 failed to fill the 800-seat auditorium as it had a year earlier. The weekend gross for No Time To Die (2021) [not including the ODEON Luxe Leicester Square] was £17,780 across 119 venues, making it the fourth most successful film of the 60th Anniversary reissue program behind Goldeneye (1995), Casino Royale (2006) and Skyfall (2012).

“James Bond At 60 Weekend”
BFI Southbank and BFI IMAX also celebrated the 60th Anniversary with a series of events and screenings on London's South Bank. The ‘Bond Weekender’ kicked off at 6.15pm on Friday September 30, 2022 with a sell-out 90-minute talk, followed by a Q&A session with James Bond producer Michael G. Wilson and a panel of guests including screenwriters Neal Purvis & Robert Wade, casting director Debbie McWilliams, actor Rory Kinnear, No Time To Die production designer Mark Tildesley, and associate producer Gregg Wilson [pictured below L-R]. The event was hosted by writer and broadcaster Samira Ahmed. Co-producer Barbara Broccoli was originally scheduled to join her half-brother for the event but was unable to attend. Earlier in the week they had both been present at a private event at Pinewood Studios to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Dr. No, and the official opening of ‘The Sean Connery Stage’, attended by Sir Sean's granddaughter Saskia Connery.

Michael G. Wilson then introduced the 60th Anniversary screening of Dr. No (1962) at 8.45pm in the main 450-seat auditorium of the National Film Theatre. October 1st saw a full day of events and screenings in NFT1 starting with a 45th Anniversary screening of The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) accompanied by a Q&A with editor and five-time James Bond director John Glen [pictured above top right], hosted by BFI Southbank Lead Programmer Justin Johnson. At 2.45pm there was a talk entitled ‘James Bond behind the scenes: Stunts and SFX’ was hosted by BFI’s CEO Ben Roberts. Special Effects expert Chris Corbould was joined by Olivier Schneider [stunt co-ordinator on Spectre (2015) and No Time To Die (2021)] for the panel discussion and Q&A [pictured above centre right]. Visual Effects producer Mara Bryan, who worked on all four Pierce Brosnan Bond films and No Time To Die, was unable to attend as announced. The talk was followed at 5.00pm by a special preview of a new 90-minute documentary The Sound of 007 - an insightful look at the history of seven decades of Bond music. The screening was followed by a Q&A with director Mat Whitecross, lyricist Don Black and composer David Arnold. The day concluded with a 35th Anniversary screening of The Living Daylights (1987) at 8.15pm, preceded by an extended introduction with actors Maryam d’Abo and Art Malik, hosted by David Walliams [pictured above bottom left].

On Sunday October 2, 2022 the celebrations continued at BFI IMAX with a triple-bill of Daniel Craig 007 films starting with the 10th anniversary screening of Skyfall (2012) at 12.30pm; followed by Spectre (2015) at 4.00pm, and concluding with the first IMAX 3D screening in the UK of No Time To Die (2021) at 7.50pm.

The venue which currently houses the largest screen in the UK then closed on October 3, 2022 for a one-month refurbishment.

Throughout the weekend there was a display of James Bond vehicles outside the BFI on London's Southbank including a replica of ‘Little Nellie’ - the Wallis WA-116 autogyro featured in You Only Live Twice (1967), the Aston Martin DB10 seen in Spectre (2015), accompanied by the Aston Martin V8 featured in The Living Daylights (1987) and No Time To Die (2021). Also on display from the 25th James Bond film was the bullet-ridden Aston Martin DB5, and two Land Rover Defender vehicles [not pictured] seen in the Norway car chase.

On display in the BFI Southbank foyer were Stern’s new 007 pinball machines, and The Little Car Company’s No Time To Die Aston Martin DB5 1:66th scale Limited Edition Junior model.

“James Bond In Concert returns to The Royal Albert Hall”
With the official 60th Anniversary of the James Bond franchise celebrated on global ‘James Bond Day’ Wednesday October 5, 2022, the series commemorated its Diamond Jubilee in style with the events in London. Three Daniel Craig 007 films returned to the big screen in a triple-bill of Casino Royale IN CONCERT, Skyfall IN CONCERT and Spectre IN CONCERT at London's Royal Albert Hall.

David Arnold’s powerful score for Casino Royale (2006) was performed live by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Anthony Gabriele in synch with the film at 7.30pm on Thursday November 17, 2022. Composer David Arnold gave a live introduction to Casino Royale IN CONCERT on 17th November, and joined the orchestra on electric guitar (pictured above bottom left) to perform the ‘James Bond Theme’ over the end credits. Thomas Newman’s BAFTA-winning original score to Skyfall (2012) was then performed live at 7.30pm on Friday November 18, 2022. The world premiere of Spectre IN CONCERT had two performances on Saturday November 19th at 2.00pm and 7.30pm, with a final performance on Sunday November 20th at 1.30pm. Thomas Newman's score for Spectre (2015) was again performed in synch with the film live by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Anthony Gabriele. Director Sir Sam Mendes (pictured above top left) gave a live introduction to Skyfall IN CONCERT on 18th November, and the evening performance of Spectre IN CONCERT on Saturday 19th November.

 FACT FILES