Celebrating 50 years of James Bond films

Friday, 5 October 2012

Global James Bond Day is being celebrated today to mark 50 years since the world premiere of Dr. No which introduced author Ian Fleming's suave, sophisticated secret agent to people. And the rest as they say is history! The franchise went on to produce best selling Agent 007 films and making legends out of actors.
Bond at 50-Franchise story
Over the last 50 years, the owners of the James Bond movie franchise have had heart-stopping crises as thrilling as the ones that face their fictional secret agent.
They've nearly gone bust more than once and have come close to losing all of their rights in court.
But the franchise has survived and thrived under the family of late producer Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli, whose name has graced every official Bond intro since Dr. No in 1962.
The son of Italian immigrants was a risk-taker, and his earlier ventures included farming the vegetable bearing the Broccoli name that his uncle brought to America. After years of hustling his way into Hollywood, Broccoli fought for the movie rights to the Ian Fleming novels and passed his faith in the British spy tales to his children.
"Cubby used to say, `This is the goose that laid the golden egg, keep it safe,' " said Broccoli's youngest daughter, Barbara, now the series' co-producer, in a phone interview from London. "One of the things he said was we're temporary people making permanent decisions. When you have a franchise, and you're invested in it as emotionally as we are, you make decisions based on the health of the franchise going forward."
For five decades, the Broccoli family has held on to its 50 percent stake in the 007 movies, while studio partner Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. owns the other half. The series is one of the longest running in history, having made $4.9 billion in ticket sales over 22 films. The 23rd Bond movie, Skyfall, is set to premiere Oct. 23 in London.

It's not like the formula for action, sex and intrigue has always worked perfectly. Some films fell flat, like On Her Majesty's Secret Service, George Lazenby's infamous one-Bond wonder.

The franchise has occasionally needed new blood to keep it fresh, and there have been six Bonds so far.

For "Skyfall," the family is making another noticeable change: it cast 31-year-old Ben Whishaw as Bond's gadget guru, Q. The last two movies did without the longtime sidekick, who had been played by the late Desmond Llewelyn in an epic 16 Bond films.

"The decision was made to make him a younger man, as would be the case these days," said Michael G. Wilson, Albert Broccoli's stepson who is also co-producer of the series, by phone. "Let's hope he goes on as long as Desmond Llewelyn did."

It may seem a minor casting decision, but nothing is taken lightly by the family that has stuck with Bond this long. Their tribulations are brought to life in the documentary, Everything Or Nothing, which debuts Friday on EPIX.

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