007 screenwriter Peter Morgan: enjoying Austria, just not doing any writing on Bond 23

The Commander Bond web site ran an item about this a few days ago but we wanted to see the original source. Peter Morgan, the Frost/Nixon screenwriter hired with a flourish to be one of the screenwriters on Bond 23, is enjoying his new life in Austria. He’s doing a bit of everything except writing Bond 23.

According to an English translation of an article in a local newspaper, Morgan worked on the project from July to October. However, the article says work was suspended until at least February because of ongoing financial uncertainty at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.

To see the original version in German, CLICK HERE. To read it in English via Google Translate, JUST CLICK HERE.

And to read the Dec. 20 Commander Bond story, just CLICK HERE. Finally, here’s a commentary by our co-publisher Paul Baack back in September about how MGM’s financial troubles are complicating the future of the 007 franchise.

007 press kits Part III: GoldenEye

GoldenEye marked James Bond’s movie return after a six-year absence and was do-or-die whether the film series could be successfully revived. The movie’s press kit may reflect that, because it’s flashier than at least some of its predecessors.

Previous Bond press kits had consisted of various press releases, each one separately stapled. GoldenEye’s included a 52-page booklet, the cover consisting of all the major cast and crew members. The first several pages inside included all the credits, including the same corporate logos seen in the end credits as well as the “James Bond Will Return” message.

The opening article in the booklet begins:

Times have changed. The Iron Curtain has fallen giving way to a world order, and the power plays of political agendas have been replaced by ruthless plots for profit. The war has changed…but the warriors remain the same.

“The name is Bond, James Bond.”

Ian Fleming’s James Bond is back! Pierce Brosnan takes on the role of legendary Agent 007, as the most successful film franchise in history once again explodes onto the big screen.”

The next article in the booklet says:

Though the 16 previous Bond films had pretty much run the gamut of titles from Ian Fleming’s novels and short stories, the filmmakers till wanted to pay homage to the man who created the legendary secret agent….In the six years since the last Bond adventure the world has undergone quite a bit of upheaval. However, producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli reflect that Bond’s popularity had already endured through the equally tumultuous ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.

“James Bond has alwasy been a contemporary character who lives for the present,” Wilson says. “He will always be dealing with the here and now.” Later, (pages 17 and 18) there’s a brief biography of star Pierce Brosnan that says the actor displayed ‘a perfectly-timed wit and raking sophistication that made him the overwhelming favorite to take over the role of James Bond. Though contractual obligations prevented him from taking the part at the time, a decade later there was nothing to stand between him and GOLDENEYE.”

Some previous 007 press kits only contained a few black-and-white prints of publicity stills. For GoldenEye, there were 14 color slides of photographs taken by Keith Hamshere during production. Brosnan is in 11 of them, either by himself or with other cast members (and in one case with director Martin Campbell). The three without the star consisted of shots of Izabella Scorupco, Famke Janssen and Campbell.

Finally, there was a secondary booklet, not as fancy as the main one. it was called The James Bond Dossier for GoldenEye. It consisted mostly of lists (films in the series, Bond women, Bond villains, accomplices for villains, supporting characters, etc.)

Mister 8 analyzes Matt Helm’s debut novel

Over at the Mister 8 Web site, there’s an interesting analysis of the first Matt Helm novel, Death Of a Citizen.

It’s pretty detailed and recommend it to any fans of the literary Helm and his creator, Donald Hamilton. Back in August we posted about an academic paper that compared Hamilton’s Helm to Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels.