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It’s the end of another year. Here’s hoping for a great 2022 for readers of The Spy Command.
This year will see the 60th anniversary of the James Bond film franchise. It will be a natural occasion for reflection. That may lead to a lot of fan discussion. Perhaps we’ll find out who will succeed Daniel Craig as the cinematic Bond.
We’ll see.
And, as Napoleon Solo reminds everyone, be sure to party responsibly this New Year’s Eve (even in a hunkered down, pandemic way).
Ralph Fiennes caused a stir with comments on a podcast about how he successfully resisted attempts during production of SPECTRE to turn his M into a villain.
“I had to fight off an attempt by (Skyfall and SPECTRE director) Sam (Mendes) in SPECTRE…I don’t want to play M and then you turn around make M the bad guy. M is never the bad guy….I had to have some pretty intense discussions with Sam.”
The key excerpt is below:
Ralph Fiennes’ M in SPECTRE nearly was Blofeld(?!) and Ralph just wasn’t having it.
The thing is all of this became known in 2014 with the hacking at Sony, which distributed Skyfall and SPECTRE. What makes it of interest is Fiennes talking about it. Eventually, a new character, dubbed C, became the traitor.
The 2014 hacks also revealed that, at the same time, Tanner would also be revealed to be a traitor. He would commit suicide while Bond observed. At least two SPECTRE script drafts, including one with an Irma Bunt henchwoman (a major character in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service), leaked out.
Fiennes’ comments draw attention to a volatile time.
Pre-production of SPECTRE (then known as Bond 24) had been well underway when, on Nov. 15, 2013, it was announced that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Danjaq/Eon had reached an agreement with the estate of Kevin McClory. As a result of the pact, MGM and Danjaq/Eon now firmly held the rights to Ernst Stavro Blofeld and SPECTRE.
One way to go would be to put Blofeld and SPECTRE in a drawer for use later. Instead, Blofeld and SPECTRE were shoehorned into Bond 24.
All of a sudden, everything was up for grabs. In Fiennes case, he put his foot down and the notion of M as a traitor passed.
All of this had been mostly forgotten until the actor’s recent comments. All of this reflects Eon’s “we’ll make it up as we go along” approach. Example: At a 2011 press conference, Mendes said Skyfall had nothing to do with Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.
When SPECTRE rolled around, lo and behold, Skyfall villain Silva was really part of SPECTRE. It would be as if Goldfinger had been part of SPECTRE in 1964. (He wasn’t.)
To be honest, it seemed as if No Time to Die had secured the title of No. 1 film at the global box office among non-Chinese movies. Yes, Spider-Man No Way Home was expected to do very well. But it had a Dec. 17 release date.
Surely, the 25th James Bond film would hold on for the end of calendar 2021. Well, no. Spider-Man No Way Home has passed the $1 billion global box office mark.
Naturally, the blog has questions.
What happened with No Time to Die?
It’s going to finish 2021 as the No. 2 global film (behind Spider-Man No Way Home) among non-Chinese movies. So that’s not a flop.
However, a significant development was how No Time to Die’s U.S. box office performance didn’t match relatively recent Bond films.
In the U.S., No Time to Die generated $160.8 million at the box office, coming in at (00)7 for the year. That’s nothing to sneeze at. But Bond in the U.S. lagged the rest of the globe.
By contrast, 2012’s Skyfall produced a box office of $304.4 million while 2015’s SPECTRE had $200.1 million. And those figures don’t take into account higher movie ticket prices.
No Time to Die, of course, had to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in three delays in the film’s release date.
OK, but why did Spider-Man do so well?
Spider-Man No Way Home wasn’t just a single Spidey movie. It was an epic.
The thing to compare the Spider-Man movie to is 2016’s Captain America: Civil War. The latter was a de facto Avengers movie. The centerpiece was multiple Marvel characters (one side led by Cap, the other side led by Iron Man) slugging it out.
Spider-Man No Way Home includes one Marvel character (Dr. Strange) with another (not naming him here to avoid spoilers) making a cameo. Villains from previous Spider-Man films make an appearance. And there are major developments that occur.
Anything else to keep in mind?
Spider-Man is part of a large universe of characters. Bond is the centerpiece of a smaller universe.
One more thing: Spider-Man debuted in 1962, the same year that the Bond film series made by Eon Productions began. Spidey is hardly an edgy creation that came out of left field. Like Bond, Spider-Man has been popular for decades.
The King’s Man, a prequel and origin story for two previous Kingsman movies, fell on its face at the U.S. box office.
The R-rated movie generated an estimated U.S. box office of $6.3 million for the Dec. 24-26 weekend and $10 million since it was released on Dec. 22, Exhibitor Relations Co. said on social media.
The King’s Man takes place during World War I and shows how the independent Kingsman organization came to be. Two previous Kingsman entries were set in the present day.
The movie stars Ralph Fiennes and was directed by Matthew Vaughn, who also helmed Kingsman: The Secret Service and Kingsman: The Golden Circle. It was originally developed at 20th Century Fox. Walt Disney Co. inherited the project when it acquired Fox (now called 20th Century Studios).
The King’s Man, like other movies, was delayed because of COVID-19. By the time it came out last week, The King’s Man was swamped in a movie landscape dominated by Spider-Man No Way Home.
The Spider-Man movie, released on Dec. 17, became the No. 1 U.S. box office film almost immediately. It soon became the first post-pandemic, non-Chinese movie to exceed $1 billion at the global box office.
Spider-Man No Way Home has passed No Time to Die for the title of No. 1 box office among non-Chinese movies, according to Deadline: Hollywood.
Spider-Man’s most recent global box office figure is $813.9 million, Deadline said.
Until now, No Time to Die held the mantle of No. 1 non-Chinese movie at $774 million. The 25th James Bond film has mostly ended its theatrical run. No Time to Die this week became available for sale for home video release.
Spider-Man No Way Home, essentially, is a live-action version of Spider-Man Into the Spider Verse, a 2018 animated film that featured different versions of Spider-Man in different dimensions. The new live-action Spider-Man movie features multiple Marvel Comics characters. The film was made by Sony Pictures (which has the rights to Spider-Man) and Marvel Studios.
The new Spider-Man movie was expected to do well at the box office. But since its release last week, it has performed better than expected.
The accompanying graphic has been the blog’s annual Christmas/holiday season greeting since 2011. It’s a tradition and things wouldn’t be the same without it.
This year was eventful. No Time to Die made it to theaters after five delays, including three related to COVID-19. But there are still are James Bond events on the horizon, including the 60th anniversary of the film franchise in 2022.
The graphic used in this post was designed by Paul Baack (1957-2017). It’s just one sample of his artistic handiwork. He designed it when the blog was part of the Her Majesty’s Secret Servant website (1997-2014).
To the blog’s readers: Thanks for being here. If you’ve got some time off, enjoy it.
As 2021 draws to a close, here’s a look at those who contributed to spy entertainment (or at least spy-related). These are not listed in any particular order.
Cicely Tyson (1924-2021), actress: Distinguished actress. Her many credits included appearances on I Spy and Mission: Impossible.
Leslie Bricusse (1931-2021), songwriter: Bricusse had a varied career that included collaborating with the likes of John Barry, Jerry Goldsmith and Henry Mancini among others.
In the 1960s, he worked with Barry on Goldfinger, Thunderball (the “Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” song that wasn’t used but figured into the score) and You Only Live Twice. He worked with Goldsmith on “Your ZOWIE Face” from In Like Flint.
Nikki van der Zyl (1935-2021), voice artist: She voiced over Ursula Andress and other actresses during the run of Eon Productions’ James Bond film series. Eon also called upon her services to dub Anita Ekberg in Call Me Bwana, the comedy Eon made in-between Dr. No and From Russia With Love.
Yaphet Kotto (1939-2021), actor: He played Dr. Kananga, the villain in the film version of Live And Let Die. Kotto had a long career. He became an actor in the dying days of “old Hollywood.” One of his early films was Five Card Stud, a Dean Martin-Robert Mitchum western produced by Hal B. Wallis who had produced Casablanca.
William P. Cartlidge (1942-2021), production staff: Cartlidge worked on three James Bond movies directed by Lewis Gilbert — You Only Live Twice (as assistant director), The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker (as associate producer).
Jack Turley (1927-2021), writer: American television writer whose work included episodes of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and The FBI.
Arthur Weingarten (1935-2021), writer/producer: He penned episodes of The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Later, he had the title of executive story consultant for the final season of The FBI and wrote an episode for that show. He later became a producer of U.S. television shows.
Peter Mark Richman (1927-2021), actor: Veteran character actor who often played villains. His many credits included appearances on The Man FromU.N.C.L.E., It Takes a Thief, and Mission: Impossible. He also starred in spy-fi curiosity Agent From H.A.R.M.
Tanya Roberts (1955-2021), actress: She played Stacey Sutton, the lead female character in A View to a Kill. She previously had been in Charlie’s Angels.
Tommy Lane (1936-2021), actor/stuntman: Lane played Adam, one of Dr. Kananga’s henchmen in Live And Let Die. In a movie full of colorful characters, he still made an impact. In the movie’s boat chase, Adam has a faster boat than Bond (Roger Moore). That forces Bond to improvise.
Jessica Walter (1941-2021), actress: Walter enjoyed a long career. That included two episodes of The FBI where her characters were part of espionage rings.
Edward Asner (1929-2021), actor: Veteran actor who played the gruff Lou Grant in two series (The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Lou Grant). He also played villains on The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. and The Wild Wild West.
Neil Connery (1938-2021), actor: The younger brother of Sean Connery was cast in the lead of a Bond takeoff titled Operation Kid Brother or OK Connery depending on which version you saw. The movie featured other actors (Adolfo Celi, Daniela Bianchi, Anthony Dawson, Bernard Lee, and Lois Maxwell) who had appeared in Eon’s 007 film series. The movie was even released by United Artists. In the movie, Neil Connery plays “Dr. Neil Connery.” He uses hypnotism as if it were a superpower.
Frank McRae (1941-2021), actor: The one-time football player transitioned to acting. His roles included Sharkey, the likable “sacrificial lamb” in 1989’s Licence to Kill.
Richard Donner (1930-2021), director: Donner is best known for directing the 1978 Superman film with Christopher Reeve and the Lethal Weapon series of movies. In the 1960s, working in television, he directed episodes of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Wild Wild West and Get Smart. In the 1980s, Donner was offered Never Say Never Again but turned it down.
John Pearson (1930-2021), writer: Pearson wrote on various subjects, including a 1966 biography of Ian Fleming. Pearson had worked with Fleming at The Sunday Times.
Charles “Jerry” Juroe (1923-2021), publicist: Juroe’s long career included stints as a publicist at United Artists and Eon Productions. He published a book about his career in 2018.
Al Harrington (1935-2021), actor: Harrington was a cast member of the original Hawaii Five-O series during the show’s fifth through seventh seasons.
Frank Jacobs (1929-2021), writer: Jacobs wrote many parodies for Mad magazine. In 1965, he penned a satiric version of a James Bond musical. The songs were sung to the tune of songs from Oklahoma!
Michael Apted (1941-2021), director: Apted was known for directing dramas as well as working on the 7-Up series of documentaries. His selection to direct The World Is Not Enough (1999) was seen as unusual.
Helen McCrory (1968-2021), actress: English stage and film actress, she had a key role in Skyfall (2012).
UPDATE (Dec. 20): The final U.S. weekend figures released Monday came in higher ($260 million) than the estimate released Sunday, Exhibitor Relations Co. said. The revised global box office is now $600.8 million.
ORIGINAL POST (Dec. 19): Spider-Man No Way Home seized the title of No. 1 box office movie in 2021 on its first weekend.
The Sony release made by Marvel Studios will generate a U.S. box office of $253 million for the Dec. 17-19 weekend, according to Exhibitor Relations Co., which tracks box office data.
Spider-Man also scored an international box office of $334.2 million for a worldwide take of $587.2 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The top global movie not made in China is No Time to Die at $771.3 million.
Until now, the No. 1 U.S. release was Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings at $224.5 million. The No. 1 U.S. weekend had belonged to Sony’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage at $90 million.
Spider-Man No Way Home’s opening weekend beckoned to the pre-pandemic era where blockbuster movies could generate enormous box office quickly.
The movie is the third to star Tom Holland as Spider-Man. Sony has the film rights to Spider-Man and has made Spidey films since 2002. The Holland films are, more or less, a joint Sony-Marvel effort. Holland also appeared as the character in three Marvel movies, including two Avengers films.
Spider-Man No Way Home also includes Marvel’s Dr. Strange character played by Benedict Cumberbatch.
Spider-Man No Way Home, the third movie starring Tom Holland as the web-slinger, this week got off to a blistering start in both the U.K. and U.S.
The film had an opening day box office of 7.6 million pounds ($10.1 million) in the U.K., The Hollywood Reporter said, citing the U.K. Cinema Association. That beat out No Time to Die on its opening day and was “the biggest opening day of all time for a Wednesday,” according to THR.
On Thursday, the movie generated $50 million in preview showings, according to Exhibitor Relations Co., which tracks box office data.
That was No. 3 all-time for U.S. preview showings, although an asterisk was involved — the preview showings began earlier than normal for Spider-Man No Way Home.
TOP PREVIEW DOMESTIC DEBUTS
1. AVENGERS: ENDGAME ($60M) 2. STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS ($57M) 3. SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME ($50M)
It should be noted that previews for NO WAY HOME began at 3pm yesterday, instead of 6pm/7pm as is the status quo.
Still, the results are welcome news for both Sony, which has the rights to the character, and Marvel Studios, which since 2017 had made Spider-Man films with Sony.
Spider-Man No Way Home adopts a “multi-verse” approach featuring villains (and the actors who played them) from Sony-made Spider-Man films of the past. Also present is Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), the Marvel sorcerer who appeared in one solo Marvel movie and two Marvel Avengers films.
Dr. Strange was created by artist Steve Ditko and his earliest stories were by Ditko and Stan Lee. The Lee-Ditko team also created Spider-Man.
Since Avengers: Endgame in 2019, Marvel has come out with movies featuring lesser-known characters, Shang Chi and the Eternals. Spider-Man is the most popular Marvel character but one Marvel Studios has to share with Sony.
The release of Spider-Man No Way Home also comes amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, including a new COVID variant. COVID had forced the delay of various movies, including No Time to Die.
So, a third James Bond continuation novel by Anthony Horowitz is scheduled for May 2022. Horowitz’s Bond stories are set in the original Ian Fleming timeline.
According to early publicity material for With a Mind to Kill, “It is M’s funeral. One man is missing from the graveside: the traitor who pulled the trigger and who is now in custody, accused of M’s murder – James Bond.”
While we’ll have to wait until May, naturally the blog has questions.
What kind of security does MI6 have, anyway?
With a Mind to Kill begins after the events of The Man With the Golden Gun, Fleming’s last Bond novel. That book (published in 1965, after Fleming’s death) began with a brainwashed Bond unsuccessfully trying to kill M.
The whole point of the 1965 novel was for Bond to be un-brainwashed and given a suicide mission to show his loyalty. So Bond turns around and tries to kill M, again? And this time it works? That doesn’t say much for MI6 security.
What does this mean for Colonel Sun?
Colonel Sun, written by Kingsley Amis under the name Robert Markham, was the first Bond continuation novel. M gets kidnapped and Bond has to rescue him.
So does that not count now? For that matter, does With a Mind to Kill write off the John Gardner continuation novels?
You have more questions?
Does that mean the Gardner novels are now, officially, their own universe? Does that apply to all the other continuation novels aside from the ones Horowitz has written?
Truth be told, it has been shaping up that way for some time. Gardner and Raymond Benson basically timeshifted Fleming’s Bond. Jeffery Deaver essentially did a hard reboot but that was never followed up. Horowitz and other continuation authors set their stories in the Fleming timeline.
Still, Colonel Sun had been special. It was the first continuation novel. And it’s the only one acknowledged by Eon Productions, which produces the James Bond films. Eon used a torture scene from Colonel Sun in SPECTRE and had a “special thanks” credit to Amis’s estate.
It could be in the new novel that M’s death is a fakeout. It should also be noted that a detailed description of the book surfaced in September on the website of HarperCollins before being taken down. (Don’t click on the link if you don’t want to know.)
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