SPECTRE on Blu-ray and DVD, February 9, 2016

I don't think this has been officially announced yet, but according to Amazon.com, the new James Bond film SPECTRE will be released on Blu-ray and DVD in the U.S. on February 9, 2016.

The latest Bond film pulled from a host of literary sources, including: Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, You Only Live Twice, Octopussy and Colonel Sun (the Kingsley Amis estate even gets an acknowledgement in the credits).

Pre-order SPECTRE on Blu-ray or DVD from Amazon.

Mixed BOND

James Bond with Sean Connery's head and Roger Moore's body gazes out at us from the cover of a 1991 Italian edition of Scorpius by John Gardner. I like the title treatment with the scorpion and the Avante Carte logo behind OO7. And Bond against a light streaked marble wall kinda recalls SPECTRE.

Scorpius was John Gardner's seventh James Bond novel. It was first published by Putnam in the U.S. on May 9, 1988. UK publication by Hodder & Stoughton was on June 2, 1988 (one of the few Bond novels to be published first in the U.S. first).

SUN inspires SPECTRE

The official Ian Fleming Publications website reports that the new James Bond film SPECTRE, which had its Royal premier in London on Monday, features a pivotal scene from the first 007 continuation novel Colonel Sun by Kingsley Amis. I've not yet seen the movie (U.S. release is November 6), so I don't know what that scene is, nor does IFP reveal it. They just tease:

The Colonel Sun scene which features in SPECTRE is one of pivotal importance both to the film and the book and fans are encouraged to identify which part stems from Amis’ pen.

Corinne Turner, Managing Director of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd. commented that "The Fleming family and The Kingsley Amis Estate hope that fans of SPECTRE will be encouraged to reach for this thrilling book by one of the finest writers of the 20th century."

Of course, this isn't the first time an element from a continuation novel had found its way into a James Bond film. Check out: Déjá vu, Mr. Bond: The surprising similarities between the continuation novels and the James Bond films.

Colonel Sun was recently reprinted by Vintage Books in the UK and is available from Amazon.co.uk.

Discover where SPECTRE began

Vintage Books has released THE SPECTRE TRILOGY, a new paperback that collects the Ian Fleming novels: Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and You Only Live Twice. The book also includes an introduction by Bond film producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, which would appear to make this the official literary tie-in with the latest Bond film (IFP stopped doing novelizations after Die Another Day).

You can purchase THE SPECTRE TRILOGY at Amazon.co.uk (UK) and Amazon.com (U.S.).

SPECTRE: The Complete Comic Strip Collection

Here's another literary tie-in with the new James Bond film. James Bond: Spectre: The Complete Comic Strip Collection will be released by Titan Books in the UK on October 23 and in the U.S. on November 24. The book will include a forward by SPECTRE screenwriter John Logan. Notice how the cover art uses a similar background color as the SPECTRE poster?

The daring James Bond is back, this time in a lavishly put together collection celebrating the iconic SPECTRE storylines. Featuring Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, You Only Live Twice and The Spy Who Loved Me. These fully restored and thrilling stories are based on the original Ian Fleming James Bond novels.

Wait, The Spy Who Loved Me a SPECTRE story? Well, yes. The criminal organization was written into the original Daily Express comic strip from which these Titan collections are composed.

SPECTRE also played a large role in the Daily Express continuation Bond strips throughout the 1970s with the organization being run by a female Blofeld know as "Madame Spectra."

Pre-order James Bond: Spectre: The Complete Comic Strip Collection on Amazon.com (U.S.) and Amazon.co.uk (UK).

Vintage to release THE SPECTRE TRILOGY in October

In what looks to be a gentle tie-in with the new James Bond film, SPECTRE, Vintage books will release The SPECTRE Trilogy on October 1st. The book collects the Ian Fleming novels, Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and You Only Live Twice.

These three novels had previously been collected and published under the title The Blofeld Trilogy in 2009.

You can pre-order The SPECTRE Trilogy now at Amazon.co.uk (UK) and Amazon.com (U.S.).

SPECTRE teaser reveals "Young Bond"

We all knew the new Bond movie SPECTRE tied-in with Fleming in that it brings back the classic criminal organization featured in Thunderball and On Her Majesty's Secret Service. But from what we can see in the newly released teaser trailer, it looks like the film also contains a nod -- in a fashion -- to the popular Young Bond book series.

In the screen cap below we see a photo of a young James with, presumably, Hannes Oberhauser, his climbing and skiing instructor whom Bond referred to as "something of a father to me at a time when I happened to need one." So, technically, this is the first onscreen depiction of "Young Bond." But who is the mysterious other boy? Hmmm...

While Bond's schooling and skiing days in Switzerland occur after the Young Bond series (so far), Hannes Oberhauser appeared in Charlie Higson's last Young Bond novel, By Royal Command. The trailer also shows us a quick shot of a "Temporary Transfer of Guardianship" form signed by Charmain Bond, James' aunt, who is a regular character in the Young Bond series.

Of course, both Oberhauser and Charmian originated in Fleming (in name only, never as characters), so this is isn't really a nod to the Young Bond series per se, but it is fun to look at it this way.

You can check out the awesome SPECTRE teaser at www.007.com. The film will be released on November 6, 2015.

007 TRAVELERS track down the Book Bond

One of my new favorite James Bond destinations on the web is 007 TRAVELERS. Not only have they been providing up-to-the-minute SPECTRE coverage, but Pirita and Mika also travel around the world searching for 007 locations from both the books and films. The Finnish couple seem to have a special affinity for John Gardner locales, and that's fine by me! Today they've landed at Bond's Berlin hotel room in the Kempinski Hotel Bristol from Death Is Forever.

007travelers.blogspot.fi

In the past, Pirita and Mika have tracked down Paula Vacker's apartment in Helsinki from Icebreaker, the Strada Cucina Italiana Restaurant from For Special Services, and even the various locales inside Disneyland Paris where Bond had his adventures in Never Send Flowers.

Click here for a full list of 007 TRAVELERS book locations.

Keep up the great work Pirita and Mika!

First look at SPECTRE reveals a snowbound Bond

The official James Bond website and Eon Productions have today released the first still and behind the scenes footage from SPECTRE. Love a snowbound Bond!

Looking at this image I can't help but think of the great snowbound Bond novels of Ian Fleming (On Her Majesty's Service Service), John Gardner (Icebreaker), and Raymond Benson (High Time To Kill).

SPECTRE will be released on November 6th, 2015.

Daniel Craig on the unused IAN FLEMING Bond titles

BBC News has posted an audio clip from an interview with Daniel Craig getting his reactions to the unused Ian Fleming James Bond titles. When asked if he would star in a film with the following titles, Craig responded:

Risico - "Yeah, that's alright."

The Hildebrand Rarity - "Yeah, but that one came up a few years ago, I think that did, and they've not thought about naming a film after that. Yeah, maybe alright."

The Property of a Lady - "Ohhh... Sounds a bit like sort of a ladies magazine. I'm not sure that's a [interviewer interrupts before Craig can finish]."

007 in New York - "Is that a short story? Not the most exciting title I've ever heard."

Craig is currently shooting the new Bond film SPECTRE in central London. Photos from the shoot by the Daily Mail (above) have given rise to speculation that Bond's flat will be seen in the new film. If so, this will be the first appearance of Bond's home since Live and Let Die in 1973, and only the third time it's been seen on film.

Thanks to my friends at CommanderBond.net for this tip.

Brush up on SPECTRE before 'SPECTRE'

The big news out of Pinewood Studios in the UK today was the announcement of the title and cast of the 24th James Bond film, SPECTRE. After announcing the title, director Sam Mendes said, "Those for you who have some knowledge of the Bond franchise and the legend of Bond will probably have some idea of what that refers to, but I couldn't possibly comment."

Of course, we know exactly what this means, and that's why Bond fans are buzzing today. S.P.E.C.T.R.E. (Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, Extortion) was created by Ian Fleming in his 9th Bond novel, Thunderball, released in 1961. Bond battled the worldwide criminal organization and it's mysterious leader, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, in three books: Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and You Only Live Twice. The Bond films featured SPECTRE as an antagonist until Diamonds Are Forever in 1971. For legal reasons, the filmmakers have been unable to use Bond's most famous foe until now.

Ian Fleming's SPECTRE trilogy.

John Gardner's SPECTRE trilogy.

While the return of SPECTRE is exciting news, it's actually not the big first comeback for the organization. The "hook" of John Gardner's second James Bond novel, For Special Services, was that SPECTRE was back! Gardner created his own SPECTRE trilogy (like Fleming, interrupted by one non-SPECTRE book) with For Special Services, Role of Honor, and Nobody Lives Forever. That last book, released in 1986, saw the final appearance of SPECTRE in book or film until today.

"So, concluded Bond as he cleared the tray away and got down to his books, SPECTRE walks again! But down what road this time?"

- On Her Majesty's Secret Service

BOND 24 press conference streams LIVE December 4

The title and cast of the next James Bond film will be announced LIVE from Pinewood studios on December 4 at 11:00 GMT. Will the latest Bond adventure tie into the Fleming books in some way? Let the sport commence!

UPDATE:

John Logan says BOND 24 will include novel elements

IGN has scored some nice quotes from James Bond screenwriter John Logan about his upcoming screenplays for Bond 24 and Bond 25. The quote that we're interested in is this:

"I love all the elements, from the books -- mostly from the novels; going back to Ian Fleming is where I started with Skyfall -- and there's certainly elements of the movies and the novels that we've brought into the new movie, as they did into Skyfall."

The site also speculates that Blofeld could make a return to the franchise as Danjaq has now settled the long disputed Thunderball rights that have prevented them from using the character or SPECTRE in recent years.

While I've largely stepped away from the world of Bond fan forums and speculation about the movies (it's too intense), I will just offer up my own gut feeling that, yes, I believe the villain in Bond 24 will be Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

Might the novel elements Logan hinted at be the Garden of Death from You Only Live Twice, one of the better unused ideas from the Fleming novels?

We shall see.

Bond 24 will be released on October 23, 2015 in the UK and November 6th, 2015 in the U.S.

Next Bond film is NOT based on DEVIL MAY CARE

Over the weekend The Sun ran an article by Showbiz Editor Gordon Smart claiming that the next James Bond film, Bond 24, will be based on Sebastian Faulks' 2008 continuation novel, Devil May Care.

"Bizarre can reveal the follow-up to Skyfall will be Devil May Care. Brit SEBASTIAN FAULKS penned the novel of the same name in 2008 to mark the 100th anniversary of Bond creator Fleming’s birth. The book is set in 1967 and was a sequel to The Man With The Golden Gun — which was ROGER MOORE’s second outing for MI6. The story sees Bond battling an evil chemist called Dr Julius Gorner, who plots to bring Britain to its knees."

While it isn't IFP's policy to respond to rumors, I can confirm for you that this "scoop" by The Sun is complete and utter rubbish. Bond 24 is NOT based on Devil May Care.

The good news is Sam Mendes will return to direct the next 007 adventure from a script by John Logan. That's the creative team responsible for last year's amazing Skyfall. Daniel Craig will, of course, return as James Bond.

Bond 24 will be released on October 23, 2015 in the UK and November 6th, 2015 in the U.S.

UPDATE: Happy to see my little post here has been picked up by Filmoria with a nice credit.