Celebrity Life

To celebrate the release of No Time To Die, we compiled a list of facts about James Bond that you may not know.

The much-anticipated movie is all set to wow audiences around the world come Thursday (complete list of the release dates). Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, the film will be Daniel Craig’s last outing as 007. Craig began his stint as James Bond in 2006 with Casino Royale. He went on to play the secret agent in Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), and Spectre (2015). 

Starring Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Christoph Waltz, Ana de Armas, Naomie Harris, and Jeffrey Wright, the upcoming flick has created quite a lot of buzz, mostly because it has been delayed thanks to the ongoing pandemic. 

Yet the movie is finally here, and what better way to prepare for the blockbuster of the year than to equip yourself with some lesser-known trivia on the iconic spy. 

10 Facts About James Bond You Probably Did Not Know

James Bond is beatable 

Thanks to his versatile skills and charm, James Bond can overcome tough challenges, accomplish his mission and save the day. Whether it be using any kind of weapon or speaking any language, the 007 aces it. 

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However, James Bond really is a jack of all trades, which means that he isn’t the best at any of it. British novelist and critic Sir Kingsley Amis pointed this out in his book, The James Bond Dossier, where he said the spy is undoubtedly good at whatever he does, but he easily loses to his instructor.

The most and least deadly Bond 

Irish actor Pierce Brosnan is considered to be the deadliest Bond. Why, you ask? In GoldenEye (1995), he killed 47 people. Brosnan went on to play the iconic spy in the James Bond movies Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999) and Die Another Day (2002).

On the other hand, Roger Moore only took one life in the James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) — the film has had the lowest Bond kill count since.

James Bond is Scottish 

The secret agent has Scottish roots, which became clear in Fleming’s You Only Live Once. In the book, he talks about the agent having a Scottish father and his mother hailing from Switzerland. Moreover, Skyfall shows Bond visiting his old home in Scotland. 

Fleming based Bond’s ancestry on Sean Connery, who is Scottish. Connery played the role in the James Bond movies Dr. No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), Diamonds Are Forever (1971) and Never Say Never Again (1983). 

Even though Fleming based his principal character on the people he met -- including those he encountered during his time at the Naval Intelligence Division in World War II -- a bird ornithologist of the same name was the writer's inspiration for his iconic protagonist’s name. 

The story behind 007

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Ian Fleming drew inspiration from various spies, one of them being the 16th-century polymath John Dee, who would sign his letters meant only for Queen Elizabeth I with a ‘007’ glyph. 

What about the other 00s?

001 and 005 were never mentioned in the James Bond franchise, whereas 002, 003, 004 and 009 were bumped off in different movies. The presumably dead 006 (played by Sean Bean) made a comeback in the Bond film GoldenEye only to meet his end. 

However, 008 has been saved as Bond’s replacement in case of his death, or dismissal from a mission due to insubordination.

The name is Bond, James Bond...and he does not like tea

Bond’s love for martinis, “shaken, not stirred”, is very well known to fans. However, when it comes to non-alcoholic beverages, the one drink he really hates is tea. Such is his dislike for tea that he believes it to be the cause of the British Empire’s undoing. 

The secret agent’s favourite non-alcoholic drink is Blue Mountain Jamaican coffee.

His love for Disneyland

The spy’s childlike side was highlighted in John Gardner’s book, Never Send Flowers. The book follows James Bond’s visit to Disneyland Paris (earlier known as EuroDisney Resort) with his girlfriend. What was supposed to be a halt, turned into a week-long stay. Moreover, the final fight takes place at the theme park. 

James Bond once had a wife 

Bond might have a reputation among the ladies, but the secret agent was married. In the 1969 film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, he wed Contessa Teresa "Tracy" di Vicenzo.

However, she was killed by the antagonist Ernst Stavro Blofeld towards the end of the film. 

The spy also had a son, James Suzuki, with Kissy Suzuki in You Only Live Twice (1967), who died of natural causes. James Suzuki appeared in Raymond Benson’s Blast From The Past -- one of the James Bond short stories -- and was published in Playboy magazine in 1997. 

What is SPECTRE

SPECTRE is a criminal organisation led by Ernst Stavro Blofeld. The name is an anagram for ‘Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion’. Many actors in Bond movies have essayed the role of Blofeld, the latest being Christoph Waltz in Spectre and No Time to Die.

Daniel Craig got his 007 status at 38, the same as James Bond in the book 

Going by the novels, James Bond became 007 at the age of 38. Coincidentally, Daniel Craig was also 38 when he took on the role of the secret agent. 

(Main and Feature image: IMDb)

The post 10 Facts Every James Bond Fan Should Know Ahead of ‘No Time to Die’ appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Marking the anniversary of Ian Fleming's fictional spy, Leica launches a limited edition camera with rare behind-the-scenes photographs shot by the No Time To Die's cast and crew.

The post Leica celebrates 25 years of James Bond with a collectible appeared first on The Peak Magazine.