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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.

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.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

No Time to Die, the 25th instalment in the James Bond film franchise, has been one of the most anticipated movies for at least two years.

If it were not for the pandemic, fans of the iconic fictional spy would have been able to see Bond in action earlier. The last Bond film, Spectre, released six years ago. So, the wait has been truly agonising for fans.

Thankfully, the release date is upon us and we cannot explain how excited we are to see Daniel Craig for one last time as the MI6 agent who somehow has always remained an enigma for over six decades.

Here is what we know about No Time to Die — Daniel Craig’s swan song as James Bond.

What is the plot?

The official synopsis of the film says the following:

In No Time To Die, Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.

Whatever else is known is based on the trailers and Fukunga’s confirmation that the story is set five years after the events of Spectre.

What does the trailer reveal?

The fourth and final trailer of the movie was released on 31 August. In between were a Super Bowl 2020 TV Spot on 3 February 2020 and a 14 September 2020 video introducing Safin.

Together, the trailers reveal quite a lot about what to expect from this instalment.

We see that Safin is looking for revenge and is after Swann. In one of the clips, a wounded Bond tells a shocked Swann, “The past isn’t dead.” What exactly is the past is not clear. What is certain is that Safin has a history with Bond, too.

In a scene he says, “We both eradicate people to make the world a better place. I just want to be a little…tidier.”

There is also a hint that Bond may join hands with his enemy Blofeld, who is now imprisoned following the incidents in Spectre. “James, fate draw us back together. Now your enemy is my enemy.”

Besides, there is enough action in the trailer to get our adrenaline pumping. There’s jumping from a stone bridge, racing a bike over an old wall, piloting a unique flying machine, missiles firing from a navy ship, and the return of a legendary Aston Martin DB5 that can fire machine guns.

The cast of No Time to Die

First up, Daniel Craig. The English actor plays the titular MI6 007 agent James Bond. In the film, Bond is shown as having retired from active duty but is forced out of it when a major threat makes landfall.

That threat is Lyutsifer Safin — a criminal mastermind played by Academy Award winner Rami Malek. Speaking to Daily Mirror in July 2019, after he was cast in the role, Malek, who is of Egyptian heritage, said that he told Fukunaga that he didn’t want Safin to exhibit any kind of religious or ideological identity.

“I said, ‘We cannot identify him with any act of terrorism reflecting an ideology or a religion. That’s not something I would entertain, so if that is why I am your choice then you can count me out’,” Malek said. “So he’s a very different kind of terrorist,” he added.

In a promotional video introducing Safin, Malek says, “What I really wanted from Safin was to make him unsettling; thinking of himself as being heroic.”

The other major new face is Lashana Lynch. The Jamaican-origin British actress is so far best known for playing fighter pilot Maria Rambeau in Captain Marvel (2019). Lynch will be playing an MI6 agent who becomes 007 after Bond’s retirement. This makes her the first Black female 007 agent.

Her casting resulted in a racist backlash from some quarters of Bond fans forcing Lynch to take a break from social media and focus on meditation and family. Responding to the controversy she was subjected to, Lynch told Harper’s Bazaar, "I am one Black woman – if it were another Black woman cast in the role, it would have been the same conversation, she would have got the same attacks, the same abuse. I just have to remind myself that the conversation is happening and that I’m a part of something that will be very, very revolutionary."

Ana de Armas, who plays CIA agent Paloma, joins the cast. Armas has starred alongside Craig in the critically-acclaimed detective thriller Knives Out (2019) as well. Billy Magnussen, Dali Benssalah and David Dencik are among the other new faces.

Returning cast members include Ralph Fiennes as MI6 chief M, Naomie Harris as Moneypenny, Ben Whishaw as Q, Jeffrey Wright as CIA agent Felix Leiter, and Rory Kinnear as M’s chief of staff Bill Tanner.

Of the major Bond actors who will once again be seen in the movie are Léa Seydoux and Christoph Waltz.

Seydoux reprises her role of French psychologist Madeleine Swann while Waltz returns as SPECTRE head Ernest Stavro Blofeld. The characters of both Seydoux and Waltz made their first appearance in Spectre (2015).

What led to the delay in release?

Academy Award winner Danny Boyle was initially roped in to direct this Bond movie. He began writing the script with John Hodges in 2018 but quit the same year. At the time, the film was expected to release sometime in November 2019. Boyle’s departure led to makers hiring Cary Fukunaga to take over the responsibilities. All of this led to the first round of delay, with the film pushed to a February 2020 release.

It was then again postponed to April 2020. By then the COVID-19 pandemic was raging through the world forcing theatres to close. The makers then pushed the release to November 2020 and then to 2 April 2021 since the theatres were still suffering from the effects of the pandemic. Finally, it was decided that the film will see the light of the day on 30 September 2021 in the UK and 8 October 2021 in the US.

Release info for other countries can be found here.

Daniel Craig’s last film as James Bond

Yes, it is. This will be Daniel Craig’s fifth and final outing as the fictional spy. He first appeared as Bond in Casino Royale (2006) and subsequently in Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015). Craig is the sixth actor to play Bond in films by Eon Productions after Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan.

In celebration of his 15-year career as Bond, the makers released a retrospective titled Being James Bond. The 45-minute special can be streamed on Apple TV. It contains unseen footage from all Bond films Craig has starred in and his interview with producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.

In the special, Bond also addresses members of the crew on the last day of the shoot for the film.

"A lot of people here worked on five pictures with me. And I know there’s a lot of things said about what I think about these films or all of those... whatever. But I’ve loved every single second of these movies, and especially this one, because I’ve got up every morning and I’ve had the chance to work with you guys. That has been one of the greatest honours of my life,” a visibly emotional Craig says.

A video of the same has now gone viral on social media.

Daniel Craig’s farewell speech after wrapping #NoTimeToDie

End of an era 🍸pic.twitter.com/45obvVsuo1

— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) September 17, 2021

It is unclear what the makers plan to do with the Bond character. It is noteworthy that the character has only changed faces over the decades but has never been killed off.

It will be interesting to see who replaces Daniel Craig as James Bond in the future movie. There has been a lot of speculation around this and actors including Idris Elba, Regé-Jean Page, Tom Hardy, James Norton and Sam Heughan among others are in the running.

Filming locations of No Time to Die

Bond films have always been like a travelogue packed with excitement, intensity, fun, thrill and the usual danger.

No Time to Die also takes fans on a world tour of sorts. It has the usual exotic places fitted perfectly with regular ones in a mosaic that would delight anyone who loves to travel.

One of the most famous shots in the trailers is on a Roman bridge from which Bond jumps to escape enemies. That is in Matera in Italy.

Then there is Port Antonio in Jamaica, Kalsoy in Faroe Islands and Nittedal in Norway, the last of which is the location of a snow-covered terrain in the trailer. Cairngorms in Scotland was also one of the filming locations. Interestingly, Bond’s family is from Scotland.

Of course, London and Pinewood Studios in England are part of the Bond film too.

No Time to Die theme song

The theme song titled “No Time to Die” was released on 13 February 2020. It was performed by American singer and songwriter Billie Eilish, the youngest ever to sing a Bond theme.

At the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards held on 14 March 2021, the song won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media. It thus made history as the first song from an unreleased movie to win a Grammy.

The song has been co-written by Eilish’s brother Finneas O'Connell.

(Main and Featured images: 007.com)

The post Everything We Know About the Latest James Bond Movie ‘No Time To Die’ appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Imbibed amidst an immersive patchwork of sounds, scents, and flavours, the latest edition of Krug's much-loved multi-vintage Champagne strikes a chord that is as joyful as it is delicious.

I'll be the first to concede that there's nothing quite like "the intangible quality...of taking in the terroir" but insofar as virtual tastings are concerned -- essentially the status quo for drinks industry pundits in 2021 -- the recent unveiling of Krug's latest Grande Cuvée proved to be oddly visceral and thrilling (in some ways, even touching). Every year since 1843, the eponymous makers of prestige Champagne have released a new assemblage of reserve wines, always consisting of the classic Champenois trio of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Meunier; and always left to age sur lie for 7 years.

Dispensing first with the formalities, the 169th Edition is a "generous expression" of 146 wines made in 11 different years (Krug bottle single vintages relatively infrequently), the oldest of which harkens back to the turn of the millennium. It is, however, the 2013 vintage that -- to butcher a musical analogy -- really sets the bassline: with intensely "luminous and pure" Chardonnays; racy Meunier; and Pinot Noir that extrudes a long, treacle finish. It is in a word, unsurprisingly, 'scrumptious': at its best harmonising alongside sharp aged cheese; aromatic seafood dishes; maybe even a cheeky slice of tarte tatin.

Unsurprisingly, the hallmarks of this Grande Cuvée (namely quality, consistency, and complexity) remain present year in, year out; but it's Krug's highly intuitive method of presentation that helps to immerse drinkers in the art of crafting prestige Champagne. With the jubilant voice of Olivier Krug pouring into their ears -- livestreaming in from the Maison's ancestral holdfast in Reims -- participants in these 'Encounters' were able to hear the story of the 169th Edition in a style that takes you beyond the spoken word. An "audio pairing" composed by Belgian musician Ozark Henry (and fed through to listeners using 8D technology) chronicles, in sonic form, the entire journey of the latest Krug edition: from plot to tasting, and finally harmonious blending together at the hands of Cellar Master Julie Cavil.

As ever, these 'Encounters' ended with a culinary presentation (in Hong Kong, presided over by Island Shangri-La's Uwe Opocensky) inspired by the tasting notes for the current edition -- langoustine and freshly jetted oysters seem to be much-favoured accompaniments this time round -- followed by a round of questions for the Maison's patriarch, Mr. Olivier Krug. On whether he was excited for a resumption of global travel -- to better present this 169th annual bottling -- he expressed optimism. Until then, you could do a lot worse than sipping to a soundtrack.

The 169th Edition of Krug Grande Cuvée is now available at various retail partners throughout Hong Kong, including Watson's, The Fine Wine Experience, CitySuper and Avize Wine Cellar. To learn more, visit Krug online.

The post 12 Pandemic-delayed Movies we Can’t Wait to Watch This Year appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Following growing concerns over the mounting coronavirus death toll and over 70,000 infected, cast and crew of James Bond No Time to Die are cancelling their film premiere tour of China

The post James Bond: It’s Not Time to Die (from the Coronavirus) cancels China Tour for Film Premiere appeared first on LUXUO.