Omega took to Instagram to announce their latest partnership with Taylor-Johnson, including the actor in a joint post. You can check out the phot💞o below. Fans were quick to point out that James Bond has been wearing an Omega watch since 1995, and that this must mean that Taylor-Johnson - who has been rumored to be the next Bond for quite some t🍸ime - is hinting at his takeover of the role.

It'༒s worth noting that when the film franchise first began, Bond wore a Rolex. Specifically, he wore a Rolex from 1962's Dr. No until 1974's The Man with a Golden Gun. When The Spy Who Love Me came around, continuing the Roger Moore era and leading up to Timothy Dalton, 007 switched to a Seiko. Omega has🌊 been the official James Bond watch since 1995, with Daniel Craig being the last Bond to wear an Omega on his wrist.

It could be a reach, but given that Taylor-Johnson reportedly auditioned and screen-tested for the role back in 2022 - which were both met with positive feedback and made him the 'front-runner' for the role - it's definitely possible. A new Bond movie has not yet been announced, but we're sure some news is on the way what with the Amazon acquisition.

"If they're welcoming Aaron Taylor-Johnson into the Omega Brand Ambassador Family then he's definitely the next James Bond," .

"The fact that Aaron Taylor-Johnson just signed with Omega and Henry Cavill is with Longines doesn’t bode well for Cavi🅺ll ♌becoming James Bond," .

"Is this confirmation he🍨 is the new Bond? Coincidence? I thin𒆙k not," .

"Just💞 announce him as Bond and make some movies already," .

"He's definitely got the job," .

For more, check out our complete ranking of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Bond movies. Then take a look ahead to what's coming your way with our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:movie release dates calendar.

Appearing on about his upcoming show, MobLand, Brosnan shared some stories about his days working for MI6 and how his little finger created what could've been a big problem in his first Bond movie, Goldeneye. "I had actually just had hand surgery, to tell you the truth. I had sliced this tendon open at home, so I'd been in a splint for about 12 weeks, and I got ♚it off the first morning of shooting James Bond. Six-page scene, and I could hardly move my hand."

Keeping in line with his new hero sta🍨tus, though, Brosnan powered through. "The very first shot is the camera following Robbie Coltrane, and he comes behind a curtain, and I point the gun to his head, and he says, 'Only three men in the world own that weapon, and I've killed two of them.' So we went for the take, and my finger wen🐎t, 'toot' — like this," with Brosnan's little finger involuntarily sticking out as if he was drinking tea with the Queen rather than serving on Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Thankfully, director Martin Campbell was quick to address the issue. “I shouldn't be even telling you this, but anyway, Martin Campbell was the director, and he said, 'Let's go again. Let’s go again.’ Same line, finger just went like that. So, I got a Band-Aid, and I stuck it to the gun. And that was it, problem solved." With the issue addressed, Brosnan was able to carry on and give us one of the best Bond films of his beloved run. To see where Goldeneye sits in our ranking of James Bond ൩movies, head here and prepa🍬re to be shaken or stirred by the results.

"We are committed to honoring the legacy of this iconic character, while bringing a fresh, exhilarating new chapter to audiences around the 🌱world alongside [producers] Amy [Pascal] and David [Heyman]," Amazon MGM's head of film, streaming, and theatrical Courtenay Valenti said at CinemaCon (via ).

Valenti added of the producers, "They are both in London getting started and couldn’t be here tonight♎, but we wanted to thank them for what we know will be an i🎉ncredible partnership."

While 'getting started' could mean many things – from preliminary meetings about the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:next Bond actor to hashing out the general direction of the series – the message appears to be one of sudden forward momentum, which is a far cry from how James Bond has stall💙ed post-No Time to Die.

With 007 under new leadership (longtime producers and stewards oജf the franchise Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson have now stepped aside), it remains to be seen what Amazon's new strategy will look like, however. Even so, fan response has been largely negative.

"It’s over. Bond is dead," 𒉰one upon hearing the announcem🐟ent. Another : "Random streaming shows set in the James Bond universe without Bond himself incoming."

Speaking to , former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan expressed optimi🐬sm at 007's future under Amazon.

"I wish them well, and that's it. It's as simple as that, really. I really hope they take care of it and I'm 🌃sure they will," Brosnan said. "It's a much loved character. There's no other character on the stage like him, really. They 🤡know what they're doing, the studio, and they'll take care of him, I'm sure."

For more on all things 007, check out our ranking of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best James Bond movies.

The update comes courtesy of , which reports that David Heyman and Amy Pascal are in talks to "shepherd the next iteration of James Bond." Though, according to𝕴 the report, nothing can be made ꦿofficial until the transaction with outgoing producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson is wrapped up.

Heyman has produced the likes of Barbie, Harry Potter, and Paddington, while Amy Pascal (who also produced Barbie) works on the Sony Spider-Man movies – and she has previous Bond experience with Skyf🌟all, Quantum of Solace, and Casino Royale, sin🏅ce Sony distributed those films.

Per the Puck report, a new Bond theatrical movie is planned before any spin-offs/TV projects, which means Heyman and Pascal will need to find writers and/or a director before the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:next James Bond is selected.

"I was very, very surprised and shocked," former Bond Timothy Dalton said recently of th✨e Amazon news. "Barbara is, I think, a fabulous woman and🍷 a wonderful producer, as was her father Cubby Broccoli, who I got on with very well and liked a lot. He was a very powerful and strong anchor for the project. Nothing went on that he didn't want, and it's sad that he's not with us anymore, that's all I can say. He w𓄧as well in charge of the show, and that's not so anymore."

We'll just have to wait and see what the future has in store for Bond, but, in the meantime, you can check out our guide to the year's most exciting 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming movies for everything 2025 has on the way.

"I met with Barbara Broccoli just you know through passing and I actually went in like an audition phase before Daniel [Craig] was cast, but I don'𝓀t think I was ever in the mix🧸," the X-Men star explained to Josh Horowitz on the podcast. "But I remember going into that room and meeting with her and [Michael G.] Wilson and I think I was like, 'Daniel Craig is…' I don't know why I was promoting him, I should have been promoting myself."

Fassbender laughed adding: "This is what I was saying, I was terrib🌸le at auditions. Obviously Daniel did a fantastic job and went on to be I think the most successful Bond in history but that was it really, there was never a conversation after that."

Asked about whether the possibility might still be there now the spy job is up for grabs again🐟, the actor admitted "I think it's over". However, he does have a few picks himself, including Aaron Taylor-Johnson and a Bridgeton star. "Regé [Jean Page] who's in this movie, I think after people see his performance in this, he could be a frontrunner," he added.

The movie he mentions is Black Bag, which sees Fassbender play a spy called George Woodhouse who is assigned to investigate his wife when sꦍhe's suspected of treason. Alongside Fassbender and Page, the movie also stars Ca๊te Blanchett, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, and Pierce Brosnan. It hits theaters on March 14.

For more on 007, check out our guides to the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Bond movies and all the potential candidates for the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:next James Bond.

According to , longtime Bond producer🧸s Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson weren't super happy with Amazon's idea to do a spin-off series about Miss Moneypenny, secretary to M, and didn't enjoy hearing the Bond movies being reౠferred to as 'content.'

Al♉legedly, after these grievances were published in The Wall Street Journal, Amazon boss Jeff Bezos said, "I don't care what it costs, get rid of her." The report then goes on to say that Bezos ended up paying "close to a billion dollars" for the franchise.

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The acquisit💞ion came just days before the Oscars, where a seven-minute tribute to James Bond was performed by the likes of Doja Cat, Margaret Qualley, and Raye. Apparently, this was to celebrate Broccoli and Wilson's honorary Osca﷽r (and𝓰 the Academy was unaware of the buyout at the time of planning).

Amazon now houses the intellectual property rights to the franchise with Wilson and Broccoli remaining co-owners - and allegedly wants to turn James Bond into a shared universe. The Moneypenny spin-off isn't entirely out of left field given that she had her own series of standalone novels known The Moneyp꧅enny Diaries.

There is still no word as to who will play the new 007, though fans were quick to shout Henry Cavill and Tom🦂 Hardy when Bezos asked in a tweet.

For more, check out our lists of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Prime Video shows and the best 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Prime Video movies.

"I was very, very surprised and shocked," Dalton told after hearing the news. "Barbara is, I think, a fabulous woman and a wonderful producer, as was her father C🏅ubby Broccoli, who I got on with very well and liked 𝄹a lot. He was a very powerful and strong anchor for the project. Nothing went on that he didn't want, and it's sad that he's not with us anymore, that's all I can say. He was well in charge of the show, and that's not so anymore."

After George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton is the Bond with the least 🦹amount of missions on his belt, o☂nly appearing in both The Living Daylights and License to Kill. Even so, his impact still keeps him in high regard as one of the best Bonds we ever had. Thankfully, even years later, he still loves his super-spy alias.

"It's a wonderful franchise. The movies have taken different ♚courses over the years, but there is something very good about the original and I hope Amazon latch onto that and give us the kind of film that's brought so much excitement and fun to so many people," Dalton added. "Anyway, good luck to them, I say. I do wish them all the very, very best. They'll be doing their best to make aℱ lot of money, so hopefully they will make good movies."

There's no confirmation yet as to which brave soul will introduce a new era of 007 as James Bond, but Jeff Bezos has already asked fans for suggestions. In the meantime, check out our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:rankings of every Bond movie before Amazon adds it to the list.

"Who’d you pick as the next 𓂃Bond?" plain and simply, adding a screenshot of an article about the news. Earlier today, Amazon MGM Studios released a joint statement with Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli announcing that the studio will now house the intellectual property rights to the franchise with Wilson and Broccoli remaining co-owners.

The top reply to Bezos' tweet, sitting at 10,000 likes, is none other than former Superman actor Henry Cavill. "This guy. Just cast him. Cast him rဣight now and don't screw it up, and you'll make billions," .

Cavill did, in fact, audition for Bond in 2005, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:and his screentest ꦚ🌜has since been posted online. Casino Royale ♋director Martin Campbell said Cavill would've made an "excellent Bond" if "Daniel [Cr𝕴aig] didn't exist."

agrees with Cavill but also suggests Micღhael Fassbender, saying, "Fassbender for Bond, then Cavill. Crank out 2-3 quickly while F is young enough, like they used to do in the 60’s. In fact, make Fassbender’s a period series set early in the Cold War, the🔥n switch back to ultramodern with Cavill."

Other replies include Tom Hardy, Charlie Hunnam, and James McAvoy. Oddly enough, absent from the responses seems to Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who was rumored to be the frontrunner🌜 for Bond aꦇs of 2024..

For more on all things 007, check our guides to the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best James Bond movies, ranked from worst to best and the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best James Bond stunts.

Amazon released a joint statement with Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli that the studio will now house the intellectual property rights to the franchise with Wilson and Broccoli remaining co-owners. The news comes after , which involves going the M🃏CU route and turning Bond into🃏 a shared universe.

"We are grateful to the late Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman for bringing James Bond to movie theatres around the world," Amazon wrote in their statement. "And to Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli for their unyielding dedication and their role in continuing the legacy of th🍒e franchise that is cherished by legions of fans worldwide. We are honoured to continue this treasured heritage, and look forward to ushering in the next phase of the legendary 007 for audiences around the world.”

Amazon acquired distribution rights for the James Bond franchise after merging with MGM in 2022. Some fans are worried that this means any upcoming 007 movies (澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史🉐查询:after they finally choose the new Bond, of course) will be released straight to streaming, and that the focus will be put on streaming🏅 shows set in the Bond universe, but necessarily starring Bond (Think John Wick spin-of๊f The Continental).

"It’s over. Bond is dead," . "Random streaming shows set in the James Bond univer💞se without Bond himself incoming," . "They better ༺still make movies for the cinema, James Bond should not be straight to streaming," . "This is terrible news because Barbara was the only one who was keeping Amazon away from turning 007 into a cinematic universe," .

, writing, "The name's Bezos. Jeff Bezos."

For more, check out our lists of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Prime Video shows and the best 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Prime Video movies.

In the seven-minute clip, the Avatar actor gives his version of iconic lines like "Martini, shaken not stirred" and "Bond, James Bond" as well as doing a few run-throughs of the same scene. T൩he audition was for the part of the super spy in Casino Royale, when a new Bond too🐻k on the mantle from Pierce Brosnan. The role ultimately went to Daniel Craig.

Worthington has previously spoken about auditioning for the⛦ role, revealing that he thinks it wasn't his best work. Pe෴r , Worthington recounted the experience on the Australian radio show Fitzy and Wippa back in 2023.

"I did go for Bond. I went and did the audition with Martin Campbell, who ended up directing Casino Royale," he recalled. "You walk in, there’s the girl in the bed, you charm her. I could get the killer of Bond down. 🍒I just couldn’t get the charm. I couldn’t charm her. The suit didn’t fit, man."

Worthington then added: "I tried to do a British accent. I did say to them I wanted to wear the white tuxedo like Roger Moore. I wanted to bring back kung fu chops, and they looked at me like I was crazy." He then pointed outꦗ: "It was൲ awful. I sounded like Dick Van Dyke from Mary Poppins. I remember Martin going, 'Just do your normal voice, it’s all cool, man.'"

Fans of the star disagree though, with plenty of positive comments o🅘n the YouTube video. One wrote: "Really good actually… The best out of them all on here from 2005" while another pointed out: "He has a natural charisma and interesting body language." A third added: "Everyone starts somew💛here. Worthington may not have qualified as Bond, but he does demonstrate a lot of good potential."

The same YouTube channel, Ron South, has released screentests for Cavill, Starr, and Pride and Prejudice actor Rupert Friend. According to his YouTube description, he ꧑found the tapes in a recycling bin at a movi𓆏e studio.

For more 007, check our guide to the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best James Bond movies, ranked.

The four-and-a-half-minute video, posted on by Ron South, shows Starr reading for the role of th꧅e new James Bond, presumably for the 2006 flick Casino Royale, after Pie꧅rce Bronson sipped his last Martini as 007 in 2002. The star is reading from the Golden Eye script, where Bronson’s agent is flirting with Bond girl Xenia Onatopp. Check out the full video below.

The response to Starr’s screen test has been mostly positive, with many pointing out how refreshing it🌠 is to hear the star’s native New Zealand accent, and others comparing his performance to that of '70s Bond actor Roger Moore. "Out of all the ones you've uploaded so far, St♚arr seems to be the best fit in my eyes," commented one viewer.

However, it hasn't taken long for The Boys fans to get their hands on the video, and the jokes have a🐈lready started to reel in on . "Lander HomeLander," responded one f🔯an, while another added, "Breast milk, squeezed not pumped."

It seems that although Starr appeared in many TV shows and movies before The Boys, fans will always see him as Homelander. Starr will return as the milk-loving villain next year in the final season of the hit Prime Video show. 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Boys season 5 is currently filming, with Starr suiting up for the last time alongside co-stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, an𝓡d more. The season is expec𒐪ted to land in 2026.

For more Bond, check out 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Henry Cavill’s screen test, or see our list of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:the best James Bond movies ranked.

"There are a lot of ideas [about potential actors] that have popped up that I thought are interesting," Salke told in a new interview. "I think there are a lot of different ways we can go. We have a good and close relationship 🐈with Eon [Productions] and Barbara [Broccoli] and Michael [G. Wilson]. We are not looking to disrupt the way those wonderful films are made. For us, we are taking their lead. The global audience will be patient. We don’t want too much time between films, but we are not concerned at this point."

No Time to Die, released in 2021, was former Bond star Daniel Craig's swan song as 007. Of course, there were six years between that mov꧂ie and its predecessor, 2015's Spectre, so we may have a while longer to wait before we get another Bond big-screen outing. Gaps between films are usually much shorter, however – there were only three years between Skyfall and Spectre, and two years between Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.

If we do have to wait a few more years, though, we're sure the casting rumors will continue to fly. The most recent name thrown into the mix was Aaron Taylor-Johnson, while former Superman actor Henry Cavill says he hasn't written off his own casting rumors just yet. 

While we stay tuned for news of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:next James Bond movie, check out our guide to the biggest 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:movie release dates still to come in 2024. 

James Bond fans have their own answer for this, but it’s not one you might like – and it could even ruin one of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Bond movies.

"Skyfall is a great Bond movie, but the beginniܫng where 007 survives a bullet to the chest before plummeting head first from a great height into a river was too much disbelief to suspend, even for Bond," one wrote on , referring to the cold open that saw Daniel Craig's Bond inadvertently take a bullet from Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) before plunging off a bridge and into the water below.

Others have pointed to Skyfall villain Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) orche𓆉strating an unnecessarily complicated plan that, once you realize none of it needed to happen, feels especiඣally futile.

"None of it was necessary," another wrote. "He didn't need to be captured or renditioned. He didn't get anything other than escape from his𓄧 laptop trick. He didn't need to figure out where the new MI6 headquarters was. He didn't need to figure out where M was. It's all just superfluous, stupid plot mechanics to show what a fake genius this guy is. Skyfall is flat out the dumbest Bond movie. And, yes, I'm including the one where Bond has to stop Telly Savalas from destroying the world's chickens in that evaluation.”

Ouch. All told, Skyfall is far from the most egregious logic leap in the franchiseඣ. Up to that point, we already had Bond head to space (Moonraker), doing a barrel roll in a car, comp🎀lete with slide whistle (The Man with the Golden Gun), and witnessing a pigeon do a double take (Moonraker… again).

Meanwhile, pre actors' strike, the search for the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:next James Bond was well and truly on. Producers Barbara Brocolli and Michael G. Wilson have indicated they 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:want a "thirtysomething" in t🔴he role, and someone who will be 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:in it for the long haul. T💞ime will tell if we'll be shaken – or stirred – by the announcement of the next actor to step into the tuxedo of MI6's finest.

For more, check out all the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming movies heading your way in the rest of 2023.

Speaking to , Campbell lauded Cavill’s "tremendous" audition but, ultimately, felt he was too young – then 23 – to step into the tuxedo of the iconic secret agent. Dani𓆉el Craig was then cast as James Bond – and the rest is h🌟istory.

"He looked great in the audition. His acting was tremendous. And look, if Daniel didꦓn’t exist Henry would have made an excellent Bond," Campbell revealed. "He looked terrific, he was in great physical shape… very handsome, very chiselled. He just looked a little young at that time back then."

Campbell also revealed a tidbit that many aren’t privy to: the final "democratic" process behind deciding who gets to play the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:next James Bond.

"You sit around a table, eight or nine of you. It was myself and the producers, casting director etc etc. And you go through the eight people and you put your hand up as you talk through each person and ultimately everybody has to be unanimous in their decision," Campbell sa꧋id.

It’s something that will likely have to happen again very soon. Since Craig’s departure from the series after No Time to Die, someone fresh will 🌄have to stalk the corridors of MI6. Despite what bookies – and fans – think, Camp🅠bell suggests that Cavill (now in his 40s) could be too old for the role.

"Henry’s 40, so by the time he’s done the third one he’s going to be 50 and anythi༒ng beyond that’s two, three years per Bond. He’s ಌin good shape Henry, he’s a good guy. He did very well in the audition, but ironically he was too young," Campbell said.

Cavill, for his part, previously opened up on the almost-♎ran auditꦚion in a chat on the .

"They told me it was u🔯ltimately down to, and this is what I've been told, it was just down to me an⛎d Daniel, and I was the younger option," Cavill said. "I think it was an amazing choice to go with Daniel. I think Daniel did an incredible job over the past movies."

Discover our pick for 007's greatest mission in our ranking of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best James Bond movies. Then take a look ahead to what's coming to cinemas with our guide to 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming movies.

Speaking to , Tarantino explained that there was a point where Eon Produ🦩ctions, which produces the Bond movies, did not own the rights to Casino Royale (hence the '67 Casino Royale movie). 

"We reached out to the Ian Fleming people, and they had suggested that they still own the rights to Casino Royale," Tarantino revealed. "And that's what I wanted to do after 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Pulp Fiction was do my version of Casino Royale, and it would've take🅷n place in the '60s and wasn&apo♕s;t about a series of Bond movies. We would have cast an actor and be one and done. So I thought we could do this."

He continued: "But then it turned out th🥂at [Bond producers] the Broccolis three years earlier figured out somebody was going to try to do what I did. And so what they did is they just made a blanket deal with the Fleming estate and said that: 'We have the movie rights to everything he&ap🌌os;s ever written. We’re going to just give you a bunch of money. This is for every single thing he's ever written. If anybody wants to make a movie out of it, they got to come to us.'"

Tarantino also explained that, while he never actually had a meeting with the Broccolis, he did hear their reasoning through the grapevine. "No, but I had people who knew them and everything," he sai🌞d. "I was alw♉ays told very flattering versions of like, 'Look, we love Quentin, but we make a certain kind of movies, and unless we fuck it up, we make a billion dollars every time we make that type of movie, okay? We don't want him to do it. Doesn't matter that it will still do good. It could fuck up our billion-dollar thing.'"

We can't think of anything more intriguing than a Quentin🍌 Tarantino Bond movie, so it's a shame that we'll never get to see his take on Ca💃sino Royale – the director has been clear that his next film, The Movie Critic, will be his last. 

While you wait for The Movie Critic, fill out your watchlist with our guide to 2023's major 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:movie release dates.

"I ꧃do remember a time just before Daniel [Craig] got it," Rhys recalled in anℱ interview with .

The actor detailed the "intimidating" process, which featured a face-to-face meeting with the producers in London. "We were just told to wear a dark suit and read 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Casino Royale," he explained.

"They said, ‘What would you do differently with Bond?’ And I just remember going, ‘Ah.’ I was so not anticipating that questi⭕on. And then I was like, is it a trick qu🍷estion? Are they waiting for people to go, ‘I wouldn’t do anything. He’s perfect’?"

So Rhys did what an⛦y of us do in that si🍎tuation – crack a terrible joke. "I’d give him a limp. I said, ‘Limp?’ Nothing. ‘Eye patch?’ Nothing."

The rest is history. Daniel Craig stepped into the role of 007, shaking and stirring audiences across five movies. Rhys, himself, didn’t do too badly – starring in the critically-acclaimed Thღe Americans and currently appearing in Perry Mason.

The search for the next Bond, meanwhile, goes on. No casting decision has been made yet – though the producers sound fairly adamant that 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:they want a "thirtysomething" to take the role. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who is stepping into Sony’s Spider-Man universe in 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:the R-Rated Kraven the Hunter, is 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:reportedly one of the frontrunners to replace Craig.

Now, for your eyes only: our complete ranking of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best James Bond movies.

The Ghosted actor told that Aftersun's Paul Mescal “shoul💛d be the one.”

Mescal's star has risen in recent years, giving a breakout performance in Normal People before being nominated for Best Actor for Aftersu⛦n. He's now all set to appear in a Gladiator sequel.

De Armas should know a thing or two about playing 007, having spent a Cuba-set sequence with Daniel Craig in 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:No Time to Die. On her scene-stealing turn, she said, "It was one of the most wonderful experiences 📖I’ve ever had on set. I love that movie and character."

Her Ghosted co-star Chris Evaಞns added, "She killed it. Stole the movie.💞"

Speculation has continued to rage over who will take over from Daniel Craig as James Bond. 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Bullet Train Aaron Taylor-Johnson 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:has b🐬een spoken about as a frontrunner f🐽or some time, though there’s been no official word on who is next stepping into the tuxedo of MI6ཧ’s secret agent.

Thanks to producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, however, we have an idea of the profile of the next Bond actor. The pair want the next person up to be 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:in the role for a decade, but not to be too young. Ideally, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:they’re look𝔍ing for a “thirtysomething” actor

"No, we haven’t even started casting yet. There isn’t even a script.💫" Broccoli told earlier this year.

In 2022, Broccoli explained to , "We’re working out where🌼 to go with [Bond], we’re talking that through. There isn’t a script and we can’t come up with one until we decide how we’re going to approach the next film because, really, it’s a reinvention of Bond. We’re reinventing who he is and that takes time. I’d say that filming is at least two years away.”

Let’s leave you shaken and stirred with our rankings of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best James Bond movies.

The first James Bond movie was Dr. No, and came out over 50 years ago. The latest, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:No Time to Die, brought Daniel Craig's tenure as 007 to an end. The franchise has, at this point, never been more open-ended. Who will take over as the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:next James Bond? That's a question for another time. For ✅now, let's sit down with these excellent movies and watcꦬh (or rewatch) the series.

First up, we've got the full list of James Bond movies in order if you want to marathon the whole thing. Then we've broken each Bond stint down, actor by actor. That's perfect for the year where George Lazenby slides in for a quick hello and confuses every♈thing. It also makes choosing🥂 your favorite Bonds (and their best films) a whole lot easier. We'll even briefly touch on the decidedly non-canon entries from MI6's finest. Here's how to watch the James Bond movies in order.

How to watch every James Bond movie in order

Here’s the current order to watch Bond movies by rel🀅ease date. Starting in 1962 with Dr. No and ending (for now) with 2015’s Spectre.

• Dr. No (1962)
• From Russia With Love (1963)
• Goldfinger (1964)
• Thunderball (1965)
• You Only Live Twice (1967)
• On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
• Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
• Live and Let Die (1973)
• The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
• The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
• Moonraker (1979)
• For Your Eyes Only (1981)
• Octopussy (1983)
• A View to a Kill (1985)
• The Living Daylights (1987)
• License to Kill (1989)
• GoldenEye (1995)
• Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
• The World is Not Enough (1999)
• Die Another Day (2002)
• Casino Royale (2006)
• Quantum of Solace (2008)
• Skyfall (2012)
• Spectre (2015)

But that’s not the only way to watch James Bond movies in order. Debates have raged over the best actor who has donned the tuxedo over the years. Connery. Lazenby. Moore. Dalton. Brosnan. Craig. You’re probably thinking of your choice right now. Let’s divide them up so, if you 😼wish, you can dive straight into the oeuvre of your favourite 007 – starting with Sean Connery and his one unique entry that you won’t find in the list above. Intrigued?

Sean Connery's James Bond movies

Out of all the actors to portray Bond, Sean Connery has (by far) the strangest run with the character. Having originated the on-screen movie role of 007, he starred in the first five Bond movies, departed from the role (and replaced by George Lazenby), before returning for the seventh, Diamonds Are Forever in 1971. He’d later go on to play James Bond again in the non-canon entry Never Say Never Again, a remake of 1965’s Thunderball. It’s ☂not part of the main💧 franchise, so you can ignore it if you wish, though we’ve kept it here for completion’s sake.

• Dr. No (1962)
• From Russia With Love (1963)
• Goldfinger (1964)
• Thunderball (1965)
• You Only Live Twice (1967)
• Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
• Never Say Never Again (1983)

George Lazenby's James Bond movies

Just 𒈔the one man for our man Lazenby. He did help kickstart the prevalent fan theory that every James Bond is a different person, though. Sure, it’d later be retconned – but it was a nice wink and a nod from the new 007 in his very first scene.

• On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

Roger Moore's James Bond movies

The most prolific Bond actor, Roger Moore played the character in seven movies across 12 years. His flicks are best known for heavily increasing the camp factor – and introducing a variety of several increasingly silly gadgets (crocodile submarine anyone?), which would fast become ওa staple of the franchise.

• Live and Let Die (1973)
• The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
• The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
• Moonraker (1979)
• For Your Eyes Only (1981)
• Octopussy (1983)
• A View to a Kill (1985)

Timothy Dalton's James Bond movies

Cards on the table. Dalton is low-key one of our favourite Bonds. If you’re eager for a grittier, proto-𝓡Craig v𝔉ersion of 007 then you could do a lot worse than seeking out Dalton’s two entries as the secret agent.

• The Living Daylights (1987)
• License to Kill (1989)

Pierce Brosnan's James Bond movies

Brosnan picked 🤡up where Dalꦏton left off after a six-year hiatus – to date, the joint-longest gap between Bond movies.

• GoldenEye (1995)
• Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
• The World is Not Enough (1999)
• Die Another Day (2002)

Daniel Craig's James Bond movies

Daniel Craig’s Bond films more or less follow on from each other so should be watched in order. A fifth movie, No Ti💃me to Die, is almost here.

• Casino Royale (2006)
• Quantum of Solace (2008)
• Skyfall (2012)
• Spectre (2015) 

Non-canon James Bond movies

As you may have already noticed, there’s one Sean Connery Bond film that isn’t counted as part of the mainline canon. For reasons too head-scratching to go into here (mostly involving licensing issues and y🅷ears-long legal fights), there are two films that star James Bond but aren’t considered canon.

When considering the correct order of James Bond movies, that’s important – they don’t technically count, but are still an extra slice of 007, should you so wish it. The first is Casino Royale 👍(no, not that one) from 1967, starring David Niven as James Bond. The second is the Thunderball remake Never Say Never Again, featuring Sean Connery in his seventh spin as Bond.

• Casino Royale (1967)
• Never Say Never Again (1983)

Check out our other watch order explainers, including:
-- How to watch the Marvel movies in order
-- How to watch the Star Wars movies in order
-- How to watch the Spider-Man movies in order

While promoting his new Netflix film The Dig, the actor tells GamesRadar+ and Total Film about being part of the Bond films beyond actor Daniel Craig's final film. In Skyfall, Fiennes' charactꦯer Mallory took over as M, the 𝔍head of MI6. Judi Dench previously played the character.

"If anyone from Eon Films is listening, I'm very keen to continue training the new 🐽Bond," Fiennes says with a laugh. "I love playing M, and I love being part of that franchise. But who knows? Things have to change. But I love working with Daniel. He's a terrific Bond. I will treasure that experience."

The repeatedly delayed 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:No Time to Die will be Craig's last outing as the spy, and at the moment, we still don't know who’ll be replacing him – though Tom Hardy and Idris Elba regularly pop up in predictions, and Bridgerton's Regé Jean-Page has recently joined the poo𝐆l of p♉otential Craig successors.

As excellent a 007 as Craig has been, one of the highlights of his Bond movies has definitely been the supporting cast, with Fiennes' M, Ben Whishaw's Q, and Naomie Harris' Moneyp🐭enny all staꦇndout characters. Fiennes wouldn't be the first M to stick around for multiple Bonds, either, so there doesn't seem to be any reason why we couldn't see him again post-cast shake-up (or stir-up).

No Time to Die, which also stars Ana de Armas, Lashana Lynch, Léa Seydoux, Christoph Waltz, and Rami Malek, is currently set for release on October 8, 💟2021. Hopefully it'll stick to that date, after the pandemic shuffled it all the way back from April 2020.

While you wait for the next Bond installment to finally hit the big screen, check out our roundup of 2021's 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:movie release dates – and see which movie took the top spot in our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Bond movies ranking. 

Daniel Craig’s last outing as Bond will now hit the big screen on October 8 instead of April 2, a whole 18 months after its original release date. In the wake of this announcement, Sony decided to move its antihero flick Morbius to avoid competing with Bond – it was supposed to come out on October 8 as well, but has now been pushed back to January 21, 2022. The Jared Leto-led comic-book thriller has already been delayed once this month, moving from 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:March to October only a few days ago.

Elsewhere, Universal has decided to move Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho to October 22. The horror movie, starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, and Diana Rigg, was originally due for ꦜrelease on April 23. Bob Odenkirk's Nobody has also been thrown back from February 26 to April 12.

Sony has also made the decision to push back several of its other 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:major upcoming releases – the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Uncharted movie starri𝕴ng Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg will now release on February 11, 2022 instead of July 16, 2021. 

Meanwhile, Ghostbusters: Afterlife ha🌊s moved from June 11 to October 11, and Kay Cannon’s Cind🅰erella has been delayed from February 5 to July 16. 

Phew. That’s a lot to keep up with – and there are potentially more announcements to come. A veteran studio executive recently told that every major movie between now and July 2021 is 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:likely to be delayed.

In this time of moviegoing uncertainty, at least we’ve still got the streamers – check out our list of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Netflix movies to watch right now.

The movie is currently scheduled to hit the big screen on April 2, 2021. However, according to , Noꦚ Time to Die’s promotional partners have already been giꦅven a heads up that the movie is bound to move to an autumn release. A specific date hasn’t been set yet, though. 

Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, Daniel Craig’s last outing as Bond will see him joined by 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:the new 007 Lashana Lynch as he comes out of retirement to face ꦗoff against Rami Malek’s villain, Safin. Meanwhile, the supporting cast includes Ralph Fiennes, Ana de Armas, Naomie Harris, Léa Seydoux, and Ben Whishaw.

The past year has been a rocky road for No Time to Die – it was originally slated for release in April 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic led to it being delayed until November 2020, then further delays saw it reach its current April 2021 release date. These setbacks are reportedly costing MGM 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:millions of dollars, and the studio is determined to ke♛ep the movie on track for a theatrical release to recoup these costs. MGM has yet to reach a deal with any streaming platforms whཧo were unwilling to pay the reported asking price of $600 million. 

While we wait for No Time to Die, check out our list of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Netflix action movies you can stream right now.

The tweet that got viewers’ mind whirring came from Page’s o⛦wn account – back in December, before the show was released, he posted a short video introducing his character, the dashing Duke of ♎Hastings. 

“Regency, royalty. Shaken and stirred,” read the caption. The last par💖t, of course, refers to 007’s preferred method of martini mixing. It seems lots of viewers have taken that reference and run with it –🌟 and the internet is in agreement, too.

“If it’s not ꧙gonna be Idris [Elba], I’m totally supportive of Rege-Jean Page as the next James Bond,” one user tweeted. “I can’t wait for someone to feature Regé-Jean Page as their love interest in a steamy music video. Also, would love to petition for him to be the next James Bond,” said another. “I cannot think of a better candidate to be the next #JamesBond than @regejean,” added actor Jenny Boyd.

The odds are in Page’s favour, too. reports that bookmakers have shortened them from 40/1 to 5/1. The London-born actor has pr🍬eviously had roles in British school drama Waterloo Road and the 2016 remake of Roots, a miniseries about an enslaved man and his descendants, but it was Shonda Rhimes new Netflix period romp that really brought Page to prominence. 

If you’ve already binge-watched Bridgerton, check out our list of the other 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Netflix shows that you can stream right now.

Following 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Skyfall was always going to be a Herculean ask for Daniel Craig and director Sam Mendes. So much worked in the favour of Bond 23, from the very fact it wasnt 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Quantum Of Solace to its arrival coinciding with the 50th anniversary of 007 on screen. And thats even before you consider a cast-iron plot boasting the best villain in years and a significant death every bit as moving as Diana Riggs demise in On Her Majestys Secret Service. If SPECTRE never quite lives up to expectations, its not for want of trying. From the far-reaching narrative to the scope and scale of the locations and stunts, this 24th Bond outing is arguably the most ambitious of the Craig era. Like its predecessor, there are nods to 007 history though, as the title suggests, SPECTREs callbacks amount to more than just an Aston Martin stored in a lock-up garage. This is the return of Bonds oldest foe, the Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion. Our first glimpse of the shadowy cell comes in the films pre-credits sequence in Mexico City a ring inscribed with the organisations ominous octopus insignia, wrenched from an operatives finger by Craigs James Bond as the two battle it out in a spinning helicopter over the Zcalo Square. Beginning with cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytemas superb tracking shot as 007 stalks his target through revellers at the Day Of The Dead festival, via assassination, demolition and aerial mayhem, its a classic Bond opener, up there with the best. Ditto Daniel Kleinmanns wonderfully inventive titles, which set the scene for the SPECTRE organisations reach, suggesting its tentacled grip around Bond goes back to 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Casino Royale. Even Sam Smiths shrill-sounding golden globe winner Writings On The Wall plays far better in context than it does without the visuals (still, its not quite up there with Adeles thunderous Skyfall and after Radiohead released their own aborted theme, one cant help but wish theyd been given the go-ahead). Credits over, SPECTRE cracks along at a fair old pace, with the revelation that Bond was in Mexico following off-the-record orders to hunt and kill an assassin. Our heros trail of destruction leads him to be suspended from duty by the incoming M (Ralph Fiennes), whos already engaged in a heavy power struggle with the cocksure C (Andrew Scott). Head of the newly formed Joint Intelligence Service, C is looking to dismantle the 00 programme and sweep Britain into the Nine Eyes global surveillance/intelligence initiative. Bond is soon secretly hot-footing it to Rome, which leads to his first proper encounter with SPECTRE, via a clandestine meeting that allows Bond to clap eyes on the films real villain, Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz). All shadows and slow burn, its a memorably moody scene. Shame that it also features the worst door security since Tom Cruise muttered Fidelio in 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Eyes Wide Shut a lapse in logic thats only the first of SPECTREs vexing flaws. The much-hyped car chase through the streets of Rome, as Bond is pursued by near-silent hulk Mr. Hinx (Dave Bautista) in his super-sexy Jaguar, never amounts to much (it doesnt help that 007 is on the phone to Naomie Harris Moneypenny for most of the journey, hardly breaking a sweat). Likewise, Monica Belluccis blink-and-miss turn as widow Lucia is a criminal waste; arguably, shed have made a more interesting female lead than La Seydoux, who underwhelms in her role as a psychologist with a connection to Bonds recent past. Then theres the notion that Oberhauser the author of all your pain as he memorably tells Bond has been pulling strings since 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Casino Royale. Its not the first time the franchise has dabbled in interconnected villainy (Bonds first adversary Dr. No, an agent for the original SPECTRE, is mentioned in From Russia With Love), but the handling here is tenuous. As for Waltz, despite his best efforts, he never matches the thigh-rubbing menace of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Skyfalls Raoul Silva. Still, SPECTRE has its highs Austrian mountaintops, an expanded role for Ben Whishaws gadgetmaster Q, a superb train fight and a torture scene to rival Goldfingers laser beam. Then theres Craig, cuff-straighteningly sublime in a role that now fits him like a Savile Row tux. Mendes, too, deserves credit for having the cajones to come back and take a second crack, particularly with a complex story that further delves into Bonds own backstory. By comparison, the extras feel disappointingly lightweight, suggesting that maybe a more deluxe version may follow later. Comprising several video blogs (music, action, cars, girls etc.) that debuted online during the making of the film, it hardly feels like an exclusive package although Blu-ray comes with a pacey 20-minute featurette on the Day Of The Dead opener. Still, you can always revel in the moment where the Bond franchise enters the record books, courtesy of 8,140 litres of kerosene. As Mendes puts it, all one shot, come up the stairs, line of dialogue, largest explosion in the history of movies, exit frame, cut. Maybe this was the only way to top 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Skyfall. In James Bonds world, size still matters. EXTRAS: Featurette (BD) > Video blogs > Gallery (BD) Director: Sam Mendes Starring: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, La Seydoux Digital HD release: 19 February 2016 DVD, BD release: 22 February 2016 James Mottram

Even if youve never dared watch Audition, the 1999 J-horror that announced prolific Japanese director Takashi Miike to the western world, chances are you know of its reputation. Brace yourself as demure 24-year-old Asami (Eihi Shiina) does terrible things to tricksy middle-aged filmmaker Shigeharu (Ryo Ishibashi) with needles, piano wire and the sing-song mantra kiri, kiri, kiri (deeper, deeper, deeper). Is it all in his head, male paranoia, or is she really taking revenge for his secrets and lies? Its impossible to say, and lines between fact and fiction are also blurred in Over Your Dead Body (available separately), a 2014 adaptation of the renowned 1825 kabuki play Yostuya Kaidan in which a samurais wife takes ghostly revenge on her husband after he abandons her for a younger woman. The twist, in Miikes update, is that three modern-day actors (Ko Shibasaki, Ebiz Ichikawa, Miho Nakanishi) are rehearsing the play and find their own lives paralleling those of their characters. Over Your Dead Body is Miikes first horror film and best film, period since Audition, and again tells a story of female vengeance in a style that is controlled and composed: the bursts of violence in both movies impact all the harder for coming from a place of poise. Given the films quality, the lack of extras is a shame. Not so the Audition Blu-ray, which comes with two commentaries, interviews and an excellent appreciation by Japanese cinema historian Tony Rayns. Its also a 2K restoration, meaning the scalpel-sharp visuals cut deeper, deeper, deeper. EXTRAS: Featurettes (Audition) > Commentaries (Audition) Director: Takashi Miike Starring: Various DVD (OYDV), BD (Audition) release: 29 February 2016 Jamie Graham

Based on Colm Tibns bestseller, and featuring a beautiful central performance from Saoirse Ronan, John Crowleys warm-hearted, triple-Oscar-nommed drama concerns a young woman caught between two worlds. Her home, in 50s rural Ireland, is too small to sustain her, so she emigrates, alone, to New York, a city too big to notice her. Soon shes torn between two mothers (Jane Brennan and Julie Walters), two suitors (Emory Cohen and Domhnall Gleeson), and two futures. Screenwriter Nick Hornby keeps the scale human, and the tone sweet, but the result feels slightly more parochial than it does profound. EXTRAS: Featurettes > Deleted scenes Director: John Crowley Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleeson, Jim Broadbent DVD, BD, Digital HD release: 29 February 2016 Matt Glasby

Robert De Niro tries to turn his recent career lull into a career LOL with this sweet but problematic comedy by Nancy Meyers (澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Holiday). He plays 70-year-old widower Ben who, to keep himself busy in later life, enlists in a senior-intern programme at a new, thriving internet business run by Anne Hathaways overworked Jules. De Niro packs tons of charm into his stoical gentleman role, while his chemistry with Hathaway brings the formulaic plot alive. But Meyers script is still all over the place, dropping the initial fish-out-of-water premise for tone-shifting silly capers and, come the films end, schmaltzy relationship drama. EXTRAS: Featurettes Director: Nancy Meyers Starring: Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway, Rene Russo DVD, BD, Digital HD release: 29 February 2016 Matt Looker

Beating out 70+ titles to Total Films Best Film award at FrightFest 2015, this debut feature by the Blaine Brothers (Ben and Chris) blends scuzzy social realism and bloody fantasy. Like Aussie breakout 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Babadook, the most distressing things on show are grief and depression, as South London supermarket worker Rob (Cian Barry) tentatively begins dating colleague Holly (Abigail Hardingham), only for the broken body of Nina (Fiona OShaughnessy), his ex who died in a car crash, to configure in their bed like something out of Hellraiser. Mnage trois, anyone? A low-budget horror-comedy with high emotional intelligence. EXTRAS: Featurettes > Two commentaries Directors: Ben Blaine, Chris Blaine Starring: Fiona O'Shaughnessy, Abigail Hardingham, Cian Barry, David Troughton DVD, BD, Digital HD release: 22 February 2016 Jamie Graham

The spirit of early Peter Jackson is alive and gorier than ever in a New Zealand horror-com thats funnier and sweeter than the title implies. Milo Cawthorne plays scrawny metal-head teen Brodie, who lives with his religious uncle. Bullied at school, Brodie meets cool, give-a-fuck Zakk (James Blake) and forms the titular band all good until they summon demons with some sacred sheet music from a reclusive rock legend. Gleefully gross (a dildos vs demons fight scene, projectile blood vom) and seriously silly, Deathgasm channels 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Shaun Of The Deads deadpan mundanity against an exploding satanic apocalypse. EXTRAS: None Director: Jason Lei Howden Starring: Milo Cawthorne, James Blake, Kimberley Crossman, Sam Berkley DVD, BD release: 29 February 2016 Rosie Fletcher

Is the Earth flat? asks JoHn Goodmans winning Fred. No, but almost everything else is in Universals stab at chiselling the toon into a live-action franchise. The plot mistakes corporate embezzlement and evil boss Kyle Maclachlans manipulation of Fred for childs play, yet the painful stone-age puns and sexist skits (Halle Berrys saucy secretary Sharon Stone, Liz Taylors mother-in-law) are no better. A game cast (Goodman, Rick Moranis, Elizabeth Perkins) have a gay old time in a well-realised backdrop lobster lawnmowers, dino-pets but script and story groan with strain. Yabba dabba dont. EXTRAS: Commentary > Documentary Production notes Director: Brian Lavant Starring: John Goodman, Rick Moranis, Elizabeth Perkins, Rosie O'Donnell DVD release: 29 February 2016 Kevin Harley

Think Reese Witherspoon had it hard in 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Wild? Check out this hiking effort from Robert Redford and Nick Nolte at about twice her age, and twice her weight in Noltes case, the pair embark on the fearsome Appalachian Trail. A Walk In The Woods is a much mellower take on the hiking experience than 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Wild, with Redford playing real-life author Bill Bryson, who reunites with his gravelly-voiced, somewhat embarrassing old buddy Katz (Nolte). Their trip unfolds at an age-appropriately unhurried pace, but the leads chemistry smoothes the path to the finish line. EXTRAS: Featurettes > Interviews Director: Ken Kwapis Starring: Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson DVD release: 22 February 2016 Stephen Puddicombe

If you have not yet seen Spectre, you may want to stop reading now as there are major spoilers ahead.

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If you're still with us, you'll know that Waltz was ultimately revealed to be classic Bond villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Spectre, despite his 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:pre-release comments to the🦋 contrary. Now is reporting that the star could return for two more James Bond instalments, "but only if Daniel Crai💎g does too".

Craig made headlines last year when he hinted that he may be done playing 007, and while the film itself leaves room for a return for both agent and villain it could also easily be seen as the completion of Bond and Blofeld's respective arcs. Waltz was terribly underused in Spectre, and another Bond film would no doubt give him the screen time he needs to flesh out his villain. Indeed, it would be a shame to waste such a great set-up, even with the lacklustre impression left by Blofeld in Spectre. The question is...does Craig still want to be ✨Bond, or would it be a smarter move to clean the slate and start over again with other actors? Whatever the case, James Bond, as always, will return.

Images: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Columbia Pictures

Director Sam Mendes has been promoting the latest Bond outing Spectre ahead of its US release this week, and although he's previously renege🐼d on his original plans to only direct one Bond film, the chances of that happening again are slim.

Speaking with , he confirmed that "There is a sense of completeness that wasn’t there at the end of Skyfall, and that’s what makes this feel different. It feels like there’s a rightness to it, that I have finಞished a journey."

"You cast a new actor and find a new director, and make something totally new. I can, off the top of my head, give you three or four ideas for where it could go next. They’re all daring and big. To me, the enemy is repetition and🌼 laziness, and the great danger is not challenging the preexisting format."

"These are my two chapters of the Bond myth. Someone else is going to write a chapter or 10 or 50, because Bond is strong enough for that, and because there’s enough to play with. Daniel may absolutely turn around six months’ time and feel his energy renewed. Or he might say just the opposite. If he is as sensible as I think he is, he needs to go away and have some time to think and do another job that’s completely different, which he’s already doing with Othello." Never say never, right? Spectre is now open in UK and US cinemas.

From the gun barrel opening to the gadgets in Qs workshop, everything is back where it belongs in Spectre, an everything or nothing, kitchen-sink Bond that goes to epic lengths to deliver all you could conceivably want from this invincible and indefatigable franchise. Buoyed and emboldened by the worldwide success of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Skyfall, the tireless Sam Mendes and the fearless Daniel Craig go hell for leather in a film that practically fizzes with brio, even at points when its circuitous plot comes perilously close to unravelling. If, as many suspect, it will be the last Bond for both of them, they can at least depart confident they have left it all on the field and are leaving the series stronger than how they found it. Mendes sets his stall out early on with a stunning Touch Of Evil-style tracking shot that begins high above the heads of a gargantuan Mexico City Day of the Dead parade before zeroing in on a skull-masked 007. Weaving in and out of the legions of ghoulishly made-up revellers, incoming DoP Hoyte Van Hoytema follows Craig up stairs, down hallways and out on a ledge in a sequence so fluid you can barely spot the joins. Then the fun really starts: a deluge of falling masonry sends Bond and his quarry back onto the streets and into the air in a loop-the-looping chopper. As pre-titles sequences go, its the equal of any that has gone before it and that includes the ski-jump gotcha from 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Spy Who Loved Me. Back in London, Bonds rogue mission has set the cat among the pigeons. Ms MI6 is at risk of being subsumed by an umbrella outfit run by the oily C (Andrew Scott) and can ill afford to let its chief assassin go AWOL. Bond, however, has other ideas, not to mention a Tolkien-esque ring whose octopus engraving points to some seriously sinister shenanigans. So off to Rome he pops, there to seduce a widow (Monica Bellucci, age-appropriate yet criminally underused) with information to impart on a certain acronymic syndicate Mendes film is at its most atmospheric here. A clandestine gathering of Spectre bigwigs in a gothic Roman palazzo exuding all the brooding menace of an 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Eyes Wide Shut sex orgy. Oddly, though, the nocturnal car chase that follows fails to stir the blood, hampered as it is by an incongruously jaunty tone and the sneaking suspicion that, even with man-mountain Dave Bautista at the wheel of the Jaguar chasing Craigs Aston Martin along Romes cobbled thoroughfares, there isnt much at stake. Things quickly improve when the action moves to Austria, where Bond has a chilly encounter with old adversary Mr White (Jesper Christensen, finally making good on the promise of his all too fleeting cameos in 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Casino Royale and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Quantum Of Solace). From this point on theres nary a let-up. A dust-up on the slopes involving one wingless plane and three 4x4s leads seamlessly to train-based fisticuffs straight out of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:From Russia With Love, an explosive desert confrontation, and a denouement involving a familiar place in unfamiliar shape. Ok, so sparks dont exactly fly between Craig and eventual leading lady Lea Seydoux or, for that matter, between Craig and Christoph Waltz, dismayingly bland as an overly genteel adversary whose primary beef, once revealed, verges on the petulant. (It does lead to a doozy of a torture scene, though.) Dovetailing Spectres plot with those of Craigs previous Bonds is a dubious move, while the edifice that houses Scotts Centre of National Security resembles nothing so much as Stark Tower. The influence of Marvel is felt elsewhere too: a plan to combine the worlds intelligence capabilities into one all-seeing, all-knowing supersnoop bears striking similarities to 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Only Bautista makes the crossover unscathed, this Guardian Of The Galaxy projecting the kind of brutish physical threat that like the Rolls Royce Phantom that pops up in one scene brings back happy memories of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Goldfingers Oddjob. Craig, for his part, tempers his customary steely determination with a welcome lightness of touch (a scene in which he interrogates a mouse the idea, one suspects, of co-writer Jez Butterworth would have been unimaginable back in the doleful days of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Quantum), while Ralph Fiennes M has some ace bants with Scott over their respective code names. The real delight, though, is Ben Whishaw, whose donnish Q is given much more to do this time around and inflects his scenes with a deliciously offbeat energy. THE VERDICT: Though not as dramatically rich or emotionally compelling as 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Skyfall, Spectre still ranks as a sleek, pulse-pounding if slightly overlong entertainment that should have little trouble emulating its predecessors box office. Director: Sam Mendes Starring: Daniel Craig, La Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Monica Bellucci, Christoph Waltz Theatrical release: 26 October 2015 Neil Smith

In Kevin Allens adaptation of Dylan Thomas 1954 radio play, Under Milk Wood, the fantasies of dwellers in the Welsh village of Llareggub (Bugger all backwards) provide a bawdy 50s-set buffet for the eyes and ears. To unpeel it from Richard Burtons richly-voiced radio version (and the clunky 1972 film he starred in), Allen has to create moving images as potent as Thomas poetic ones, for a vast cast of characters. But he and co-writer poet Murray Lachlan Young succeed only with the sturdiest of their gamey vignettes Mr Pugh (Boyd Clack) the tangoing wife-poisoner, the hopeless letter-borne love of draper for confectioner, or Mrs Ogmore Pritchards S&M memories of torturing her husbands. Alongside these slyly enjoyable Carry On Cymru interludes, though, theres a fair amount of sub-ken Russell tits-and-landscape surrealism thrown in, all to keep your peepers occupied during rolling orations about the sloeblack, slow black, crowblack, fishingboat-bobbing sea. however, the cheerful gloss of sex on everything from Dai Bakers breast-shaped bread to Sinbad the publicans satyr fantasies doesnt solve all the films problems and, an hour in, it can get a little tedious, more seaside postcard than sensual symbolism. The problem is, the play is a looping mass of lusty private longings, and Allen struggles to translate that into a solid cinematic story. Yet its full of engaging details, as oddball sequences parade in popping colours through striking Pembrokeshire scenery. Allen also makes smart use of Charlotte Churchs star wattage as village good-time girl Polly Garter, shoehorning in a Hollywood-style ballad to add glamour to the eccentric gaiety. Worth the seat price alone, however, is Rhys Ifans, veteran of Allens long-ago Trainspotting-lite comedy 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Twin Town. Ifans mellifluous, unshowy narration and restrained performance as blind dreamer Captain Cat make the ripe language leap suddenly to life. THE VERDICT: Kevin Allen and Rhys Ifans colourful, carnal but careful reboot ensures that Thomas richly-written dreamscape doesnt go for a Burton. And welsh warbler Charlotte Church finds herself in good company Director: Kevin Allen Starring: Rhys Ifans, Charlotte Church, William Thomas, Julian Lewis Jones Theatrical release: 30 October 2015 Kate Stables

Mark Neveldine breaks away from 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Crank collaborator Brian Taylor for his first solo directorial effort, and it lacks the creativity of the filmmaking partnership that made his name. In fact, this bland, run-of-the-mill horror, in which Michael Peas priest engages two Vatican exorcists to help save a young woman possessed with an evil spirit, is remarkable only for somehow being the latest in a long line of generic horror films still following the exact template and tropes laid down by 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Exorcist 40 years ago. As such, the power of Christ is the only thing compelling here. Director: Mark Neveldine Starring: Michael Pena, Dougray Scott, Kathleen Robertson, Djimon HounsouTheatrical release: 30 October 2015 Matt Looker

Banned in 2010 from filmmaking by the Iranian regime for anti-Islamic propaganda, director Jafar Panahi has since devised ingenious ways of circumventing the ayatollahs prohibition. In the latest, he adopts the profession of taxi driver and, with a dash-mounted camera, uses his various passengers a conservative loudmouth, an injured workman and his hysterical wife, two superstitious women and their precious goldfish as devices to comment on his situation, and that of Iran. He leaves us to guess whether these encounters are staged, while masking his own anger with subversive humour. Director: Jafar Panahi Starring: Jafar Panahi Theatrical release: 30 October 2015 Philip Kemp

A newly single gay man sets out to sound less like a stereotype in a provocative documentary that asks where the so-called gay voice came from and whether it can ever be gotten rid of. Drawing on everything from Truman Capote and Liberace to Disneys parade of supercilious villains, journalist David Thorpe juxtaposes testimony from George Takei, David Sedaris and others with his own half-hearted attempts to straighten out his larynx. The result is an engaging yet self-conscious film that spends so much time tiptoeing around its subject that it ends up forgetting what it originally wanted to say. Director: David Thorpe Starring: David Thorpe, David Sedaris, Dan Savage, Margaret Cho, Tim Gunn, George Takei Theatrical release: 30 October 2015 Neil Smith

Classic hip-hop fashion wasnt just about my Adidas, although as this fascinating and quirky documentary about raps threads stresses, being fresh taking a pride and swagger in your appearance started from the feet up. (In an era where Bronx-dwellers could be killed for their sneakers, the opening question Whats your size? was to be avoided at all costs.) Here, the likes of Nas and Kanye reminisce, while legendary Harlem designer Dapper Dan explains how hed illegally customise his clothes with established brands like Louis Vuitton: I blackenised it I made it look good on us. Director: Sacha Jenkins Starring: Nas, Kanye West, Jay Z Theatrical release: 30 October 2015 Ali Catterall

Had fun? Check out some of our other quizzes. Here's one about 澳洲幸运5开奖号码𓂃历史查询:How well d✃o you really know Star Wars? And another about 澳洲幸运5开奖号🎀码历史查询:How well do you re🌟ally know video game logos? Have fun!

Buoyed and emboldened by the worldwide success of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Skyfall, the tireless Sam Mendes and the fearless Daniel Craig go hell for leather in a film that practically fizzes with brio, even at points when its circuitous plot comes perilously close to unravelling. If, as many suspect, it will be the last Bond for both of them, they can at least depart confi🅘dent they have left it all on the fie🎐ld and are leaving the series stronger than how they found it.

Mendes sets his stall out early on with a stunning Touch Of Evil-style tracking shot that begins high above the heads of a gargantuan Mexico City Day of the Dead parade before zeroingജ in on a skull-masked 007. Weaving in and out of the legions of ghoulishly ma꧋de-up revellers, incoming DoP Hoyte Van Hoytema follows Craig up stairs, down hallways and out on a ledge in a sequence so fluid you can barely spot the joins.

Then the fun really starts: a deluge of falling masonry sends Bond and his quarry back onto the streets and into the air in a loop-the-looping chopper. As pre-titles sequences go, it’s the equal of any that has gone before it – and that includes the ski-jump gotcha from 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Spy Who Loved Me.

Back in London, Bond’s rogue mission has set the cat among the𝓰 pigeons. M’s MI6 is at risk of being subsumed by an umbrella outfit run by the oily C (Andrew Scott) and can ill afford to let its chief assassin go AWOL. Bond, however, has other ideas, not to mention a Tolkien-esque ring whose octopus engraving points to some seriously sinister shenanigans. So off to Rome he pops, there to seduce a widow (Monica Bellucci, age-appropriate yet criminally underused) with information to impart on a certain acronymic syndicate…

Mendes’ film is at its most atmospheric here. A clandestine gathering of Spectre bigwigs in a gothic Roman palazzo exuding all the brooding menace of an 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Eyes Wide Shut sex orgy. Oddly, though, the nocturnal car chase that follows fails to stir the blood, hampered as it is by an incongr🀅uously jaunty tone and the sneaking suspicion that, even with man-mountain Dave Bautista at the wheel of the Jaguar chasing Craig’s Aston Martin along Rome’s cobbled thoroughfares, there isn’t much at stake.

Things quickly improve when the action moves to Austria, where Bond has a chilly encounter with old adversary Mr White (Jesper Christensen, finally making good on the promise of his all too fleeting cameos in 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Casino Royale and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Quantum Of Solace). From this point on there’s nary a let-up. A dust-up on the slopes involving one wingless plane and three 4x4s leads seamlessly to train-based fisticuffs straight out of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:From Russia With Love, an explosive desert cꦦonfrontation, and a denouement involving a familiar place in unfamiliar shape.

Ok, so sparks don’t exactly fly between Craig and eventual leading lady Lea Seydoux – or, for that matter, between Craig and Christoph Waltz, dismayingly bland as an overly genteel adversary whose primary beef, once revealed, verges on the petulant. (It does lead to a doozy of a torture scene, though.) Dovetailing Spectre’s plot with those of Craig’s previous Bonds ꧒is a dubious move, while the edifice that houses Scott’s Centre of National Security resembles nothing so much as Stark Tower.

The influence of Marvel is felt elsewhere too: a plan to combine the world’s intelligence capabilities into one all-seeing, all-knowing supersnoop bears striking similarities to 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Only Bautista makes the crossover unscathed, this Guardian Of The Galaxy projecting the kind of brutish physical threat that – like the Rolls Royce Phantom that pops up in one scene – brings back happy memories of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Goldfinger’s Oddjob.

Craig, for his part, tempers his customary steely determination with a welcome lightness of touch (a scene in which he interrogates a mouse – the idea, one suspects, of co-writer Jez Butterworth – would have been unimaginable back in the doleful days of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Quantum), while Ralph Fiennes’ M has some ace bants with Scott over their respective code names. The real delight, though, is Ben Whishaw, whose donnish Q is given much more to do this time around and inflects his scenes with a 𒉰deliciously offbeat energy.

Consequently, with a multi-million dollar salary, a share in the box office and the promise of starring in any two non-Bond films ဣof his own choosing, Connery would be convinced to make a one-time only comeback with 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever. The result was a box office blockbuster (in comparison to the commercial apathy that greeted On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) and that, it would seem, was that. Roger Moore and his perpetually-raised right eyebrow made his debut with Live And Let Die in 1973 and Bond continued to enthral subsequent generations.💯..

Yet, there was just one problem: when Ian Fleming released his novel of Thunderball in 1961 it was adapted from a story for a potential Bond movie which had been co-written by independent producer Kevin McClory and his screenwriter friend Jack Whittingham. Having found themselves uncredited in the final book, McClory took Fleming to court, resulting in a settlement. McClory would produce the film adaptation of Thunderball (released in 1965) and, for ten ye▨ars, agree not to bring the story to the big screen again. To his credit, McClory played ball – but when Eon saw an advertisement in Variety, on 12 May 1976, proclaiming that a remake of Thuಌnderball called James Bond Of The Secret Service was now in pre-production, all hell broke loose.

🎉Inevitably, lengthy legal proceedings followed amid rumours that none other than Connery, who had bemoaned his treatment by Eon, was slated to appear. “Before I put my nose into anything, I want to know it is legally bona fide,” teased the superstar Scotsman in a 1978 interview. McClory claimed that he owned the rights to the franchise’s perennially villainous organisation SPECTRE, having invented them for Thunderball. The immediate effect was a𓄧 drastic rewrite of Moore’s next outing The Spy Who Loved Me, which was scheduled to highlight the ultimate battle between Bond and Blofeld.

As press interest in the legal battle between Eon and McClory went into overdrive,ജ eagle-eyed reporters managed to spot Connery scouting for locations in New York. Fresh rumours arose that the Tartan-treasure was going to be directing instead of starring, although the ex-007 was remaining tight-lipped. Alas, as the court battles dragged on, come 1980 even Connery had admitted defeat, proclaiming that any sort of return to his career-defining mythology was “clearly not on the🤡 cards”.

You can imagine the surprise when McClory – with distribution backing from Warner Bros – finally got the legal greenlight to do a new version o🤪f Thunderball, now dubbed Never Say Never Again. The film got its title from Sean Connery’s wife Micheline. When her husband told her Diamonds Are Forever would mark his retirement from all things Bond she replied, “Never say never…” Connery clearly remembered those words when it came to his comeback.

Directed by Irvin Kershner, then fresh from the success of The Empire Strikes Back, and starring Connery himself, this was, surely, going to be the big screen event of 1983. Well, that was the plan... “I felt that I was in a vice a lot of the time, put it that way,” stated Kershner when SFX caught up with him shortly before his death in November 2010. “While I was working on the script, and then when we began shooting, we had to be really careful about the legal consequences of using the Bond name. Someone would say, ‘No, you cannot do that.’ My 𝕴producer was always in court and he would come back to me and say, ‘Now this needs to be changed, we cannot get away with it.’ There were many things I wanted to do 🍃on that film which got thrown out. We originally filmed a prologue and even that was cut. The film got simpler as a result, which is a bit of a shame because I wanted a couple of scenes in there that would be very shocking to Bond fans. It was a very difficult film.”

Indeed, originally Never Say Never Again was a different beast altogether. Initially titled Warhead, the film began life as an outlandish fantasy epic, with SPECTRE obtaining a horde of nuclear weapons and holing them up in a lavish sea-base situated underneath the Statue of𓄧 Liberty. The fiendish group planned to u🦄nleash a robotic hammerhead shark, armed with a bomb, in order to start World War Three (yes, really). Unfortunately, the unintentional similarities to The Spy Who Loved Me meant that any stories of aquatic anarchy were soon shelved.

Instead, having to stick closely to the promise of a straightforward Thunderball adaptation, fans expecting an all-out Bond adventure – with gregarious gadgets, garish credits, grand theme ballads and gurning villains – were in for a sour experience. Never Say Never Again was based upon Bond’s search for some rogue nuclear missiles, thought to have been nabbed by SPECTRE. We'll see how 🐼澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:new Bond handles the updated Spectre organisation this October. Wꦰhile some of the old ♈Bond sexiness was provided by Playboy cover girl Barbara Carrera and future A-lister Kim Basinger, Never Say Never Again was a 007 epic that was distinctly light on the thrills and spills...

“Although Sean was easy to work with, and still brilliant as Bond, I had to shoot the film in six countries and keep everything straight and legally in line,” maintained Kershner. “Cubby Broccoli and Eon tried to stop the production of Never Say Never Again every single day. Not a morning w✱ent by but we were not in the courts in London. They kept saying, ‘You cannot make this because we have a huge stake in this character’ but the Thunderball book was owned by two people so they couldn’t actually stop us as long as we stuck to the source. So they kept very close tabs on us. They knew the script and they did not want anything that resembled their version of Thunderball – even though it was the same book we were adapting! So I had to do some fancy footwork, which was very difficult. Broccoli even said, ‘You cannot shoot any parts of the book that we have already shot.’ Well that meant we would not be able to do the underwater sequences – and that was part of our film. So we had to settle that too. It just went on and on.”

In its overwhelming favour Never Say Never Again at least has Connery back on form, highlighting an ageing and insecure secret agent.“I had worked with Sean Connery years before on a film called A Fine Madness,” continued Kershner. “I remember when Sean first called me about the project. He said, ‘How would you like to do my last 007 movie?’ My first reaction was, ‘Wow, you are an old man now💙, Sean. Can you actually do this again?’ He laughed and said, ‘Yeah but that is the thing – it will have to be a different kind of film, much more psychology and less action.’ So I didn’t want to have Bond hanging from a helicopter with one arm and shooting people with the other [laughs]. We had to make sure that the scriܫpt indicated that Bond had come back from the sidelines to do this one special mission.”

Another plus for Never Say Never Again came in the form of some grounded villains. Austrian born Klaus Maria Brandauer is especially﷽ memorable as arch-misogynist Maximilian Largo – a sea-faring billionaire who masquerades as a charity philanthropist but is in fact SPECTRE’s number one honcho in underground arms deals. Blofeld, previously played by the likes of Telly Savalas and Donald Pleasence, is here given the subdued, and even gentlemanly, presence of Max von Sydow. Meanwhile, Barbara Carrera’s sadomasochistic sex-fiend Fatima Blush paves the way for such future 00ꦛ7 femme fatales as May Day in A View To A Kill and Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye.

“I loved the cast that we had,” added Kershner. “Max von Sydow and Barbara Carrera were wonderful and Klaus Maria Brandauer is an amazing actor with limitless depth. Unfortunately, he was very difficult to work with – although I think it was worth it. He played his role as normal as possible – wiꦑth a little humour but a visible deadly streak. We had our differences but I like what he did and I respected his efforts enormously. I wanted his character to be very contemporary so I chose a greedy businessman as our villain. Of course,💧 I didn’t realise how much of a forecast for the future this was [laughs].”

Released only four months after summer-smash Octopussy had done blockbuster business, Never Say Never Again would open to a Bond-breaking weekend gross. Even so, it was all downhill from there. Mixed critical reception, and the grudging acknowledgement that this was not a typical outing for everyone’s favourite undercover agent, resulted in Never Say Never Again failing to match the money of its Moore counterpart. Although by no means a flop (its theatrical take would remain unmatched by the three Bond outings wh💛ich followed) this attempt to one-up Eon lacked the sheer spectacle of the official 007 ep🦂ics.

“I did not🌱 want to refuse Sean when he asked me to make it but I was never actually a big fan of James Bond,” confided Kershner. “I saw some of them with my kids but this was not the sort of thing I ever wanted to make. And there were so many problems with Never Say Never Again. For 𒁃a start, Thunderball is not a very good book so we had to move away from that in as much, legally, as we could.

“Consequently it was difficult to get a good script. But once we began shooti🐬ng it was not challenging for Sean to resume his Bond persona. He was right there, he always knew the lines and he did what had to be done.”

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Click here for more excellent SFX articles. Or maybe you want to take advantage of some great offers on magazine subscriptions? You can 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:find them here.

^{Images © David Steen/Sygma/Corbis, courtesy the kobal collection}

This latest♕ snippet follows director Sam Mendes as he works his magic behind the camera. Also🗹 included are Daniel Craig as James Bond 007 along with fellow cast members Ralph Fiennes as M, Naomie Harris as Miss Moneypenny, and Ben Whishaw as Q.

Check out the clip in full, below:

"The reasons I’m doing the second Bond movie are the reasons I would do any movie, really, which is all to do with the story,” Mendes says in the above clip. “And in this movie, ‘Spectre,’ what you have is a movie entirely driven by Bond. He is on a mission f⭕rom the very beginning.”

It’s about whether or not to pursue the life he’s always pursued, whet🎀her he matters and is he going to continue or not. And you’re going to have to come to see the movie to find out whether he does.”

The tasty preview indicates we’ll be seeing a more mature Bond in SPECTRE, possessing what Mendes calls “a greater wisdom.” Well, he wouldn’t be 007 without brawn and brains.

Co-starring Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux and Monica Bellucci, SPECTRE is set to open worldwide on November 6, 2015.

For more on SPECTRE and other great movie news, subscribe to .

The new video shows Sam Mendes and crew filming an action sequence in Solden, Austria, with Daniel Craig's Bond getting his action on against a snowy, mountainside backdrop.

"This is going to be one of the major action sequences of the movie," says Associate Producer Gregg Wilson, "a jewel in the crown so to speak. It’s going to be spectacular and Austria seemed to offer everything that we needed to pull it off."

Take a look at the new footage, below...

Production Designer Dennis Gassner also chimes in, saying, "The thing that Sam and I talked about was how we are going to top Skyfall… I think that we are going to continue the history of the Bond films, making things that are exciting for the audience to look at and what could be more exciting than to be on top of the world?"

Directed by Mendes and co-starring Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes and Léa Seydoux, SPECTRE will open in the UK on 23 October 2015, and ꦫthe US on 6 November 2015.

Sam Mendes has been talking to US chat show host Charlie Rose about what attracted him back to the director's chair for Bond 24 , with the primary motivation seeming to be a sense of unfinished business.

"I started a number of stories that were incomplete," explains Mendes. "I cast a new M, I cast a new Moneypenny, I cast a new Q, I cast a new Tanner. I felt like there was a way to create the second part of a two-part story."

"And then I started to get re-interested again when they agreed to wait a little longer, and not go immediately and not go with two movies but with one, which I felt very strongly about."

Mendes goes on to confirm that while the next film won't pick up the narrative in such a direct way as did when following , it will very much represent a continuation of the themes and feel of .

"What we tried to do, and what audiences seemed to embrace in Skyfall was for the first time, characters were allowed to age," says Mendes, "and they were allowed to acknowledge the passing of the years, and could acknowledge the history in a kind of sly, mischievous way."

He then makes reference to the delighted reaction of a test audience to the reveal of the DB5, accompanied by the classic Bond theme, as the final push that made him want to be involved with the process all over again.

If we can look forward to more of the same as what was delivered in Skyfall , we should be in for a treat when Bond 24 opens in the UK on 23 October 2015.

In issue 214 of , Bond's brand new Miss Moneypenny, Naomie Harris, drops some tantalising hints about the future of 007.

Inside the issue - which is , Harris reveals that her first Bond film, , won't necessarily be her last, adding that Bond 24 could pick up threads left hanging by Skyfall .

“I feel like Skyfall is one part of a continuing 💮story,ꩵ" the 37-year-old Brit says. "It needs completing and it needs the same storyteller."

With Sam Mendes on board to direct Bond 24 , it looks like💎 Harris ꦗshould get her wish. Meanwhile, she's excited at the prospect of working with Daniel Craig again.

"I really got on with Daniel," she smiles. "It would be strange if someone else took the role. He's a brilliant Bond for our times. And I'm so relieved [ about Mendes returning ]. He chose me and had a vision for my characte🐓r.

"I'd feel really weird working for someone who hadn't chosen me and didn't have that vision. I jusဣt want him to see it through."

Bond 24 o pens in the UK on 23 October 2015.

For more from Naomie Harris, pick up the brand new issue of Total Film , which is out now , and includes an exclusive look at , , and many more exciting new movies .

Android users:

Filming on Bond 24 is , but Daniel Craig is already talking about how the film might be different from his previous spy excursions.

In conversation with Vulture , the actor expressed an interest in reclaiming "some of the old irony" of classic Bond for his fourth go around as 007.

“Hopefully we’ll reclaim some of the old irony,” he said, “and make sure it doesn’t become pastiche. I can’t do shtick, I’m not very good at it.

"Unless it kind of suddenly makes sense. Does that make sense? I sometimes wish I hammed it up more, but I just can’t do it very well, so I don’t do it.”

After the success of , we imagine Craig's feeling pretty confident about reteaming with director Sam Mendes for another adventure - could that mean he's looking to try new things with the character?

Some of the best stuff in Skyfall was the sly humour that was almost entirely missing from Quantum Of Solace . We'd definitely embrace more of that next time around.

John Logan is currently writing the script for Bond 24 , which will open in the UK on 23 October 2015.

director Sam Mendes has confirmed that he will not direct Bond 24 , according to the official .

Since the record-breaking success of James Bond’s 23rd movie outing, speculation has been rife that Mendes would jump back into the director’s chair for the next installment (or Bond 24 , as it’ll be known until it gets an official title).

It seems that Mendes’ theatre commitments are key factors in his decision not to return to the franchise, despite the fact that producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbra Broccoli evidently wanted him to return.

In a statement, Mendes said, “It has been a very difficult decision not to accept Michael and Barbara’s very generous offer to direct the next Bond movie.

“Directing Skyfall was one of the best experiences of my professional life, but I have theatre and other commitments, including productions of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and King Lear , that need my complete focus over the next year and beyond."

In a joint statement, Wilson and Broccoli added, “We thoroughly enjoyed working with Sam. He directed our most successful Bond movie ever, Skyfall . We would have loved to have made the next film with him but completely respect his decision to focus on other projects and hope to have the opportunity to collaborate with him again.”

In October 2012, Mendes spoke to Total Film of his reticence to direct another Bond film after Skyfall , explaining, “I think there’s a strong possibility that I put everything I ever wanted to put in a Bond movie into this movie.”

After his sterling work on (the highest-grossing British film in UK box office history, lest we forget), Sony / MGM have reportedly been desperate to re-sign Sam Mendes to direct the next Bond movie, and finally, it sounds as if they may be getting their wish.

According to The Daily Mail ’s Baz Bamigboye, Mendes is now “75% likely” to return to the director’s chair, having initially been sceptical about his ability to fit it into his busy schedule.

Mendes was also reportedly put off by the suggestion of the next episode being part of a two-film storyline, to be filmed back to back. That would have required around four years of the director’s time, a commitment he was unwilling to make.

However, it seems now that Bond 24 will be a standalone movie, and Mendes is in negotiations to thrash out a deal. What doesn’t seem likely is that Mendes will hit the targeted release date of Autumn 2014.

With various theatre commitments clogging up his schedule, Mendes would only be able to begin work on the film in January of next year, which would make the traditional October arrival a bit of a squeeze.

Still, we’d be more than happy to wait if it meant getting another Bond film of Skyfall ’s calibre. Over to you, Sam…

In our regular polarising-opinion series, Total Film Contributing Editor Neil Smith asks, 'Is it just me? ... or is Pierce Brosnan the Bond to beat them all?'

Back in , Richard Matthews made a decent claim for Timothy Dalton as the best Bond so far.

But he ignored the fact the Welshman was always just a transitional stop-gap for the 007 franchise: a last-minute replacement after Eon’s first choice was suddenly made unavailable for reasons neither party could control.

And who was this first choice of whom we speak? Why, Pierce Brendan Brosnan of course: an actor not just ideal for Bond, but the only one you can honestly say was born to play him.

Sean Connery had his doubters. Roger Moore had his. From the moment Brosnan was confirmed for , however, not one naysayer queried his casting. He looked right. He felt right.

And he had the perfect backstory, not just having missed out the first time around, but also having lost his very own Bond girl ( ’s Cassandra Harris) in the tragic interim.

According to Matthews, Pierce “aped Connery with a trace of Moore-ism smarm”. That seems a little reductive to me. Yes, Brosnan knew how to deliver a ’70s-era quip and a pun-laden innuendo. And he had no trouble either gear-shifting into lady-killing seducer, be he in a hotel suite, an ice palace or the driving seat of a DB5.

What he had that Roger didn’t, though, was a core of steel - an implacable resolve that made him a ruthless killing machine when the occasion required it.

When Moore or Connery took a life, there was usually a joke to make it palatable (“He got the point”, “Play it again, Sam” and so on). Yet when Pierce kills he does it in cold blood, without hesitation or (usually) a throwaway remark.

Not only that, but he’s perfectly prepared to do it even when his own life is not directly threatened. “Wait - I’m just a professional doing a job!” pleads Vincent Schiavelli’s Dr Kaufman in . “Me too,” answers Brosnan as he puts a bullet in his brain.

It’s an exchange that gets to the heart of Pierce’s Bond: a dedicated operative ready to do anything for the sake of the mission, with a work ethic that overrides any personal considerations.

Nothing peeves him more than being told he’s not up for a task, as he is in both and .

Nor is he a guy to crack under pressure, 14 months of torture in a North Korean prison constituting little more than a slight sartorial inconvenience.

True, Brosnan was let down by Die Another Day , with its CGI kite surfing and invisible car. Were it not for his virile charm and effortless elegance, however, the Bond series could well have withered on the vine long before that 2002 low point.

GoldenEye - no less than - reminded us how much we needed Bond and how much we miss him when he isn’t around. And it was Brosnan - smooth, deadly, unbeatable Brosnan - that gave him the all-important kiss of life. Or is it just me?

- the 23rd James Bond movie, and officially the biggest film of all time at the UK box office - will be hitting Blu-ray and DVD on 18 February 2013.

And we’ve got an exclusive look at new interactive Bond🎉 portal Skyfall Lodge.

To mark the release of SKYFALL on Blu-ray and DVD, explore 007's ancestral home in a new Bonꦰd interactive website and discover new SKYFALL images, concept art, videos and interviews! Watch previews of the extras and new behind the scenes footage that expla🤡ins how the Lodge was built (and destroyed).

Here's a full rundown of the special features that൲ you'll get with the discs:

Blu-ray Special Features:

Shooting Bond
• Intro
• Opening Sequence
• The Title Sequence
• 007
• Q
• DB5
• Women
• Villains
• Action
• Locations
• Music
• End Sequence
• M
• The Future

Skyfall Premiere

Commentaries
• Director Sam Mendes
• Producers Michael G. Wilson & Barbara Broccoli; Production Designer Dennis Gassner

Theatrical Trailer

DVD Extra Features:

Shooting Bond
• The Title Sequence
• DB5
• Women
• Locations

Skyfall is available on Blu-ray and DVD fr🧔oꦛm 18 February 2013.

Steven Spielberg is considered to be one of, if not, the best filmmaker of his generation, with the trilogy, , , and more under his belt, yet it seems there was one that got away.

During the press tour for his latest film, , Spielberg admitted he had been snubbed for Bond back in the '70s.

"I went to Cubby Broccoli and I asked if I could do one and he said: 'No'." Clearly, this knock didn't Spielberg's career but it does raise a mouthwatering 'What if?'

When pressed further, he added: "I’ve never asked again. Instead, I made the series." So, it's not all bad that he missed his chance to direct 007. Every cloud has its silver lining, we suppose…

Last year during an Entertainment Weekly Q & A for Super 8 (courtesy of ), Spielberg explained further why he would not direct the MI6 super spy. "When I started out as a TV director, my pie-in-the-sky dream was to make a little movie that would get some notoriety, and then [ the late Bond series producer ] Cubby Broccoli would call me and ask me to direct the next James Bond picture," he said. "But I could never get Cubby Broccoli to hire me - and now, sadly, they can’t afford me."

However, Spielberg still remains a fan of the franchise and admitted Sam Mendes had done a great job with the latest 007 adventure, . "I've 🌠seen it once and I'll see it a second time," he said.

While Sam Mendes has yet to confirm that he’ll be returning to direct another Bond film, the signs are looking increasingly promising that the helmer will take the reins on 007’s next outing.

According to long-term Bond screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, Mendes already has an idea in place for a potential follow-up, although they themselves will be leaving the franchise after a five-film residency.

“We’re very happy to have done five Bond movies,” said Wade in an official statement. “I think we’ve gotten it to a good place. I know that John Logan and Sam Mendes have come up with a plot for another one, which takes the pressure off because these films take up a lot of time.”

The duo worked on the scripts for all the Daniel Craig films, as well as and . They co-wrote Skyfall with Logan, giving them an opportunity to “go out on a high”.

Mendes has remained tight-lipped on his chances of returning, although with Skyfall smashing box office records left right and centre, we’d be surprised if Soꦡny let him go without a fight. And, given that 💮he's come up with the idea for Bond 24, it should at least have his fingerprints over it...

has scored the best Bond debut ever at the US box office, after opening with $87.8m (plus $2.2m from its Thursday IMAX opening).

The total surpassed the US debuts of Craig’s two previous outings as 007 by a comfortable margin ( opend with $67.5m), no doubt assisted by the wave of Bond 50 nostalgia, the overwhelmingly positive reviews, and the Olympics cameo.

Skyfall now sits on a very healthy worldwide total of $500m, meaning it’s not an impossible feat to best the current Bond box-office champ, with currently topping the podium with $599m.

James Bond’s 23rd adventure has already stormed the UK box office, and is currently the year’s highest-grossing film in that territory.

Elsewhere in the US box-office charts, and managed to drop only 33 per cent and 39 per cent respectively, taking $33.1m and $15.1m to round out the top 3.

Read our .

flirted with a Sean Connery cameo, according to director Sam Mendes in an interview with .

Be warned that this story contains minor spoilers for Skyfall .

As unlikely as it sounds, it seems the return of the original James Bond was considered (as if there wasn’t enough 50th anniversary nostalgia in the film as it stands).

Although it would have meant the actor would have to take a retirement-sabbatical, Connery’s name was mentioned in connection with the Albert Finney role.

When THP asked Mendes if there was any thought of approaching Connery for the role of Kincade, the gamekeeper on Bond’s Scottish family estate, the director responded:

“There was a definite discussion about that - way, way early on. But I think that's problematic. Because, to me, it becomes too... it would take you out of the movie. Connery is Bond and he's not going to come back as another character. It's like, he's been there.

“So, it was a very brief flirtation with that thought, but it was never going to happen, because I thought it would distract.”

As smile-inducing as thought of Connery returning to the franchise is, we have to agree with Mendes on this one. It’d have been a meta-step too far.

Skyfall is currently smashing box-office records in the UK, and will open in the US on 9 November 2012.

Read our official .

has not only been an astonishing critical success, but it would seem as though UK cinemagoers are dead keen on it too, as it smashed another box-office record.

Already the holder of the , Skyfall has now been confirmed as the biggest ever seven-day gross for any film at the UK box office. Yep, it even pipped (no mean feat).

It would seem as if the combination of great reviews and nostalgia for Bond’s 50th anniversary has created something of an unstoppable force. And it’s hard to picture any of this week’s new releases (as good as might be), toppling 007 from the top of the chart.

Producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said, “We are very grateful to the Bond fans and all UK cinema audiences for making Skyfall the biggest opening week ever during our 50th anniversary year.”

Skyfall is in UK cinemas now (obviously), and opens in the US on 9 November 2012😼.

Read our .

Daniel Craig has categorically ruled out the possibility of starring in a two-part James Bond adventure.

Rumours surfaced that screenwriter John Logan was working on , but Craig denied that was the plan in a video interview with German site .

Asked if 007’s next adventure would be a two-parter, Craig responded: “No, I don’t know where that’s come from.

“It’s impossible to do a two-parter. I heard that, that someone was talking about that we’re doing a two-parter, but that’s the first I’ve heard about it.

“We can only do them one at a time. They take six months to shoot. It’s [ impossible ].

“You can’t write one movie thinking about the next, so all we’re trying to do at the moment is get the next one sorted out, and that will stand alone, and if I’m able I’ll do another one after that.”

Skyfall is in UK🌳 cinemas now, and opens in the US on 9 November 2012.

Read our .

We’re opening this feature on something that any self-respecting Bond fan (hell, even any movie fan in general, and their dog) will have seen. But be warned, there are some HUGE spoilers to follow.

These 50 Best Moment features are designed to go in-depth on the experience of watching the best films of the year - to remind you of bits you enjoyed, or highlight stuff you might have missed first time out, to encourage you to see it a second time.

So if you haven’t seen Skyfall , leave now (and don’t even think about reading the comments section), and return once you’ve caught up with James Bond’s 23rd (official) adventure.

Still with us? Then we look forward to going in-depth on the greatest bits that Skyfall had to offer (and there were plenty). And as ever, we’d like to hear about your favourite moments in the comments.

So, to kick things off, we’ll go for a moment that played in countless trailers, TV spots and celebratory GIFs before Skyfall was released but was still worthy of an emphatic round of applause from the cinema stalls.

James Bond, in hot pursuit of Patrice (Ola Rapace), has just torn half a carriage off the back of a train (using a digger), and leaps onto the locomotive to continue his pursuit.

So, the stunt’s pretty impressive, but the killer detail comes when Bond checks his cufflink, just after landing, without missing a beat.

Put simply, Bond doesn’t do anything without doing it with impeccable style.

There’s a long acknowledged rule that Bond actors really get 🌠comfortable in the r𒐪ole in their third film, and Daniel Craig has never seemed quite so 007 as he does here.

Credits Sequence

Right, we’re moving into spoiler territory here, so it’s your last chance to bail if you haven’t seen Skyfall yet…

The credits sequence has become a customary Bond, as much a part of the experience as the gun barrel standoff, the power tux, and the ‘Bond, James Bond’ introduction.

Quantum Of Solace was a quantifiable disappointment, lacking many items from the Bond checklist, without being coherent enough to work as a standalone action thriller. Its credit sequence was poorly served by an odd song selection (not a terrible song per se, but not really Bond) and a lack of decent imagery to draw on.

With Adele’s single returning the franchise’s music to form, we had high hopes for an opening salvo to match, and we weren’t disappointed.

The familiar musical keys throb in the background, while Adele’s sizeable vocals hark back to the classic Bond tracks of yore. A contemporary update on a classic franchise staple, the song neatly encapsulates Skyfall ’s modus operandi - giving Bond a service and tune-up, rather than a complete overhaul.

With Bond’s watery crash serving as the ideal intro to the subaquatic sequence, the imagery that’s thrown up - stags at Skyfall lodge, Chinese dragons, art deco skulls, flames, halls of mirrors, shadowy villains - hints heavily at plot turns, without actually spoiling anything for first timers.

And that bleeding Bond-shaped shooting-range target, it’s a very prescient recurring image. And it looks damn cool.

It’s tell💝ing that the sequence wraps up on a close-up of Bond’s ice-blue eye. Cold, yet seductive, this one’s going to dig deep.

Headmasters Quarters

Our first introduction to Ralph Fiennes’ new character, Mallory, sees Judi Dench’s M receiving the kind of dressing down she’s used to being on the dispensing end of.

Telling her loyal sidekick Tanner (see next page) that she feels like she’s being called to the headmaster’s quarters, the scene attests to the seriousness of M’s mistake - the loss of a hard drive containing the names of every undercover MI6 agent on active service.

Fiennes is such a apposite cast-member that it makes you wonder why he didn’t join the franchise earlier.

Owning the scene, he makes it impossible to tell if Mallory’s a bull-headed bureaucrat𓆉, a decent♐ chap, or an enemy within. One thing’s clear though: his voluntary redundancy offer makes it clear that M’s on shaky ground.

Rory Kinnears Tanner

Spare a moment for the little guy. The quiet one who’s never going to have a shot at active field duty. The most dangerous part of his day is probably when he pours boiling water over M’s teabags.

But credit to the Bond team for hiring Rory Kinnear, an actor of considerable Shakespearean talents, for making Tanner meek, but not entirely detestable.

He delivers some ‘Basil Exposition’ lines with conviction, and is the perfect as t🧜he other side of Bond’s lantern-jawed bemuscled secret agent. And despite being a des🦩k jockey, he’s not an absolute drip, and gets to show real concern for Dench’s M in a couple of key scenes.

Nightswimming

This one made the list, simply because it revisits a Bond staple that only came into being during Craig’s tenure: the trunks shot.

Cutting a striking figure in his baby blues in Casino Royale , Craig’s impressive body gave a previously neglected 50% share of the audience something to gawp at. Admittedly, former Bond's had sported trunks, but none so strikingly as Craig.

And it became so iconic, that a scene of Bond swimming (in a pool located magnificently above the Shanghai skyline) is crowbarred into a mission.

Well, who doesn’t like a quick dip to sharpen their senses before facing a profess💯ional assassin?

Escalator Surfing

A small but key moment in the London Underground pursuit sequence, with Bond and Silva hurtling themselves down the escalator equivalent of the central reservation.

Not only does it add to the intensity of the chase scene (Bond flings himself down there with gusto, and barely keeps his footing as he flies off the endpoint), but as a classic piece of wish-fulfilment for impatient commuters, it’s right up there with the escalator slide in Getting Even With Dad (not the only Macauley Culkin parallel to be drawn with Skyfall , you’ll see).

Next time we’re shuffling behind t🧸he braindead hordes towards the Victoria Line, we’re going to be sorely tempted to try this one out.

Your New Quartermaster

Ben Whishaw’s appointment as Q was a crowdpleasing one. Not only did it confirm that Skyfall would be harking back to the golden years of Bond, it made it clear it would be revisiting the classic staples on its own terms.

Meeting Bond in London’s National Gallery, Q makes some pointed comments about a painting depicting “an old warship being hauled off for scrap”, and sparks fly between the surly secret agent and his young, spotty go-to gadget guy.

Craig’s Bond is known for his ‘lone wolf’ temperament, but as this scene illustrates, he’s great fun when sparking with an antagonist. And the conversation wraps Skyfall into a nutshell: the ongoing conflict between the old and the new.

And it’s nice to see Craig get a bit a of cool kit to play with, even if Q branch don’t go in for exploding pens anymore…

Enjoying Death

You can interpret Bond’s symbolic death in a number of ways, but, however you look at it, it’s a bit of a shock to see your protagonist shot off a ridiculously high bridge before the credits roll.

A rare opportunity for Bond to go off the radar, his exotic, opportunistic sabbatical affords him the time for some angry, anonymous cabin sex, the occasional beer, and a scorpion drinking game that most gap-year students would baulk at.

Right from the off, director Sam Mendes presents us with a Bond who can’t be bothered to go back to work. Stripping him of his tailored suits, peppering him with stubble, and loading his eyes with the baggage of a career’s worth of doubt, it’s a rare look at an unpolished Bond.

After 50 years in the game, does Bond still want to do it? And are his services required any longer? It takes a stark news report to snap✅ him back into action.

Hard Decisions

In Istanbul, Bond wanders into to a dingy apartment, dead bodies leak the red stuff all over the floor, and an MI6 agent sits in an armchair, gasping his last.

Highlighting a rarely-surfaced compassion for a colleague, Bond applies pressure to his partner’s wound, before M orders him to leave in order to trail the stolen hard drive.

Knowing what the decision will mean for the agent, Bond recommends staying, but M stands firm in her decision: demonstrating the kind of cold calculation that’s evidently got her to the top tier of MI6.

As we’ll see again in Skyfall , M doesn’t shy away from tough decisions, and rarely lets emotion get in the way🐬 of a job.

Kick My Face

A simple moment, but one that’s almost comical in the immense amount of satisfaction it provides.

Following Silva across the long grass of his family’s estate, Bond refuses to let a generic henchman stand in his way, leaping into a flying kick to the face without missing a beat.

Fast, ruthless, efficient, it’s a showcase f🍸or the physicality of Craig’s 007.

M In The Dock

Cranking up the tension to a crescendo at the midway point, Mendes crafted a nail-biting sequence for any viewer thinking that Skyfall might be Judi Dench’s last franchise appearance (pretty much all of us, then).

Helen McCrory’s curt MP doesn’t stand on ceremony for the queen of the series, even in the year of her golden jubilee, “You’ll forgive us for not putting up the bunting.”

Putting Dench on the backfoot only ups the pressure, as instant messages warn Tanner of the imminent threat.

We could have done without the Tennyson reading, but the sight of Bond anxiously sprinting towards the courthouse (thrusting his knees in a manner rarely seen outside of the Mission: Impossible franchise), is enough for even the most stoic Brit👍 to get a lump in their throat.

Hitting The Bottle

Much was made of the filmmakers’ promotional pact with lager giant Heineken, but thankfully, the product placement was kept subtle, with Craig’s Bond fortunately spared going full Wayne’s World . In fact, during the one early sequence in which he does swig from the green bottle, his hand obscures the label.

Throw in a couple more sly references - the stocked chiller in the Shanghai bar, the London Underground ads - and it seems like a pretty fair trade for the amount that was contributed to the budget.

And it wasn’t only lager that Bond swills during the running time. At his lowest ebb, he takes part in a exotic drinking game (scorpion chaser optional), and shares a Macalllan whisky with M in her apartment. The highland single malt hints at Bond’s to-be-revealed origins, and provides a link to the shooting game Silva will later entangle Bond in.

And, it wouldn’t be a proper golden anniversary celebration for Bond if he didn’t down his signature martini, but rather than repeating the instructions, we simply see the waitress shaking the cocktail, before decanting it into a chilled glass. “Perfect.”

Throw i🎉n a couple of bottles of Bollinger and you’ve got your🔜self a party.

Mallory Down

For a man who spends most of his scenes pushing pens around a stately desk, it doesn’t take long for Mallory to spring into action, and he even takes a bullet to the shoulder for his trouble.

Recalling Mallory’s infrequently mentioned fieldwork earlier in his career (spending time at the hands of the IRA), it’s a brief, immediate reminder of hidden depths to a character who could have easily been one-note.

His involvement in the shoot-out also had us thinking that, 15 years ago, English Patient -era Fiennes could have been a appropriate candidate for the Ja𒅌mes Bond𒁏 role himself.

Beneath The Ice

The second frozen lake set-piece of the year (after Rust And Bone ), Bond’s slippery grapple with a henchman is worlds away from the invisible car chase in Die Another Day , and all the better for it.

In honesty, it’s suspenseful enough when Bond takes a gentle jog across the surface, before his run-in with Silva’s goon. Opting to do things the difficult way, 007 blasts himself and his rival into the icy deep, before besting him with a rather impressive leg-to-neck strangle.

Cool, efficient, resourceful… and brutal in the face of adversity. That’s the Bond⛦ we know.

House On Fire

It’s a brave move, giving your decades-old character a whiff of a backstory, before burning his heritage to the ground, but it makes for one hell of a spectactle.

A neat twist on the classic ‘villain’s lair showdown’, Skyfall brings the trouble home to Bond. Destroying the vintage lodge carries a much more weight than seeing a tech-heavy hideout going down.

And, quite frankly, the whole spectacle looks glorious on theꦚ big screen, as Bond’s improvised explosive blows away the ghosts of his past and the flames rise and a helicopter gets pulled into the carnage.

Patrices Lethal Weapon

We can’t have been the only ones to notice this, intentional or otherwise, can we?

The Bond series isn’t unfamiliar with phallic imagery (c’mon, you could write reams on the silencer alone), but even by it’s own standards there’s something breathtakingly bizarre about the automatic weapon Patrice (Ola Rapace) defends himself with during the Istanbul market shootout (unfortunately not pictured above).

Below the pistol’s barrel hang two round ammo-cartridges, and the imagery is pretty much unmistakeable. Bond must’ve felt pretty insecure with his PPK in that particular standoff.

Or do we just have too much time on our hands?

Hall Of Mirrors

Mirrors play a key role in Skyfall (something we’re more used to saying about artsy dramas than rock-solid blockbusters); hinted at in the opening sequence and utilised by Albert Finney’s Kincade during the siege, the pinnacle comes during Bond’s Shanghai showdown with Patrice.

Stalking the barely-lit, neon-tinged top floor, Bond aims to get the jump on the assassin by stealthing up behind him, and the glassy workspace is transferred into a veritable hall of mirrors.

It’s a credit to Mendes that he has the confidence to take his time with this scene, as it plays out in connection with a Rear Window assassination. But as Mendes has Roger Deakins’ cinematography to luxuriate over, we’re glad he doesn’t rush through it.

And the shadowplay ties nicely into a recurrent theme throughout the movie (not least when M describes the whereabouts of the contemporary threats the 00 unit has to deal with).

Best looking Bond ever? You bet.

MI6 Explosion

If Skyfall got anything right, it’s villainy was bang on, as encapsulated by this attack on MI6. Fresh from her bollocking from Mallory, M’s on her way back to headquarters when her car’s stopped on a bridge, giving the grumpy madam a scant few seconds to complain before she sees her office blown sky high (thankfully, the bulldog table decoration survives the blast).

The attack marks a rare occurrence in the Bond universe, wher𝓡🍬ein the upper ranks of MI6 are targeted. The specifity of the attack affords the franchise a welcome change of pace. No grand schemes. This time, it’s personal.

Analyse This

Bond’s fractured psyche has been a key selling point of the Craig-era movies, but never so consciously as in the scene in which Bond, on returning to duty is psychoanalysed by Nicholas Woodeson’s Doctor Hall.

One of the things we loved about this scene - as well as getting a taste of Bond’s flinty sense of humour - is that it plays out rather differently than it did in the trailer, which is always a nice surprise for the cinema if you’ve played out the promos ad nauseam before the film comes out.

Here, Bond’s closing line ‘Done!’, suggests he’s finished with the interview as the topic of Skyfall comes up, whereas the manner of the trailer’s edit suggested he was saying 'Skyfall' was 'completed'.

It was a bit harsh that the🦄 first word that came to Bond’s mind when he heard ‘M’ was ‘Bitch,’ though. But she still clears him for duty, so she's obviously not too greatly offended.

Resurrection

When asked what his hobby is, Bond responds, “Resurrection.” Fitting, not only because he does make a return from the dead in Skyfall (after an extended holiday), but it marks one of the key attributes that has seen the character survive the harsh, changeable tastes of the multiplex for half a century.

Bond’s arguably been reborn five times during the course of the official series, and will doubtless get another go around the block after Daniel Craig moves on.

It’s a bold move to draw attention to this facet of the character so candidly in Skyfall , but as the film reinvigora⛄tes classic Bond for a new era, it’s a move that pays off.

Motorcycle Leap

Bond’s never been one to shy away from audacious stunts, and when he really needs to catch a train in Instanbul, he chooses the only sensible option available: launching himself off the side of a bridge, using the momentum from his motorcycle.

If it wasn’t for the stunt team, this could’ve easily looked silly. But instead, it adds an insanely cool action beat into an a🎃lready jam-packed opening.

Ms F-Bomb

Judi Dench’s M made a trademark of her tough-talking, no-nonsense schtick (the “sexist, misogynist dinosaur” line from GoldenEye introduced her with flair), and before she croaks her last in Skyfall , she gets to drop the franchise’s first F-bomb.

“I fucked this up, didn’t I?” There’s something quite touching about the moment when M drops her guard in front of Bond, after putting on a tough façade for seven franchise entries, across 17 years.

And, y’know, high-five for getting that F-bom🧸b in th🧸ere!

A Close Shave

Despite a fairly limited amount of joint screentime, plenty of sparks fly between Bond and Eve.

The sexual chemistry between the pair works itself up into a lather when the future Miss Moneypenny (well, the present Miss Moneypenny, we guess) drops in to Bond’s Macau hotel room to assist him with his cut-throat shave. As the pair agree, some things are best done the old-fashioned way.

A tantalising blend of dangerous, dominant and sexy, you could cut the atmosphere as easily as Eve could sever Bond’s jugular.

And she makes a deft job of shooing off Bond’s wandering hands, which will come in handy fꩲor that desk 💜job she takes up at the end of the film.

For Her Eyes Only

One of several knowing nods to 007’s movie heritage, Bond’s request for confidentiality raises a smile, as a congenial reminder of a Roger Moore installment.

Following Bond’s introspective self-surgery (plucking shrapnel from his chest in another scene that plays heavily on mirror imagery), the drop-off at the ad-hoc lab in MI6’s new digs further adds to the feeling of the threat being closer to home than ever before.

On top of all that, the line creates an oddly familial relationship between Bond and hi🍸s ma’am, and hints at how high up this conspiracy goes at MI6. The chips really are down.

Enter The Dragon

Another nod to Moore-era Bond comes during Bond’s face-off with a Macau casino goon, when the scrappers tumble off a decorative bridge and into a dragon pit.

Again, Mendes cleaves close to classic 007 (villains tend to have a taste for audacious pets), but manages to stay just on the right side of believable (these are Komodo dragons, not laser-firing sharks).

Adding a reptilian frisson of tension into an otherwise gritty mix, Mendes plays the moment for drama, before reminding us of the singularly terrifying stunt carried out by Ross Kananga in Live And Let Die , when the crocodile o🅠wner sprinted across the backs of a bunch of ❀his own farmed crocs.

Underground Explosion

Bond’s frantic chase across the London Underground in pursuit of Silva incorporates a host of great bits, but the culmination is something special.

The first half of the chase is rivetingly real. Yeah, OK, so the type of train might not match the underground line, but in all reasonable respects, the sequence is frighteningly familiar, hurtling through a location that’s all too recognisable (it also adds to the fact that, coming in the same year as the London Olympics, the feels like possible the most British-set Bond movie ever).

So it’s down to the final standoff of the set-piece to take things epic again. Following Silva’s shadow into a disused section of the tube system, Bond soon finds himself on the unfortunate end of a wayward tube train.

And as if launching a train at your enemy isn’t harsh enough already, Silva throws salt on the wound by making a callback jibe to Bond’s earlier comment about good old-fashioned radio technology.

Credit is due to Chris Corbould’s miniature work here, as the end result is anything but small.

Target Practise

The most significant sequence in Bond’s back-to-work assessment comes when he’s faced with the hanging paper target at the shooting range.

Stubbled, red-eyed and kitted out in a standard issue tracksuit, Bond’s not looking his as he squares up to the half-body facing him down. Rather than obliterating it RoboCop-style, our man fails to strike the target, and it doesn’t get much better when he marches towards the target, firing in frustration.

It’s rare the 007 is unable to hit the target, and it’s a marked contrast with the near-invincible agent we’ve come to know over the years (he didn’t even sustain a broken bone until The World Is Not Enough ).

It’s a fresh coat of vulnerability 🐟for the superspy, which was neatly foreshadowed in the opening sequence.

Home Alone

Setting up an action climax that’s both intimate and epic, Skyfall flips the Bond formula to shoot the ending on home turf.

Gone are the giant satellites, nuclear weapons and grand schemes, and in are two OAPs helping Bond fashion makeshift weapons out of the detritus littering Bond’s family pad (well, former family pad, considering it was sold off on his presumed death).

We already mentioned that another Macauley Culkin movie was invoked, and here Skyfall goes a bit Home Alone , and it’s all the better for it.

M’s lightbulb nailbombs are a masterstroke, and Kincade’s sawn-off shotgun packs a considerable punch.

Maybe it’s because M’s impending death had our emotions running high, but the Skyfall lodge showdown had a genuine﷽ ‘last stand’ quality, with the kind of heft that you rarely get in a multi-installment franchise, let alone one on its 23r⛄d outing.

The Effects Of Cyanide

It’s tricky, when it comes to Bond villains. We’ve come to expect some sort of flamboyant flourish, a trademark affectation that marks them out from your standard bad guy, and gives them an almost cartoony edge. It was that darn white cat that got the ball rolling.

While Casino Royale pitched it just right, with La Chiffre weeping bloody tears, Quantum Of Solace went for a ‘naked’ villain, and it turned out that eco-villainy on its own was just a bit boring.

Skyfall redresses the balance with Silva. When Javier Bardem came onboard, we thought the blond frightwig would be his key physical attribute, when in fact he reveals that a failed suicide attempt while facing torture lefts his insides in tatters.

Removing the false teeth that hold his face together, Silva’s cheek collapses into an almost zombiefied hollow. The slightly dodgy CGI doesn’t detract from the overall power of the scene, and it’s an impressive way to show of his disfigurement, without the need for Bardem to mug his way through the whole film under make-up.

It’s also interesting how far M is implicated in the making of thiಞs monster, adding an intriguing moral murk𝄹iness to the jurisdiction of the Secret Service.

And credit's due to the make-up team for the m﷽ore subtle magic involved throughout the entire movie, in transforming Bardem's tanned, r🔥ugged, Spanish exterior into a deathly, toad-like pallor.

Svrines Death

It’s commonly accepted that getting it on with Bond is bad for your health. Craig’s Bond has a particularly damning track record, with three out of three ladies he scores with across Casino and Quantum ending up dead.

So, we never really fancied Sévérine’s chances much to begin with, but there’s something especially cruel about the manner of her demise.

Returning to Bond’s favourite brand of whisky for the William Tell trick, 007 does his best to offer Sévérine a stay of execution, but Silva’s coldness ensures she doesn’t survive too long.

For a character who’s seen little chance of redemption in her life, it’s a pretty brutal way to go, andꦜ another blow to Bond’s abilities, his offer of s൲alvation being proved painfully futile.

Mallorys Motives

Before actually seeing Skyfall , we weren’t sure exactly what direction Mallory’s arc would take. It certainly seemed possible that he might be the heir to M’s throne, but Fiennes played it with such a frostiness, that you could plausibly think that he was Blofeld reborn, the head of Quantum, or some other nefarious type.

This tension comes to a head in the scene in which Mallory sneaks up on Q and Tanner, who are sorting out a ‘fake’ breadcrumb trail to ensure that Silva follows Bond to Scotland.

For a split-second, it really seems as if Mallory might be about to drop an almighty twist into the proceedings, before he reveaꦅls that he’s actually a pr🤡etty decent guy, with a smart, practical mind for espionage. Phew.

Catching The Tube

Getting to-me-to-you advice from Q down his earpiece, Bond almost misses the train that’s facilitating Silva’s escape.

In an echo of the leap he makes to catch the Shanghai elevator with Patrice, Bond throws himself full-throttle onto the back of the moving train in the nick of time, living the dream of frustrated commuters everywhere.

The gag the old man cracks to his wife verges on the cringey, but Craig makes up for it with his deadpan delivery to the train operator. His disgruntled “Open 🦩the door”, delivered with an expression of exasperation that’ll be familiar to anyone who’s ever used public transport, followed꧅ by an apathetic cover story: “Health and safety.”

Bonds Scottish Roots

In the spirit of Bond’s 50th anniversary celebrations, it seems only fitting that the production should hark back to the character’s roots, and his first official movie portrayal by Sir Sean Connery.

Although this does touch upon a Scottish ancestry mentioned in some of Fleming’s work, the author only incorporated that element after Connery had played Bond, closing the adaptation loop.

As well as the Connery connection, the Shining -style drive up to the remote wilds of the highlands detaches the character from any contemporary, cultural concerns, giving the final showdown🍎 something of an elemental quality.

Agent Down

James Bond does get put through the wringer in Skyfall . As the trailer attested, he’s shot from the top of a train that’s barrelling across a bridge in Turkey, falling to his presumed watery death. And that’s before the credits have even rolled.

Demonstrating stone-cold discipline, M refuses to let sentimentality cloud a business decision, even though her prodigal (work) son is in the firing line, she still demands that Eve risks taking the shot.

In an impressive touch, Mendes keeps a stark dichotomy between the dreary MI6 offices and the vibrant Istanbul market, until the London rain, beating🍌 down on the window, blends in with the Istanbul waterfall, before segueing smoothly into the ope𝕴ning sequence.

Check Your Mirrors

There’s a danger of Eve being bullied by Bond, overpowered by his brutish masculine ways.

But while 007 won’t let her forget that she shot him, and is evidently happy to see her sat behind her desk, she can more than hold her own in the field.

When she loses a mirror on the 4x4 during at the start of the Istanbul pursuit, Bond chastises her with a typically blokey, backseat driver comment, “You weren’t using it anyway,” before she rebuffs him by purposefully and expertly dispatching the one on the other side, “I wasn’t using that one either.”

Fair play for shuttinꦚg up Bond, and a sign of her precision when in a tight spot (later evidenced in the cour⭕troom shootout).

Put It All On Red

Not that Bond’s going to allow Eve to completely dictate their relationship in the field though.

The pair are sparking nicely through some ear-piece banter in the Macau casino, before Bond’s lays eyes on Sévérine, and puts a prompt ending on their communication by dumping his ear-piece into Eve’s champagne.

It seems you can teach an old dog new tricks, although he’ll still tear up the garden from time to time. Still, she gets to help him out of a sticky spot again as he emerges from the Komodo𓆉 dragon’s lair, and gets a whole bunch of chips to put on red…

007 Reporting For Duty

Many of Skyfall ’s most explosive moments don’t rely on pyrotechnics, instead choosing to zero in on character interactions that have often go unexplored throughout Bond’s movie history.

Take the sequence in M’s flat, for instance. Bond returns from ‘the dead’, and initially appears cloaked in shadow (and when he steps into the light, he’s clearly a shadow of his former self).

During the course of their reacquaintance, barbs are traded between the testy pair. Again, it’s telling that M won’t even allow Bond to kip for a night at her house, despite everything that’s happened.

Perhaps the most intriguing nugget of info from the entire exchange though, is the reference to Bond’s flat (which has now been sold, given that he’s presumed dead). Is it just us, or is it unfathomably odd trying to imagine Bond with a permanent place of residence? We bet tಌhere’s a revolving bed in there somewhere.

The Return Of The Aston Martin

The Aston Martin DB5 returns in one of Skyfall ’s most crowdpleasing moments. Taking M to his garage so that can trade their government vehicle for one that’ll be more difficult to trace.

The unmistakeable musical theme kicks in as Bond flicks on the lights (surely an innovation that DB5 owners need to work into their garage lightswitches), and reveals the trusty steed he first rode in Goldfinger .

Bearing the same registration plates as the vehicle in that Sean Connery outing, it still features the ejector button, and later reveals that the pop-out machine guns are still fully-functioning.

It’s painful to see it destroyed by Silva’s goons during the raid on Skyfall lodge, and it almost seems as if it’s the final straw that really kicks Bond into action.

Maybe it’s not a total loss though, as M had previous꧋ dubbed Bond’s iconic ride “not very comfortable.” Damning words indeed.

Opening Shot

Cinematographer Roger Deakins’ contribution to Skyfall can’t be overstated. From the very first moment, you realise that this is going to look like no other Bond film that’s come before it.

As first two notes from the inimitable theme tune blare out, sharply and concisely, Bond stalks the back of the frame, out of focus, shrouded in shadow.

The visual effect gives an almost alien look to Bond’s posture and gait, his spindly limbs bringing to mind the animated intro to any number of ‘60s capers.

When he reaches the end oꩵf the corridor, a crack of light illuminates his eyes only. Pure ♉class.

Put Your Back Into It

The base-bound presence of Q was one of a number of Skyfall elements that got us particularly excited about the next two installments, with Whishaw’s geek genius providing the perfect foil for Craig’s sullen secret agent.

A nagging voice in 007’s ear, Q provides a bit of odd-couple friction, even though the gadget-master’s never likely to actually show up in the field, you know, in person.

With Bond trying to open an emergency exit on the London Underground line, the urgency heightened by an oncoming train, Skyfall revisits a Bond staple that hasn’t been aired during Craig’s tenure: the mixing of some humour into a tense action beat.

Craig 1. Door 0.

Shanghai Showdown

When Bond goes toe-to-toe with Patrice at the top of the Shanghai skyscraper, there’s a pleasing lack of Bourne-style grittiness to the lensing, with Mendes and co opting for some silhouetted shadowplay in favour of docu-style realism.

The close-quarters scrap is rough and ready, illuminated only by occasional bursts of gunfire.

Dripping with style, the scene has the confidence we associate with the best Bond flicks, and fits 007 better than Bourne-aping shakycam ever did.

And it feels lik🎐e it’s been a while ꦍsince Bond’s dropped an adversary from a dizzying height.

Silvas Entrance

Javier Bardem’s Silva easily steals the film, nicking all the best lines and showing no restraint in terms of campness, without scrimping on the fear factor.

Bond villains need to make a grand entrance, and there’s something extremely impressive about Silva’s understated intro.

With Bond strapped to a chair, in a building on a desolate, crumbling island, an elevator descends at the back of the frame. Sauntering in gently measured step, Silva purposefully, potently walks towards his captive in one unbroken take.

Along the way he monologues about the last two survivors of an infestation of rats, recounting a story that’s basically a sinister version of Christopher Walken’s ‘two mice fall into a bucket of cream speech’ from Catch Me If You Can .

A scene that not only introduces Skyfall ’s secret weap✤on, and further emphasises✃ the absolute confidence that this franchise entry has.

Rifle Range

Gearing up for the invasion of Skyfall lodge, Bond and his trusty gamekeeper Kincade (Albert) head out onto the estate for a bit of rifle practise.

With Bond back on form after his earlier misfire, the scene is set for a nice bit of surrogate father-son bonding. And who doesn’t relish the opportunity to see Bond being called a “jumped-up little shit”?

On a nice sidenote, the initials on Bond’sꦓ father hunting rifle (AB, later revealed to stand for Andrew Bond), also work as a nod to the ‘father’ of the film series, Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli.

Ms Death

If the Skyfall lodge invasion was a Bond set-piece on a more intimate scale, then the scene in the chapel gives it another turn of the screw.

If you’d had an inkling that M would be croaking her last in Skyfall , then here comes your confirmation. Made all the more poignant by the placement of Mr and Mrs Bond’s gravestones outside, it’s marks one of the franchise’s rare reaches for emotion.

Perhaps only On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and Casino Royale have previously aimed for heart-tuggers in the same vein, although arguably neither fil♏m matched the tenderness of this goodbye to franchise stalwart Dench. “I did get one thing right,” admits M in her last words, and Bond even gives his boss a peck on the forehead.

Silvas Interrogation

Bardem’s killer moment as Silva comes during his interrogation of Bond.

Strapped to a chair in the bad guy’s makeshift lair, 007 is defenceless against Silva’s thigh-rubbing interrogation. First inspecting the scars on Bond’s chest, the blond villain works his way down…

It’s up to Bond to puncture the tension by asking, “How do you know it’s my first time?” Whether he’s drawing from genuine experience or dropping in a smart-alec comment to bring his unconventional interrogation to a close, we’ll never know (unless Bond’s backstory is explored even further in future installments).

When you factor in Silva’s ෴rundown of Bond’s MI6 evaluation (“Alcohol and substance abuse… Oof!”), you have a truly classic s💝cene that instantly earns a place in Bond history.

Looks like it was a smart decision to hire an Oscar-winning actor as the Bond villain, for only the second time in the series, following Christopher Walken's turn in A View To A Kill (we're not countingꦕ Benicio Del Toro, as he won his Academy 🔯Award post-Bond).

Train-Top Scuffle

Some of Bond’s finest smackdowns have taken place in or around moving vehicles - the train punch-up on From Russia With Love , the plane-based finale to The Living Daylights - and the train-top scuffle in Istanbul pays tribute to that tradition.

The motorcycle chase across the rooftop is thrilling, and the crane vs train segment of the sequence is a standout, but it comes into its own when Bond and Patrice go toe-to-toe atop the moving locomotive.

Adding a tangible ferocity to the scene, both actors throw themselves into the scrap with such vigour ꦡthat you really believe they’re both equally desperate to walk away with that hard dr🍃ive.

Miss Moneypenny

At the that was held to mark the start of production on Skyfall , producer Michael G Wilson referred to the title as ‘the worst kept secret in London’.

It wasn’t the only confidential information that leaked before the film hit cinemas, although after the initial rumours about Naomie Harris’ character, the team did a pretty decent job of throwing fans off the scent for a while.

In fact, Harris does such a good job with the action moments, that it’s almost enough to convince you that Eve is an entirely new character. Though as soon as there’s talk of stepping down from field work, you know where it’ll lead…

Even given the likeliness of the outcome, there’s no denying the goosebumps when she greets Bond in the MI6 office, and introduces herself by her full name.

With Craig’s Bond now well and truly entering the Bond canon, there’s 🍌a distinct feeling that we’re entering an era of ‘new classic’ Bond.

Gun Barrel

Skyfall gets one classic Bond element perfectly right: the gun barrel.

An fixture of the franchise, the gun barrel that targets Bond before the agent turns and fires is something that we expect, nay demand, to see before the end credits finally roll.

The rustic revamp of the sequence for Casino Royale was completely acceptable, especially given the gritty nature of the scrap that was incorporated. But the barrel sequence in QOS felt hurried, and suffered by comparison.

Riding on a nostalgia high at the end of Skyfall , there’s not better time for Mendes and Craig to perfect the signature snippet.

And it’s perfect.

Dial M For Mallory

Another immensely satisfying moment for Bond fans, as a long-hinted at rumour finally comes to fruition.

So, Ralph Fiennes’ Mallory is confirmed as the new M. But it wouldn’t mean anything if Fiennes hadn’t build up the mixture of warmth and respect that he manages with his limited screentime.

Proving that he’ll be a useful ally for Bond (and one unafraid of putting the agent in his place), Fiennes further proves that he’s a bona fide national treasure. And, really, isn’t that what Skyfall ’s all about?

With Pleasure

If you've somehow landed on this page by accident, the following is a highly spoilery. Please don't read on if you haven't seen Skyfall . Go to the .

Skyfall achieves a feat that Quantum Of Solace singularly failed to - it makes you excited for another Bond film, the immortal credit ‘James Bond will return’ becoming a brilliant promise.

As Fiennes’s freshly promoted M slides a top-secret dossier across his desk towards his #1 operative (who accepts, “With pleasure”), we were literally squirming in our seat with excitement, desperate to know what Bond’s next mission entails.

Thankfully, we shouldn’t have to wait too long, as screenwriter John Logan is (a t✤wo-part adventure).

With M and Moneypenny ensconced comfortably in their new offices, and Craig fully owning the 00-status, we’re going to be counting down the days until Bond 24 .

What were your favourite Skyfall moments? Any you’d care to add to our list?

As you may have gathered, we’re pretty big fans of James Bond round these parts.

Freshly invigorated by ’s return to form, we sat down to chat about our favourite ever moments from the franchise’s 50-year history.

From the smoothest innuendos to the most exciting action beats, we underline what makes Bond Bond in the video below.

Daniel Craig’s rough-edged tenderness, Sean Connery’s bomb disposal skills and Q’s special way with a photofit all get a vote in a personal choices for greatest ever Bond moment.

Watch the video now:

But that’s just the start of the conversation, because we want to hear about your personal nominations for 007 bits in the comments box below!

Skyfall is in UK cinemas now.

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Bond is back with a bang, as enjoyed a richly profitable weekend, with a couple of broken records thrown in for good measure.

The film opened to the tune $32.4m in the UK this weekend, the second highest opening weekend in history behind .

It also broke the highest ever attendance record for a Saturday in the UK, as hordes of 007 fans flocked to the cinema to catch it as soon as possible.

The film enjoyed similar success overseas, racking up an overall take of $77m across all territories. Expect that to spike significantly when Skyfall hits US shores on 9 November 2012.

that he’s unsure whether he’l𒉰l return to direct another Bond film, but with numbers like these, we’re not𝓀 sure MGM will let him leave...

And has revealed that Skyfall screenwriter John Logan will return to script an original ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚtwo-part follow-up, not based on any Fleming stories. With Bond freshly revitalised, colour us excited.

It would have been easy for director Sam Mendes to wallow in the former, tick all the right boxes and play to the gallery. Instead 🦂he poses questions. Who is Bond? What is his role? Is he a man with a future, or an irrelevant relic trapped in the past?

It’s a daring move to reintroduce Bond after a four-year hiatus as a man whose best days may be all behind him. But then Skyfall i🍌s nothing if not audacious, deconstructing 007 and the iconography he comes with in a way that is constantly, consistent𝕴ly surprising.

A blistering pre-credits sequence, in which Daniel Craig destroys half of Istanbul in a quest to recover sensitive information from an enemy operative, initially suggests Bond is back on track after the stuttering blip that was .

No sooner are we settled, though, than James is shot in error by one of his own (Naomie Harris), plunging from the roof of a moving train into Daniel Kleinman-designed titles filled w൩ith skulls, tombstones and other totems of death.

Bond survives, of course – he always does. But when he comes back to life he is far from his best, Craig’s unshaven chops and bloodsho🐻t eyes betraying a man whose heart isn’t in it (if it ever was).

It doesn’t help that Judi Dench’s M also looks set for the scrap heap, or that the new Q (Ben Whishaw) is a techno-nerd barely half hiﷺs age. (“You still have spots!” sneers Bond contemptuously during their first encounter in the National Gallery.)

Put through his paces after some Mediterranean d😼own-time involving scorpion-baiting drinking games and post-shag Heineken, 007 can hardly manage a chin-up before collapsing in a heap. He can’t even dangle from the undercarriage of an ascending elevator without wincing in discomfort.

If was Bond finding his footing, Skyfall is him re💃membering where he left it - a clever turnaround made all the more effective by giving 007 an adversary who, for much of the film, is crossing the finish line while Jimmy’s putting on hi🎉s trainers.

Wi꧅th his shock of blond hair, dodgy dentistry and vengeful M fixation, Javier Bar🎶dem’s Silva is that rarest of creations: a cyber-terrorist who genuinely terrifies. But he also has a playful side; witness the literally thigh-rubbing glee he brings to one stand-out interrogation scene.

It's far from the only sexually charged moment; cue a steamy sh🙈ower clinch with Bérénice Marlohe’s femme fatale Sévérine, plus some saucy banter with Harris’ Eve that positively fizzes with winking innuendo.

But in line with Craig’s summer assignment at Buckingham Palace, the real Bond girl is of a more seasoned vintage: Dame Judi herself, here evolving from 007’s testy taskmistress i☂nto a surrogate mother he will kill to protect.

At one point – possibly Skyfall ’s gutsiest – Mendes has the two decamp to rural Scotland, there to ruminat💛e on𝓀 Bond’s past and how M took advantage of it.

🌌The casting of Dench was always a master-stroke, but it hܫas taken seven outings, and one Oscar-winning filmmaker, for her to be exploited properly.

Mendes🍌’ ambitions, though commendable, don’t always fit the material.

The Bond series has lasted half a century without referencing Shak꧒espeare, Tennyson and JMW Turner, so why shoehorn them in now?

Thankfully, they don’t interfere with the standard Bondian trappings, Skyfall boasting all the glamourཧ, excitement and exoticism we have come to expect and then some.

A floating Macau casino, complete with firework display and komodo dragons, suppli🍒es a perfect setting for cocktails, fisticuffs and in-jokes, while Bardem’s hide-out - a deserted island full of crumbling masonry and broken statues - has all the grandeur of Blofeld’s volcano with none of the impracticality.

Thanks to lensman Roger Deakins and production designer Dennis Gassner, a Shanghai skyscraper rippled by neon advertising provides a brilliantly atmospheric backdrop for a nocturnal assassi⭕nation.

A splendid mid-section in London, m🔥eanwhile, spurns the city’s overexposed architecture for a chase beneath its surface, Bond pursuing Silva via sewer, tunᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚnel and Tube while still finding time to crack the odd funny.

Indeed, for all its intimations of mortality and harping on obsolescence, Skyfall is more often than noꦦt a hoot, Craig having the confidence at last to lace his Bond’s killer instinct with a bone-dry wit and wry nonchalance.

The scene where he contemplates utilising one of the series' 🌠oldest and most famous gizmos is a perfectly judged grace note, while an appearance from Albert Finney near the end of the picture exudes warmth and good humour.

It all adds up to the 007 adventure we’ve been waiting for: a flawlessly assembled thrill ride with a cast to die for and a nakedl꧒y emotional undertow. Happy birthday, Mr Bond.

While Daniel Craig is still in line to don the tuxedo for a couple more outings yet, there will always be rumours surrounding his eventual replacement.

One of the names who keeps cropping up is Idris Elba, with many people feeling that it’s only a matter of time before we get a black Bond (although the way Colin Salmon is carrying on on Strictly , you’d think we’d already had one!)

Now, star Naomie Harris has had her say on the matter, and reveals that Elba has already met with producer Barbara Broccoli to discuss the possibility.

“I didn't realise that there was this talk and then I did a film with Idris and he said that he met Barbara Broccoli and that it does seem like there is a possibility in the future that there could very well be a black James Bond," says Harris.

"And I would have to vote for Idris because I just finished working with him and he's a great guy." Intriguing stuff, although we’d say there’s plenty of life in Daniel Craig for a while to come. Skyfall opens in UK cinemas on Friday.

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Sam Mendes’ rejuvenation of the Bond franchise has been well-documented, with garnering rave reviews ahead of its release on Friday, but despite all that, the director has said it’s unlikely he’ll return for round two.

The British director was a popular choice to steer the series back onto the straight and narrow after the muddled diversion that was , but says that the process was a draining one.

“It’s been a fantastic experience, but it’s been completely exhausting,” Mendes told Metro . “Do I want to do another one? I’m a shadow of my former self! No, I don’t know. I felt like everything I wanted to with a Bond movie, I put into this film.

“I would have to be convinced that I could do something that I loved and cared about as much if I was to do it again,” he continues. “I think the great risk of repeating oneself is that one doesn’t have the great store of ideas that you have when you first tackle a project.”

Not a definite “no” then, which is something. Co-starring Daniel Craig, Judi Dench and Javier Bardem, Skyfall opens in UK cinemas on Friday.

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