James Bond

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James Bond is a fictional British spy created by Ian Fleming in 1953.

[edit] History

In 1953, Fleming wrote Casino Royale, the very first James Bond novel. The novel made a quite good amount of money, and he continued to write one James Bond novel each year until he died in 1963. In 1962 Albert. R. "Cubby" Broccoli and Harry Saltzman started to produce the first James Bond film, Dr. No, starring Sean Connery as James Bond. The film became extremely popular, and they continued to make more Bond films.

In the end of the 1960s Connery did not want to do any more films, and many thought that Bond was now dead. But after one less popular film starring George Lazenby as Bond, they came up with Live and Let Die, starring Roger Moore as Bond. The film became an enormous success. The series continued throughout the 70s and 80s.

In the 80s things were starting to go bad. Unlike the 60s and 70s, many other films were produced that could compete with the Bond series. With Moore leaving the role as Bond, being replaced with Timothy Dalton, things went even worse. Dalton tried to make a serious, "down to earth" Bond, closer to the Fleming novels. This the fans was not ready for, and the films made little money.

As if all this was not enough, the Cold War ended in 1991, and since Bond almost always fought Communists, many now thought that Bond was finally dead.

Luckily the producers came up with Goldeneye in 1995, starring Pierce Brosnan as Bond. This film saved Bond and made him more popular than ever before.

In 2002, James Bond celebrated his 20th film, Die Another Day, the 40th anniversary of the films and the 50th anniversary since Fleming wrote his first Bond novel.

[edit] Films

No. Title Year James Bond U.S. Box Office Gross Total Box Office Gross
1 Dr. No 1962 Sean Connery $16,100,000 $59,600,000
2 From Russia with Love 1963 Sean Connery $24,800,000 $78,900,000
3 Goldfinger 1964 Sean Connery $51,100,000 $124,900,000
4 Thunderball 1965 Sean Connery $63,600,000 $141,200,000
5 You Only Live Twice 1967 Sean Connery $43,100,000 $111,600,000
6 On Her Majesty's Secret Service 1969 George Lazenby $22,800,000 $87,400,000
7 Diamonds Are Forever 1971 Sean Connery $43,800,000 $116,000,000
8 Live and Let Die 1973 Roger Moore $35,400,000 $161,800,000
9 The Man with the Golden Gun 1974 Roger Moore $21,000,000 $97,600,000
10 The Spy Who Loved Me 1977 Roger Moore $46,800,000 $185,400,000
11 Moonraker 1979 Roger Moore $70,300,000 $210,300,000
12 For Your Eyes Only 1981 Roger Moore $54,800,000 $195,300,000
13 Octopussy 1983 Roger Moore $67,900,000 $187,500,000
14 A View to a Kill 1985 Roger Moore $50,300,000 $152,400,000
15 The Living Daylights 1987 Timothy Dalton $51,200,000 $191,200,000
16 Licence to Kill 1989 Timothy Dalton $34,700,000 $156,200,000
17 GoldenEye 1995 Pierce Brosnan $106,400,000 $353,400,000
18 Tomorrow Never Dies 1997 Pierce Brosnan $125,300,000 $346,600,000
19 The World Is Not Enough 1999 Pierce Brosnan $126,900,000 $390,000,000
20 Die Another Day 2002 Pierce Brosnan $160,900,000 $456,000,000
21 Casino Royale 2006 Daniel Craig

The James Bond films were massive hits. However, there are two films classed as unofficial Bond films and not recognised as part of the series. The 1967 version of Casino Royale was a spoof, featuring "Jimmy Bond". Also, Never Say Never Again was not made by Albert R. Broccoli's production company, EON Productions.

[edit] Other websites

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