One Bond. Six classic Bond missions. That is the premise behind October 16th’s 007 Legends, the latest installment of the Bond franchise from Activision from Eurocom, the same studio responsible for 007 Goldeneye and 007 Goldeneye Reloaded. While it was already revealed with the game’s announcement that the six and final movie tied in to the game would be the upcoming Skyfall, Bond fans quickly began speculating which 007 films would make their way to 007 Legends.

With the trailer and screens below, Moonraker has been revealed as the first chapter for 007 Legends. Originally starring Roger Moore, Moonraker was the most sci-fi-esque Bond film, featuring a space station that was home to the villainous Drax and his minion for hire, Jaws. The film also featured one of Bond’s leading ladies with the second most obvious sexual innuendo for a name, Dr. Goodhead.

The 007 Legends trailer features Drax, Jaws and Goodhead, including the infamous scene of Jaws having a high voltage wire shoved into his metal mouth. It also shows Bond using one of his infamous gadget and the Moonraker laser, much improved from its original N64 design.

Continue Reading →

There is a new James Bond movie coming and, despite the mixed reception of Quantum of Solace, it will be heavily anticipated. So we have waited for the first teaser patiently, waiting for that first real morsel of the film to get excited about.

That time has come as the first teaser for the film has hit the interwebs. For those of you unfamiliar with the plot and circumstances of Skyfall, here is it’s synopsis:

Daniel Craig is back as James Bond 007 in Skyfall, the 23rd adventure in the longest-running film franchise of all time.  In Skyfall, Bond’s loyalty to M (Judi Dench) is tested as her past comes back to haunt her.  As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.

Not only does the film look stunning, but Skyfall also boasts one of the best casts ever for a Bond film. Aside from series regulars Craig and Dame Judi Dench, the film also features Ralph Finnes, Albert Finny and Javier Bardem. One thing is certain, this film wont lack for talent.

Check out the teaser after the jump.

Continue Reading →

CinemaCon has been the source of many interesting and exciting movie news items in the past few days. One major player at the theater owner convention was Sony who brought with them lots of info on it’s 2012 slate.

The folks at ComingSoon.Net are reporting that Sony made it clear that they are looking ahead in regards to one of it’s marquee franchises:

Sony’s President of Worldwide Distribution Rory Bruer talked about Sony’s slate for 2013 and beyond and confirmed that James Bond would indeed be back in 2014 with the 24th movie in the franchise and the follow-up to Skyfall.

This is expected news, but still great to hear confirmed. Daniel Craig is signed on for a total of 8 Bond films, and after the MGM bankruptcy fiasco it began to look like we might not get to see them all. Now that we have confirmation that the films are back to a quick turnaround of every other year we should be seeing a lot of our favorite Super Spy in the coming decade.

Sony also showcased the first footage from Skyfall at the event. Early word is that it looks good, but the teaser footage was a bit to fast paced to get a true feeling of it. We should be seeing the first teaser some time soon ourselves, so keep an eye peeled to The Flickcast for all your Bond news.

For a little while there it din’t seem like we would get another James Bond film after Quantum of Solace. With MGM’s money problems, it looked like James Bond was going to retire from his cinematic exploits while things were sorted out — if they were ever sorted out.

Fortunately, the tide turned and now Bond is back in a new installment called Skyfall, which is filming right now. As is the custom these days with highly anticipated film releases, the production has released the first of what wil no doubt be many videos highlighting the behind-the-scenes action of making a Bond film.

In this particular video blog, the producers and director take us to Shanghi, China for some brief glimpses into the filmmaking process and the sleek cityscapes of that location. Looks good. Can’t wait for this one.

Check out the video after the break. Skyfall, which stars Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Bérénice Marlohe and Judi Dench, hits theaters on November 9.

Continue Reading →

50 years. Over 50 books. 22 films. 18 games. There’s not a lot James Bond hasn’t done. In celebration of this momentous anniversary, developer Eurocom is working alongside EON Productions for the first multi-story spanning Bond adventure yet. Coming from publisher Activision, 007 Legends will span the story of six different Bond films, concluding with the yet to be released 23rd film in the franchise Skyfall. Though it hasn’t been formally announced which of the other Bond films will fill out the remaining five, it is likely that Daniel Craig will be the face and voice of Bond, just as he was during the remake of Goldeneye 007 and Goldeneye 007: Reloaded.

A first-of-its-kind Bond video game, 007 Legends features an original, overarching storyline tying together six classic Bond movies, concluding with this year’s highly-anticipated 23rd installment – SKYFALL – to offer the most diverse Bond gaming experience yet! As with the feature films, 007 Legends equips players with state-of-the-art spy gadgets, an arsenal of weapons, including Bond’s signature Walther PPK, and sleek vehicles as they jet off to exotic locations and utilize Bond’s quick wits, class and style to take down notorious villains and their brutal henchmen, perform impressive stunts, and of course…mingle with gorgeous Bond women.

Continue Reading →

Sometimes the first official image from a movie can drastically change the public’s perspective of an upcoming film. It can show you an exciting new look from a main character, or it can give you hints to the story or plot. Then some times the first official still is just a man sitting by a pool in the dark.

Empire has debuted the first official image from Skyfall. A lonely and sullen looking Bond playing footsie with a swimming pool after hours. Maybe that watch is a new Q gadget, or perhaps there are sharks with laser beam head gear just out of frame!

Yeah, not exactly the most exciting first still in the history of movies, but it is still notable for a few reasons. One, it is James Bond, and with the recent strife with MGM, seeing him officially in Skyfall is nice to see. There was real concern that the movie would never get made, but it is really happening.

Also this is the 5oth anniversary of James Bond, which is a huge deal. The Golden Anniversary for a cinematic icon is important to recognize, and any opportunity this year to talk about Britain’s most dashing spy will be used. Hopefully they will be more meaty in the future.

The James Bond films are one of the longest and most storied film franchises in the history of cinema. Despite over twenty films and nearly five decades of action, the series has been rather consistent in the score department. For well over three fourths of the James Bond films music dudties have been held by two men, the late great John Barry and excellent David Arnold.

It was assumed that Arnold would be returning for his sixth Bond film with Skyfall, but it seems the delays caused by MGM have actually caused Arnold’s schedule to be too full, he will be spending much of the next six months being the musical director for the summer Olympics. MI6 is reporting that in Arnold’s absence, director Sam Mendes is calling on a long time collaborator to fill his shoes.

American composer Thomas Newman will be scoring the new James Bond film, “Skyfall”, due out later this year. It will be his first 007 adventure.

Newman has been a long time collaborator with “Skyfall” helmer Sam Mendes, having scored four of the directors other films: “American Beauty” (1999), “Road to Perdition” (2002) [which also starred Daniel Craig], “Jarhead” (2005) and “Revolutionary Road” (2008).

Newman is an interesting choice for a big budget action film, but in many respects so is director Sam Mendes. One thing is for certain, Newman always brings his A game, so you can expect to hear an exceptional Bond score once Skyfall hits theaters later this year.

The most recent James Bonds films have had a significantly more serious tone than usual for the spy series. The first casualties of a heavier Bond film were the lighter, side characters that have been a fixture of the franchise for the last half a century. Well the most beloved of these characters has just been granted a reprieve, as Ben Whishaw, who has already been announced as part of the cast, will be playing  Q in the new 007 adventure, Skyfall.

BBC reported over the holiday weekend that the character of Q will be returning to the big screen in the next Bond film.

At the age of 31, Whishaw is 12 years younger than Bond actor Daniel Craig, a first for the Q character. Whishaw recently starred in the BBC’s 1950s news drama The Hour.”

“The role of 007′s gadget designer was played by Desmond Llewelyn in From Russia With Love and most recently by John Cleese, opposite Pierce Brosnan, in 2002′s Die Another Day.

Continue Reading →

Two summers ago, Activision announced the rerelease of one of the most popular first person shooters ever with Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo Wii. With updated graphics (for the Wii…) and control, there was still something missing from the experience: players.

While the Wii has been a focus of the casual gaming market, the hardcore fanbase who would care most about the Goldeneye name had grown up and moved away from the Nintendo systems and their waggle controls and instead found their way to the XBox 360 or PlayStation 3. Enter San Diego Comic Con 2011 and Activision lets us take a peek at actual gameplay of the revamped Goldeneye 007: Reloaded. Business is about to pick up.

Gameplay:

It’s hard to review a reimagining of a title without looking at the original inspiration at the same time. The most noticeable difference is gameplay. In the early days, people didn’t really know what a shooter should play like on a console and the gameplay compensated for the limited control scheme with the Nintendo 64′s single analog controller. Now, Goldeneye 007: Reloaded feels and plays like a standard twin stick shooter.

New to the series is the disappearance of health packs since the emergence of regenerating health which has become the industry standard in shooters since the initial release. What is nice though for the Goldeneye “purist” (if those even still exist) is that players can opt for the Classic difficulty setting which takes away regenerating health to give the game a more old school feel.

Continue Reading →

New York Comic Con was a huge showcase for the folks at Activision. In addition to the Spider-Man photo booth where people could green screen themselves webslinging through the city, the other side of the Activision booth had part of a full size helicopter people could pose next to. Why a helicopter you ask? Well, remember that question asked about “What is cooler than drop kicking a helicopter?” that was posed for a little game called Prototype? One of the showcase pieces given its first hands on to the public was Prototype 2 on the XBox 360.

During our playthrough we played both a story mission and a challenge mission of the game. Much like the original Prototype, Prototype 2 has impressive visuals and fantastic animation. One thing that quickly stood out though is the change in the field of view.

The player model for James Heller is smaller on the screen which allows players to see furher into the distance, more of what is in front of him and more importantly, more of what is on the side and behind him. This quickly changes up the gameplay as a player can relax a little more without the constant fear from the original of a rocket launcher off screen delivering a killing blow from out of nowhere.

The combat of Prototype 2 seems fairly consistent to the first meaning it is both brutal and fun. This game gives new meaning to collateral damage as players may be aiming at the Blackwatch soldiers but end up tearing through hordes of innocent New Yorkers in the process. Some of the classic powers return as well as updates on the tendrils which in effect turns a target into a magnet for every destructible item close by to come flying at it as seen in the game’s most recent trailer.

Continue Reading →

At Comic Con, we got our first look at the gameplay of the next-gen console upgrade of the Goldeneye franchise with Goldeneye 007: Reloaded. At PAX, Activision has released the first official trailer for the game’s Mi6 mode which we were only able to see in person in San Diego and were unfortunately unable to share with you until now.

From everything we have seen, Goldeneye 007: Reloaded does an awesome job of capturing the feel of the classic Goldeneye experience and updating it to the modern era. The question remains however if the game has evolved with the times to capture the interest of those who loved it so many years ago.

In addition to the game’s classic story (that is often forgotten because of the heavy nostalgia for the game’s multiplayer) will be the Mi6 mode. Almost in the way that Special Ops mode was added to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Mi6 will be a series of missions for players to tackle outside of the standard story. It will add more play time to the single player experience as well as increase the value for people who had already experienced the classic story years ago, giving them something all new.

Take a look at the trailer and gallery below and make sure to let us know your thoughts on Goldeneye 007: Reloaded coming this fall for the XBox 360 and PlayStation 3 from Activision and Eurocom.

Continue Reading →

Great news for Jams Bond fans everywhere. Deadline is reporting that a deal has been made and beleaguered studio MGM has announced a new Bond film, dubbed Bond 23, is set to go into production later this year with an eye to a November 9th, 2012 release.

In more good news, Daniel Craig will be returning as the legendary British secret agent, with Sam Mendes directing a screenplay written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan. That script is being kept under wraps, of course, but we do know the story begins after the events of Quantum Of Solace.

In addition, there’s no word on who might play the next Bond villain or, in more important news, who will be the next “Bond Girl.” While those are being hashed out I would also like to recommend to Sam Mendes that he give Felix Leiter a bit more to do this time around as I would like to see Jeffrey Wright keep getting work. Also, I would not mind if Olga Kurylenko came back for this one either. She’s always welcome.

Of course, given Daniel Craig’s “friendship” with Rachel Weisz, there’s always a chance she might make an appearance. That would be ok with me as well. We probably won’t see Kate Winslet in this one though, for obvious reasons.

As for other villains or Bond Girls, who would you like to see make an appearance in Bond 23?