James Bond & Friends

0161: Direction Perfection?

How has fandom reacted to the appointment of Denis Villeneuve? Seemingly out of nowhere, Amazon MGM Studios announced Denis Villeneuve as the director of the next James Bond film (we're calling it Bond 26 until told otherwise) in late June. How has fandom reacted to the appointment and what are the expectations of what he can or will bring to reboot the franchise with an all-new production team and cast? We also look back at Villeneuve's catalog of work to see if we can glean any clues as to what he might bring to Bond. (Note: This episode was recorded before the announcement of Steven Knight writing the script) The recording took place on June 27th, 2025 in the USA and UK.  James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com [https://www.mi6-hq.com/] and the magazine MI6 Confidential [https://www.mi6confidential.com/] Phil Nobile Jr is editor of Fangoria magazine Sean Longmore shares his graphic design work @ThatTallGinger  Dr. Lisa Funnell is an award-winning author and James Bond academic This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2025

0160: Producer Adducer

How different could James Bond be under the new leadership? Before many of us had fully processed the news that Broccoli & Wilson were stepping away from the franchise, this week Amazon MGM Studios dropped the bombshell that Amy Pascal and David Heyman would produce the next film - the first to not have a Broccoli name attached. We discuss the merits of the two new producers and what they might bring to Bond 26 (if we are still calling it that?) and review some of Pascal's creative feedback on the scripts when she was leading Sony Pictures through most of the Daniel Craig era. Do we agree with her comments in retrospect? Could we have enjoyed better movies if she had been listened to? We also poke around the areas of the new production that may be up for grabs given EON Productions will not have day to day involvement anymore, and place bets on when the next big news will break. The recording took place on March 27th, 2025 in the USA and UK.  James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com [https://www.mi6-hq.com/] and the magazine MI6 Confidential [https://www.mi6confidential.com/] Phil Nobile Jr is editor of Fangoria magazine Sean Longmore shares his graphic design work @ThatTallGinger  Dr. Lisa Funnell is an award-winning author and James Bond academic This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2025

0159: Prime Time

What does the Amazon take-over mean to the franchise and fandom? A tectonic shift in the James Bond power structure shook the film world and fanbase on Thursday when Amazon announced they had inked a deal to take over creative control of the 007 films from Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. Their price? $1 billion according to reports. With EON out of the picture, what does the immediate and long term future of the franchise look like? We gather the panel to discuss their instant reactions as well as cast an eye further down the road as the ripples from this impact will take a while to reach distant shores. The recording took place on February 21st, 2025 in the USA and UK.  James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com [https://www.mi6-hq.com/] and the magazine MI6 Confidential [https://www.mi6confidential.com/] Phil Nobile Jr is editor of Fangoria magazine Sean Longmore shares his graphic design work @ThatTallGinger  Dr. Lisa Funnell is an award-winning author and James Bond academic Ben Eslinger is co-host of the Central Intelligence Podcast  This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2025

0158: Touching Grass

What has been going on with James Bond this year? You wait around for news for months and then... well, nothing much happens. It has been a very quiet year so far in terms of 007 big screen developments, but there has been Bond content flowing elsewhere in the literary, comics, and gaming wings of the franchise. We take a close look at the state of the box-office and ask if the movie business being in such flux may cause significant delays for EON, and also reveal some production news about a former 007 and how his next project may have knock-on consequences. Digitally restored Casino Royale 1954: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNp6-qTWYvo [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNp6-qTWYvo] The recording took place on June 6th, 2024 in the USA and Spain.  James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com [https://www.mi6-hq.com/] and the magazine MI6 Confidential [https://www.mi6confidential.com/] David Leigh runs thejamesbonddossier.com [https://www.thejamesbonddossier.com/] Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com [https://hmssweblog.wordpress.com/] This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2024

0157: Happy Passengers

Where in the world should Bond travel next? This epsiode we dip into the MI6 archives to play an interview with Black Tomato [https://www.blacktomato.com/james-bond/] co-founder, Tom Marchant. Regular Bond followers might remember that mid-last year Black Tomato - a UK-based travel company - came out with a unique European Bond themed travel experience. 'The Assignment' is a twelve day mission across UK, France, and Italy, stopping in at key landmarks from the Bond films.  Just recently Black Tomato announce a second tranche of travel adventures with a Bond twist. These now include tours to Chile, Mexico, Thailand and Japan.  Tom Marchant was speaking with MI6-HQ.com [https://www.mi6-hq.com] and MI6 Confidential [https://www.mi6confidential.com] co-founder Vipul Patel. This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2024.