James Bond & Friends

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 and the magazine MI6 Confidential 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

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 and the magazine MI6 Confidential 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

Where in the world should Bond travel next? This epsiode we dip into the MI6 archives to play an interview with Black Tomato 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 and MI6 Confidential co-founder Vipul Patel. This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2024.

What do we think of the new 007-themed reality show? In a drought of James Bond action, an oasis appeared on the horizon: an officially branded streaming series! 007: Road To A Million is the first (and only, according to Barbara Broccoli) venture into spin-off territory. Will the budget of Amazon Prime, the deep lore of the Bond series, and the savvy of experienced producers create something fans and casual viewers can enjoy alike? We ask the panel to find out - and if not - how the show could be improved for the already commissioned second series. The recording took place on November 17th, 2023 in the USA, UK, and Spain. James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential Sean Longmore shares his artwork @ThatTallGinger Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com David Leigh runs thejamesbonddossier.com This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2023

What was the second draft of Timothy Dalton's unmade third film like? Timothy Dalton's third James Bond film is one of the great 'what ifs' of the series, and over the years various incarnations have come to light. In episode 0151, we covered the first attempt to pen Dalton's third in 1990. In this episode, we pick up the writing several months later when William Davies and William Osborne delivered the next version of the story in 1991. Several key elements were added including Bond facing up to his age, elements from Diamonds Are Forever, a second act in Las Vegas that featured cowboys and a monster truck chase, as well as a different climax. We also stumble into the reasons why EON Productions probably backed away from this script after 'True Lies' came out in 1994 when 'GoldenEye' was in pre-production. Join us as we run through the story and discuss the characters, plot, killer robots, and ponder what this film could have been in the early 1990s. The recording took place on April 19th, 2023 in the USA and Spain. James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential David Leigh runs thejamesbonddossier.com Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2023

What was the very first draft of Timothy Dalton's unmade third film like? Timothy Dalton's third James Bond film is one of the great 'what ifs' of the series, and over the years various incarnations have come to light. Recently, we dusted off the first-ever draft of what could have been Dalton's follow-up to Licence To Kill. Dated July 7th, 1990, this rarely-seen script was penned by Michael G. Wilson and American writer Alfonse Ruggerio. Many of its elements would survive in later films for Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, but the locations and tech elements of this draft lend their own distinct flavour. Join us as we run through the story and discuss the characters, plot, killer robots, and ponder what this film could have been in the early 1990s. For further coverage of Bond 17 (1990), check out this article on MI6:https://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/bond17-1990 The recording took place on March 16th, 2023 in the USA and Spain. James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential David Leigh runs thejamesbonddossier.com Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2023

How crazy were Sean Connery and Kevin McClory's script ideas back in 1978? Based on 'James Bond of the Secret Service' written in the 1950s, which would eventually become the novel 'Thunderball,' then a film of the same name, and years later even more script variations, 'Warhead' 1978 is the topic of this episode of our 'Unmade' season of episodes about James Bond films that never got filmed as intended. How much would survive in to the production that ultimately became 'Never Say Never Again'? Hold on to your hats for invisible cliffs, nuclear powered undersea cities, robotic sharks, underwater jetpacks, a fetish for building scale models, twin sisters, alien and time travel theories on the Bermuda Triangle, and many, many more bonkers plot ideas in a film where Blofeld was front and centre. The recording took place on January 6th, 2023 in the USA and Spain. James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential David Leigh runs thejamesbonddossier.com Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2023

What ideas were jettisoned from the script that ultimately became Spectre? The creative path on the 24th James Bond film had more twists and turns than perhaps any of the 007 productions before it, and due to a massive Sony Pictures leak, some of those debates, decisions, and debacles were exposed. We run through the early 2014 state of the film before the serious work was done on getting the script tightened up for filming (months behind schedule) and run through the later drafts scene by scene picking out the changes that were made from the version we all saw on screen. A female villain, a stolen Heineken truck, the return of Irma Bunt, buckets of eyeballs, Moneypenny's redemption arc, 'dopey' passport documents, Tanner's dark fate, terrible one-liners, Q earning his stripes, African diamond mines.... and lots, lots more! The recording took place on November 24th, 2022 in the USA and Spain. James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential David Leigh runs thejamesbonddossier.com Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2022

In this mission debrief for NO TIME TO DIE, we identify the iconic elements we would use to describe it as "the one with", shake the Bond cocktail and pick this film's most potent ingredients, toot the horn for underappreciated elements, round up our favourite trivia tidbits, and give our final top/middle/bottom rankings. James Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. But when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA asks for help, he finds himself facing off against a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology. The recording took place on September 28th, 2022 in the USA and Australia. James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential Ben Eslinger (@CICSpypod) is co-host of the Central Intelligence Podcast Natalie Bochenski (@girlclumsy) is a writer, performer, and producer from Brisbane known for her Raven On series Ben Williams writes for MI6-HQ.com and MI6 Confidential This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2022

In this mission debrief for SPECTRE, we identify the iconic elements we would use to describe it as "the one with", shake the Bond cocktail and pick this film's most potent ingredients, toot the horn for underappreciated elements, round up our favourite trivia tidbits, and give our final top/middle/bottom rankings. A cryptic message from the past sends James Bond on a rogue mission to Mexico City and eventually Rome, where he meets Lucia Sciarra, the beautiful and forbidden widow of an infamous criminal. Bond infiltrates a secret meeting and uncovers the existence of the sinister organization known as SPECTRE. The recording took place on September 22nd, 2022 in the USA and UK. James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential Mark Edlitz is author of 'The Many Lives of James Bond' and 'The Lost Adventures of James Bond' Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com Sean Longmore shares his artwork @ThatTallGinger This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2022

In this mission debrief for QUANTUM OF SOLACE, we identify the iconic elements we would use to describe it as "the one with", shake the Bond cocktail and pick this film's most potent ingredients, toot the horn for underappreciated elements, round up our favourite trivia tidbits, and give our final top/middle/bottom rankings. Agent 007 and M's interrogation of Mr White proves no one can be trusted on James Bond's newest action adventure, "Quantum of Solace". Fueled by the betrayal of Vesper, the woman he loved, Bond's determination to track down the mastermind behind White's sinister organisation leads to Haiti, where he finds an unlikely ally in Camille, a beautiful but feisty stranger. The trail quickly leads to Dominic Greene but with the British Government and the CIA working against him, Bond must kill or be killed on his mission to uncover the truth and destroy 'Quantum'. The recording took place on August 26th, 2022 in the USA and UK. James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com Sean Longmore shares his artwork @ThatTallGinger Ben Eslinger (@CICSpypod) is co-host of the Central Intelligence Podcast This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2022

In this mission debrief for DIE ANOTHER DAY, we identify the iconic elements we would use to describe it as "the one with", shake the Bond cocktail and pick this film's most potent ingredients, toot the horn for underappreciated elements, round up our favourite trivia tidbits, and give our final top/middle/bottom rankings. When his top-secret mission is sabotaged, James Bond finds himself captured by the enemy, abandoned by MI6 and stripped of his 00-licence. Determined to get revenge, Bond goes head-to-head with a sultry spy, a frosty agent, and a shadowy billionaire whose business is diamonds... but whose secret is a diabolical weapon that could bring the world to its knees! The recording took place on August 25th, 2022 in the USA and UK. James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com Sean Longmore shares his artwork @ThatTallGinger Ben Eslinger (@CICSpypod) is co-host of the Central Intelligence Podcast This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2022

In this mission debrief for TOMORROW NEVER DIES, we identify the iconic elements we would use to describe it as "the one with", shake the Bond cocktail and pick this film's most potent ingredients, toot the horn for underappreciated elements, round up our favourite trivia tidbits, and give our final top/middle/bottom rankings. A deranged media mogul is staging international incidents to pit the worlds' superpowers against each other. Now 007 must take on this evil mastermind in an adrenaline-charged battle to end his reign of terror and prevent global pandemonium! The recording took place on May 31st, 2022 in the USA and UK. James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential Phil Nobile Jr is editor of Fangoria and shares his expertise at @PhilNobileJr Sean Longmore shares his artwork @ThatTallGinger Ben Williams writes for MI6-HQ.com and MI6 Confidential This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2022