The History of Bond...James Bond

     Having made $669 million since opening earlier this month, Skyfall has become the highest grossing James Bond film in history, and according to Guinness World Records, the James Bond film series has become the most profitable film series of all time. It certainly hasn't been a bad week for Agent 007.
     The modern day action-hero that we all know for his daring heroics and ability to charm the ladies, is loosely based on British author Ian Fleming's series of James Bond novels. Bond's first non-literary appearance, before the movies, was on CBS in 1954, airing as an American adaptation of the character. After becoming highly successful with the public due to his witty humor and dialogue, exciting and impressive gadgets, audacious stunts, and gorgeous female-companions all, Bond and his tales were adapted to the big screen. Sean Connery (below) became the first actor to play Bond in a movie, with Dr. No being released in 1962. 

    




 




     Since then, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Skyfall's Daniel Craig (right) have all played the secret agent with a superhero-like persona. With each Bond has come new memorable quotes ("Shaken, not stirred"), new Aston Martins (deemed by many the "Bond-mobile") with new features, and an array beautiful women. It has been announced that Daniel Craig will return for at least one more James Bond film, but after that, there is only speculation as to who the next Bond might be. One thing is for sure though: no matter how many actors come and go, Agent 007 isn't going to stop saving the world anytime soon.


Images from guardian.co, screenrant.com, and wordpress.com

A Star Wars Trilogy for the Next Generation

As many people are now aware due to the ridiculous amounts of attention  it has received online and in the news, Disney has purchased George Lucas' company, Lucasfilm. Disney gained the rights to all of Lucasfilm's franchises, including Indiana Jones, for the meager price of $4.05 billion. It is not Indiana Jones that Disney has its sights set on, but rather George Lucas' most famous (and most profitable) franchise, Star Wars. Disney has already announced that they plan to film another trilogy of Star Wars movies, with Episode 7 (Lucas had already created six) to be released in 2015. Lucasfilm had previously mapped out a general storyline for the continuation of the saga, and Disney plans to use it, having acquired it in the massive purchase.

Lucas has made it clear that he is letting go of his famous franchise, stating earlier this year that he was looking forward to making “experimental movies” in his garage.  Lucas has had a strong relationship with the Disney since Star Wars themed rides opened in Disneyland years ago, and Disney has assured other figureheads of Lucasfilm that the franchise will be in good hands.

Other tentative plans have been announced, including Episodes 8 and 9 in 2017 and 2019, respectively. Also in the works is an animated series for Disney XD, a popular kids' channel. One thing remains clear, no matter who is in charge of producing the films, Star Wars will always have an unmatched fan base.



Pictures courtesy of abc.com and guardian.co.uk