Wilson says 'another Bond film soon'  

Speaking at a packed press conference in Marylebone in central London on Friday 16 July, held to launch the new 007 video game 'Blood Stone', Bond producer Michael G. Wilson appeared keen to demolish recent negative press reports about the future of EON's big-screen Bond film franchise.

Since April 2010, when EON announced that work on Bond 23 was 'suspended indefinitely' due to the continuing financial problems and uncertainty at MGM, Wilson and his co-producer Barbara Broccoli have faced a number of doom-laden reports in the British media claiming that the James Bond film series is finished, particularly given the stalemate over Bond 23.

One typical press report, carried recently in the UK's 'Daily Mirror', even went so far as to say the film was 'canned' and 'axed', and alleged that this had created 'bad feeling' among members of the regular production crew.

But at one point in Friday's 'Blood Stone' launch event, Wilson commented: 'Both Barbara and I are convinced that we'll be bringing you another Bond film soon'. And, shortly after unveiling the new game from Activision, Wilson added ruefully: 'I wish we were launching a movie'.

Blood Stone In Sum

In the meantime, Bond fans can still get some badly-needed 007 entertainment by checking out Activision's exciting new game. Officially entitled 'James Bond: Blood Stone', the game is a third-person shooter developed under licence from EON and MGM by 'Bizarre Creations' (which is based in Liverpool, in England). It has an original story by veteran Bond screenwriter Bruce Feirstein, who worked on 'Goldeneye' (1995), 'Tomorrow Never Dies' (1997), and 'The World Is Not Enough' (1999). Feirstein also developed the storylines for the popular video games 'Everything or Nothing' and 'From Russia With Love', and was recently announced as the script-writer for Activision's new up-dated version of the best-selling 1997 video game 'GoldenEye 007', which is due later this year (see the JBIFC's June newsletter for more details).

Craig Is Back

Even more interestingly for dedicated Bond fans, 'Blood Stone' sees the return of Daniel Craig as 007, in both likeness and voice, together with Dame Judi Dench as 'M'. Ben Cook, who has doubled for Daniel in the Bond films, has also provided some important choreography for 007's digital animation in the new game. The game's storyline involves a missing scientist, a villain named 'Greco' (who is organiser of a deadly terrorist group), and a socialite named Nicole Hunter, who is played by Grammy and BRIT Award-winning musician and singer Joss Stone. Bond and Hunter team up to track down the missing boffin. Stone has also provided an original music track for the game entitled 'I'll Take It All', a song which she co-wrote with Dave Stuart of the famous band the Eurythmics, and this is performed specially for the game by Stone and Stuart.

According to a press release issued from Santa Monica, USA, to coincide with the London launch, 'Blood Stone' takes players on a 'global chase through Athens, Istanbul, Monaco and Bangkok', and David Pokress, Head of Marketing for Licenced Properties at Activision, said the game 'captures the cinematic intensity of a Bond film by immersing players in an intriguing conspiracy'. Activision also stated that the new game was an attempt to bring 'the exhilaration of Bond to a new audience'. It is estimated by experts that the global gaming industry is now much larger than the world's traditional film industry, and EON and MGM recognise that this form of electronic media will be a substantial growth area in the future. 

Speaking to the London 'Times' newspaper at the launch event, Joss Stone gave some brief details about her role as the new Bond girl and added some further thoughts on the musical dimension. She said: 'Bond songs are amazing. They're very grand. My stuff is more chilled. OK, I guess I scream a bit too'.

or more details about 'Blood Stone', please visit www.007.com