Hall of Fame: James Bond
For over 50 years audiences have been enjoying the adventures and exploits of James Bond.
To date there have been 24 official James Bond films, starting in 1962 with Dr. No and the first man to bring the James Bond character to life, Sean Connery. 53 years later Spectre, starring Daniel Craig as James Bond, opened in theaters easily making the James Bond franchise the longest running movie series in history. 24 films in 53 years, that works out to a new Bond film every two years or so, that is amazing longevity. And with so many films to its credit, the James Bond franchise is among the highest grossing film franchises of all-time.
The James Bond character was created back in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming. Fleming wrote 12 James Bond novels and 2 short story collections.
One year after Fleming created Bond, he was asked to adapt his novel Casino Royale into a 1 hour television show for CBS’ Climax! anthology series. Then in 1956, Fleming’s Moonraker was adapted for broadcast on South African radio. It was only a matter of time before the movie studios would come calling…
And it is the James Bond film franchise that truly made the James Bond character a pop culture icon. For many, Bond is the personification of cool. From the way he dressed, to the cars he drove, his ladies man reputation (Bond has slept with over 50 women in the ongoing movie series) and even the way he ordered a drink… James Bond is a character guys can only dream of being.
But to date, only six men can make the claim that they were James Bond in the 53 year history of the film franchise. Sean Connery was the first and to many still the best Bond ever. George Lazenby had the shortest run as James Bond, with only one film to his credit. Roger Moore was James Bond more than anyone else with 7 Bond films to his credit. Timothy Dalton was 007 on two occasions. Pierce Brosnan was James Bond in the 1990’s. And Daniel Craig joined the James Bond club in 2006’s Casino Royale.
The popularity of the James Bond character showed Hollywood that spies make money, thus making his character very influential in the world of action entertainment. Would there be a Jason Bourne or even an Austin Powers or Cody Banks without James Bond? Would there have been a Mission: Impossible TV series and then years later a film franchise had it not been for James Bond? What about Remo Williams? Orion Pictures was hoping to turn The Destroyer series of books into a James Bond like franchise for their studio. And those are just a few examples of Hollywood attempting to use the James Bond formula for success.
The James Bond character has not only been featured in print, radio, television and movies, but also video games. Bond’s most notable video game appearance was in the original GoldenEye video game for the N64. Over 8 million units were sold, making GoldenEye the third best selling game, only behind Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64, in the history of the N64 console!
Generations of movie going fans have shared in the Bond experience and with the 25th Bond film rumored for a 2017 release, James Bond is showing no signs of slowing down.
For his unmatched longevity, for his influence on other forms of action entertainment , for his ultra cool style (including the fact that he has his own theme song) and for the countless times he has saved the world, Jame Bond has rightfully earned his spot in the 2015 class of the Bulletproof Action Hall of Fame!
