Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Greenman
I am astounded that that and other websites keep mentioning* "Never Say Never Again" it was not an official Bond movie, i.e. not sanctioned by Danjaq S.A.
|
Most Bond websites (and most Star Trek, Star Wars, etc. websites) are fanmade. And fans don't really care about a Bond movie being made or sanctioned by Danjaq or not.
Danjaq isn't the owner of the James Bond copyrights. In fact, they have to buy the rights from Glidrose publishing. Glidrose owns the rights to the Fleming books. But they can't sell the movie rights to ThunderBall because Kevin McClory owns them. How did Kevin McClory get them? Well, he and Fleming together with Jack Whittingham came up with the story for ThunderBall for a TV series to be made. However McClory and Whittingham couldn't finance the series and the partnership desolved. Fleming, behind the backs of McClory and Whittingham made a novelization and that book is called Thunderball. Naturally McClory and Whittingham sued Fleming. The judge gave ownership of the movierights of Thunderball to McClory and ordered Fleming to mention in his book that is was based on a script by Fleming, McClory and Whittingham.
When Broccoli and Saltzman bought the movie rights for all the Bond novels, they couldn't get Casino Royale (it was already sold for TV) nor Thunderball.
So Danjaq only owns the right to the 007 gun logo, the gun barrel opening sequence and the Bond music. They do not own the rights of the characters nor the premise of a Bond movie. But every time McClory wanted to use his rightful ownership to the movie rights of Thunderball, danjaq started a legal battle against him.
Never wondered why Ernst Stavro Blofeld and SPECTER were never used in the later Bond movies? Danjaq doesn't have the rights to that character and that organization since they were created in ThunderBall.
Personally, I was a Roger Moore fan before I ever saw a Bond movie. I loved the actor in The Saint and The Persuaders. Yet I must admit that he starred in only 2 decent Bond movies. Only The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only were good. Moore's other Bond movies were poor to say the least.
However Never Say Never Again was probably the best Bond movie to come out of the 1980's. Yes, it felt strange to have a Bond movie without the Bond theme, the gun barrel opening and a pre-titles sequence. But it wasn't filled with stupid gags like Octopussy was (Bond doing a Tarzan scream anyone?)
And it starred Kim Bassinger!
http://www.universalexports.net/00Sony.shtml