ITV

Tag: James Bond

  • Top 5 TV spy shows that tasted success

    Top 5 TV spy shows that tasted success

    MUMBAI: The recent James Bond starrer Spectre (2015) is taking trolls over the people across the nation with its brilliant cinematography and holds your breath tracking the shots. A Bond film’s rules might be predictable, but once its mechanisms start whirring, you can’t help but fall in place.

     

    The Sam Mendes directed movie was shot on a 35mm film which marks a change of texture from Skyfall’s gleaming digital stake. The film had paid previews held on 19 November 2015 and collected Rs. 2 cr in India. Spectre collected around Rs. 6.5 cr on Friday taking its collections to Rs 8.5 cr at India Box Office.

     

    English entertainment channels have always broadcasted shows and series on thrillers with a spy, to keep the viewers entertained. If you have already seen Spectre and are browsing on every available portal puzzled over what you should stream on tonight, we’ve got you covered. 
     
    After perusing the available options on the English entertainment channels, we recommend a few under-the-radar titles to satisfy your hunger for stories of a spy that enjoyed a good number of viewership in the global entertainment industry.

     

    1. Chuck

    Chuck is an American spy drama series created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The series ran for a period of 5 seasons with 91 episodes. The series portrays the life of a computer geek named Chuck inadvertently downloading critical government secrets into his brain. One day Chuck gets a message from a friend working for CIA. The message embeds the only remaining copy of a software program containing the United States’ greatest spy secrets into Chuck’s brain. CIA and NSA assign two agents to protect him and exploit such knowledge, turning his life upside down.

     

    2. Burn Notice

    Burn Notice is an American television series created by Matt Nix. It talks about a spy recently disavowed by the U.S. government and how he uses his special ops training to help others in trouble. His only means of surviving is by doing impossible jobs for the desperate people in Miami, where his mother lives. The series took a permanent place in the heart of the onlookers with 111 episodes for a span of 7 seasons.

     

    3. Alias

    The series is created by J. J. Abrams and successfully ran for 5 seasons with about 150 episodes. The plot revolves around a young athletic college graduate who is recruited as a secret agent for the CIA. After a few years the protagonist learns that her boyfriend is a part of a rogue international agency called the Alliance of 12, out to rule the world. She becomes a double agent working with the real CIA to bring down SD-6 with the assistance of her handler and her estranged father who is also a double agent. The series talks about her journey all the while keeping her cloak-and-dagger lifestyle a secret from her friends. 

     

    4. Covert Affairs

     

    Covert Affairs ran for 5 seasons with 75 episodes. The series hailed for a period of four years. The plot talks about a young CIA trainee sent into the field to work for the DPD (Domestic Protection Division). The field agent is assisted by a blind tech operative in her new life in the CIA. The lead’s new cover is that of a glamorous and well-connected importer or exporter with expensive tastes and dealings that may not always be legal.

     

    5. 24

     

    The 24 series had touched great heights of success in the entertainment industry for its entire tenure of 9 seasons. The Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran created series covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration. In this concept drama, each season takes place within one 24 hour period. Day 1: Jack Bauer is the head of field ops for an elite team of CTU agents who uncover an assassination plot targeting Presidential nominee David Palmer. Meanwhile, Jack’s strained marriage to his wife, Teri, is pushed to the brink by the sudden disappearance of their troubled teenage daughter.

  • Sony unveils TVC with James Bond’s Moneypenny – Naomie Harris

    Sony unveils TVC with James Bond’s Moneypenny – Naomie Harris

    MUMBAI: Ahead of the release of the motion picture Spectre, Sony has unveiled its ‘Made for Bond’ advertising campaign, which stars Naomie Harris as Moneypenny.

     

    Spectre, from Albert R. Broccoli’s EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and Sony Pictures Entertainment, will be released in the UK on 26 October and in the US on 6 November.

     

    Packing a powerful punch, the short 60 second television commercial follows a tense chase across London’s South Bank as Moneypenny fights off mysterious villains to deliver Bond’s Xperia Z5 phone. Using state-of-the-art tools, including an advanced compact RX100 IV Cyber-shot camera, she captures surveillance in super-slow motion.

     

    The ad has been produced by the legendary British director Danny Kleinman. Created by ad agency adam&eveDDB with production company Rattling Stick, the majority of the campaign film was shot on Sony’s F65 professional 4K cinema camera, interspersed with ‘slow motion’ surveillance that can be seen through the screen of the RX100 IV camera, and photography shown on the screen of the Xperia Z5.

     

    Kleinman said, “The campaign film truly captures the excitement of the chase, being on a mission and taking the viewer on the journey, all set against an iconic London backdrop.”

     

    Harris added, “London provides the perfect setting for the campaign film. Ultimately, at the centre of Bond is Britishness, so it was really important that the ad was shot here. It is not your traditional commercial; it’s an action-packed mini movie in itself.”

     

    Sony Corporation president and CEO Kazuo Hirai said, “Sony has been a proud partner of the iconic Bond films since Casino Royale. While both the Xperia Z5 and RX100 IV are action-packed and full of features, they are also real, everyday-life gadgets. Whether being used by Moneypenny on undercover surveillance or a creative photographer who wants to take and share outstanding photography captured on social channels, they’re easy to use, pocketable and award-winning products for day-to-day and secret agent use alike.”

     

    The campaign officially launches with the TV commercial, which will first air in the UK on 1 October, 2015 and will run until 8 November. The media campaign led by MediaCom also encompasses print, retail, digital and OOH. 

     

    With its compact size, the power of the premium RX100 IV camera – featuring the world’s first 1.0 type stacked Exmor RS CMOS sensor, 40x super-slow-motion video capture at up to 960fps, and the ability to speedily read data 5x faster than previous models – makes it the perfect accessory for Moneypenny.

     

    With the fastest autofocus in a leading smartphone delivering a ground-breaking speed of just 0.03 seconds, a fingerprint sensor integrated within the iconic power button, and beautifully sleek waterproof design, the Xperia Z5 is an advanced next-generation smartphone ideal for Bond. The Xperia Z5 was recently announced on 2 September, 2015 and will be available globally from October 2015.

  • Curtains down for showman Christopher Lee at 93

    Curtains down for showman Christopher Lee at 93

    MUMBAI: Actor Christopher Lee, who immortalised Count Dracula in the minds of viewers even generations later, through his stunning act in the film, died in Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, on 7 June after being treated for respiratory problems. 

     

    Not only did he become synonymous as Count Dracula after his stunning portrayal of the role in Hammer Horror films, he is well known amongst Bond lovers as Scaramanga from Man With The Golden Gun (1974). His other notable roles include a part in the seventies British horror classic The Wicker Man as the eccentric and evil Lord Summerisle, and, more recently in Lord of the Rings.

     

    Born in Belgravia, Westminster, London, Lee was hard to manage as a child and therefore he would often be reprimanded by his teachers at school, which he accepted as  “logical and therefore acceptable” for being the rule breaker that he was. After his parents’ divorce he lived with his mother and sister in Switzerland and later went to Miss Fisher’s Academy in Territet, where he played his first role, as Rumpelstiltskin. 

     

    Before establishing his career as an actor Lee volunteered with the Finnish forces in World War II and later assisted SAS in their operations  —  a part of his life he kept to himself with an air of secrecy. After returning to London, he did not find his calling in office work, nor did he find himself fit to teach at the University like other war veterans of his time. It was during a lunch meeting with his cousin Nicol? Carandini, now the Italian Ambassador to Britain, that the prospect of him being an actor came out. 

     

    Initially worried that he was too tall to be an actor, Lee found instant fame after his first feature film The Curse of Frankenstein for Hammer Horror films. And there was no looking back for him post that.

     

    Lee wasn’t just fit for the fantasy roles he played, he was an avid fantasy reader as well. In fact he re-read Lord of the Rings trilogy every year, and was the only member of the film cast to have met the author JRR Tolkien. While he is known for his astounding roles as an actor, Lee also tried his luck at single and faired pretty well. This multi-lingual talent had also rendered his voice for many animated movies as well. 

     

    According to many, he was often dubbed as the ‘real life James Bond’ thanks to his exploits as a war veteran and his close association with James Bond author and his cousin Ian Fleming.

     

    While Twitter and Facebook flooded with comments from industry and fans alike, pouring down their grief at the loss of this great artiste, Lee’s family has refrained from giving any comment.

  • &pictures to air the latest Bond flicks in Hindi with ‘Bond Nights’!

    &pictures to air the latest Bond flicks in Hindi with ‘Bond Nights’!

    MUMBAI: In keeping with its endeavour of providing its viewers with fresh and clutter-breaking content, &pictures, India’s premium Hindi movie channel extends its festive offering with the premiere of the best of Bond movies all of January and February, 2015. With a festival as massive as Agent 007 himself, &pictures gives its viewers the opportunity to experience a supreme action-packed experience.

    Kick-starting Bond Nights with the premiere of the latest Bond film – Skyfall on 2 January 2015, the channel has gone all out to initiate innovative marketing initiatives and create a colossal brand recall. In a bid to grab maximum eyeballs, &pictures has a populated special billboard branding across Ahmedabad, Surat, Baroda, Rajkot, Mumbai and Delhi with the enormous cut-outs of the blue-eyed Bond – Daniel Craig. To reach out to the movie enthusiasts, &pictures has also devised a strategy to run promos of Skyfall in about 500-600 UFO digital screens during and before the interval of the newly released movie PK in the run – up to ‘Bond Nights’!

    Moreover, social media platforms will be on fire with some surprising contests for viewers that will surround each Bond movie that is to premiere on &pictures. Apart from the fact that audiences will now be able to see their favourite rouge assassin for the first time in Hindi, audiences will also be able to watch them in complete action. A unique line of promos encompassing each Bond movie will also include some tongue in cheek humour.

    Speaking of the action filled line up, Ruchir Tiwari, Deputy Business Head, Hindi Movie Channels, ZEEL, stated, “&pictures has always stood for providing premium entertaining content to our audiences. With Bond Nights, we are exhibiting one of the most exclusive and anticipated film franchises across the globe. We are ringing the New Year with super sleek Bond series, with most of the films from the line-up premiering for the first time on Hindi television. Adhering to the nature of Bond films our marketing campaign includes eclectic mix of traditional and innovative strategies specifically targeted consumer as well as trade audiences.”

    In addition, to reach out to the trade agency community &pictures had organized an inventive activity ‘Bond of the agency’ across Mumbai and Delhi. A race car (synonym with Bond) gaming set up was located in the respective agency cafeterias. This exciting gaming console provided a distinctive opportunity to all the employees to partake and win original Bond merchandising. The winner with best score was also granted ‘Bond of the agency’ title.

    The mega movie series of the latest Bond flicks will make its way on television screens for the first time in Hindi on &pictures every Friday at 8:00 PM from 2 January to 13 February!

  • Sony Pictures unveils exciting 2015 line-up

    Sony Pictures unveils exciting 2015 line-up

    MUMBAI: Starting the year with the comedy Sharafat Gaye Tel Lene hitting theatres on 16 January 2014, Sony Pictures has a fantastic lineup of movies that include Hollywood comedy The Wedding Ringer about a best man on hire, starring top comic Kevin Hart, Josh Gad and Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting.

     

    That is not all! Neill Blomkamp’s Chappie with Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel and Hugh Jackman is next on the list, featuring a story about a robot with the ability to think and feel for himself.

    Summer releases include the successful horror franchise Insidious, which takes the story back to the beginning. This will be followed by Pixels, a unique action comedy about aliens, directed by Chris Columbus and the comedy Grimsby, co-written by Sacha Baron Cohen.

     

    After which, the film, Ricki and The Flash directed by Jonathan Demme will feature a story about an ageing rocker played by Meryl Streep.

    The last quarter of the year will see Robert Zemeckis’ The Walk starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ben Kingsley, based on the true story of high-wire artist Philippe Petit’s attempt to cross the Twin Towers of    the World Trade Center in 1974.

     

    The year ends with a bang with the highly anticipated James Bond film, Spectre releasing in early    November, followed by the Genndy Tartakovsky-directed follow-up to the record-smashing Hotel Transylvania.

    Sony Pictures India managing director Kercy Daruwala said, “In 2014 we released the biggest film of the year with The Amazing Spiderman 2 and consolidated our leadership position with five out of the top ten Hollywood films in India of all time. Our 2015 line-up promises an even more exciting year ahead, with the distribution of some local films, the scope of a sure-shot blockbuster like Spectre plus a very rich variety of other promising titles.”

    Sony Pictures India director of marketing Divya Pathak added, “2014 was a very exciting and challenging year for us in which we took movie marketing where it’s never gone before, to all corners of the   country, with franchises like Spider-Man. We are enthusiastic about   our diverse and unique 2015 line-up and look forward to reaching new heights in marketing innovation.”

    Sony Pictures India director of sales Appu said, “Our fantastic slate in 2015 holds equal promise for both audiences and exhibitors. With the Bond film slated for a release in the next diwali season, we intend to literally light up the box office.”

  • Daniel Craig to return as James Bond 007 for fourth time in ‘Spectre’

    Daniel Craig to return as James Bond 007 for fourth time in ‘Spectre’

    NEW DELHI: The 24th James Bond adventure ‘Spectre’ will feature Daniel Craig in his fourth film as Ian Flemings James Bond 007.

     

    Produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli and directed by Sam Mendes, the film is all set to begin production.

     

    This announcement was made at 007 Soundstage, Pinewood Studios in London. The film, from Albert R. Broccolis EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment begins principal photography on 8 December and is set for global release on 6 November next year.

     

    The other cast includes Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw and Rory Kinnear as well as introducing Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Dave Bautista, Monica Bellucci and Andrew Scott.

     

     Mendes also revealed Bonds sleek new Aston Martin, the DB10, created exclusively for ‘Spectre.’

     

    A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organisation. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind ‘Spectre.’

     

    The 007 production will be based at Pinewood Studios, and on location in London, Mexico City, Rome and Tangier and Erfoud, in Morocco.  Bond will return to the snow once again, this time in Sölden, along with other Austrian locations, Obertilliach, and Lake Altaussee.

     

    Commenting on the announcement, Wilson and Broccoli said, “We’re excited to announce Daniel’s fourth installment in the series and thrilled that Sam has taken on the challenge of following on the success of Skyfall.”

     

    Written by John Logan and Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, director of photography for the film is Hoyte van Hoytema and editor is Lee Smith. Production designer Dennis Gassner returns along with costume designer Jany Temime and composer Thomas Newman. Action Specialist Alexander Witt is the 2nd unit director. Stunt coordinator is Gary Powell, special effects supervisor is Chris Corbould, and visual effects supervisor is Steve Begg.

     

    Skyfall, the 23rd James Bond film, was a worldwide box office phenomenon, opening #1 in 70 territories around the world, taking over $1.1 billion worldwide and setting a new all-time box office record in the UK by becoming the first film to take over ?100 million.

     

    The launch of Spectre was streamed live on 007.com <http://007.com/> and Facebook.com/JamesBond007, and the video is now available on demand at both sites.

     

    Promotional partners returning to the Bond franchise include Aston Martin, Bollinger, Heineken, Jaguar Land Rover, Omega, Sony Electronics, and Sony Mobile.

     

    James Bond is the longest running, and one of the most successful franchises of all time, with twenty-three films produced and the twenty-fourth about to go in to production. Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli succeeded Albert R ‘Cubby’ Broccoli and have produced the past seven Bond films together, including the highly successful Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall. All of the James Bond films have been made in collaboration with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios or United Artists, its predecessor.

  • Sania Mirza gets set to ‘bond’ on Sony Pix

    Sania Mirza gets set to ‘bond’ on Sony Pix

    MUMBAI:  ‘The name is Bond, James Bond’ is one of Hollywood’s most iconic dialogues, and so has been the Bond franchise. Not surprisingly, it has collected $ 4.1 billion at the box office and still counting. And while the property has been showcased time and again on English movie channels, Sony Pix has taken a step ahead and roped in tennis player Sania Mirza, who launched the franchise as a trainer for the channel’s Pix School of BONDing.

     

    Explaining the initiative to showcase the 50 year old property, Sony Pix and AXN EVP and business head Saurabh Yagnik says that in order to sustain Bond’s relevance the channel wanted to create a disruptive and differentiated viewer proposition. “While Bond is synonymous with gadgets, gizmos and girls, these three are transient and keep changing throughout the movies. But the most consistent part is the evergreen Bond attitude. We, therefore, decided to come up with a campaign that would be able to grab attention,” he adds. The campaign is primarily targeted towards the younger audiences.

     

    The channel deliberated for three months before conceptualising the campaign and roped in Mirza for her iconic personality, her resonance with young audiences and the fact that she is a self confessed die-hard James Bond fan.

     

    It wanted to portray Bond’s attitude and desirability through the eyes of a woman. As a trainer at the Pix School, Mirza will be seen giving tips on how men should woo their way to a woman’s heart. Starting on 22 November, the 23 Bond titles will be shown for the next 12 weeks (three months) every Saturday at 7 pm and 9 pm. The tennis ace will be providing nine to 12 lessons, each of one to two minute duration. These capsules will be showcased during the telecast of the movies.

     

    To promote the campaign, three TV promos have been shot at the Filmistan Studio by an in-house team. These are being promoted on all channels of the MSM network. Short snippets like The 23 Bond Villains of All Time and 23 Best Bond Cars of all Time have also been created. Bond memes are being circulated on WhatsApp. A six-city print campaign has been launched where publications are running contests wherein winners will be able to meet Mirza in person. 

     

    Pix marketing vice president Neville Bastawalla talking about the marketing campaign says, “This is the biggest ever campaign done in the English category. We currently have a 12 per cent engagement rate on social media versus our nearest rival which has a five per cent engagement rate. We, therefore, through digital contests and the live chats wanted to leverage our fans with that of Mirza’s.”

     

    Pix has 47.9k followers on Twitter while Mirza has 2.13 million. On Facebook Mirza’s official page currently has 7,698,051 likes while Pix has 2,155,451.

     

    Micromax has come on board as the presenting sponsor. Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 is the powered by sponsor while the associate sponsors are Quikr, Titan Skinn, 99acres.com, Nutrilite by Amway and Crizal by Essilor.

     

    Yagnik says that with the campaign he expects a jump of 20 to 30 per cent in viewership for the channel, which has seen a growth of 25 per cent in the category for this year, so far.

     

    The 23 Bond films that will be showcased are Dr No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Diamonds are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun,The Spy who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, AView To A Kill, The Living Daylights, License to Kill, Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall.

  • Sony Pictures to make Edward Snowden biopic

    Sony Pictures to make Edward Snowden biopic

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Entertainment has nabbed the film rights to Glenn Greenwald’s New York Times bestselling thriller, No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State, The Hollywood Reporter (THR) reports.

     

    In May 2013, Glenn Greenwald set out for Hong Kong to meet an anonymous source who claimed to have astonishing evidence of pervasive government spying and insisted on communicating only through heavily encrypted channels. That source turned out to be the 29-year-old NSA contractor Edward Snowden, and his revelations about the agency’s widespread, systemic overreach proved to be some of the most explosive and consequential news in recent history, triggering a fierce debate over national security and information privacy. As the arguments rage on and the government considers various proposals for reform, it is clear that we have yet to see the full impact of Snowden’s disclosures.

     

    Now for the first time, Greenwald fits all the pieces together, recounting his high-intensity 11-day trip to Hong Kong, examining the broader implications of the surveillance detailed in his reporting for The Guardian, and revealing fresh information on the NSA’s unprecedented abuse of power with never-before-seen documents entrusted to him by Snowden himself.

     

    Going beyond NSA specifics, Greenwald also takes on the establishment media, excoriating their habitual avoidance of adversarial reporting on the government and their failure to serve the interests of the people. Finally, he asks what it means both for individuals and for a nation’s political health when a government pries so invasively into the private lives of its citizens—and considers what safeguards and forms of oversight are necessary to protect democracy in the digital age. Coming at a landmark moment in American history, No Place to Hide is a fearless, incisive, and essential contribution to our understanding of the U.S. surveillance state.

     

    Michael G. Wilson (Octopussy) and Barbara Broccoli (Skyfall) will produce the politically themed drama with Elizabeth Contillon (Goosebumps) overseeing the film for Sony.

  • Avatar actor arrested for punching photographer

    Avatar actor arrested for punching photographer

    MUMBAI: Sam Worthington, best known for his roles in Avatar, was arrested on Sunday, 23 February after getting into an altercation with a photographer, reports New York Police Department (NYPD).

     

    The 37-year old Australian actor was accused of punching photographer Sheng Li in the face after Li allegedly kicked Worthington’s 26-year-old female companion in the shins at 5:30 p.m. in Greenwich Village, according to NYPD Detective Kellyann Ort. The department refused to reveal any details in regards to the identity of Worthington’s female companion. However, no one succumbed to any injuries.

     

    In addition to Avatar, Worthington also starred in Terminator: Salvation, Clash of the Titans, Wrath of the Titans, Drift, Man on a Ledge, Rogue. He auditioned for the role of James Bond in Casino Royale, but lost to Daniel Craig.

  • Indias No.1 English movie channel turns 3

    Indias No.1 English movie channel turns 3

    MUMBAI: MOVIES NOW, India’s first High Definition English Movie channel celebrates its 3rd anniversary this Thursday- 19th December 2013. In just three years the channel has soared to be the most popular English Movie Channel catering to Urban Affluent Audiences across the country.

    An unbeatable viewing experience with Stunning Pictures in 1080i and Awesome 5.1 Digital Surround sound, a spectacular line up of the most popular blockbusters and massive reach has made MOVIES NOW the No. 1 choice of viewers. MOVIES NOW enjoys the Highest Time spent in the category and according to a recently conducted IPSOS study has emerged as the No.1 recommended channel, No.1 channel viewed by family and loved ones and the channel with the highest satisfaction scores.

    Ajay Trigunayat, CEO of English Channels, Times Television Network said, “MOVIES NOW strives to serve the best audio – visual experience to viewers with the choicest titles, state of the art technology, playout & phenomenal performance. We are ecstatic that we have received an overwhelming response from consumers and advertisers alike. The viewer response on the social and digital platforms is incredible as well as the number with regards to time spent has proved that the audience has taken to us with open arms and that MOVIES NOW is proving to be a strong media vehicle to reach out to urban consumers.

    The channel has always stayed ahead of the curve with its stellar presentation style and superlative content. The channel boasts of over 500 titles in just three years! Franchises like Star Wars, Shaolin Masters, Rocky, James Bond, Charlie Chaplin, Final Destination, Anaconda, Oceans series, X-Men etc along with exclusive premiers featuring titles like The Grey, Unknown, Dead Man Down, Tai Chi Zero and the Kick amongst many others continue to enthral consumers and advertisers alike.

    The channel has grown tremendously in the last 3 years and has associated with over 1000+ brands and over 400+ advertisers.