New James Bond film titled 'No Time To Die'

The next James Bond film starring Daniel Craig as 007 will be called "No Time To Die" and released in April 2020, the storied franchise announced on Tuesday.

Filming of the 25th cinematic instalment of the British spy saga is already underway, but has been beset by problems.

An explosion at Britain's Pinewood Studios in June rocked one of the film sets, causing damage to the stage and one minor injury.

The Sun newspaper said a triple blast hit the set after a stunt went wrong, taking off part of the roof and several wall panels.

Bond actor Craig earlier had to undergo minor ankle surgery after an injury on set.

Craig -- who will play the legendary character for the fifth time -- sustained the injury during filming in Jamaica.

Oscar winner Rami Malek will play the villain in the long-awaited movie that is set to see Craig bow out after eight years as 007.

It will also see the return of Ralph Fiennes as Bond's boss and French actress Lea Seydoux.

The production has been repeatedly delayed over script disputes.

The delays were prompted in part by Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle's replacement by Cary Fukunaga in September.

The film is now due to open in cinemas in Britain on April 3, 2020, and in the United States five days later.

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Daniel Craig to have ankle surgery, 'Bond' film remains on schedule

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - James Bond actor Daniel Craig will undergo ankle surgery after injuring himself while filming the spy franchise’s latest installment, but the movie remains on schedule for an April 2020 release, producers said on Wednesday.

A posting on the official James Bond Twitter account said the surgery was minor and that Craig hurt himself while shooting in Jamaica.

“Production will continue whilst Craig is rehabilitating for two weeks post-surgery. The film remains on track for the same release date in April 2020,” the tweet said.

The still untitled movie, known by the working title “Bond 25,” will be Craig’s fifth go-around as Britain’s most famous fictional secret agent.

British media reported that Craig, 51, slipped and hurt himself on set last week while filming an action sequence.

The MGM spy franchise is one of the movie world’s most lucrative with 2015’s “Spectre,” directed by Sam Mendes, raking in $880 million at the box office worldwide, while “Skyfall” in 2012, also directed by Mendes, grossed more than $1 billion globally.

Bond 25 is being directed by American Cary Joji Fukunaga.

Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Sandra Maler

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Rami Malek to play Bond villain, as Daniel Craig returns to play super-spy

British actor Daniel Craig will star for the fifth time as James Bond in the still untitled 25th movie of the spy thriller franchise set for release next year, the producers said on Thursday.

Craig, 51, the sixth actor to play the British secret agent, will be joined by previous Bond co-stars and several newcomers, including Oscar winner Rami Malek, who played Queen front man Freddie Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody" last year.

Malek, 37, is set to play Bond's latest archenemy in the upcoming film, which goes by the working title "Bond 25" and will include on-location scenes in Jamaica, the producers said in a webcast from the Caribbean island.

"I promise you all I will be making sure that Mr. Bond does not have an easy ride of it in this his 25th outing," Malek said in a recorded announcement from New York. (Reporting by Peter Szekely; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

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007 carmaker Aston Martin announces stock market float

LONDRES, United Kingdom -- Aston Martin, the British luxury car brand favored by fictional spy James Bond, announced on Wednesday plans to list a quarter of its shares on the London stock market.

Full details of the initial public offering will be published on September 20, Aston Martin said in a statement, with reports noting that the company could be valued up to £5.0 billion ($6.4 billion, 5.5 billion euros).

"Today's announcement represents a key milestone in the history of the company, which is reporting strong financial results and increased global demand for its award-winning sports cars," Aston Martin chief executive Andy Palmer said in the statement.

The century-old carmaker, based in Gaydon in central England, is controlled by Italian private equity fund Investindustrial and Kuwaiti investors. 

German carmaker Daimler will meanwhile keep its near 5.0-percent stake in the group, Aston Martin said.

Founded in London in 1913, Aston Martin rose to fame thanks largely to its DB5 sports car, a favourite of early Bond actor Sean Connery.

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Aston Martin unveils 'sports car for the skies' at airshow

FARNBOROUGH, England - James Bond would love it. Aston Martin, maker of the luxury sports cars favored by the fictional British spy, has now come up with a futuristic personal aircraft it has dubbed "a sports car for the skies".

Aston Martin unveiled the three-seater hybrid-electric vehicle this week at the Farnborough Airshow and, though the concept remains for now the stuff of science fiction, believes it could help one day to revolutioniZe travel.

The Volante Vision Concept design has vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capabilities and will be able to hit speeds of around 200 miles per hour (322 kph), "so you can go from the centre of Birmingham to the centER of London in about 30 minutes," Aston Martin's Simon Sproule told Reuters.


Aviation and technology leaders are working to make electric-powered flying taxis a reality, including Airbus, U.S. ride-sharing firm Uber and a range of start-ups including one backed by Google co-founder Larry Page, called Kitty Hawk.

Aston Martin believes it could corner the market for luxury flying vehicles in the future.

"The same way that you have Uber and you have an Aston Martin, you'll have 'Uber in the skies' and you'll have 'Aston Martin in the skies'," said Sproule, adding that such an aircraft won't come cheap.

"This is clearly a luxury object - it's a sports car for the skies - so pricing is going to be commensurate with that, so certainly into the seven figures."

FEELS LIKE A FIGHTER JET

The company has partnered with Cranfield University, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions and British jet engine maker Rolls-Royce to develop the concept vehicle, including artificial intelligence-powered autonomous capabilities.

"It feels like a fighter jet but at the same time it has the Aston Martin luxury," said David Debney, chief of future aircraft concepts at Rolls-Royce.

Commenting on how to pilot the vehicle, Cranfield's Helen Atkinson said: "You've got to detect what's going on in the external environment and then turn that around incredibly quickly in the computer system with the artificial intelligence built in to actually achieve the necessary level of autonomy."

Separately at Farnborough, Rolls-Royce unveiled plans for a flying taxi - an electric vertical take-off and landing (EVTOL) vehicle which could carry four to five people at speeds of up to 250 miles (400 km) per hour for approximately 500 miles.

The company said it was starting a search for partners to help develop a project it hopes could take to the skies as soon as early next decade.

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James Bond watch with geiger counter sells for $160,000

LONDON - A watch adapted for the fictional British spy 007 in the James Bond movies sold for nearly 104,000 pounds ($160,000) at a pop culture auction on Wednesday after being bought, strapless, at car boot sale for 25 pounds.

The Breitling Top Time, worn by actor Sean Connery during 007's mission to find stolen atomic bombs the 1965 movie "Thunderball", was estimated to sell for between 40,000 and 60,000 pounds.

Auction house Christie's said this was the first watch to be modified by the Q branch in the Bond movies and was equipped with a "Geiger counter" to help the suave secret agent detect the emission of nuclear radiation in the film.

Made by Breitling in 1962, it was adapted by the James Bond art department and was the only example produced for the movie, a Christie's spokeswoman said.

She was unable to give details on the vendor or purchaser of the watch that was one of 252 lots at the auction house's pop culture sale.

Among the many other items sold were Bob Dylan lyrics for an unreleased song and actress Elizabeth Taylor's first wedding dress, which she wore as an 18-year-old when she married Conrad Hilton Junior in 1950 in one of the social events of that year attended by over 700 guests.

"The dress symbolizes one of the most iconic off-screen moments of ‘Golden Age Hollywood'," Christie's said in a statement.

The dress sold for nearly 122,000

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Bond baddie Javier Bardem gets Hollywood star

LOS ANGELES, California - Spanish actor Javier Bardem, who plays the villain in the latest 007 movie, got his own star on the storied Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday, two days before the US release of "Skyfall."

The Oscar-winning star was joined by director Sam Mendes, who lavished praise on him, while Bardem paid tribute to British fellow cast member Daniel Craig in his latest turn as James Bond.

"You will not be disappointed. The great Sam Mendes has done an amazing movie... Daniel Craig is, as you know, an extraordinary," he told reporters at the star-unveiling ceremony on Hollywood Boulevard.

"I had a lot of fun playing Silva because he's a fun character to play," he said, referring to his blond-haired baddie character in the new movie, which came out in Europe last month.

Also on hand were Bond girls Berenice Marlohe and Naomie Harris, who co-star in the new Bond movie, which has won rave reviews.

Bardem was the first Spaniard to be nominated for an Academy Award and the first to win one, for best supporting actor in the 2007 film "No Country for Old Men."

Married to actress Penelope Cruz, he got his first English-speaking role in "Before Night Falls" by director Julian Schnabel in 2000, and has since made his mark firmly on the big screen internationally.

"I'm really embarrassed... especially now that I have to speak English with all these people looking at me and taking pictures, hoping for me to say something brilliant, which I'm not gonna say," he said.

Mendes recounted how Bardem was chosen for the Bond villain role.

"I said well maybe, I thought, 'It's crazy, look at him, he looks fantastic,'" Mendes recalled. "But I said OK, let's have a look, let's pre-test it.

"He came in a week later and not one person recognized him.

"He walked to the camera with different hair, different face, different eyes... he just looked to the camera and he was someone else.

"And all that work is crystallized in one second, and that really is what it is to be a great actor," added the British director.

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