"They want HOW much?"
"Yes James, I can't believe it either."
This week, the 007 Store of Eon Productions unveiled the Dr. No Archive Book, loaded with 1,007 photos.
There are two versions: The first is a lot of 250 numbered books at £1,500 each (about $1,900). That's more than many Americans pay for their monthly mortgage payment. The other is a lot of 1,462 books at £500 each (about $630). All in time for the movie's 62nd (?) anniversary.
Eon retained a publisher called Taschen, which produces high-end books for the project. Eon "opened their archives of photos, designs, storyboards, and production materials to editor Paul Duncan, who spent two years researching the images and documentation. The result is the most complete account of the making of the film yet," the production company said on its website.
Most complete account yet?
Dr. No was something of a troubled production. Film Finances, which supplied a completion bond (essentially emergy financing to ensure the movie would be finished) took control of the movie during post-production. A big chunk of director Terence Young's fee was withheld until it was earned back at the box office. (Young was quite unhappy.) The famed Ken Adam sets cost more than Eon told Film Finances they would.
All of this was covered in a book Film Finances produced in 2011, A Bond for Bond. It reproduced memos and letters, including one Young wrote to his lawyers. Will Taschen get into these issues? If not, the new book would hardly be complete.
More broadly, the new book is another reminder of how Eon prefers high-end collectible products.
In 2019, Neiman Marcus offered seven Aston Martin DBS Superleggera cars (supposedly designed by Daniel Craig) priced at $700,007 each, which Eon announced on its website. In 2018, Aston Martin and Eon announced that 25 DB5 replicas complete with some gadgets could be bought for more than $3 million each. (The cars weren't street-legal.) And don't forget $1,200 silk Octopussy robes.
