''Tomorrow Never Dies'' is a 1997
spy film
The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many James Bond films) ...
, the eighteenth in the
''James Bond'' series produced by
Eon Productions
Eon Productions Ltd. is a British film production company that primarily produces the ''James Bond'' film series. The company is based in London's Piccadilly and also operates from Pinewood Studios in the UK.
''Bond'' films
Eon was started ...
and the second to star
Pierce Brosnan as fictional
MI6
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
agent
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
. Directed by
Roger Spottiswoode
John Roger Spottiswoode (born 5 January 1945) is a Canadian-British director, editor and writer of film and television.
Early life
He was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and was raised in Britain. His father Raymond Spottiswoode was a British ...
from a screenplay by
Bruce Feirstein, it follows Bond as he attempts to stop Elliot Carver (
Jonathan Pryce
Sir Jonathan Pryce (born John Price; 1 June 1947) is a Welsh actor who is known for his performances on stage and in film and television. He has received numerous awards, including two Tony Awards and two Laurence Olivier Awards. In 2021 he was ...
), a power-mad
media mogul
A media proprietor, media mogul or media tycoon refers to a entrepreneur who controls, through personal ownership or via a dominant position in any media-related company or enterprise, media consumed by many individuals. Those with significant co ...
, from engineering world events to initiate
World War III
World War III or the Third World War, often abbreviated as WWIII or WW3, are names given to a hypothetical worldwide large-scale military conflict subsequent to World War I and World War II. The term has been in use since at ...
.
The film was produced by
Michael G. Wilson
Michael Gregg Wilson, (born January 21, 1942) is an American-British screenwriter and film producer, best known for his association with the ''James Bond'' film series.
Background
Wilson was born in New York City, the son of Dana (née Na ...
and
Barbara Broccoli
Barbara Dana Broccoli (born June 18, 1960) is an American film and stage producer, best known internationally for her work on the ''James Bond'' film series. With her half-brother Michael G. Wilson, Broccoli controls the ''James Bond'' film fr ...
, and was the first Bond film made after the death of producer
Albert R. Broccoli
Albert Romolo Broccoli ( ; April 5, 1909 – June 27, 1996), nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career. Most of the films were made in the United Kingdom and often filmed at Pi ...
(to whom it pays tribute in the end credits), and the last released under the
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...
label. Filming locations included France, Thailand, Germany, Mexico and the United Kingdom.
''Tomorrow Never Dies'' performed well at the box office, grossing over $333 million worldwide, becoming the
fourth-highest-grossing film of 1997 and earning a
Golden Globe nomination despite mixed reviews. While its performance at the U.S. box office surpassed that of its predecessor ''
GoldenEye
''GoldenEye'' is a 1995 spy film, the seventeenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Martin Campbell, it was the first in the se ...
'', it was the only one of Brosnan's Bond films not to open at No. 1 at the box office, as it opened the same day as ''
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...
'', and finished at No. 2 that week.
Plot
MI6
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
sends
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
into the field to
reconnoiter
In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities.
Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmishers, ...
a terrorist arms bazaar on the Russian border. Despite
M's insistence on letting 007 finish his reconnaissance,
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
Admiral Roebuck orders the frigate
HMS ''Chester'' to fire a
Harpoon
A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument and tool used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other marine hunting to catch and injure large fish or marine mammals such as seals and whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal ...
missile at the bazaar. Bond then discovers two nuclear torpedoes mounted on an
L-39 Albatros
The Aero L-39 Albatros is a high-performance jet trainer designed and produced in Czechoslovakia by Aero Vodochody. It is the most widely used jet trainer in the world; in addition to performing basic and advanced pilot training, it has also flo ...
; with the missile out of range to be aborted, Bond is forced to pilot the L-39 away seconds before the bazaar is destroyed.
Media baron
A media proprietor, media mogul or media tycoon refers to a entrepreneur who controls, through personal ownership or via a dominant position in any media-related company or enterprise, media consumed by many individuals. Those with significant co ...
Elliot Carver starts his plans to use an encoder obtained at the bazaar by his associate,
cyberterrorist
Cyberterrorism is the use of the Internet to conduct violent acts that result in, or threaten, the loss of life or significant bodily harm, in order to achieve political or ideological gains through threat or intimidation. Acts of deliberate, la ...
Henry Gupta, to provoke war between China and the UK.
Meaconing
Meaconing is the interception and rebroadcast of navigation signals. These signals are rebroadcast on the received frequency, typically, with power higher than the original signal, to confuse enemy navigation. Consequently, aircraft or ground stat ...
the GPS signal using the encoder, Gupta sends the frigate
HMS ''Devonshire'' off-course into Chinese-occupied waters in the
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phi ...
, where Carver's
stealth ship, commanded by Mr. Stamper, ambushes and sinks it with a "sea drill" torpedo. Carver's henchmen steal one of the ''Devonshire''
's missiles and shoot down a Chinese
MiG
Russian Aircraft Corporation "MiG" (russian: Российская самолётостроительная корпорация „МиГ“, Rossiyskaya samolyotostroitel'naya korporatsiya "MiG"), commonly known as Mikoyan and MiG, was a Russi ...
fighter jet investigating the scene. The henchmen kill the ''Devonshire''
's survivors with weaponry loaded with Chinese ammunition. The British
Minister of Defence
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
orders Roebuck to deploy the fleet to investigate the sinking of the frigate, and demands retaliation, leaving M only 48 hours to investigate its sinking and avert a war.
M sends Bond to investigate Carver and his company, CMGN, after he released news articles about the crisis hours before MI6 had learned of it. Bond travels to
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
to seduce Carver's wife, Paris (an ex-girlfriend of Bond's), to get information that would help him enter CMGN headquarters. He defeats three of Stamper's men and cuts Carver off the air during the inaugural broadcast of his satellite network. Carver discovers the truth about Paris and Bond and orders both of them killed. Bond and Paris reconcile at Bond's hotel room, and she provides him with information to infiltrate Carver's newspaper factory. Bond steals the GPS encoder from Gupta's office at the factory; meanwhile, Carver's assassin Dr. Kaufman kills Paris. After Bond returns to find Paris's body, Kaufman attempts to shoot him. Bond is able to kill Kaufman and escape his henchmen through a multistory car park in his
Q-branch vehicle, a
BMW 750iL with
remote control
In electronics, a remote control (also known as a remote or clicker) is an electronic device used to operate another device from a distance, usually wirelessly. In consumer electronics, a remote control can be used to operate devices such a ...
.
At a
U.S. Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...
base in
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
, Bond learns that the encoder had been tampered with, and goes to the South China Sea to investigate the wreck. He and
Wai Lin
Wai Lin () is a fictional character in the 1997 ''James Bond'' film ''Tomorrow Never Dies'', portrayed by Michelle Yeoh. The character, the first ethnic Chinese Bond girl, has received critical acclaim, being widely regarded as one of the best Bon ...
, a Chinese
Ministry of State Security agent on the same case, explore the sunken ship and discover one of its cruise missiles missing, but after reaching the surface they are captured by Stamper and taken to the CMGN tower in
Saigon. They soon escape and contact the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
and the
People's Liberation Army Air Force
The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular armed forces of the Peo ...
to explain Carver's scheme. Carver plans to destroy most of the Chinese government with the stolen missile, allowing a corrupt Chinese general to negotiate a truce between Britain and China, both of which will have begun a naval war. Once the conflict is over, Carver will be given exclusive broadcasting rights in China for the next century.
Bond and Wai Lin board Carver's stealth ship to prevent him from firing the missile at Beijing; Wai Lin is captured, forcing Bond to devise a second plan. Bond captures Gupta to use as his own hostage, but Carver kills Gupta, claiming he has "outlived his contract". Bond detonates an explosive, damaging the ship and rendering it visible to radar, and vulnerable to a subsequent Royal Navy attack. While Wai Lin disables the engines, she is recaptured by Stamper. Bond kills Carver with his own sea drill and attempts to destroy the warhead with detonators, but Stamper attacks him, and sends a chained Wai Lin into the water. Bond traps Stamper in the missile firing mechanism and saves Wai Lin as the missile explodes, destroying the ship and killing Stamper. Bond and Wai Lin share a romantic moment amidst the wreckage as
HMS ''Bedford'' searches for them.
Cast
Other actors in the film include
Julian Fellowes
Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford, (born 17 August 1949) is an English actor, novelist, film director and screenwriter, and a Conservative peer of the House of Lords.
He is primarily known as the author of se ...
as the British
Minister of Defence
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
;
Cecilie Thomsen
Cecilie Thomsen (born 29 October 1974) is a Danish actress and model.
Early life and education
Thomsen was born on the island Bogø in Denmark.
Career
Internationally, Cecilie Thomsen is best known for playing the minor Bond girl role of Pr ...
as Inga Bergstrom, an
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
professor Bond has an affair with;
Nina Young as Tamara Steel, a news presenter for Carver Media Group;
Colin Stinton
Colin Stinton (born March 10, 1947) is a Canadian actor.
Early life
Born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1947, Stinton moved to the United States as a child in 1952. He lived in a trailer with his family—traveling throughout the U.S. and finall ...
as Dr. Dave Greenwalt, an
American Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
expert on
GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
;
Michael Byrne as Admiral Kelly, commander of the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
task force sent to the South China Sea;
Philip Kwok
Philip Kwok (; also known as Kuo Chui, Kwok Chui, Kwok Chun-Fung; born 21 October 1951) is a Hong Kong-based Taiwanese actor, martial artist, and stuntman. He rose to fame as a member of the Venom Mob, an ensemble of highly-talented marti ...
as General Chang, a corrupt Chinese military official who is helping Carver start a war between China and Britain;
Terence Rigby as
Russian Army
The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска ВSukhoputnyye voyska V}), also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces.
The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Force ...
General Bukharin;
Christopher Bowen as HMS ''Devonshire'' Commander Richard Day;
Gerard Butler
Gerard James Butler (born 13 November 1969) is a Scottish actor and film producer. After studying law, he turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as '' Mrs Brown'' (1997), the James Bond film '' Tomorrow Never ...
and
Julian Rhind-Tutt
Julian Alistair Rhind-Tutt (born 20 July 1967) is an English actor, best known for playing Dr "Mac" Macartney in the comedy television series ''Green Wing'' (2004–2006).
Early life
Rhind-Tutt was born in West Drayton, Middlesex, the youngest o ...
as ''Devonshire'' crewmen;
Hugh Bonneville
Hugh Richard Bonneville Williams (born 10 November 1963) is an English actor. He is best known for portraying Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, in the ITV historical drama series ''Downton Abbey''. His performance on the show earned him a no ...
as a ''Bedford'' crewman; and
Daphne Deckers
Daphne Muriël Deckers (born 10 November 1968) is a Dutch television presenter, writer and occasional actress. In 1989 she started her career at RTL-Véronique, where she eventually became the host of '' Holland's Next Top Model'', which she to ...
as a Carver Media Group PR representative.
Production
''Bond 18'' was greenlit after the positive public reception to the
teaser trailer
A teaser (or more specifically teaser trailer) is a mini- trailer and a form of teaser campaign advertising that focuses on film and television programming. It is a videography pre-release move or television show advertisement. Short in length, te ...
for ''GoldenEye'' in May 1995. Following ''
GoldenEye
''GoldenEye'' is a 1995 spy film, the seventeenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Martin Campbell, it was the first in the se ...
''
's success in reviving the Bond series, there was pressure to recreate that success in the next production. This pressure came from
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
which, along with its new owner, billionaire
Kirk Kerkorian
Kerkor Kerkorian ( hy, Գրիգոր Գրիգորեան; June 6, 1917 – June 15, 2015) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was the president and CEO of Tracinda Corporation, his private holding company based in Beve ...
, wanted the film's release to coincide with their public stock offering.
Co-producer
Michael G. Wilson
Michael Gregg Wilson, (born January 21, 1942) is an American-British screenwriter and film producer, best known for his association with the ''James Bond'' film series.
Background
Wilson was born in New York City, the son of Dana (née Na ...
commented: "You realize that there's a huge audience and I guess you don't want to come out with a film that's going to somehow disappoint them."
It was the first Bond film made after the death of
Albert R. Broccoli
Albert Romolo Broccoli ( ; April 5, 1909 – June 27, 1996), nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career. Most of the films were made in the United Kingdom and often filmed at Pi ...
, who was involved with the series' production since its inception; the film is dedicated to his memory. The rush to complete the film drove the budget to $110 million.
The producers were unable to persuade ''GoldenEye'' director
Martin Campbell
Martin Campbell (born 24 October 1943) is a New Zealand film and television director based in the United Kingdom. He is known for having directed '' The Mask of Zorro'' as well as the James Bond films '' GoldenEye'' and '' Casino Royale''. He ...
to return as he had chosen to direct ''
The Mask of Zorro
''The Mask of Zorro'' is a 1998 American swashbuckler film based on the character of the masked vigilante Zorro created by Johnston McCulley. It was directed by Martin Campbell and stars Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-J ...
'' instead; his agent said, "Martin just didn't want to do two Bond films in a row."
Roger Spottiswoode
John Roger Spottiswoode (born 5 January 1945) is a Canadian-British director, editor and writer of film and television.
Early life
He was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and was raised in Britain. His father Raymond Spottiswoode was a British ...
was chosen to direct in September 1996;
he had offered to direct ''GoldenEye'' when
Timothy Dalton
Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett (; born 21 March 1946) is a British actor. Beginning his career on stage, he made his film debut as Philip II of France in the 1968 historical drama '' The Lion in Winter''. He gained international prominence a ...
was still cast as Bond.
Writing
Initial writers included
John Cork, Richard Smith, and novelist
Donald E. Westlake
Donald Edwin Westlake (July 12, 1933 – December 31, 2008) was an American writer, with more than a hundred novels and non-fiction books to his credit. He specialized in crime fiction, especially comic capers, with an occasional foray into ...
. In 1995, Westlake wrote two story treatments in collaboration with Wilson, both of which featured a villain who planned to destroy Hong Kong with explosives on the eve of the city's July 1997
transfer of sovereignty to China. Westlake used some of his ideas for a novel he completed the next year, though it was not published until 2017 under the title ''Forever and a Death''. Director Spottiswoode said that, in January 1997, MGM had a script also focused on the Hong Kong handover; however, it could not be used for a film opening at the end of the year, so they had to start "almost from scratch at T-minus zero!"
Bruce Feirstein, who worked on ''GoldenEye'', wrote the initial script. He claimed that his inspiration was his own experience working with journalism and viewing both
Sky News and
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
's
24-hour news coverage of the
Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...
, stating that he aimed to "write something that was grounded in a nightmare of reality." The script was handed to Spottiswoode, who then gathered seven Hollywood screenwriters in London to brainstorm, eventually choosing
Nicholas Meyer to do rewrites.
The script was also worked on by Dan Petrie, Jr. and David Campbell Wilson before Feirstein was brought back for a final polish.
Although Feirstein retained sole writing credit in the film and publicity materials, Meyer, Petrie and Wilson were given credit with Feirstein on the title page of the film's novelization by
Raymond Benson. While many reviewers compared Elliot Carver to
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
, Feirstein based the character on
Robert Maxwell
Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster.
Early in his life, Maxwell escaped from ...
, with Carver's reported death bearing similarities to that of
Maxwell's
Maxwell's, last known as Maxwell's Tavern, was a bar/restaurant and music club in Hoboken, New Jersey. Over several decades the venue attracted a wide variety of acts looking for a change from the New York City concert spaces across the river. Ma ...
, that is, "Missing, presumed drowned, while on a cruise aboard his luxury yacht," as stated by M at the end of the film.
Wilson said, "We didn't have a script that was ready to shoot on the first day of filming", while Pierce Brosnan said, "We had a script that was not functioning in certain areas."
The title was inspired by
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
' song "
Tomorrow Never Knows
"Tomorrow Never Knows" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written primarily by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released in August 1966 as the final track on their album ''Revolver'', although it was the firs ...
".
The eventual title came about by accident. One of the potential titles was ''Tomorrow Never Lies'' (referring to the ''Tomorrow'' newspaper in the plot), and this was
fax
Fax (short for facsimile), sometimes called telecopying or telefax (the latter short for telefacsimile), is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material (both text and images), normally to a telephone number connected to a printer o ...
ed to MGM. However, due to a typing error, it became ''Tomorrow Never Dies'', a title MGM found so attractive that they insisted on using it.
The title was the first not to have any relation to Fleming's life or work.
Casting
Teri Hatcher
Teri Lynn Hatcher (born December 8, 1964) is an American actress best known for her portrayals of Lois Lane on the television series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' (1993–1997); Paris Carver in the ''James Bond'' film '' Tom ...
was three months pregnant when shooting started, although her publicist stated the pregnancy did not affect the production schedule. Hatcher later regretted playing Paris Carver, saying, "It's such an artificial kind of character to be playing that you don't get any special satisfaction from it." Actress
Sela Ward
Sela Ann Ward (born July 11, 1956) is an American actress, author, and producer. Her breakthrough TV role was as Teddy Reed in the NBC drama series '' Sisters'' (1991–1996), for which she received her first Primetime Emmy Award for Outstandin ...
auditioned for the role; the producers reportedly said they wanted her "but ten years younger". Hatcher, at 32, was seven years Ward's junior, and playing
Lois Lane
Lois Lane is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #1 (June 1938). Lois is an award-winning journalist for ...
on the television show ''
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,'' where she was voted the "Sexiest Woman on Television" by readers of ''
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news.
The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008.
Corpora ...
'' the previous year. According to Brosnan,
Monica Bellucci
Monica Anna Maria Bellucci (; born 30 September 1964) is an Italian actress and model. She began her career as a fashion model, modelling for Dolce & Gabbana and Dior, before making a transition to Italian films and later American and French f ...
also screen-tested for the role, but as Brosnan remarked, "The fools said no."
Daphne Deckers
Daphne Muriël Deckers (born 10 November 1968) is a Dutch television presenter, writer and occasional actress. In 1989 she started her career at RTL-Véronique, where she eventually became the host of '' Holland's Next Top Model'', which she to ...
, who portrays the PR woman, also confirms that she saw Bellucci the same day she herself auditioned. Bellucci subsequently had a role in the 24th Bond film, ''
Spectre
Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to:
Religion and spirituality
* Vision (spirituality)
* Apparitional experience
* Ghost
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writ ...
''.
The role of Elliot Carver was initially offered to
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...
(who was also offered a role in ''GoldenEye''), but he declined in favor of ''The Mask of Zorro''.
Natasha Henstridge was rumoured as cast in the lead Bond Girl role, but eventually, Yeoh was confirmed. Brosnan was impressed, describing her as a "wonderful actress" who was "serious and committed about her work". She reportedly wanted to perform her own stunts, but was prevented because director Spottiswoode ruled it too dangerous and prohibited by insurance restrictions.
When
Götz Otto
Götz Otto (born 15 October 1967) is a German film and television actor who is perhaps best known internationally for his roles as henchman Richard Stamper in the 1997 James Bond film ''Tomorrow Never Dies'', as Adolf Hitler's adjutant Otto Gün ...
was called in for casting, his hair had been cropped short for a television role. He was given 20 seconds to introduce himself, but did it in five: "I'm big, I'm bad, and I'm German."
Filming
![Tomorrow Never Dies - BMW 750iL](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Tomorrow_Never_Dies_-_BMW_750iL.jpg)
With
Vic Armstrong
Victor Monroe Armstrong (born 5 October 1946) is a British film director, stunt coordinator, second unit director, and stunt double—the world's most prolific, according to the '' Guinness Book of Records''.
Career
The Armstrong doubled for ...
directing the
second unit, filming of the $11 million
4-minute pre-title sequence began on 18 January 1997 at
Peyresourde-Balatestas Airport,
Peyragudes
Peyragudes is a large ski resort in the French Pyrenees, situated in the departments of Hautes-Pyrénées and Haute-Garonne, in the Region of Occitanie.
The resort was created in 1988, when the Peyresourde and Agudes resorts were joined.
Skii ...
in the
French Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...
. The plane Bond is seen to purloin in the movie was a
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
-built
Aero Vodochody L-39ZO Albatros weapons
jet trainer
A jet trainer is a jet aircraft for use as a trainer, whether for basic or advanced flight training. Jet trainers are either custom designs or modifications of existing aircraft. With the introduction of military jet-powered aircraft towards the e ...
, supplied by a British company and flown by stunt pilots Tony "Taff" Smith and Mark (son of
Ray) Hanna.
[ After completing work in France, the second unit moved on to ]Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
to film the scenes where the Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
prepares to engage the Chinese, with standing in for the various fictional Type 23 Frigate
The Type 23 frigate or Duke class is a class of frigates built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The ships are named after British Dukes, thus leading to the class being commonly known as the Duke class. The first Type 23, , was commission ...
s in the story. The main unit began filming on 1 April. They were unable to use Leavesden Studios
Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden is an studio complex in Leavesden in Watford, Hertfordshire, in South East England. Formerly known as Leavesden Film Studios and still colloquially known as Leavesden Studios or simply Leavesden, it is a film an ...
, which they had constructed from an abandoned Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to:
* Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct
Automobiles
* Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
factory for ''GoldenEye'', as George Lucas was using it for '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'', so instead they constructed sound stage
A sound stage (also written soundstage) is a soundproof, large structure, building, or room with large doors and high ceilings, used for the production of theatrical film-making and television productions, usually located on a secured movie or ...
s in another derelict industrial site nearby. They also used the 007 Stage
The Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage is one of the largest sound stages in the world. It is located at Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, and named after James Bond film producer Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli.
The stage was ori ...
at Pinewood Studios. The scene at the "U.S. Air Base in the South China Sea" where Bond hands over the GPS encoder was actually filmed in the area known as Blue Section at RAF Lakenheath
Royal Air Force Lakenheath or RAF Lakenheath is a Royal Air Force station near the village of Lakenheath in Suffolk, England, UK, north-east of Mildenhall and west of Thetford. The base also sits close to Brandon.
Despite being an RAF sta ...
. The sea landing used the vast tank built for ''Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...
'' in Rosarito
Rosarito is a coastal city in Playas de Rosarito Municipality, Baja California, situated on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. As of 2010, the city had a population of 65,278. Located south of the US-Mexico border, Rosarito is a part of the greater S ...
, Baja California
Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...
. The MH-53J
The Sikorsky MH-53 Pave Low series is a retired long-range special operations and combat search and rescue (CSAR) helicopter for the United States Air Force. The series was upgraded from the HH-53B/C, variants of the Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stall ...
in the film was from the US Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sig ...
's 352d Special Operations Group
The 352nd Special Operations Wing is an operational unit of the United States Air Force Special Operations Command currently stationed at RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom. The unit's heritage dates back to 1944 as an air commando unit.
The 352n ...
at RAF Mildenhall
Royal Air Force Mildenhall or RAF Mildenhall is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located near Mildenhall in Suffolk, England. Despite its status as a Royal Air Force station, it primarily supports United States Air Force (USAF) operations, ...
.
Some scenes were planned to be filmed on location in Ho Chi Minh City, and the production had been granted a visa. It would have been the first major film to be shot in Vietnam since the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
. However, the visa was later rescinded by Vietnamese Prime Minister two months after planning had begun, forcing filming to move to Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
. Bond spokesman Gordon Arnell claimed the Vietnamese were unhappy with crew and equipment needed for pyrotechnics, with a Vietnamese official saying it was due to "many complicated reasons". Anthony Waye says he believed the decision was caused after Vietnam's Communist government had viewed the opening credits of ''GoldenEye'', which featured "semi-naked ladies smashing up hammer-and-sickle emblems with sledgehammers, illustrating the fall of communism
The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...
." Two locations from previous Bond films were used: Brosnan and Hatcher's love scene was filmed at Stoke Park, which had been featured in '' Goldfinger'', and the bay where they search for Carver's stealth boat is Phang Nga Bay, previously used for '' The Man with the Golden Gun''.
The exterior of Elliot Carver's CMGN Hamburg HQ was filmed at the IBM Building in Bedfont Lakes, Feltham, whilst Harmsworth Quays Printers Ltd in Surrey Quays, Rotherhithe, doubled for the interior of the Hamburg print facility.
Spottiswoode tried to innovate in the action scenes. Since the director felt that after the tank chase in ''GoldenEye'' he could not use a bigger vehicle, a scene with Bond and Wai Lin on a BMW motorcycle was created. Another innovation was the remote-controlled car, which had no visible driver – an effect achieved by adapting a BMW 750i to put the steering wheel on the back seat. The car chase sequence with the 750i took three weeks to film, with Brent Cross
Brent Cross is originally the name of a crossroads that today forms a major interchange for traffic in the London Borough of Barnet, England. Located a mile from the centres of Hendon and Golders Green, the area also contains the Brent Cros ...
car park being used to simulate Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
, although the final leap was filmed on location. A stunt involving setting fire to three vehicles produced more smoke than anticipated, causing a member of the public to call the fire brigade
A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...
. The upwards camera angle filming the HALO jump
High-altitude military parachuting, or military free fall (MFF), is a method of delivering military personnel, military equipment, and other military supplies from a transport aircraft at a high altitude via free-fall parachute insertion. Tw ...
created the illusion of having the stuntman opening its parachute close to the water.
Spottiswoode did not return to direct the next film; he said the producers asked him, but he was too tired. Brosnan and Hatcher were reported to have feuded briefly during filming due to her arriving late onto the set one day. The matter was quickly resolved, though, and Brosnan apologised to Hatcher after realising she was pregnant and was late for that reason.
''Tomorrow Never Dies'' marked the first appearance of the Walther P99
The Walther P99 () is a semi-automatic pistol developed by the German company Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen of Ulm for law enforcement, security forces and the civilian shooting market as a replacement for the Walther P5 and the P88. The P99 an ...
as Bond's pistol. It replaced the Walther PPK
The Walther PP (german: Polizeipistole, or police pistol) series pistols are blowback-operated semi-automatic pistols, developed by the German arms manufacturer Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen.
It features an exposed hammer, a traditional double-a ...
that the character had carried in every Eon Bond film since '' Dr. No'' in 1962, with the exception of '' Moonraker'' in which Bond was not seen with a pistol. Walther wanted to debut its new firearm in a Bond film, which had been one of its most visible endorsers. Previously, the P5 was introduced in ''Octopussy
''Octopussy'' is a 1983 spy film and the thirteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sixth to star Roger Moore as the MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by John Glen and the screenplay was written by G ...
''. Bond would use the P99 until Daniel Craig
Daniel Wroughton Craig (born 2 March 1968) is an English-American actor who gained international fame playing the secret agent James Bond in the film series, beginning with '' Casino Royale'' (2006) and in four further instalments, up to '' ...
reverted to the PPK as 007 in '' Quantum of Solace'' in 2008.
Music
Prolific composer John Barry was in talks to return to the James Bond films for the first time in a decade but could not reach an agreement over his salary, according to his then-agent Richard Kraft. Barbara Broccoli subsequently chose David Arnold
David Arnold (born 23 January 1962) is a British film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films, as well as ''Stargate'' (1994), '' Independence Day'' (1996), ''Godzilla'' (1998) and the television series ''Little Britain'' ...
to score ''Tomorrow Never Dies'' on a recommendation from Barry. Arnold had come to Barry's attention through his successful cover interpretations in '' Shaken and Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project'', which featured major artists performing the former James Bond title songs in new arrangements. Arnold said that his score aimed for "a classic sound but ith
The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany.
Geography
Location
The Ith is immediatel ...
a modern approach", combining techno music
Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...
with a recognisably Barry-inspired "classic Bond" sound—notably Arnold borrowed from Barry's score for '' From Russia with Love''. The score was done across a period of six months, with Arnold writing music and revising previous pieces as he received edited footage of the film. The music for the indoor car chase sequence was co-written with the band Propellerheads
Propellerheads were an English electronic music duo, formed in 1995 in Bath and consisting of Will White and Alex Gifford.
History
Their first release was an EP named ''Dive!'', released in 1996 through the independent label Wall of Sound. ...
, who had worked with Arnold on ''Shaken and Stirred''. The soundtrack was well-received by critics with Christian Clemmensen of Filmtracks
Filmtracks.com is a modern film score review website created and maintained by its sole reviewer, Christian Clemmensen. Since the launch of Filmtracks in 1996, the website has reviewed nearly two-thousand soundtracks dating as far back as 1954, t ...
describing it as "an excellent tribute to the entire series of Bond score".
At first, the theme song was to be written by Arnold himself, with the help of lyricist Don Black and singer-songwriter David McAlmont
David Irving McAlmont (born 2 May 1967) is a British vocalist, essayist and art historian. He came to prominence in the 1990s as a singer, particularly through his collaboration with Bernard Butler. In the 2010s he returned to academia, working ...
, who recorded the demo. However, MGM wanted a more popular artist, and invited various singers to write songs before one was picked through a competitive process. There were around twelve submissions, including songs from Swan Lee, Pulp
Pulp may refer to:
* Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit
Engineering
* Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture
* Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper
* Molded pulp, a packaging material
...
, Saint Etienne, Marc Almond
Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. ...
, and Sheryl Crow. Crow's song was chosen for the main titles. Arnold's composition, "Surrender", performed by k.d. lang
Kathryn Dawn Lang (born November 2, 1961), known by her stage name k.d. lang, is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter and occasional actress. Lang has won Juno Awards and Grammy Awards for her musical performances. Hits include the s ...
, was still used for the end titles, and features the same prominent melodic motif as the film's score. This was the fourth Bond film to have different opening and closing songs. Pulp's effort was re-titled as "Tomorrow Never Lies" and appeared as a b-side on their 1997 single "Help The Aged
Help the Aged was a United Kingdom based international charity founded in 1961 by Cecil Jackson-Cole and Hugh Faulkner to help disadvantaged older people who were affected by poverty, isolation and neglect. It merged with Age Concern in 2009 to f ...
". The original "Tomorrow Never Dies" rough mix of the song was eventually released on the bonus disc of the ''This Is Hardcore
''This Is Hardcore'' is the sixth album by English band Pulp. Released in March 1998, it came three years after their breakthrough album, '' Different Class'', and was eagerly anticipated. In 2013, ''NME'' ranked it at number 166 in its list of ...
'' deluxe edition in 2006. Moby created a remake of the "James Bond Theme
The "James Bond Theme" is the main signature theme music of the James Bond films and has featured in every Eon Productions Bond film since '' Dr. No'', released in 1962. Composed by Monty Norman (with arrangements for film provided by John Bar ...
" to be used for the movie. Two different versions of the soundtrack album were released, the first featuring only music from the first half of the film, and the second rectifying this but cutting several tracks, including the songs, to make room for the missing score tracks.
Release
The film had a World Charity Premiere at The Odeon Leicester Square, on 9 December 1997; this was followed by an after premiere party at Bedford Square
Bedford Square is a garden square in the Bloomsbury district of the Borough of Camden in London, England.
History
Built between 1775 and 1783 as an upper middle class residential area, the square has had many distinguished residents, inclu ...
, home of original Ian Fleming publisher, Jonathan Cape. The film went into general release in the UK and Ireland on 12 December and in most other countries during the following week. It opened in second place in the United States and Canada, grossing over $25.1 million behind ''Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...
'', which would become the highest-grossing film of all time up to that point. ''Tomorrow Never Dies'' ultimately grossed $333 million worldwide, although it did not surpass its predecessor ''GoldenEye'', which had earned almost $20 million more.
Critical reaction
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
gave the film a 57% rating based on 77 reviews. The website's consensus states: "A competent, if sometimes by-the-numbers entry to the 007 franchise, ''Tomorrow Never Dies'' may not boast the most original plot but its action sequences are genuinely thrilling." On Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a score of 52 based on 38 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.
In the ''Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...
'', Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four-stars, writing "''Tomorrow Never Dies'' gets the job done, sometimes excitingly, often with style" with the villain "slightly more contemporary and plausible than usual", bringing "some subtler-than-usual satire into the film". Gene Siskel of the ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' wrote it was the "first James Bond film I've liked in many a year", most notably favoring the character Elliot Carver, which he felt added "contemporary writing to the Bond series, and that is most welcome." On his website ''ReelViews'', James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic and former engineer. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of r ...
described it as "the best Bond film in many years" and said Brosnan "inhabits his character with a suave confidence that is very like Connery's." Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan (; born October 27, 1946) is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He was a film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1991 ...
of the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'', thought a lot of ''Tomorrow Never Dies'' had a "stodgy, been-there feeling", with little change from previous films. Janet Maslin
Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...
of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' summarized the film as "a generic action event that it could be any old summer blockbuster, except that its hero is chronically overdressed." Charles Taylor wrote for Salon.com
''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events.
Content and coverage
''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...
that the film was "a flat, impersonal affair".
The title song sung by Sheryl Crow was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
and a Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television. The film received four nominations for Saturn Awards, with Brosnan winning for Best Actor. It also won a MPSE
Motion Picture Sound Editors (M.P.S.E.) is an American honorary society of motion picture sound editors founded in 1953. The society's goals are to educate others about and increase the recognition of the sound editors, show the artistic merit o ...
Golden Reel Award for "Best Sound Editing – Foreign Feature" and a BMI Film Music Award.
The original UK release received various cuts in scenes of violence and martial arts weaponry, to reduce the impact of sound effects and to receive a more box-office-friendly 12 certificate. Further cuts were made to the video/DVD release to retain this rating. These edits were restored for the Ultimate Edition DVD release in the UK, which was consequently upgraded to a 15 certificate. However, upon the release of the Blu-ray in 2012, it was rated back down to a 12 uncut.
Retrospective reviews
In the wake of its original release, critics and audiences have praised ''Tomorrow Never Dies'' for its prescience. The website ''Den of Geek
''Den of Geek'' is a US and UK-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a bi-annual magazine.
History
''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ...
'', on the film's twentieth anniversary, observed of the film's plot: "It's an improbable set-up which was likely intended as a satire of Murdoch's unaccountable media empire, but the risks of such technological manipulation have since proved to be frighteningly plausible." ''Den of Geek'' also highlights that "technology wasn't the only modern danger to be pre-empted by ''Tomorrow Never Dies''—it also offers a revealing peek into the confused state of the British national psyche, which might help to explain the country's ongoing Brexit
Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC ...
debates."
Similarly, ''HeadStuff'' highlighted its relevance in 2020, noting that "some modern critics argue that Carver's emphasis on traditional journalism date the film and that if the Internet existed to such an extent as it does twenty years later, his plan would be instantly foiled... not really sure those people have been following current events over the past two years." ''Far Out Magazine
''Far Out'' is a British online culture magazine, headquartered in London and founded in 2010. ''Far Out'' focuses on independent and alternative culture, reviewing music, films and the arts along with relative interviews and curated playlists.
...
'' highlighted Brosnan's performance, when his Bond happens upon the deceased Paris Carver in his hotel room: "There's more substance here in a four-minute encounter than Brosnan found over four whole films."
The American Film Institute nominated the film in 2001 for AFI's 100 Years of Thrills and David Arnold's score in 2005 for AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores
Part of the AFI 100 Years... series, AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores is a list of the top 25 film scores in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute in 2005.
John Williams has the most scores in the top 25, with three ...
.
Andrew Heritage mentions ''Tomorrow Never Dies'' in his book, ''100 Years Of Great Movies'' alongside the likes of '' Goldfinger'' and '' From Russia with Love''.
Appearances in other media
''Tomorrow Never Dies'' was the first of three Bond films to be adapted into books by then-current Bond novelist Raymond Benson. Benson's version is expanded from the screenplay including additional scenes with Wai Lin and other supporting characters not in the film. The novel traces Carver's background as the son of media mogul Lord Roverman, whom Carver blackmails into suicide, later taking over his business. The novel also attempts to merge Benson's series with the films, particularly by continuing a middle-of-the-road approach to John Gardner's continuity. Notably it includes a reference to the film version of '' You Only Live Twice'' where he states that Bond was lying to Miss Moneypenny when he said he had taken a course in Asian languages. ''Tomorrow Never Dies'' also mentions Felix Leiter
Felix Leiter is a fictional character created by Ian Fleming in the ''James Bond'' books, films and other media. The character is an operative for the CIA and Bond's friend. After losing a leg and his hand to a shark attack, Leiter joined the ...
, although it states that Leiter had worked for Pinkertons Detective Agency, which is thus exclusive to the literary series. Subsequent Bond novels by Benson were affected by ''Tomorrow Never Dies'', specifically Bond's weapon of choice being changed from the Walther PPK to the Walther P99. Benson said in an interview that he felt ''Tomorrow Never Dies'' was the best of the three novelisations he wrote.
The film was also adapted into a third-person shooter
Third-person shooter (TPS) is a subgenre of 3D computer graphics, 3D shooter games in which the gameplay consists primarily of shooting. It is closely related to first-person shooters, but with the player character visible on-screen during play. ...
PlayStation video game, ''Tomorrow Never Dies
''Tomorrow Never Dies'' is a 1997 spy film, the eighteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode from a screenplay ...
''. The game was developed by Black Ops
A black operation or black op is a covert or clandestine operation by a government agency, a military unit or a paramilitary organization; it can include activities by private companies or groups. Key features of a black operation are that it i ...
and published by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...
on 16 November 1999. Game Revolution described it as "really just an empty and shallow game", and IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
said it was "mediocre".
See also
* Outline of James Bond
* Sea Shadow (IX-529)
''Sea Shadow'' (IX-529) was an experimental stealth ship built by Lockheed for the United States Navy to determine how a low radar profile might be achieved and to test high stability hull configurations that have been used in oceanographic sh ...
, the boat that inspired the design of Carver's stealth boat
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Official website
*
*
*
{{Authority control
1997 action thriller films
1990s spy films
1997 films
Adultery in films
British sequel films
Drone films
Films shot at Elstree Film Studios
Films scored by David Arnold
Films about mass media owners
Films about terrorism
Films directed by Roger Spottiswoode
Films produced by Barbara Broccoli
Films produced by Michael G. Wilson
Films set in 1997
Films set in China
Films set in Hamburg
Films set in Okinawa Prefecture
Films set in Oxford
Films set in Russia
Films set in Saigon
Films set on ships
Films shot in England
Films shot in France
Films shot in Germany
Films shot in Mexico
Films shot in Thailand
James Bond films
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
Films shot at Pinewood Studios
United Artists films
Eon Productions films
Films with screenplays by Bruce Feirstein
Films with screenplays by Nicholas Meyer
Films with screenplays by Daniel Petrie Jr.
Films about media manipulation
Films about the People's Liberation Army
Works about Chinese military personnel
1990s British films