Thunderball

As a tribute to the late John Barry, professional musician Tim Mottershead takes an in-depth look at John Barry’s contribution to the James Bond films.

Based on the screenplay for an aborted film project, Thunderball is notable for introducing SPECTRE to the series. The book is the first in what is sometimes known as the “Blofeld trilogy”. Author: Ian Fleming Publication date: 26th March 1956 Publisher: Jonathan Cape Cover artist: Richard Chopping Search for first edition copies on Abebooks Fleming had been […]

The Aston Martin DB5 driven by James Bond – Sean Connery – in Goldfinger and Thunderball to make only U.S. appearance in advance of its October auction sale.

We only have to wait until Ian Fleming’s second James Bond novel, Live And Let Die, to find 007 scuba diving, when Bond is on the tail Mr Big. Ian Fleming was fascinated by the underwater world and sea life, probably the reason it features prominently in two Bond novels. Fleming had met underwater pioneer […]

The success of the first three James Bond films in the early 1960s had led to a huge array of copycat spy thrillers. In an attempt to ensure the Bond franchise remained at the forefront of the action genre, Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman decided to make Thunderball, Fleming’s ninth James Bond book. With a […]

Kevin McClory could see huge cinematic potential in James Bond and was eager for Ivar Bryce to finance a project to finally bring 007 to the big screen. He had just directed his first feature financed by Bryce, “The Boy And The Bridge” which was Britain’s official entry in the 1959 Venice Film Festival.