Daniel Craig, Cool as Ice

From The Telegraph:

An ice cream company created the purple "licence to chill" lolly after asking more than 1,000 women which male celebrity like to see on the end of a stick.

Del Monte Superfruit Smoothies said artists "worked tirelessly" to recreate a sculpture of 41-year-old Craig in the scene where he emerges from the sea in Casino Royale.

"Daniel Craig topped our poll of Britain's coolest celebrities and thanks to our Del Monte lolly replica he is officially immortalised as super smooth and licensed to chill," said spokesman Matt O'Connor.

The Daniel Craig smoothie lollies are blueberry, pomegranate and cranberry flavoured and under 100 calories each.

They are to be distributed during the first National Ice Cream Week which starts today and ends on June 7

Quantum of Solace on DVD

Quantum of Solace, James Bond's 22nd film adventure is now out on DVD. Amazon currently have it for £6.98, Tesco (bricks and mortar) for £7 for 3 days only.Details of the extras and a video can be found on the Play.com site. The official Bond website is here.

Daniel Craig/Bond in the media

The BBC website has a print interview with Daniel Craig. Apparently Quantum of Solace is the shortest Bond film so far. Read the interview, here.

There's also an audio interview, here about the stunts and the 'new' style Bond

and don't forget tonight's Film 2008 is a Daniel Craig/Quantum of Solace special:

With privileged access to the cast and crew, Jonathan Ross provides the lowdown on the return of Commander James Bond in Quantum of Solace. On set at 007's spiritual home he meets the actor who's made the role his own, Daniel Craig, plus the actor playing Bond's nemesis, Mathieu Almaric, as well as director Marc Forster. Also, a look at how the iconic Bond character is defined in the 21st century, by everything from his costume design to the film's soundtrack.

Find Bond

The new trailer for Quantum of Solace is up and running on the BBC website:

The trailer begins with Mr White, a villainous character from the previous Bond film Casino Royale, being interrogated by Bond.

This early sequence appears to initiate a globe-trotting adventure as Craig's character embarks on an revenge mission against the wishes of his superiors.

Elaborate action sequences involving cars, boats and planes are intercut with more intimate scenes involving Bond's various love interests.

There is also a brief shot of Craig's now famous bare torso, as well as snippets of dialogue from Dame Judi Dench as 007's boss M.

The trailer plus several other videos and much more can be found at the Quantum of Solace website.

Finally some good news.. Bond film update

Quantum of Solace is being released a week earlier than planned and is now due on the 31 October, reports the BBC.

CommanderBond.net has the YouTube video of this morning's BBC1 exclusive (but short) behind the scenes footage of filming in Panama and California.

If you want to see more of Daniel Craig watch the trailer for his next film, Flashbacks of a Fool (the quality is a bit jumpy).

Quantum of Solace on Film 2008

There were a few 'behind the scenes' shots of the filming of Quantum of Solace in last week's Film 2008 which you can watch for the next six days at BBCiplayer, it lasts for about a minute from 6.5 mins in!

A Glimpse of Quantum of Solace

CommanderBond.net have a very short video showing a bit of filming of Quantum of Solace. Go here to watch it (needs Quicktime).

Bond and his Quantum of Solace (or not)

The new James Bond film is to be called Quantum of Solace, the title of an Ian Fleming short story.

On the BBC website, Daniel Craig has a go at explaining the title...

Craig said the cryptic title referenced how Bond's heart had been broken at the end of Casino Royale.

"Ian Fleming had written about relationships," he explained.

"When they go wrong, when there's nothing left, when the spark has gone, when the fire's gone out, there's no quantum of solace.

"And at the end of the last movie, Bond has the love of his life taken away from him and he never got that quantum of solace."

Craig said the new film would follow 007 as he goes out "to find the guy who's responsible".

"So he's looking for revenge, you know, to make himself happy with the world again.

"But it the title also alludes to something else in the film," he added.

The film is due for release on the 7 November and the story picks up just half an hour after the end of Casino Royale. Read more about the title, the Bond Girls and M at the BBC website.

Casino Royale on DVD

The eagerly awaited two-disc collector's edition (R2) of Casino Royale comes out tomorrow (19th).

Special features:

Becoming Bond (30 mins)
James Bond For Real (30 mins)
Death in Venice (30 mins)
Bond Girls are Forever ( 50+ mins)
5 News wraps
Music Video

Amazon.co.uk have the trailer on their page, whereas Play has a teensy clip from the extras.

MI6 review the R1 version in terms of the 'technical merits of the disc and the special features'.

There will be less of Daniel Craig's flesh on show in the follow up according to a report on Digital Spy, in which the actor says that he doesn't want any more nude scenes.

I expect you to win, Mr Bond

The name's Craig. The award-winning Daniel Craig.

The Bond star won best actor for Casino Royale at the Evening Standard British Film Awards. Celebrating a vintage 12 months for British cinema, other winners included United 93, Dame Judi Dench and Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen.

News that Craig, 38, would become the sixth James Bond provoked a mixed reception from Bond fans when it was first announced. But with Casino Royale taking £55 million in Britain alone, the attention paid to Craig's performance has been overwhelmingly positive.

At the ceremony at the Ivy, Craig said he was delighted at being the first actor to win a major award for playing 007.

He said: "This is tremendous. It makes you think that the success of the film might not be a fluke. We wanted to make an exciting and sexy Bond and tell a good yarn at the same time."

More details on Bond and the other award winners at This is London1 and This is London2.