You know, in this profession you can get different kinds of promotional material that can be covered in some form or another. With the upcoming release of Quantum of Solace – which I recently saw – a publicity firm sent me The Best of Bond…James Bond.
And it got me thinking about how studios cash in on movie properties.
Now this The Best of Bond…James Bond is a CD release collecting the title themes (from Matt Monro’s “From Russia with Love” to Chris Cornell’s “You Know My Name.” Also included are two different James Bond Themes: one from John Barry’s Orchestra, the other from David Arnold.
Listening to these 24 tracks, they instantly take you back in time. And since James Bond is an ageless character, the music acts as a frame of reference. Like listening to Shirley Bassey’s “Goldfinger,” and then scanning to Gladys Knight’s “License to Kill,” with a snap of the fingers you know you are listening to an ’80s tune.
Useless movie trivia question: Tomorrow Never Dies has two musical selections. Besides the title theme what is the other song?
This CD is also the first time that Chris Cornell’s “You Know My Name” has appeared on a movie soundtrack.
Besides this soundtrack, other cash-ins for the upcoming Quantum of Solace release include double-dipping DVD and Blu-ray collector’s releases of Casino Royale with movie cash codes to see Quantum, the first appearance of Bond on Blu-ray with six different adventures, and the 40th Anniversary of the farcical Casino Royale, starring Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, David Niven, Woody Allen and Orson Welles.
Actually, double-dipping DVD releases with movie cash seem to be the best way at enticing consumers to pick up a DVD release. To them a $14.99 DVD with $10.00 movie cash is basically getting the DVD for five bucks. Not sure I follow the logic, but that’s me. I also don’t understand the logic with some theater chains refusing to accept Movie Cash. Namely, AMC Theaters. One of the biggest chains in the U.S. and they won’t take it. Believe me, I’ve tried.
Useless Movie Trivia Answer: “Surrender” by kd Lang
