Today is officially James Bond Day. That’s right—today marks the sixty-third anniversary of the release of the very first James Bond movie, Dr. No, in cinemas. No one knew what was being unleashed upon the world when Britons got their first taste of Sean Connery’s 007 in action. While people may not believe it now, Dr. No was actually a low-budget, glorified B-movie that few expected to do much business when it came out. Sure, it was an adaptation of Ian Fleming’s novels, which were bestsellers in the UK, but the general consensus was that Dr. No might make some decent coin in England, though it was unlikely to make much of a dent in the U.S.
However, fate had other plans. One key event was then–President John F. Kennedy citing Fleming’s From Russia with Love as one of his favorite books. Another was the fact that British pop culture was exploding in North America thanks to The Beatles. Even so, Dr. No was only released as part of a double bill in the U.S., while From Russia with Love fared better (and was a blockbuster in the UK). It wasn’t until Goldfinger hit theaters in 1964 that Bondmania truly kicked into high gear—helped by United Artists re-releasing the first two 007 movies as a double feature, and then putting out Thunderball at the end of 1965. Since then, the series has maintained a level of popularity in pop culture that remains unmatched.
Of course, Amazon/MGM now famously owns the rights to the franchise, and we’re all looking forward to seeing what new director Denis Villeneuve does with the series. However, Amazon/MGM also made the boneheaded decision to scrub guns from all the new digital posters for the series—so, I dunno, we’ll see. Even so, it’s a great time to be a 007 fan. We want to know: which James Bond movie is your favorite? Take the poll below—and if you want to take a 007 deep dive, check out our classic James Bond Revisited series HERE!
