Website last updated: 12-1-2026
Home
Book & Film reviews
Competitions
Event
FSWL Merchandise
In Memoriam
Interviews
James Bond 007 collection
James Bond 007 films
James Bond 007 games
James Bond 007 literature
James Bond 007 news
James Bond 007 products
James Bond 007 shop
James Bond 007 stars
James Bond Fan Clubs
Swedes in the Bond films
Report from the launch of Assouline's book James Bond Cars at Electric Cinema in London
By: Anders Frejdh
Published:
2025-12-17
2025-12-17
Inside Portobello Road’s historic theatre, actually the same venue as last year's 55th anniversary screening of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service that I was involved with, attendees gathered for an intimate panel, Vesper Martinis, and a special screening celebrating Bond’s legendary automotive moments.
The stage inside Electric Cinema in London. Photo by Dashti Jahfar. All rights reserved.
Guests arrived to champagne and surprise treats at their seats, with the venue’s Edwardian charm setting the tone for an evening of cinematic excellence. Chris Corbould, the Academy Award–winning special effects supervisor behind fifteen James Bond films, and Marek Reichman, Aston Martin’s Chief Creative Officer, shared insights into the craft behind the franchise’s most iconic automotive sequences. This discussion was followed by cocktails and gourmet confections from a cinematic themed candy station.
Their conversation revealed the creative alchemy behind Bond's most iconic moments and the stories that ultimately shaped the pages of the book.
About the origin of the magic, Chris Corbould said, “It all starts from the script. What's written down in the script is our benchmark, and then we run with it from there... How can we make this more spectacular? That's the first thing. This philosophy has produced moments like the legendary tank chase in GoldenEye, Pierce Brosnan's first Bond film.”
When it comes to the moment that defines Aston Martin on screen, Marek Reichman commented: “We went to an emotional place in No Time To Die that we hadn't been to before... I'll never forget our first conversation when I went up and met with Merrick, and Marck said, well, what car are you going to use? And I said, I suppose the DB5, I think there was a bit of a silence in the room because they obviously wanted their latest car off the production line to sell a few more cars, obviously, but once they got over that, it was then... Well, how many do you want?”
Aston Martin’s Chief Creative Officer Marek Reichman at the James Bond Cars book launch. Photo by Dashti Jahfar.
On what drives a movie car into iconic status, Reichman said: “The cars themselves are beautiful, so the movie is an advert for the product. They have to have character. The thing you'll notice about all our vehicles is that they literally have faces. So, the actual icon is that there is a face, an expression, eyes, whether that's the DB10, the DB5, the DBS in Casino Royale, the Vantage, or the V8, sorry, from No Time to Die as well. They all have an expression, and I think those expressions become part of the iconography and the imagery.”
On choosing the stories for the book that made the final cut, Corbould said: “I decided to get writing, writing, writing, and writing. And I could have written it probably twice as big, but Assouline was clever. They picked out all the bits that were relevant to the images they had and used what worked for the book. They didn't give me any agenda to follow. They just said, Chris, write what you know about the cars. We want all the stories and anecdotes about what went on behind the scenes, what happened when you were filming.”
A screening of the “Donut square sequence” in No Time To Die followed the conversation between Marek Reichman and Chris Corbould.
Chris Corbould and Lee Morrison talk through some of the weapons and gadgets found on the DB5 in No Time To Die
Tags:
#articles
#assouline
#chris_corbould
#eon_productions
#film_books_official
#james_bond_event
Tweet
