Legendary make-up artist Stuart Freeborn, best known for his work bringing iconic Star Wars characters like Yoda and Chewbacca to life, has passed away at age 98. Having worked in feature films for over 60 years, he also worked with Stanley Kubrick on Dr. Strangelove, as the creator behind the many roles played on screen by Peter Sellers, as well as the ape-like humans in 2001: A Space Odyssey. [Read more…]
The George Barris-designed prop batmobile from the 1960s Batman television series starring Adam West sold for $4.2 million ($4.62M with fees) to collector Rick Champagne at yesterday’s Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona. The one sold yesterday was the first of six made for the classic TV series. [Read more…]
A little over two years ago, an air gun /pistol used by Sean Connery for some iconic James Bond publicity photos stunned the hobby when it sold at the traditional late November Christie’s South Kensington Pop Culture auction far in excess of its estimate, realizing a staggering £277,250 (US$438,609) including buyer’s premium. In a resale by Sotheby’s this past weekend, it sold for less than half that amount. [Read more…]
Honda UK has donated to charity auction the modified Honda CRF250R motorcycle used by Daniel Craig as James Bond in the newest film in the 007 franchise. The motorcycle was used in the opening chase sequence in the movie, and proceeds well benefit BBC Children as part of a larger fundraising auction event on eBay. [Read more…]
Following the UK Supreme Court ruling well over a year ago, legal website The Lawyer today reports that Andrew Ainsworth owes the legal firm that represented him in his dispute with Lucasfilm about £3.5 million. Per the report, “[t]he case was brought on a conditional fee arrangement (CFA), and usually the court will order the losing side to cover the other’s costs”. Since one issue was decided in favor of Ainsworth, and the other in favor of Lucasfilm, Ainsworth was never awarded a costs order, thus sticking him with a legal bill well into millions of dollars. Ainsworth is quoted in the article noting that his legal team “gained a lot of kudos” for their apparently free (at this point) legal defense, though it will be interesting to continue to follow to see if his lawyers believe that they received £3.5 million pounds worth of kudos. [Read more…]
Yesterday’s announcement that George Lucas struck a deal to sell Lucasfilm Ltd (and related companies and properties, like ILM and Skywalker Sound, and the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises) came as a surprise to many. Along with the announcement were details about a third Star Wars trilogy with Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy as Executive Producer – Episodes 7 (already scheduled for a 2015 release), 8, and 9… in the event the news in general didn’t warrant enough of a reaction on its own. For me, the most surprising aspect of the deal is that circa the 70s, George Lucas was known as being quite anti-establishment… a rebel and innovator, working outside of the system, and, well, Disney (which owns ABC, ESPN, Pixar, Touchstone, Marvel Entertainment, theme parks, resorts, cruise lines, television stations, etc.) is about as establishment and corporate-oriented as they come. Disney bought Marvel in 2009 (for $0.05 billion less), and hasn’t ruined it or anything, but Marvel is not Star Wars, and what little I’ve already seen worries me. 24 hours into this new Disney/Star Wars era, and a video is already released with Stormtroopers wearing Mickey Mouse ears riding a merry-go-round with Darth Vader. Really? [Read more…]
Christie’s historic “50 Years of James Bond” auction pulled in a reported $2.6 million dollars for charity with their recent online/live hybrid auction announced last month. Now, James Bond fans are in for a special treat with a 60 Minutes segment scheduled to air on CBS this weekend, which features a rare inside look at the Archives that holds much of the rare James Bond original props, costumes, and other assets made for and used in the films. [Read more…]
As a brief update to the Christie’s sale and EON Productions charity event, “50 Years of James Bond – The Auction“, though the catalog is not officially online, 50 lots are currently viewable on www.christies.com via their search feature. The online-only auction running September 28-October 5 will benefit a variety of charities, including UNICEF, ORBIS., Women for Women, The Science Museum, ChildLine, Barnardo’s, Tickets for Troops, and Parkinson’s UK. [Read more…]