Earlier this week, President Trump confused everyone when he mentioned he’d be placing a 100% tariff “on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands.” What, exactly, that looks like is anyone’s guess right now, but apparently there are exceptions to Trump’s proposed plan. Namely, 007 himself, James Bond.
During a recent press conference to discuss his new trade deal with the UK, the president was asked by The London Times to elaborate on his plan to make Hollywood great again. As usual, Trump let loose a barrage of word salad, saying, “As you know, we’re putting tariffs on… film, the moviemakers.”
“And we’re going to be doing some tariffs to get them, because a lot of them have left this country. They all live here, the money comes from here, everything comes from here, but they make them in other countries. So, we’re gonna do something to bring them back, maybe to a large extent.”
It was then that Trump brought up Bond, commenting on his ties to the late Sean Connery, who apparently helped him complete his Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen, Scotland. “But James Bond has nothing to worry about, that I can tell you,” Trump added, continuing:
“And you know, Sean Connery was a friend of mine. Sean Connery was responsible for my getting zoning in Aberdeen. He said, ‘Let the bloody bloke build his golf courses.’ I was like four years into the process, and it was impossible in Aberdeen… He was a great guy, Sean Connery.”
It just goes to prove that if you’re a friend of Trump, he’ll bend his own rules to make sure what applies to everyone else doesn’t apply to you. Maybe the Avengers and Supergirl need to cozy up to the president, as Avengers: Doomsday and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow are both being filmed overseas right now, and could face tariffs of their own if Trump makes good on his promise.
More to come…
Source: Variety
Summary
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming’s death in 1964: Kingsley Amis, Christopher Wood, John Gardner, Raymond Benson, Sebastian Faulks and Jeffery Deaver; a new novel, written by William Boyd, is planned for release in 2013. Additionally, Charlie Higson wrote a series on a young James Bond and Kate Westbrook wrote three novels based on the diaries of a recurring series character, Moneypenny.
The fictional British Secret Service agent has also been adapted for television, radio, comic strip and video game formats as well as being used in the longest running and the second-highest grossing film franchise to date, which started in 1962 with Dr. No, starring Sean Connery as Bond. As of 2012, there have been twenty two films in the Eon Productions series, with a twenty third, Skyfall, due for release on 26 October 2012. The film will star Daniel Craig in his third portrayal of Bond: he is the sixth actor to play Bond in the Eon series. There have also been two independent productions of Bond films, Casino Royale, a 1967 spoof, and Never Say Never Again, a 1983 remake of an earlier Eon-produced film, Thunderball.
The films are renowned for a number of features, including the musical accompaniment, with the theme songs to the films having picked up Academy Award nominations on several occasions. Other important elements which run through most of the films include Bond’s cars, his guns and the gadgets he is supplied with by Q Branch.