James Bond
Daniel Craig resisted Android phone placement in "Spectre" because "James Bond only uses the best"

By Daniel Eran Dilger
Sunday, November 01, 2015, 03:47 pm PT (06:47 pm ET)

Internal Sony communications indicated that "Spectre" star Daniel Craig and the movie's director Sam Mendes were both opposed to multimillion dollar product placements for Sony or Samsung Android phones because it could tarnish the suave image of James Bond.




The discussion was revealed last winter when the movie studio's emails were hacked, as noted today by Bond movie aficionado John Gruber of Daring Fireball after Financial Times writer Henry Mancediscussed the role product placement plays in movies. 

An earlier report by Matt Weinberger of Business Insider UK noted that Sony had initially offered Craig $5 million to carry around its Xperia Z4 phone in the movie.

Discussions involved an $18 million marketing commitment from Sony, escalating to a $50 million marketing and promotional package from Samsung as well as a $5 million product placement for Bond to be seen using an Android phone with Samsung's brand on it. 

Leaked emails involving Bond franchise producer Barbara Broccoli noted that money wasn't the only consideration involved in the decision of whether to take money from Android phone makers in exchange for promotion. James Bond only uses the 'best,' and in their minds, the Sony phone is not the 'best'

"BEYOND the $$ factor, there is, as you may know, a CREATIVE factor whereby Sam and Daniel don't like the Sony phone for the film (the thinking, subjectively/objectively is that James Bond only uses the 'best,' and in their minds, the Sony phone is not the 'best')," wrote Andrew Gumpert, President of Worldwide Business Affairs and Operations for Columbia Pictures.

Product placement in movies and TV has become a big business, and Bond films have long been a vehicle for associating some of the world's most luxurious brands with the super-spy character, from Aston Martin cars to Rolex watches. It's harder to picture James Bond using an Android phone, given both their cheap image and notoriety for suffering a litany security vulnerabilities such as Stagefright. 

Apple has long offered free access to its products to a variety of movie and TV studios, resulting in decades of pictures and shows where virtually every model of Apple computer has made a big screen appearance of some sort. 

While Nokia, Samsung and other commodity hardware licensees of Android or Windows have in recent years become notorious for the conspicuously prominent paid placement of their products, the return on investment from such deals does not appear to be very high. 

Despite regular appearances in movies, Nokia and Sony have essentially vanished from the consumer market in the minds of most consumers, and Samsung's phone profits have imploded over the last two years despite billions spent on high profile marketing as Apple's iPhone expands its command as the most popular phone available.
Daniel Craig resisted Android phone placement in
Internal Sony communications indicated that "Spectre" star Daniel Craig and the movie's director Sam Mendes were both opposed to multimillion dollar product placements for Sony or Samsung Android phones because it could tarnish the suave image of James Bond.
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The James Bond thriller "Spectre" opened to a record-smashing $80 million overseas this weekend, even better than the last 007 blockbuster "Skyfall" did in its international debut.

In the U.K., the film opened to an estimated $64 million in its first seven days of release, the biggest opening run in that country's box-office history. "Spectre" took the mark from "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," which was also released on a Monday and totaled $82 million in 2004. And it set a record for the highest seven-day gross in U.K. box-office history, overtaking the last James Bond film, "Skyfall."

The film opens in the United States on Friday.

MORE TO READ: 5 Reasons Daniel Craig's 'Spectre' Might Shake, Not Stir Box Office Records

The record-breaking numbers -- bolstered by a strong $5 million IMAX theaters haul — provide important momentum for the fourth film starring Daniel Craig as the suave super-spy. It's pacing to open in range of the $88 million debut weekend of of 2012's "Skyfall" when it hits theaters in North America on Friday for MGM, Eon Productions and distributor Sony.

"Skyfall" went on to gross $1.1 billion worldwide, and become the top franchise performer of all time.

The $105,000 per-screen average from 47 IMAX screens of "Spectre" was the highest ever for an opening weekend, topping the $760,000 of "Transformers Dark of the Moon" managed in 2011. In the U.K., the $110,000 average was the best ever too, ahead of the $100,000 of "The Dark Knight" in 2008.

There have been some bumps in the road leading to the release of "Spectre." An early version of the script stolen and leaked in last year's notorious Sony hack. Director Sam Mendes faced overruns on a $300 million budget that was overblown to begin. There was a messy hat dance with the Mexican government over tax credits. And Craig suffered a knee injury, which he has followed in recent weeks with an Aston Martin-full of caustic comments about the world's most famous spy.

MORE TO READ: Daniel Craig Says One Direction's Niall Horan Would Be an 'Absolutely Fabulous' James Bond (Video)

But it has plenty of strengths, too. Christoph Waltz, a two-time Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner, joins the cast as the classic evildoer Ernst Stavro Blofeld. His presence lends added class to the film, which also co-stars Ralph FiennesBen WhishawLea Seydoux and Monica Bellucci

"Spectre" will also benefit from its strong reviews, release date which positions it after two very slow weekends and the goodwill provided by "Skyfall." And Craig's caustic comments, which have not criticized the film, haven';t hurt yet and could actually help raised the film's profile.

Spectre review: James Bond's back with a spectacular joyride of a film
Rating: Does it warrant all the hype, the secrecy, the breathless anticipation? Indubitably, yes. From the exhilarating pre-credits sequence, against the backdrop of the Day of the Dead festival in Mexico City, to a spectacular denouement in the shadow of the Houses of Parliament, Spectre is a proper joyride of a James Bond film.
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