That's right, back from the dead. No longer just an inactive section at the bottom of The GoldenEye Dossier. As we celebrate GOLDENEYE's thirty year, what better time than now to set the clocks back all the way to the beginning? My mainframe files have been restored and updated to the latest firmware. Let us start from the very beginning, with the public's first official viewing of our little drama, at the film's set of premieres, held three decades ago.
I've had our resident Level IV Programming Technician, Boris Grishenko {Severnaya, Сéверная Земля́}, prepare a new set of access codes. Your means of entry have been granted, pray it is not to be later rejected.
Onto what we have on this file, old boy, thirty years removed.
Operative: Janus
File: Film Premieres
Report From: Statue Park
Lat: 59.9311° N
Long: 30.3609° E
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TREVELYAN:
I must admit, I'm impressed with your dedication to this project, friend. Despite thirty years gone, one just can't seem to get enough, aye? Nonetheless, welcome back. Janus has never been known to own an open set of arms, so I suggest you consider yourself quite lucky. Now, it's time to suit up, find yourself a date, and wear a nice smile for the adoring press. The following data has been collected surrounding the premiere events for GOLDENEYE, all those years ago.
Proceeding chronologically, GOLDENEYE would first premiere on Monday, the 13th of November, 1995 in the United States of America.
GOLDENEYE would deviate from the London-first tradition with Radio City Music Hall in New York City marking the debut of the film on the silver screen. Compiled data suggests that this location was no stranger to large-scale world premieres at the time. Boasting a sizable list of previously screened blockbuster hits like TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, the original KING KONG, and Disney’s LION KING, listing only a few.
United Artists Pictures would host this gala, welcoming numerous faces from James Bond’s past along with its present. The likes of Maud Adams (Octopussy, Andrea Anders), Lois Chiles (Dr. Holly Goodhead), and Geoffrey Holder (Baron Samedi) were a few of the familiar faces in attendance that night. Many other celebrities, film stars, musical artists, and notables were on hand to help welcome the next 007 film into the franchise. The likes of Minnie Driver, Chris Noth, Meat Loaf, Kathleen Turner, Gary Sinise, Jeff Bridges, and more lit up the New York skyline with their support of GOLDENEYE.
The film’s cast was also nearly complete in their presence, including Pierce Brosnan (Agent 007, James Bond) and his family attending, leading ladies Izabella Scorupco (Level II programmer, Natalya Simonova) and Famke Janssen (Janus affiliate, Xenia Onatopp), the legendary Joe Don Baker (CIA agent, Jack Wade), the fabulous Allan Cumming (Our very own, Boris Grishenko), the incomparable Desmond Llewelyn (MI6’s resourceful quartermaster, Q), director Martin Campbell, title singer Tina Turner, and songwriter Bono. I myself (goodie-turned-baddie, Alec Trevelyan) was able to successfully infiltrate the event, still doubling for an MI6 agent at the time. Quite ingenious, I daresay.
Bringing in the new James Bond film, after a lengthy departure from theatres, was no easy feat. All the stars had to aline for the revival of this dormant series. Some said it was a relic of the Cold War. Some said the series had died long ago. In the face of doubt, GOLDENEYE's star-studded premiere at Radio City Music Hall made a statement. Several inner and extended members of the James Bond film family, the stellar cast of GOLDENEYE, series producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, and a host of celebrity guests all made up a very special night in the heart of the Big Apple.
It was a return to form for the Bond series. It would be bolder, bigger, better and most importantly, BACK!
Our file then picks up days later, with our next entry dated Tuesday, the 21st of November, 1995.
Location? Jolly old England... sound familiar, friend?
Our mainframe suggest that just a handful of days following the spectacle in New York City, the cast, film producers, and a new handful of special guests would congregate at the Odeon of London’s Leicester Square district. This time, however, a royal premiere would unfold in the heart of the United Kingdom!
After being ousted as Janus with the film's release to the general public, I had enemy eyes on me during this premiere, leaving most of the intel collecting up to others under the cover of English celebrities at the time. My sources will remain nameless. Nonetheless, Pierce Brosnan, Gottfried John (General Arkady Ourumov), Dame Judi Dench (Head of MI6, M), Famke Janssen, Izabella Scorupco, and Tina Turner headed the lineup of cast and crew attendees.
Though, perhaps, the most esteemed guest that night would be Prince Charles of Wales. Surveillance provided shows that Prince Charles would meet and talk with several members of the GOLDENEYE family. Pierce Brosnan’s young son, Sean, and then-girlfriend-later-wife Keely Shaye Smith, would even be granted the opportunity to meet Prince Charles that night. Janus has kept watch of them ever since...
This gala would be held in aid of Prince Charles’ charity, the Prince’s Trust, and the moment of the night would pit James Bond in a meeting with the Prince himself to exchange a few words, jokes, and smiles. GOLDENEYE’s Royal European Charity Premiere held on this night in London, England, was nothing short of regal indeed! Most of the celebrities and filmmakers that attended would almost certainly vouch for such claims, or so it says here.
Additional Bond franchise guests from the past included Christopher Lee (Francisco Scaramanga), Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny), Roger Moore (Agent 007, James Bond), Honor Blackman (Pussy Galore), and more! A solid showing for the royal premiere, needless to say.
GOLDENEYE would also have a German premiere on the 5th of December at Mathäser-Filmpalast in Munich and a Swedish premiere on the 8th of December at Rigoletto in Stockholm.
There would be one more premiere event scheduled for GOLDENEYE, to be held in Paris, France. However, in an effort to raise awareness, Pierce Brosnan boycotted the French premiere, favoring Greenpeace's protest against the French nuclear testing program. Brosnan’s very public support of the protest would eventually cause the French premiere to be pulled from the schedule. It’s worth mentioning that the following year, the nuclear testing program would indeed cease.
You know what they say, boys with toys…
Moving onto the side notes for this file, only a few brief entries appear to be listed:
GOLDENEYE would be released in the United States on the 17th of November, 1995 and would later see a general release across the United Kingdom and Europe on the 24th of November, 1995. The film would go on to be released in a further thirty-one countries, under three alternate titles! Quite a travelling license, 007...
Intel also outlines that, at the royal premiere for GOLDENEYE in Lodon, Prince Charles talked with the young Sean Brosnan about his budding interest in guitars and the beginning of his guitar studies, interestingly enough. A rocking Prince, minus the Purple Rain, no less.
To summarize, I’d ask that you stay mindful of the information collected on these events. The tactics, mannerisms, and behavior expressed by myself and fellow operatives should serve as a model for your covert work on future assignments. It goes without saying that your skills obviously leave something to be desired.
Premiere events are nothing to take lightly and should be sifted through as professionally and as transparently as orders permit. Tread lightly, as you never quite know who's watching from the across the room.
And so ends our first file of 2025, old boy. You’ve been thoroughly briefed on the subject at hand and your suggested methods of approach. Your success depends on how you conduct yourself.
Welcome to the party, my dear.
-TREVELYAN
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