James Bond vs. Austin Powers

January 26, 2002 2:27 AM

James Bond vs. Austin Powers...and now for something completely trivial: MGM and Danjaq, the British company that controls the Bond film license, have obtained a cease-and-desist order against New Line Cinema that prohibits New Line from calling the latest installment of Mike Myers' shagadelic spy series Austin Powers in Goldmember. Apparently, the 007 folks weren't too keen on the double entendre of Goldmember--a takeoff on the 1964 Bond classic, Goldfinger--and released the legal hounds to force the name change. That's not very sporting of them, is it?
posted by verdezza (25 comments total)

The article states that they are only opposing the title, but then it says that New Line may have to reshoot... I hope that they don't haver to reshoot. I wasn't particularly keen on Austin, but they're obviously not attempting to horn in specifically on the Bond market, and the movie will be a sorry sight if they have to reshoot at this point in the game.

Oh yes:
Goldmember.
He's the man, the man with the midas crotch.
A jeweler's crotch.
Such a cold member.
Beckons you to enter his web of sin
But don't go in.

I invite you, gentle reader, to write the rest.
posted by j.edwards at 3:08 AM on January 26, 2002

Sorry, pants of sin.
posted by j.edwards at 4:11 AM on January 26, 2002

after the last austin powers 'movie', maybe MGM is doing us all a favor
posted by mb01 at 5:54 AM on January 26, 2002

So apparently scenes of giant dildo rockets flying through the sky and Austin having an umbrella pulled out of his ass in a tent are A-OK with MGM, but making obscure references to genitalia in the film's title are right out? Then why didn't they raise a ruckus about "Shagged" being in the last film's title?

Throw me a frickin' bone here, people.
posted by MrBaliHai at 6:15 AM on January 26, 2002

Or get an injunction against themselves when they released Octopussy?
posted by headspace at 6:42 AM on January 26, 2002

Later for that. Flint could take both those fuckers.
posted by adampsyche at 6:46 AM on January 26, 2002

I thought parody was free speech protected under the First Amendment.
posted by MegoSteve at 7:01 AM on January 26, 2002

Okay if they have a zero tollerance towards anyone cashing in on James Bond, what the hell were MGM doing when the first two movies were released?
posted by riffola at 7:15 AM on January 26, 2002

Pussy Galore will be turning in her grave.
posted by vbfg at 8:24 AM on January 26, 2002

Megosteve, a) the First Amendment affects only the government, not private citizens; b) parody is a defense against many types of copyright infringement charges, but it is much less effective in trademark cases.

The irony is that the Austin Powers movies, though often evocative of the more grandiose moments of the 60s and 70s Bond flicks, are really much more directly derivative of the Our Man Flint franchise. Myers has gone on at length about how he was a devoted Flint fan as a child.

It may be that they were hoping The Spy Who Shagged Me would suffer from sequelitis; and when the 2nd AND 3rd films BOTH used titles reminiscent of 007, they decided they needed to act to protect their properties.

In other news, Ebay experienced a systems crash as popcorn servers around the country began selling their Goldmember posters online.
posted by dhartung at 8:37 AM on January 26, 2002

Apparently, the 007 folks weren't too keen on the double entendre of Goldmember--a takeoff on the 1964 Bond classic, Goldfinger


Double entendre? These are the guys who released octopussy. Yeh, yeh, someone already got it but I just had to say it.

oh, btw MrBaliHai MGM dosn't control Austin powers, but rather James Bond, they feel that "goldmember" infringes on their trademark from 'goldfinger' otherwise they would have no controll over what Austin Powers could do.
posted by delmoi at 8:39 AM on January 26, 2002

Any blow against Mike Myers is a good blow.

No pun intended.
posted by solistrato at 8:41 AM on January 26, 2002

I'm sorry, was The Spy Who Shagged Me not a rip-off of a Bond movie title? Am I missing something?
posted by Hildago at 11:28 AM on January 26, 2002

In related matters, the original title for the sequel was Austin Powers 2: The Wrath Of Khan. They have quite a Pythonesque bit about it in the draft script.
posted by smackfu at 12:02 PM on January 26, 2002

Smackfu, good link, but advertisement hell.
posted by SpecialK at 12:33 PM on January 26, 2002

Not to mention Dr. Holly Goodhead or Honey Rider...
posted by scottfree at 1:01 PM on January 26, 2002

Dr. Nob
From Gusher With Love
Goldmember
Thunderballs
You Only Muff Twice
Giving Her Majesty Secret Service
Himans Are Forever
The Spy Who Gloved Me
Moonbreaker
For Your Thighs Only
Octopussy
posted by feelinglistless at 1:34 PM on January 26, 2002

Not to mention Dr. Holly Goodhead or Honey Rider...

...or Xenia Onatopp, or Christmas "I thought Christmas only comes once a year" Jones, or Bambi & Thumper.

Yep, Goldmember is beneath the series' dignity.
posted by kirkaracha at 2:04 PM on January 26, 2002

feelinglistless - It's not Bond-related, but to my thinking the finest real-world pornification of a movie title has to be Edward Penis Hands.

I have so little faith in the ability of MGM to make this stick that I wonder if it's a stunt. Titles are specifically excluded from copyright protection, Lucas just lost on Star Ballz, A.P. is parodic, and the porn world has a long history of legally riffing on mainstream titles.
posted by NortonDC at 3:53 PM on January 26, 2002

My favorite real-world pornification of a movie title : "Romancing The Bone".
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:06 PM on January 26, 2002

My favorite is Position: Impossible.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:41 PM on January 26, 2002

Shaving Ryan's Privates
Good Will Humping
On Golden Blonde
Back Seat to the Future
Blown Alone
Schindler's Fist
posted by verdezza at 10:18 PM on January 26, 2002

I always thought Powers was a Flint rip-off....and Flint was the Bond rip-off.
posted by Quixoticlife at 5:50 AM on January 27, 2002

And no one mentioned yet Edwards Penishands?
posted by adampsyche at 5:51 AM on January 27, 2002

Uhhhh...
posted by kindall at 10:08 AM on January 27, 2002