Selling a super spy

Marketers have concocted a cocktail of youth appeal for the new movie

By BBC News Online's Entertainment Correspondent Tom Brook

A big effort is underway to promote The World Is Not Enough to young moviegoers in America.

The film needs to appeal to this vital demographic if it is really to succeed at the US box office.

The problem confronting the movie's marketers is that for many of today's teens Bond is an old-fashioned secret service agent created by their parents' generation.

MGM, the studio distributing The World Is Not Enough, acknowledges that a special effort has been made to bring in a younger audience.

Object of desire - the BMW Z8

Pierce Brosnan believes Bond is already reaching young people, but he thinks this new picture definitely "has all the ingredients that are accessible to a younger audience".

Promotion has been key to reaching the desired young audience. MGM has entered into the largest movie marketing partnership in history by joining forces with MTV whose young viewers represent that key demographic the distributors want to reach.

As a result MTV's worldwide viewers are being bombarded with more than 100 hours of Bond-related programming.

The network is broadcasting everything from a behind-the-scenes documentary of Garbage making the film's music video to on-air contests where viewers can win Bond's new car, the BMW Z8.

Richards is a big hit with the young male audience

Also, Denise Richards, the latest Bond girl, can be seen popping up constantly in broadcasts.

The film's marketers see Denise Richards as their most potent weapon in reaching young male moviegoers. As a Bond girl she plays a nuclear arms expert called Christmas Jones.

Her film career is not particularly outstanding, but she has emerged as a much desired pin-up girl for teenage American boys. Her acting (at least in my opinion) leaves much to be desired.

But what matters is that Richards has the magnetic power to attract those young American males that MGM is so eager to reach.

At the film's Hollywood premiere Richards didn't talk about her sex appeal, but she pointed out that this Bond film would reach younger moviegoers because of the contribution from the alternative rock band Garbage.

Garbage bring the Bond music bang up to date

"With Garbage singing the title song, you know it's very hip and a little edgier, so I think it will definitely appeal to a younger audience," she said.

Through its soundtrack, action scenes, casting and marketing MGM has managed to give the latest Bond film at least the sheen of being young and hip.

It's hard not to deplore the cynical tactics that MGM has deployed to lure a young audience, but then that's standard practice in Hollywood.

But even the best efforts of the film's marketers cannot disguise that at its core The World is Not Enough remains rather quaint and old fashioned.

Richards says female roles are now more than just decoration

Indeed, this is its appeal for many older fans. Bond is, after all, a creation of pre-feminist times.

Denise Richards claims the female roles in Bond now have a lot more depth, and that the banter between her and 007 is intelligent and clever.

But the truth is that her most memorable on screen moments with Bond are all imbued with sexual innuendo. In fact, the film closes with Brosnan lying next to her in bed, after a romantic entanglement, declaring "I thought Christmas comes but once a year."

It's one of numerous double entendres that will amuse Bond loyalists, titillate young teens and appal the politically correct.

Brosnan brings youth cool to the role of Bond

MGM expects The World Is Not Enough to outperform Brosnan's previous two Bond films.

They think that Pierce Brosnan, the action scenes, the villains and the sexy women, combined with their efforts to create a younger following, will make the 19th instalment of the world's most successful film franchise more intoxicating than ever.

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Pictures courtesy of MGM