Connery: 007 again

Los Angeles, April 5 (Reuters): Actor Sean Connery, the original James Bond of the big screen, has agreed to reprise his role as Agent 007 for Electronic Arts? (EA) upcoming video game version of From Russia With Love.

Connery will record dialogue for the game, and his likeness will appear as it did in MGM?s 1963 hit movie, his second outing as the suave British super spy.

He will be joined by other likenesses from the original film?s characters, including Q (Desmond Llewelyn), Donald ?Red? Grant (Robert Shaw), Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya), Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi), Kerim Bay (Pedro Armendariz) and Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell).

?As an artist, I see this as another way to explore the creative process,? Connery said. ?Video games are an extremely popular form of entertainment today, and I am looking forward to seeing how it all fits together.?

?The combination of Sean Connery, the Bond universe and From Russia With Love is about the best mix you can have in a Bond game without a new feature film,? said John Taylor, video game analyst at Arcadia Research. ?Connery set the standard for James Bond and is most people?s favourite Bond. This game should have both a retro and contemporary appeal.?

The game is set for release this winter on PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube, meaning it will come out before the next James Bond film from MGM, Casino Royale, an adaptation of the 1953 novel that introduced the Bond character.

EA achieved considerable success with the James Bond franchise before it decided to turn back the clock for its next interactive 007 adventure. The video game leader brought classic Bond characters back in 2004?s GoldenEye: Rogue Agent game, which put players in the shoes of the villain GoldenEye. That title used the voice and likenesses of Christopher Lee as Francisco Scaramanga from The Man with the Golden Gun and Judi Dench as M.

The new game will follow the plot of the original From Russia with Love film, including the battle on the Orient Express and the boat chase sequence, but will expand the story with new action sequences.

The development team approached the game as a director?s cut of the film, which will allow the player to utilise such cool toys as the jetpack and a Q-copter as well as the trusty Walther PPK handgun.