In a couple years, the first James Bond movie, Dr. No, will celebrate its 60th anniversary, but those of you who have ‘a little’ extra cash lying around don’t have to wait that long to celebrate the first installment of this longtime franchise. The bikini that Ursula Andress wore in Dr. No is going up for auction soon, and all you’ll need to drop is a cool half a million dollars.
Ok, so the average James Bond fan won’t be able to afford this piece of memorabilia, but this might pique the interest of those of you with bigger coffers. Reuters reports that Ursula Andress’ ivory-colored bikini from Dr. No could fetch as much as $500,000 when it’s auctioned off. The auction will be held in Los Angeles from November 12-13, and here’s what Brian Chanes, head of acquisitions at the auctioneering establishment Profiles in History, had to say about the significance of this cinematic outfit:
It is regarded as the most famous bikini in the world. It’s one of the most memorable scenes in the entire Bond franchise. It helped bikinis become more mainstream and it started the whole Bond girl phenomenon.
In case you’ve never seen Dr. No, Ursula Andress played Honey Ryder, a shell diver who gets pulled into James Bond’s mission to defeat the eponymous antagonist. One of the movie’s most memorable scenes is Honey’s introduction, where she emerges from the ocean with a seashell in hand and a scabbard belted to her hips. This scene was later emulated by Halle Berry in 2002’s Die Another Day. Although Andress physically portrayed the character in Dr. No, because the actress had a heavy accent, her dialogue was dubbed by Nikki van der Zyl and her singing voice was dubbed by Diana Coupland.
Ursula Andress previously sold the Dr. No bikini at a London auction in 2001, although it only ended up going for a little over $45,200, approximately $6,000 less than what was predicted. Two decades later, it’s going for a much higher price and will soon be changing hands. Who knows, maybe the bikini will go for even higher than $500,000, but either way, this is certainly a prize for any James Bond fan who can afford it.
At least one James Bond-centric event will happen before 2020 is over. This year was also originally supposed to include the release of No Time to Die, Daniel Craig’s fifth and final outing as 007. Had things gone according to plan, No Time to Die would have dropped in April, but it was later moved to November as a result of the current health crisis, and as of last week, it’s been shifted to April 2, 2021.
Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for all the latest and greatest James Bond-related news, and keep track of what other movies are supposed to come out next year with our 2021 release schedule.
