When Ian Flemming penned the very first James Bond novel, little did anyone know that he would become a worldwide sensation and his legacy would thrive even after almost 7 decades. Today James Bond is one of the longest-running franchises, and its impact on pop culture hasn’t diminished.
If you’re a fan of the franchise, let me start with a few questions. Who is your favorite James Bond? How many James Bond movies do you think are there? How many have you watched?
Well, I’m willing to bet most of you haven’t watched all of them. After all, the first film of this franchise came back in 1962. I know, right. Who knew a franchise so old would not only go on to become a cult but still be relevant 60 years later?
So if you haven’t watched the series or read the books, it’s never too late. With this watch order and reading order, it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to go on a Bond binge.
The James Bond series has 25 films in its name, with 6 different actors playing the titular character. These are based on the various novels and short stories penned by different authors.
The timeline is pretty straightforward, and the movies can be watched in the release order itself. Besides these, one unofficial James Bond film isn’t canon since it wasn’t by the same production company.
On the other hand, when we look at the books, the chronological order is slightly different from the release order. More on this in the later section.
James Bond Movies Release Order and Watch Order
With No Time To Die, the James Bond franchise completes 25 films. All of these can be watched in the release order since the timeline is pretty linear. Perhaps one of the best things about the franchise is that you can pick any movie and watch it as a standalone story.
After you’re done with all the 25 films, you can watch one another unofficial James Bond film starring Sean Connery. It doesn’t come under the official canon because Eon Productions didn’t produce it, so the film didn’t have the signature Bond-style visuals.
- Dr. No (1962)
- From Russia With Love (1963)
- Goldfinger (1964)
- Thunderball (1965)
- You Only Live Twice (1967)
- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
- Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
- Live and Let Die (1973)
- The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
- The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
- Moonraker (1979)
- For Your Eyes Only (1981)
- Octopussy (1983)
- A View to a Kill (1985)
- The Living Daylights (1987)
- License to Kill (1989)
- GoldenEye (1995)
- Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
- The World is Not Enough (1999)
- Die Another Day (2002)
- Casino Royale (2006)
- Quantum of Solace (2008)
- Skyfall (2012)
- Spectre (2015)
- No Time To Die (2021)
1. Unofficial Non-Canon Bond Film
Never Say Never Again (1983)
2. List of James Bond Movies with Sean Connery
- Dr. No
- From Russia with Love
- Goldfinger
- Thunderball
- You Only Live Twice
- Diamonds are Forever
- Never Say Never Again
3. List of James Bond Movies with Roger Moore
- Live and Let Die
- The Man with the Golden Gun
- The Spy Who Loved Me
- Moonraker
- For Your Eyes Only
- Octopussy
- A View to Kill
4. List of James Bond Movies with Pierce Brosnan
- Golden Eye
- Tomorrow Never Dies
- The World is Not Enough
- Die Another Day
5. List of James Bond Movies with Daniel Craig
- Casino Royale
- Quantum of Solace
- Skyfall
- Spectre
- No Time to Die
James Bond Books
1. Release Order
Ian Flemming penned the very first James Bond book. After this run, the publications got in other authors one after the other to write stories about the character and the British Secret Service. Here’s a list of all the authors and their books:
Ian Flemming
- Casino Royale (1953)
- Live and Let Die (1954)
- Moonraker (1955)
- Diamonds Are Forever (1956)
- From Russia, with Love (1957)
- Dr. No (1958)
- Goldfinger (1959)
- For Your Eyes Only (1960 – Includes the short stories For Your Eyes Only, Quantum of Solace, Risico, and The Hildebrand Rarity)
- Thunderball (1961)
- The Spy Who Loved Me (1962)
- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1963)
- You Only Live Twice (1964)
- The Man with the Golden Gun (1965)
- Octopussy and The Living Daylights (1966 – Includes the short stories Octopussy, The Living Daylights, The Property of a Lady, and 007 in New York)
Kingsley Amis
- Colonel Sun (Written as Robert Markham) (1968)
John Pearson
- James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007 (1973)
Christopher Wood
- The Spy Who Loved Me (Novelization) (1977)
- Moonraker (1979)
John Gardener
- Licence Renewed (1981)
- For Special Services (1982)
- Icebreaker (1983)
- Role of Honour (1984)
- Nobody Lives for Ever (1986)
- No Deals, Mr. Bond (1987)
- Scorpius (1988)
- Win, Lose or Die (1989)
- Licence to Kill (novelization) (1989)
- Brokenclaw (1990)
- The Man from Barbarossa (1991)
- Death is Forever (1992)
- Never Send Flowers (1993)
- SeaFire (1994)
- GoldenEye (novelization) (1995)
- Cold (1996)
Raymond Benson
- Blast From the Past (short story) (1997)
- Zero Minus Ten (1997)
- Tomorrow Never Dies (novelization) (1997)
- The Facts of Death (1998)
- Midsummer Night’s Doom (short story) (1999)
- High Time to Kill (1999)
- Live at Five (short story) (1999)
- The World Is Not Enough (novelization) (1999)
- DoubleShot (2000)
- Never Dream of Dying (2001)
- The Man with the Red Tattoo (2002)
- Die Another Day (novelization) (2002)
Sebastian Faulks
- Devil May Care (2008)
Jeffery Deaver
- Carte Blanche (2011)
William Boyd
- Solo (2013)
Anthony Horowitz
- Trigger Mortis (2015)
- Forever and a Day (2018)
The concept of continuity is prevalent only in Ian Flemming’s series. After that, different authors took different routes for their stories. While some went on to gain commercial success, some were criticized for being too far-fetched.
After Raymond Benson, the publication opened up to new authors who would put their own spin on the Bond stories. This way, the best writing would see the light of the day, and the stories wouldn’t be restricted to a timeline or continuity.
2. Chronological Reading Order
Considering that the list of books and short stories is long, figuring out the chronology would have been tedious. However, lucky for you, only Ian Flemming’s stories and books follow a timeline.
The rest of the authors haven’t focussed as much on continuity, considering it would restrict them from telling good stories. So, here’s a chronological order of Flemming’s books:
- Casino Royale – May to July 1951 or May to July 1952
- Live and Let Die – January to February 1952
- Moonraker – May 1953
- Diamonds Are Forever – July to August 1953
- From Russia, with Love – June to August 1954
- Dr. No – February to March 1956
- Goldfinger – April to June 1957
- Risico – October 1957
- Quantum of Solace – February 1958
- The Hildebrand Rarity – April 1958
- From a View to a Kill – May 1958
- For Your Eyes Only – September to October 1958
- Thunderball – May to June 1959
- Octopussy – June 1960
- The Living Daylights – September to October 1960
- The Property of a Lady – June 1961
- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (Chapters 1- 5) – September 1961
- 007 in New York – September 1961
- The Spy Who Loved Me (Chapters 10 -14, the Bond section) – October 1961
- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (Chapters 6 – 20) – November 1961 to January 1962
- You Only Live Twice – August 1962 to April 1963
- The Man With the Golden Gun – November 1963 to February 1964
You can read the remaining books in their release order itself.
Where To Watch and Read James Bond Movies and Books
Well, let’s just say you’re in luck. You can watch all the pre-Daniel Craig Bond movies on PlutoTV except Roger Moore’s For Your Eyes Only. This means you can watch all the 5 Bond actors’ films who’ve come before Daniel Craig. As for Daniel Craig’s films, you can rent them all on Amazon Prime for $3.99. All the books are available on Amazon for purchase
Run-Time And Binge Duration
All the movies, including the unofficial Sean Connery Bond film, come up to 45 hours, making it perfect for a non-stop weekend Bond Binge. The books, on the other hand, would take much longer and would depend upon your pace.
About James Bond Franchise
James Bond films are the longest continually running film series of all time and have grossed over US$7.04 billion in total, making it the sixth-highest-grossing film series to date, which started in 1962 with Dr. No, starring Sean Connery as Bond. As of 2021, there have been twenty-five films in the Eon Productions series. The most recent Bond film, No Time to Die (2021), stars Daniel Craig in his fifth portrayal of Bond; he is the sixth actor to play Bond in the Eon series.
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