Sony and Samsung Both Offered to Pay James Bond to Use Their Phones

Sony and Samsung both offered to pay James Bond actor Daniel Craig to use their smartphones in the next installment of the series, Spectre. According to stolen Sony emails posted to Wikileaks (via BusinessInsider), both companies offered Daniel Craig US$5 million to use their devices in the film. The negotiations fell apart over marketing fees and because the actor and Specter director Sam Mendes both felt, "James Bond only uses the 'best.'"

And if you're having trouble reading between the lines, Sony's device, the Xperia Z4 smartphone, doesn't qualify as the "best" in their minds.

Jame Bond Only Uses the Best

Jame Bond Only Uses the Best

The basic story is that Sony offered Daniel Craig an endorsement fee of $5 million dollars, as well as $18 million in supporting marketing for the movie and device. Barbara Broccoli, the daughter of James Bond movie series creator Albert Broccoli, wanted additional monies from Sony to go to the cast and crew of the film.

The two sides dickered a bit, but as noted above, the real fly in the product-placement ointment appeared to be the fact that Daniel Craig and Sam Mendes didn't consider Sony's device to be good enough for Mr. Bond.

But Samsung also offered to pony up money to get one of its devices in the film. In addition to the $5 million fee to Mr. Craig, Samsung was apparently willing to spread another $50 million in associated marketing. As of this writing, we don't know if whatever device Samsung was peddling was considered to be the "best," or if the film ended up going with another device.

Say, the iPhone.

Apple seldom—if ever—pays for product placement, however, and tens of millions of dollars is the kind of money movie studios, producers, and even millionaire actors find very hard to say "No" to. All of these emails were stolen during the fall of 2014, and it remains to be seen which direction the Bond film makers took.

In the meanwhile, here's the first official trailer for Spectre, which is expected in theaters on November 6th, 2015.