Academy Awards to celebrate Bond. . . James Bond

The 85th Academy Awards will include a tribute to the James Bond film franchise, which is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year, the telecast’s producers announced recently.

“We are very happy to include a special sequence on our show saluting the Bond films on their 50th birthday,” said producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. “Starting with Dr. No back in 1962, the 007 movies have become the longest-running motion picture franchise in history and a beloved global phenomenon.”

The 85th Academy Awards nominations were announced live this morning, at 5:30 a.m., Pacific Time, in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Oscar® Sunday, February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are producers of critically acclaimed and award-winning feature films, television movies, series and Broadway productions. Their feature films include The Bucket List, Footloose, Hairspray and Chicago – which won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. For television they’ve produced the films Steel Magnolias, Life with Judy Garland and A Raisin in the Sun, among many others, and the series Smash and Drop Dead Diva. They recently returned to their roots in live theater by producing Broadway revivals of the Tony-winning Promises, Promises and the Tony-winning 50th Anniversary revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.