UPDATED: Regarding the formal announcement about the theme song, we published the following:
It also, obviously, refutes my report here yesterday. Here's the thing… it is precisely because of things like Smith spending months saying, “I'm not doing that song” that it is hard to know what to do with a studio denial of something.
In this case, Sony wouldn't confirm what they were doing this morning in conjunction with the ticket pre-sales, or even that there was going to be something released or announced. We reached out to them for comment, but the studio declined to make a comment. In that case, we went with a trusted source.
I see how the wires got tangled, but this is a mea culpa. I pulled the trigger on the story, and I was wrong.
Our original story, unaltered, is below:
There has been rampant speculation about who will be performing the theme song for “SPECTRE,” the latest James Bond movie. Adele's theme for “Skyfall” was one of the biggest of the entire series, iconic and award-winning, and it sold something like a grazillion copies. Don't fact-check me on that, but it was a lot.
HitFix can exclusively report that speculation will come to an end on Tuesday morning, when the “SPECTRE” theme song will be released according to sources connected to the films release. Ticket pre-sales for the film begin that morning, and there's no better way to light the fuse and drive audiences crazy than releasing the new theme song. That's not true of every movie, of course, but when you're talking about James Bond, there are certain things that are key to each one, and it's arguable that the theme song is one of the two or three most memorable things about each movie.
When we did our recent special Songs On Screen series of stories, I claimed “Nobody Does It Better” the moment the prospect was raised in our editorial meeting. I adore Bond themes. When my father was in town recently, we went to Amoeba, and he picked up a couple of things including a compilation CD of all the Bond themes so he could put that on his iPod and his tablet. He's always shared his Bond fandom with me, and my own kids have learned to love the theme songs as well from hearing them in the car and seeing the various films they've seen so far in the series.
I have no idea who recorded the song. It was done in secrecy, and to the credit of Sony, they've kept the identity of the performer under wraps. It'll make Tuesday morning fun, because the song will spur lots more conversation than just “good or bad.” I've seen a lot of people want Sam Smith to be announced, and names like Ellie Goulding and Radiohead have been connected to the theme for various reasons. The Hollywood Reporter seemed to have some strong suspicions about Radiohead as the actual performer, and if that's the case, I'm going to be completely thrilled. After all, their cover version of “Nobody Does It Better” is pretty epic, and it would be an excuse for them to write something far more traditional than their more experimental fare. I love them as a band, but I miss them writing song songs. They were amazing at it, and they'd absolutely crush it if they were asked to write something traditionally “James Bondian.”
Tuesday morning, this should all be revealed, and we'll be here to discuss it as soon as we've had a chance to hear it for ourselves.
“SPECTRE” arrives in UK theaters on October 26, and then opens in the US on November 6, 2015.