James Bond to Get Oscar Salute

007′s not-so-secret service to be honored at the Oscars. (MGM Home Entertainment / Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment)

Don’t be surprised while watching the Oscars telecast on February 24 to hear one of the featured celebrity guests introduce himself as “Bond. James Bond.”

Hollywood’s biggest awards show announced today that it will include a special salute in its telecast this year to the British super spy to mark the 50th anniversary of the popular film series. The latest Agent 007 film, Skyfall, opened last fall and has so far grossed more than $1 billion worldwide, the first Bond film to hit that impressive marker.

“We are very happy to include a special sequence on our show saluting the Bond films on their 50th birthday,” Academy Award show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron said in a statement. “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.”

No word yet on exactly what the salute will include – please, we beg you, no extended dance number – or whether any or all of the six actors who’ve played James Bond over the years will appear. (If anyone needs a refresher, that would be Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, the current occupant.)

Click here for a link to the official press release.

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If you were producing the Oscars, how would you salute the James Bond series?

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