Yes, it’s a parasite looking for a host.
I mean that literally, not as a snide comment.
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They have to sell their newspaper all the same, so it helps. Anything Bond helps engage interest in something that’s nothing at all to do with it. That’s remarkable, after so long. Such a massive commercial opportunity, with some films attached. You can se why the producers take their time summoning up the energy to whirl once more round the spin. The money aside, the bother must be overwhelming.
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As an aside on this: back in the days of THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS our German cinema monthly ran one of those promo campaigns, a prize competition with the usual stuff, German premiere tickets, posters and stuff. Second prize was a visit to Audi and a driving course with one of the cars that feature in the film for a smashing four-and-a-half seconds.
I suppose it helped sell an Audi or two…
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And am sure for that car’s involvement, the spend to Eon was calculated in ‘per half seconds’. So I guess they had to milk it.
But this is paid for marketing, as opposed to the leachy efforts of today’s illustrious press.
It did take me a while to notice that Bond hires Audis everywhere he goes in that film! I wonder why they didn’t keep it up? They let their buddies BMW get the gig from there on…
(Is it me or does second prize actually sound better than first? 
)
It’s weird indeed, the story of that promotional partnership with Bond looks like they didn’t realise its potential at all. But there are probably two main reasons why Audi didn’t pursue the connection further.
Audi was only just looking to get into the automotive upper class and had only limited experience with media presence. There was an Audi in Magnum P.I., but that wasn’t a deal they had worked on at Audi’s top floor. The connection to Bond was useful for their luxury aspirations, but not really pursued with the professional zest you’d expect today. Apparently they didn’t even talk about making this a long-term arrangement.
Then the lack of experience on Audi’s side shows in what kind of presentation their products had in the film. Much like BMW in GOLDENEYE, their cars hardly feature. On top, the Aston Dalton drives completely steals the show - together with the excellent Land Rover chase - so people hardly notice the Audis in all of the spectacle.
I think it’s also been mentioned at times how German manufacturers back in the day were hesitant to show their products in any aggressive role 007 would typically use them in. BMW wasn’t prepared for more than a bit of dialogue to go with their ad-insert in GOLDENEYE. And supposedly this was also the reason Mercedes didn’t yet land a connection to Bond, in spite of having the products and even a bit of ‘Bond tradition’.
Overall I think, without having more information on it, that Audi simply didn’t realise the potential - and when they finally did it was too late. LICENCE TO KILL didn’t have the budget for much more than the finale and BMW picked up the deal years later, milking that connection properly during their tenure.
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I do think that Audi 200 looks rather tasty at the beginning though! It’s a shame they didn’t keep it up: it’s a slightly cooler brand than BM I think, and their car (an S8 maybe?) in Tomorrow Never Dies would have been a great fit. The Z8 was a pretty good Bond car though.
While all German premium manufacturers could have fitted out Bond adequately I think the promotional partnership still made the most sense for BMW. They were heavily invested in the UK via Rolls Royce and Land Rover, considered even larger investments for future models in spite of the currency risk. At that point in 1995 BMW certainly had an eye on a British future.
Some of that shifted after selling Land Rover and starting their own SUV models. But Bond would surely still be a major help selling any car, so I wonder more why BMW didn’t set out to buy Aston Martin. Probably because such wouldn’t have sat well with their other plans for developing the marque.
I don’t really think that’s terribly relevant to them being in a Bond film though. Still, a shame it wasn’t a couple of years later and VW doing it: the car park chase in a Bentley (and a big four door car actually makes sense for that chase) would’ve been rather fun!
Do we know for a fact Audi Didn’t try to pursue it? Seems unlikely.
Also, Audi got tie in marketing with one of Will Smith’s futuristic movies… I, Robot.
No, we don’t know this for a fact - but today there would be an option to extend the deal beyond THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS and LICENCE TO KILL didn’t feature Audis. Could be because of the limited budget and the emphasis on the tanker chase. But Audi surely could have provided at least one of the ‘civilian’ cars. For whatever reason, it didn’t happen.
By the time of I, Robot Audi had learned a lot about media presence - but I, Robot came 17 years after THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS. And of course Audi is today Tony Stark’s runabout and features in numerous productions.
Yes, the only car of note I can recall in Licence To Kill is Sanchez’s Maserati.
The Audis in Marvel films are a bit ridiculous: in Marvel land no-one drives anything but! 
Plus one Rolls Royce.
Bond’s rental car was a Lincoln in LTK if I remember correctly.
Indeed, the Bond fanbase is huge when we consider all the people who go to the films, even those who only watch them at home. It must have one of the biggest audiences ever, as they keep coming back.
Dan Romer set for score duties:
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Interesting. I am unfamiliar with Romer’s work. Wouldn’t this typically be announced through EON? Do we know that this is legit?
I’d been hoping to see David Arnold come back for Craig’s last film, but I’m also interested to see Dan Romer shake things up. I liked his score for Maniac, which had all the appropriate tenseness. Wondering if the Doctor No electronic beeps might make a reappearance with this score.
IndieWire previously broke the news of Linus Sandgren’s involvement as DOP, so their sourcing is good, if not basically an EON-sanctioned thing. EON - or any other studio for that matter - wouldn’t announce a crew appointment like this separately, with the exception of the press conference/production announcement press release which was the first time they confirmed Sandgren on their end, as well as other crew members. Next opportunity for them to do that would probably be the teaser trailer launch.
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That is major news. I hope the score is not just electronic, however. Bond needs symphonic majesty.
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