Brosnan's Bond Gets Special Treatment

By Stephen M. Silverman

11/28/2001 at 01:00 PM EST

PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive 2001, Pierce Brosnan, soon should be heading back to work in his most famous role. Reuters reports that filming on the next James Bond adventure will go ahead as planned in January, since the film's producers reached a deal with members of British Actors Equity to ensure that the movie will not be affected by the group's impending strike. British actors were ordered by Equity in September to refuse to work on any movie after Dec. 1, a move that effectively would bring the U.K. film industry to a standstill. Equity called the strike because it is unhappy that British actors only receive a flat fee in advance for TV broadcasts of films, videos and DVD sales, though their U.S. counterparts get bonus payments should the film become a success. "We have done a deal with Eon, which means that members are free to work on that Bond film," Martin Brown, Equity's chief executive, told the news service. Similar arrangements were also made between Warner Bros. and Equity to make sure the "Harry Potter" sequel could move forward.