The Ericsson JB988 is the only mobile phone in this era of Bond that was designed to be the point of a scene. In Tomorrow Never Dies it is a handset that turns into a remote control for a BMW, and it is also, in the film’s logic, a taser, a lock pick and a fingerprint scanner. The Ericsson JB988 never existed as a retail phone. It is a prop, and the honest way to own one is a replica or a piece of memorabilia.
In the film
Pierce Brosnan’s Bond uses Q’s gadget phone as a remote control, a taser and a fingerprint scanner. The Mobile Phone Museum records the best-known use: the handset opens into a touch pad that lets Bond drive his BMW 750iL from the back seat. Brosnan’s Bond also tells a henchman to press “Recall-3-SEND”, which fires the taser. Our Tomorrow Never Dies page has the rest of the film’s objects.
The details
Several different props were used. The Mobile Phone Museum says they were cast from metal with non-moving keys, and that a closed unit and a hinged unit that opened were used for different scenes. The screens were added afterwards as a visual effect, so no unit ever had a working display. Propstore described the handset as including a fingerprint scanner, a 20,000-volt electroshock weapon and a remote handset for the car.
The Mobile Phone Museum worked with Phase Two Design on a model, and used direct metal laser sintering to make the hidden stainless steel spikes in the original size. That is the closest thing to a faithful recreation we found.
Owning it now
You cannot buy a working JB988, and no maker sells a new one. The routes are a replica, a collectible, or an auction piece: a prop gadget phone from the film sold at Julien’s for US$6,080, and Propstore estimated its own example at between £10,000 and £20,000. Our link is an eBay search for the JB988, where replicas appear from time to time; we saw a 3D-printed assembly kit listed at US$145 that has since ended.
As an object on a desk, it is a pleasing piece of 1990s optimism about what a phone could be.
In the same spirit
A working phone with a similar period character, offered as an alternative and not as the prop:
- Nokia 3310 Grey (No Time To Die): a phone from the same era, from a later film.
Specifications
| Item | Ericsson JB988, fictional gadget handset |
|---|---|
| Announced | 9 December 1997 (Mobile Phone Museum listing) |
| Film functions | Remote control for BMW 750iL, taser, fingerprint scanner, lock pick |
| Construction | Props cast in metal, non-moving keys; screens added as visual effects |
| Availability | Never sold; replicas and auction pieces only |
Questions
What phone does Bond use in Tomorrow Never Dies?
The Ericsson JB988, a fictional gadget handset from Q that works as a car remote, a taser and a fingerprint scanner.
Was the Ericsson JB988 a real phone?
No. The Mobile Phone Museum calls it a unique fictional creation.
Can I buy one?
Only as a replica or a prop. Auction examples have sold for thousands of dollars.
For more from the same era, see the Pierce Brosnan page or browse gadgets and electronics. The Mobile Phone Museum has the history.
