SEAN CONNERY'S licence to thrill cinema audiences as James Bond is set to be renewed with the rerelease of the film Goldfinger this summer.

The 1964 classic, which many fans still regard as the best James Bond film, is being newly distributed in July. It will be shown in about 150 multiplexes and other mainstream commercial venues throughout the UK.

John Letham, managing director of Park Circus, the Glasgow-based film distribution company behind the rerelease, said it was "testing the water" with Goldfinger and that other classic Bond films such as Thunderball and From Russia With Love could follow.

Connery's Bond films were rereleased in the 1960s and early 1970s, sometimes in double bills. But the advent of video in the 1980s effectively marked the end of the practice, as viewers could then rent or buy them to watch whenever they wanted.

But Letham believes there is an appetite to see such large-scale action movies in the cinema again. "The thing about James Bond films is that they work so well on the big screen," he said. "They're designed to be watched on the big screen."

It was new technology that spelled the end for Bond cinema rereleases in the 1980s, and it is new technology that has enabled his return in the 2000s.

Traditional film prints cost £2000 to £7000 each. Digital copies, which are no bigger than a video cassette, cost about £50, making short runs of films more economically viable.

More and more cinemas are installing digital projection equipment. Almost all of those that will be showing Goldfinger will do so in digital form. This will also be the first time a Bond film has been released digitally in the UK.

Casino Royale was shown in digital format in some American cinemas last year. Goldfinger is a test case not only for the rerelease of other Bond films, but also for the digital release of the next Bond film in UK cinemas. It is scheduled for the end of next year, though the currently untitled movie has not begun filming yet.

Connery was virtually unknown when he landed the role of James Bond in 1962's Dr No. It became a surprise international hit. But it was Goldfinger that really established the series as a genuine phenomenon two years later.

"It was the third one and it was probably the pivotal one," said Letham, who set up Park Circus with partner Nick Varley in 2003 because they thought there was a gap in the cinema market for old films.

"People always talk about what is their favourite James Bond, and Goldfinger is one of the ones that always come up," he said. "But there are others as well, so it could well be the first in a series of rereleases."

Goldfinger broke box office records in American cinemas when it came out in 1964. A screening of it was the most popular programme on UK television in 1976, and it topped a BBC poll to decide the best Bond film of all time in 1999, followed by other Connery-starring entries in the series.

Connery appeared in seven Bonds, including the 1983 Thunderball remake Never Say Never Again, and his films continue to attract new fans on television, video and DVD.

The Goldfinger rerelease is tied to a new BBC Two initiative called Summer Of British Film. Details are still being worked out, with a high-level industry meeting being held tomorrow in London.

A key feature of Summer Of British Film will be a series of documentaries called British Film Forever. It ties in with the rerelease of several British classics, including Goldfinger, The Dam Busters and the Scotland-set horror film The Wicker Man.

Park Circus is working closely on the Goldfinger rerelease with Eon, the James Bond production company.

Anne Bennett at Eon said: "Goldfinger was rereleased with From Russia With Love. And a lot of the films got shown in cinemas over Bond-themed weekends - but, as for a full-scale rerelease, I don't think anything has happened since the introduction of video."

She added that the early films had recently been remastered for DVD, and that the digital cinema release would use the same version to show Goldfinger to optimum effect on the big screen.

The 1964 favourite features two of Bond's most memorable adversaries in the form of criminal genius Auric Goldfinger and his mute Korean henchman Oddjob. Honor Blackman played Pussy Galore, Shirley Eaton was memorably suffocated in gold paint, and it featured an Aston Martin with the ejector seat and a hit theme song sung by Shirley Bassey.