By Jason Apuzzo. USA Today features an interview today with novelist Jeffery Deaver, who is writing the new authorized James Bond novel, which will apparently be set in the present day. Here are some key details about the forthcoming novel revealed in the interview:
- It’s set in the present day – specifically, 2011.
- It follows a young James Bond, age 29 or 30, who is a young agent in the British secret service.
- The new Bond is an Afghan war vet.
- Bond will be fighting what Deaver calls “post-9/11 evil.”
- A young Moneypenny will put in an appearance.
- Bond will not smoke (?!), but martinis will make an appearance.
I’ve read all of Fleming’s Bond novels, and I’m not really convinced Deaver is the best choice for this assignment – but we’ll see how it all goes.
Bear in mind that all of this probably has very little to do with what will happen with the film franchise. There’s some internet chatter right now about how this may signal the end of Daniel Craig’s run as Bond – but I doubt that very much, as Craig’s films have done boffo business worldwide, and basically revived the Bond movie franchise. In any case, the 007 novel series – which continues on, with the authorization of the Fleming estate – and the MGM film series have existed in separate narrative universes for some time now.
[UPDATE: MGM is now saying that we can expect the next Bond film by November 2012.]
Posted on November 2nd, 2010 at 2:03pm.
Want to authentically reboot the James Bond franchise? Go back and do the Fleming novels as written. Start with “From Russia With Love”. No SPECTER complicating the plot – Bond against the real Stalinist SMERSH KGB. If Mad Men has been such a smash, why not the real James Bond in the real James Bond world?
OMG is that an incredible idea, K. Can you imagine how cool that would be? It gives me shivers …
FWIW, years ago on “Charlie Rose,” or someplace, Tarantino said he’d like to reboot the Bond franchise in period and as Fleming wrote them. I don’t mind present day, non-Fleming based stories for Bond; I just despise the “Bourne-ification” Bond. I think Broccoli and Co. would have a feel-good, but nail biting American and International hit on their hands if they were the antidote to Bourne. No sad sack, grungy, amnesiac “hero” who’s reluctantly breaking the necks of the good guys.
Agreed, and this is also an example of why I respect Tarantino, even if I’m not always crazy about whatever film he happens to be working on at the moment. He has a basic respect for the source material from which he works.
I’m extremely skeptical of this re-imagining of James Bond. I fear We’ll get the typical quasi conservative corrupt President and the Hollywood whipping boy, the nefarious CIA. If that’s the narrative then it’ll be the death knell, for the time being, of the James Bond character. Just like Superman Returns didn’t quite kill the Superman character this will not kill James Bond. James Bond as a franchise will never truly go away because simply it’s made too much money for Hollywood
All that may happen, but I’m not sure how many people actually read these novels anyway. One of the reasons for that is that nobody can really match Fleming’s style or vision.