Tabloid claims BOND 25 based on NEVER DREAM OF DYING

UK tabloid the Mirror has a splashy report that the next James Bond film will be based on Raymond Benson's 2001 continuation novel Never Dream of Dying.

James Bond will travel to Croatia in the 25th instalment of the 007 franchise. The film has the working title Shatterhand and the plot sees Daniel Craig’s spy battle a blind supervillain.

It is based on the 1999 [sic] thriller Never Dream Of Dying by US author Raymond Benson, who also wrote Bond books Tomorrow Never Dies, Die Another Day and The World is Not Enough. 

The novel opens with a police raid on a French movie studio that goes badly wrong, while an actress with a sordid past leads Bond to his final target.

Before you get too excited, remember that in July 2013 the Sun reported that Bond 24 would be based on Sebastian Faulks 2008 continuation novel Devil May Care. That movie became SPECTRE. So I wouldn't go "Banco" on this news.

About the only thing I could see coming to pass is the use of the title Shatterhand. This, of course, is Blofeld's cover name in Ian Fleming's You Only Live Twice. If Daniel Craig returns (which has not yet been officially confirmed), I could see a continuation of the SPECTRE storyline in which Bond has his final battle with Blofeld a.k.a. Shatterhand in Japan. And it's a great title.

But what about the use continuation novels, Benson or otherwise? While elements from the continuation novels have appeared several times [read: Déjá vu, Mr. Bond], SPECTRE was the first Bond film to finally credit use of a continuation novel element, namely the torture scene from Colonel Sun. So it looks like continuation novels are now in the mix. And Never Dream of Dying, which finds Bond in the world of the movie business, is a terrific book.

Never Dream of Dying U.S. and UK first editions.

At the moment, the only official news about the next James Bond film is that it will be written by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade and will be released in the U.S. on November 8, 2019.

UPDATE: Raymond Benson has posted the following to his Facebook:

Does SOLO contain clues to a YOUNG BOND SERIES 2?

For a while we've been getting hints of a possible Young Bond series 2 penned by a new author rather than Charlie Higson. We know that this new series would be set in Fettes in Edinburgh where James Bond attended school after being expelled from Eton for his "trouble with a maid" (dramatized in Higson's final Young Bond novel, By Royal Command). Now is there a clue to this new series embedded in the pages of William Boyd's new James Bond novel, Solo?

On pages 214-217, Bond has chance meeting in Washington D.C.'s Dulles airport with an old friend from Fettes named Turnbull "Bloater" McHarg (the chapter is actually titled "Bloater"). The four-page passage, which only relates to the plot in minor way, is curiously detailed and includes the names of Bond's friends and fellow Judo Club members at Fettes:

He winked. "Do you ever see anything of the old crowd? Bowen major, Cromarty, Simpson, MacGregor-Smith, Martens, Tweedie, Mostyn, and whatsisname, you know, the earl's son, Lord David White of--"

"No," Bond interrupted, flatly, keen to stem the flood of forgotten names. "I haven't seen anybody at all. Not one. Ever."

Could this be a deliberate seeding of a new Fettes-set Young Bond series? Could Boyd have already read the manuscript for the first book? Recall that in Devil May Care Sebastian Faulks included a deliberate nod to the Young Bond novel, Double or Die.

It might make sense that after three adult Bond novels -- this last one returning 007 to the Fleming timeline -- IFP might see fit to resurrect the bestselling Young Bond series.

Always fun to speculate.

Click here to read my five part series on The Secret History of Young James Bond.

Solo is available now in the UK from Jonathan Cape (Amazon.co.uk). The U.S. edition from Harper will be released on Tuesday (Amazon.com).

UPDATE: Official: Young Bond returns in 2014.

Next Bond film is NOT based on DEVIL MAY CARE

Over the weekend The Sun ran an article by Showbiz Editor Gordon Smart claiming that the next James Bond film, Bond 24, will be based on Sebastian Faulks' 2008 continuation novel, Devil May Care.

"Bizarre can reveal the follow-up to Skyfall will be Devil May Care. Brit SEBASTIAN FAULKS penned the novel of the same name in 2008 to mark the 100th anniversary of Bond creator Fleming’s birth. The book is set in 1967 and was a sequel to The Man With The Golden Gun — which was ROGER MOORE’s second outing for MI6. The story sees Bond battling an evil chemist called Dr Julius Gorner, who plots to bring Britain to its knees."

While it isn't IFP's policy to respond to rumors, I can confirm for you that this "scoop" by The Sun is complete and utter rubbish. Bond 24 is NOT based on Devil May Care.

The good news is Sam Mendes will return to direct the next 007 adventure from a script by John Logan. That's the creative team responsible for last year's amazing Skyfall. Daniel Craig will, of course, return as James Bond.

Bond 24 will be released on October 23, 2015 in the UK and November 6th, 2015 in the U.S.

UPDATE: Happy to see my little post here has been picked up by Filmoria with a nice credit.

Ralph Fiennes: "I like the books even more than the films."

IFC.com has an exclusive interview with Ralph Fiennes who was not part of the official Skyfall press conference yesterday. As you can see from the quote above, he's a fan of the book Bond, just like us. But the real mystery is who does he play in Skyfall? A man with a cat, perhaps? (That's the hot rumor.) Click the headline to have a read at IFC.com.

Is SKYFALL taking a page from SILVERFIN?

Seems like every time we get a bit of information about the next James Bond film, it sounds like sometime out of one of the continuation novels (at least to my obsessed mind).

First we heard that the film might feature South Africa and an action sequence involving freight trains (Carte Blanche), then we got the rumored title Skyfall (Cold Fall), now the BBC reports that the explosive climax of the film will take place at Duntrune Castle in Scotland.

Of course, the climax of Charlie Higson's first Young Bond novel SilverFin was also set in a Scottish Castle. Heck, Duntrune even looks like Castle SilverFin from various SilverFin cover art. I guess we could also point to License Renewed, which features a Scottish Castle as a major location, but not in the book's climax.

There is a rich history of ideas from the continuation novels mysteriously finding their way into the Bond films (Colonel Moon anyone?). I took a look at the similarities in an article on CommanderBond.net a few years back. Think maybe it's time I published an updated version here on The Book Bond.

Castle SilverFin...or SkyFall?

Is BOND 23 called SKYFALL?

Whatculture.com has discovered that Sony Pictures has just registered a dozen URLS "which suggest they are planning something around the term 'Skyfall' and James Bond."

Does this mean Skyfall is the title of Bond 23? If you recall, the title Quantum of Solace was discovered a day before the official announcement via this same domain name search.

Of course, here at The Book Bond, when I hear the title Skyfall I can't help but think of Cold Fall, the U.S. title of John Gardner's last original James Bond novel (right).

Hey, at least it's one word.

Thanks to 'Shrublands' at the CommanderBond.net forums for the tip-off.

Wiki update says Lee Child will be 2012 Bond author

It looks like the speculation on who's going to write the next Bond novel officially kicks off today with an errant update on Wikipedia that says Lee Child will be the next author to pick up the 007 pen.

An eagle-eyed fan on the CBn forums spotted this addition to the Jack Reacher Wiki page:

"The schedule for the Reacher series - previously one-per-year - was stepped up with 61 HOURS/WORTH DYING FOR both released in 2010. This was done in order to make room for Child penning the next James Bond novel for Ian Fleming Publications in 2012."

Cool news if true, but let's not get too excited. Doing a little digging reveals this update was added on June 19 by an anonymous user who sourced the Ian Fleming Publications website which, of course, says nothing about this. No new author or book has yet to be announced.

So while we should probably discount this one (for now), Child would be a terrific choice, and IFP has shown interest in him in the past. Child was one of the authors approached for the Centenary novel in 2008 (read why he turned it down here).

Thanks to Peaceful and Jay Tee for the tip.

Daniel Radcliffe YOUNG BOND rumors resurrected

Movie news site JoBlo.com is resurrecting rumors that Daniel Radcliffe may play Young Bond in a new series of movies based on the bestselling Charlie Higson novels. The website cites a source they call “Average Kadavra”, who claims, “there's interest in the wand-waving thespian once again for the part...and the Radcliffe camp is in fact considering it.”

Bond fans shouldn’t get too excited (or upset) at the idea of Harry Potter morphing into Higson’s Bond. These Radcliffe rumors first got play back in 2005, but IFP and Charlie Higson have stated again and again that even though they’ve had offers, there are currently NO plans for a Young Bond series of films. As recently as last week Charlie reiterated this on the Jonathan Ross radio show and in an interview for CBBC Newsround. The plan is to establish Young Bond as a literary franchise before the idea of films are explored.

Besides, even if plans for a Young Bond series of films were underway, Radcliffe, who is now 18, is certainly too old for the part. The five Young Bond novels cover James’ life from age 13 to 14. In this regard, these Radcliffe rumors are as unlikely as the wave of Orlando Bloom as Young Bond rumors that hit the media with the release of SilverFin.

Still, it is nice publicity for the books, especially here in the states, but well-informed Young Bondites can feel comfortable in shrugging off all reports of Daniel Radcliffe as Young Bond.