There's many OFFICIAL continuation novels, following James Bond in new adventures, and none of them has been used in the films.
Why ? Don't you think it would be great to see these new adventures ? And I might add that it would allow EON production to use beautiful titles such as "Devil may care", "Death is forever", "The man from Barbarossa" or "Zero minus ten".
Because then it wouldn't be Ian Fleming's James bond as the titles tell us.
shareYes of course it would still be "Ian Fleming's James Bond", just as with The world is not enough, quantum of solace, skyfall or die another day...
shareDoesn't the title say "as Ian Flemings James Bond 007"?
shareDoesn't the title say "as Ian Flemings James Bond 007"?
I'm afraid that isn't true. Eon only have the rights to Flemings novels and they can make up original stories so they can say "as Ian Flemings James Bond" the John Gardner books are John Gardners James Bond and that opens a whole can of worms and that's why Eon have never gone there.
shareI already explained why you were wrong about it. Stop insisting on your mistake !
Ian Fleming IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE the creator of the James Bond character. No matter if a movie is made based upon a James Bond book from you or me, or even written by my aunt...it ALWAYS WILL BE "Ian Fleming's James Bond"....
You understand now ? It's STILL Ian Fleming's creation...his invention, his character...so it always will be Ian Fleming's James Bond and nothin else...
Just like Hamlet will ALWAYS be William Shakespeare's Hamlet...even if my first cousin makes an adaptation of it.
Stop fighting facts, please. This is just boring to explain twice.
Calm down. Unlike Shakespeare who is public domain James Bond isn't. For EON to adapt the John Gardner books they would have to negotiate with Gildrose who are the copyright holders of Bond in the world of literature. By referring to BOND as Ian Flemings it protects the film makers. If someone else WAS to make the Gardner Bonds there would be copyright infringement if the producers tried to use any back story, Characters or Mannerisms that related to the Fleming Bond then they would be in trouble and if EON use any aspects of Gardners Bond (who is different from Flemings) that would open up a whole can of worms, that's why EON have never adapted the books from any other author as it would bring problems over who owns the Character.
It's worth noting that Gardner did adapt many of the Bond Films into Books.
Oh my god...can please somebody take over and explain to him ?
We all know about the rights EON would have to pay to Gardner if they would adapt a novel from him.
What I'm tellin' U is that in fiction work (stages, shows, books, films, etc...),a character created by someone will always be "someone's character"...no matter if the movie is based on a continuation work by somebody else.
Never mind. I give up.
If someone is brave enough to start again from the start, it's all up to you guys !!! ;-)
Okay let me swing this round.
JK Rowling dies and the publisher asks you to continue the Harry Potter novels.
Even though you're writing about Harry Potter it's no longer JK Rowling's Harry Potter.
Now the publisher is fine with this and then Sony ask for the rights to make them into films. If they did they would then be infringing on the rights of Warner Brothers as they have the screen rights to the Characters.
Now lets say EON use one of Gardners books. Several used Spectre in them which EON couldn't use as that screening organization belonged to Kevin McClory but the publishers can use it.
And what if someone came out of the woodwork claiming that they helped or contributed to the work of Gardner or any of the other five or six writers on the novels it would mean that that person if they could prove they're claim could be awarded certain rights to the novel and then they would have certain rights to the James Bond character.
Remember, Ian Fleming wrote Thunderball but he had help from Kevin McClory who successfully sued and got given the rights to BOND to make his own film.
EON fought with McClory for 30 years and they don't want any other human being claiming they have a right to Bond.
That's why they say Ian Flemings James Bond so they can never ever be sued.
It doesn't matter how close the authors stick to the Character of Bond it's their Bond and not Flemings.
That's why they put in big letters IAN FLEMINGS JAMES BOND.
The whole point is there's a legal issue and EON have publically stated they will never go near any of the books.
Why didn't they do COLONEL SUN by Kingsley Amis in 1967? For exactly the same reason.
JK Rowling dies and the publisher asks you to continue the Harry Potter novels.
Even though you're writing about Harry Potter it's no longer JK Rowling's Harry Potter
You asked the question.
shareComing back to your question, it seems Danjaq/EON holds the right to produce James Bond films and the rights to use the Ian Fleming stories, but not the rights to those continuation novels by other authors. If they wanted to adapt those continuation novels, either the Gardner novels or more recent ones, they would have to purchase the rights from the Ian Fleming estate. In the same way, the current owners of the Ian Fleming estate could produce movies based on those continuation novels, but they couldn't include James Bond in them, unless they purchased the right from Danjaq/EON (which is not going to happen, since EON obviously would never agree).
So it seems that in practice the only way those continuation novels would be adapted is if EON purchased the rights. As you say, some of those novels have cool titles, but I'm not sure how good the stories are, or how outdated regarding the sociopolitical situation of the world. Perhaps EON prefers to come up with their own plots, and not have to pay for the rights of those novels, particularly considering that it's not that hard to come up with James Bond plots (just add megalomaniac villains, clever gadgets, glamorous women, picturesque settings, car chases, gun fights, hand-to-hand fights and so on).
Must be possible to purchase the rights. They should have filmed the Bond books in the order.they were written and how they were written I appreciate the difficulties with The Spy Who Loved Me.
share