24 replies to this topic

[B5Erik]

Win, Lose, Or Die.

GREAT title for a Bond film.

I haven't read Gardner's book yet, although I've read his first 4 Bond novels, and I honestly think that For Special Services would make one hell of a good movie.

With all the criticism Eon has gotten over the last few movies, why not option one of Gardner's books and adapt it to the big screen? Eon does have the first right to option one (or all) of the Gardner's books.

And what if someone else, like Kevin McClory decided to option one of Gardner's books? What happens then? I'm assuming that there is something preventing a rival studio from starting their own Bond franchise by simply optioning Gardners books. But if Eon doesn't excercise their first rights to the books, aren't they fair game on the open market?

The titles for Gardner's books are fantastic, and so far (4 books in) Gardner's books are really good. It just seems like Eon is missing the boat.

[B5Erik]

Have you tried looking it up? I would, but I have no idea where to look.

As desperate as Fleming may have been, he couldn't have been stupid enough to sell the rights to all his current books AND any future books away for 50+ years!

That would be the Mother Of All Bad Deals....

Let us know if you do find something.

[B5Erik]

That contract has to expire someday - it can't go on in perpetuity.

Anyone know when it is set to expire? I can't see Glidrose renewing it since Eon/MGM haven't used any of the books or excercised their options. Glidrose has gotten the short end of the stick for years.

I'd love to see some of those stories adapted to the big screen, and I'm sure that Glidrose would as well.

[Blue Eyes]

Well from what I've read Ian Fleming was fairly desperate to get the books turned into film. So he may have signed a very long contract without realising just how far Bond would go, or that anyone else would ever write a Bond novel. Hence, a long contract with Glidrose!!

Congrats to the Bond 20 Forum, this very post if the 1000th Message in the Bond 20 Forums!

[B5Erik]

I find it hard to believe that Glidrose would sign away the film rights to all the present and future Bond books for that long.

The rights have to be up sooner than that.

[zencat]

But, you know, when you sell something; a script, a book, a car...it's SOLD. The buyer owns it until they decide to sell it to someone else. I think Broccoli BOUGHT the cinematic rights to James Bond. Period. It wasn't an option, it was a sale. He owns Bond until, like I said, the copyright runs out.

Anyway, I just dug out a book called "UNITED ARTISTS: The Company That Changed the Film Industry" which has a whole chapter on the Bond deal. I'll let you know what I find out.

[B5Erik]

Now that mentioned "published novels," but how is that defined? Novels published up to that point? Or any and all novels published with that character in perpetuity?

I'm sure Glidrose would like to be able to sell the rights to the post-Fleming novels. Eon/MGM/UA has the rights in perpetuity to the Fleming books because those were films that they actually made, but how can they keep rights to novels that they HAVEN'T optioned or made films of?

This certainly is an interesting deal either way. And it sure looks like a bad one on Fleming's part either way.

[Blue Eyes]

2053. Wow I'm hoping to still be kicking to see what happens then! Very interesting.

I would love to get my hands on the original contracts they all signed back then in never never land.

[B5Erik]

If it IS 2015 then that would explain why Kevin McClory has fought so hard in the courts. He may not be around in 2015 (how old is he anyway? 65? 70?), and even if he is he won't be up to producing a Bond film.

Someone is going to get those rights - and it probably WON'T be MGM (unless they pay a ton of money AND agree to adapt at least one of the Gardner or Benson books).

My guess is that we will see a rival Bond franchise at that time. That could be very interesting. Wonder if Eon's franchise will survive the Bond overexposure? I hope so, but I'd also like to see what someone could do with the post-Fleming books.

If each production company kept it to one Bond film every three years then they might each survive. Maybe.

But even if interest wanes due to overexposure one or both of them will start it up again 8 or 10 years later when demand builds back up. Look at what a long break did for Goldeneye at the box office!

It is DEFINITELY going to be interesting when MGM/Eon's rights to those books expire.

[zencat]

B5Erik (01 Jul, 2001 09:02 a.m.):
But the film rights?  You buy the film rights for a limited time, and then the rights revert back to the owner of the copyright for the written work.  Usually a book is optioned for just a few years - 2 or 3. A friend of my dad's is a VERY well respected science fiction novelist (Vernor Vinge) and he's had one or two of his books optioned.  Nothing came to pass within the three year option period, and the rights reverted back to him.

But there's a difference between and "option" and a "purchase." Yes, an "option" reverts back to you after a period of time. But a purchase is a purchase. The only way to get it back is to buy it back. I've had experience with both. I optioned a script to MGM which never got made. After a couple of years, the rights came back to me. But I sold a script to ABC (which never got). That script is gone. It's theirs. It will never come back to me.

I believe Fleming sold the Bond books and film rights to Eon. He didn't option them.

[Blue Eyes]

Gosh does that bring back memories. I've read an article about that somewhere. Now I'm trying to remember what it was all about.

I've just done a quick search for the article and I can't find it.

But it was something along those lines. What will happen when the contract expires, the books will be on the free market. For some reason I'm getting the date 2015 or around then in my head. Perhaps that's what I read. Damn, I wish I'd saved the article!!

[Blue Eyes]

Well if you're interested in writing to them B5Erik just e-mail [email protected] and we'll try and organise something. We could also try contacting Glidrose about it!

[db-4]

By the way, I remember reading, along the path of all that most recent Kevin McClory litigation, that the producers had acquired the film rights to Casino Royale. Considering the story is very period-related, and since the producers seem disinclined to just waste the title on one of those "new" stories of theirs w/a Fleming title or phrase, this raised the interesting idea of a retro-Bond, set in the novel's time. With the right actors, it would be interesting. Two possibilities: do it ENTIRELY in its own time, with the absolutely correct music of the day, clothes, language, etc. Other: as with A KNIGHT'S TALE: an impossible mix of today, recent and the original's time. For A KNIGHT'S TALE, it worked fabulously well. For CASINO ROYALE, the "straight" approach intriques.

[zencat]

I would think MGM/Eon would have first refusal on the rights maybe even at an already determined price. Seems like Broccoli negotiated a heck of a contract, I would be surprised if this pretty standard clause didn't apply.

I wouldn't be looking at anything to change until the 100 year copyright on the character runs out in 2053.

[Blue Eyes]

Another rival Bond series. If they all timed their own merchandise correctly I think overall the whoel thing wouldn't be affected. But Glidrose I think will push a very hard bargain. They have literally millions of unworked dollars just sitting there.

[Blue Eyes]

I sat down last night and tried to recall the article that I read.

All that I could remember bar what I have mentioned is EON will be desperate to renew the copyright. Which I think it along the lines of what ZenCat is hinting at with 2053.

Perhaps that is someway of renewing that copyright? A book can surely be copyrighted cant it? Especially with reprints?

[zencat]

Now, as far as copyright goes, I'm assuming what happened with Sherlock Holmes in 1988 will happen with James Bond in 2053. In 1988 there was a big stink because that was the 100-year anniversary of the publication of the first Holmes story, A STUDY IN SCARLET. According to copyright law, after 100 years, a fictional character becomes "public domain" and ANYBODY could use that character in any way they want. The Conan Doyle estate was freaking out, but there was nothing they could do. Now anyone can write a Sherlock Holmes story or make a film, and they do!

[zencat]

B5Erik (23 Jun, 2001 04:40 p.m.):
And what if someone else, like Kevin McClory decided to option one of Gardner's books?

My understanding is this can't happen. Eon can adapt them if they choose, but nobody else.

[B5Erik]

Yes, book copyrights can be renewed up to 100 years (if memory serves). It has to be renewed a couple of times, if I remember right, to take it to the full 100 years.

If the owner of the copyright fails to renew those rights then the work becomes public domain.

I'm not sure how this ties in to the film rights. Glidrose OWNS the rights to the novels, and EON/MGM owns the film rights to the stories they have used. The film rights are not the same thing as a copyright on the books - that will be owned by Glidrose until 2053 (for Casino Royale).

But the film rights? You buy the film rights for a limited time, and then the rights revert back to the owner of the copyright for the written work. Usually a book is optioned for just a few years - 2 or 3.

A friend of my dad's is a VERY well respected science fiction novelist (Vernor Vinge) and he's had one or two of his books optioned. Nothing came to pass within the three year option period, and the rights reverted back to him.

Had the film actually been made then the company that made the film would have owned the film rights to THAT story for X number of years.

It's fairly complicated, which is why I can't believe that Eon/MGM will indefinitely own the film rights to books (Gardner's and Benson's) that they haven't even exercised the options on!

They have to make a film within a certain amount of time or the rights revert back to Glidrose - I'm pretty sure of that.

I really wish that one of us knew someone in the legal department at Eon or MGM to clear this up. I'm really interested in who owns what, under what conditions, and for how long.

[Blue Eyes]

McClory cannot option any Bond novels as the rights are owned by Glidrose which has a contract with MGM/EON.

[zencat]

I think a straight period CASINO would be terrific -- but I think EON should do it as a BBC movie so as not to confuse it with the films. Imagine if they cast Timothy Dalton?

[zencat]

Okay, this is from "UNITED ARTISTS: The Company That Changed the Film Industry" by Tino Balio (1987)

As to the original deal w/ Fleming:

"Fleming granted Saltzman exclusive motion picture rights to all the published James Bond novels, save his first, Casino Royale (which had been sold to actor-director Gregory Ratoff in 1955 for $6,000), in return for $1000 per book and 2 1/2 percent of the net profits from each film. From the start, the deal clearly contemplated a series. Saltzman was required to option a new book for a motion picture every eighteen months; otherwise the rights to the novels would revert to Fleming. Should the series succeed and consume all the published novels, Saltzman was also granted the motion picture rights to the character of James Bond, thereby enabling him to produce "original" Bond movies."

As to the original deal w/ UA:

"UA agreed to put up complete financing for the picture(s) and pay Broccoli and Saltzman a producer's fee of $80,000, plus an overhead allowance of $24,000, plus a personal expense allowance of $700 per week during preproduction and principle photography. ... After Fleming received his 2 1/2 percent profits off the top, UA and the producer divided the profits fifty-fifty. ... Originally UA secured exclusive distribution rights to each picture for a period of ten years, but as the relationship progressed, UA acquired the rights in perpetuity." (That means, forever. -JC)

It's also interesting to note that UA was grated the right to choose the first 4 books to be filmed. After that, Broccoli/Saltzamn could choose, but UA had the right refuse finance if they didn't like the choice. Also, if Broccoli/Saltzman defaulted on their promise to option a book every 18 months, UA could assign it to another producer.

[Blue Eyes]

That's a fantastic idea. Sell it to TV Stations around the world and have them all play it in the off year (2003 or 2004) where Brosnan will do no Bond films! Ace

[WhitePersian]

This certainly is an interesting deal either way. And it sure looks like a bad one on Fleming's part either way.[/quote]

Sure it does, but only in retrospect. NOBODY, not Fleming or Eon or UA, anticipated the phenomenal success of the Bond films.

There has been no other film series of such persistent profitability and popular success and longevity- not Star Wars or Star Trek or Indiana Jones.

I'm sure Fleming expected a handful of popular movies at the most, not a cinematic phenomenon lasting decades.

[Jacques Nexus]

Blue Eyes (15 Aug, 2001 12:16 a.m.):
That's a fantastic idea. Sell it to TV Stations around the world and have them all play it in the off year (2003 or 2004) where Brosnan will do no Bond films! Ace

Would love to see it...however EON would never do anything that would detract attention from PIERCE BROSNAN AS 007. The focus is always on the current actor playing 007.