61 replies to this topic

[Tarl_Cabot]

Just what we need...a Dawson's creek/Smallville/Harry Potter type of young Bond series...

[Athena007]

Does anyone remember "James Bond Jr."?  It was an abomination to the series.  It was almost like the cartoon version of X-Men except that the X-Men are comic book people and 007 is real. 

SurpriZingly enough though... "James Bond Jr." was what introduced me to 007 when I was a very very very little girl. I was indoctrinated at a young age. (side note: I liked the X-men cartoon and Bond Jr. but then again I was 5y/o - 13y/o)

...point being, these "Young James Bond" books may fail... but I guarantee you that at least one child will come into the Bond world via these books.

[Ry]

If I hear of any information of this my end I will be sure to let everyone know.

[zencat]

If I hear of any information of this my end I will be sure to let everyone know.

I've been thinking about you...

[Ry]

Believe me when I say it's been an interesting couple of weeks, especially this week. Argh! I'll be calling a few people today to see what's up with Miramax Books and the Young James Bond.

[zencat]

There's another way of looking at this news. IFP announced these books back in April and they are only now just getting a U.S. publisher. And, no offense, but while Miramax is a powerhouse producer of films, are Miramax Books considered a major publisher? Strange that their long-time partner Putnam seems to have passed on these. And is 6 figures really a good deal for two books? Doesn't sound like there was a bidding war. And they only bought 2 of 5 books planned...

All I'm saying is maybe this news tells us the 'Young Bond' concept is finding a cool reception from not just fans, but from the industry as well.

[rafterman]

wow, can't wait to read the new Harry Potter-er, I man young James Bond novels....sheeshh....I smell the end of adult James Bond and a new kiddie friendly version....sorry, but Bond's not about crazy experiments in Scottish mansions, Bond was losing his virginity when he was barely over thirteen, spending his time in Paris wit seedy types and getting kicked out of Eton, not playing Hogwarts....
Miramax will most likely end up with film rights, why secure rights to new Bond books when they haven't gotten any attention for a decade unless you expect them to be the next Potter....

[Qwerty]

I smell the end of adult James Bond and a new kiddie friendly version...

Sickening.

I would hope this would have no effect on the James Bond films. As the article says, film rights aren't there yet.

[Athena007]

It's possible that later when and if there are talks of making the Young James Bond books into movies that MGM might not want to do them (didn't they have some failed young spy movies?). And so then that would give the Flemings and EON the chance to team up with Miramax to make the films. But like I said... I hope this is a BIG IF.

[Qwerty]

It's possible that later when and if there are talks of making the Young James Bond books into movies that MGM might not want to do them (didn't they have some failed young spy movies?). And so then that would give the Flemings and EON the chance to team up with Miramax to make the films. But like I said... I hope this is a BIG IF.

Or they can just not make these movies at all, and save us another Cody Banks nightmare.

[Donovan]

My only question is where did CBN find the kid/gun picture? It looks like it came from a recruiting pamphlet for the N.R.A.

"The N.R.A....because you're never too young to exercise the second amendment..."

[Athena007]

LOL!!! Great "quote" there

The kid/gun picture... I made it

(maybe the attached picture could have worked too )

[Glor (009)]

At least that kid has the requisite "orange tip". Without that you're just asking the police to shoot you.

There were 3 "Spykids" movies you know and one of them in 3D.

I can't wait... Young James Bond in 3D and James Bond "The Ride" only at Disney-MGM Studios.

[[dark]]

Seems to me that quite a few people are missing:

"Film rights are not part of the deal between Miramax and Ian Fleming Publications, the company founded by Bond creator Ian Fleming and wholly owned by the Fleming family."

In other words, there will be no YJB films without Eon's say-so/involvement. Miramax can't just go off and make YJB films "off its own bat" now that it's bought the rights (another reminder, they're just the publishing rights).

Yes. I added this to the sub headline to make this clear. It's clear enough in the article, isn't it?

I've very proud of CBn's little scoop here (if you remember, we were also the first site to announce these books). We reported this news before the Ian Fleming Publications website. I was sort of hoping they'd give us a title, but alas... Interesting that they didn't mention the 5 book plan. I think they may have wanted to keep that quite.

Oh, yes, yes. Didn't overlook that at all.

My earlier question was because I was curious if there was any part of Eon's contract with IFP that would mean they get first preference for the character of James Bond in all his forms; toddler, middle-aged man, senile old coot. That sort of thing. Or if it's just the grown man 007 as Fleming wrote him.

I just find it all too interesting that the publisher who snapped up the US rights is also a rising film distributor.

[Donovan]

LOL!!! Great "quote" there

The kid/gun picture... I made it

(maybe the attached picture could have worked too )

Yes, I like the second pic as well. Here's my quote for it:

"Young James Bond, defiant as ever, makes his Aunt Charmian's life a living hell by shooting out her windows, painting graffiti on her building and getting his ear pierced."

Edited by Donovan, 25 June 2004 - 07:50 PM.

[zencat]

My only question is where did CBN find the kid/gun picture? It looks like it came from a recruiting pamphlet for the N.R.A.

"The N.R.A....because you're never too young to exercise the second amendment..."

LOL. That's exactly where she got it!

With cover art, it's been tough coming up with an icon image for our Young Bond stories. Athena come up with a good one here, although I also really like the one we used on Jim's hysterical piece: No Laughing Matter



The Walther P99...squirt gun.

[marktmurphy]

There's another way of looking at this news. IFP announced these books back in April and they are only now just getting a U.S. publisher. And, no offense, but while Miramax is a powerhouse producer of films, are Miramax Books considered a major publisher? Strange that their long-time partner Putnam seems to have passed on these. And is 6 figures really a good deal for two books? Doesn't sound like there was a bidding war. And they only bought 2 of 5 books planned...

All I'm saying is maybe this news tells us the 'Young Bond' concept is finding a cool reception from not just fans, but from the industry as well.

Damn sight hotter reception than any new Benson Bond books. Or any normal Bond series. At least the young Bond books exist and are getting published.

[Loomis]

Damn sight hotter reception than any new Benson Bond books. Or any normal Bond series.

Indeed. But the Higson books are, IMO, getting all this attention solely because of the novelty value of a child James Bond. If he'd been commissioned to write adventures featuring a grown-up 007, no one would care. Public interest in the continuation novels petered out with Gardner (and even the first continuation novel, "Colonel Sun", was hardly a smash). When the Bensons were being churned out, I didn't even know they existed, and I've always been a frequent visitor to bookshops as well as a Bond fan.

Joe Blow has never really given two hoots about Bond novels not written by Fleming. Flood the market with dozens of continuation novels by hired-gun authors kept on a very short creative leash, most of them hurriedly written, badly edited and poorly promoted, and it's no wonder that only the most hardcore of Bond fans are prepared to treat them as important works of lasting value.

[marktmurphy]

I can't disagree. That's perfectly right.
And in a way, it shows that a new angle on Bond, written by someone in the public eye is working to get the Bond novels noticed again. They're not setting the world on fire, but then you can't blame publishers for not wanting to go near such a dead franchise. That they are at all, and using the Bond brand to make their company sound good is a step in the right direction.

This isn't what the fans want- certainly I'm not that thrilled with the concept- but it may be enough to get publishers thinking about Bond again and with a bit of imagination. We may yet see Bond return thanks to the young Bond.
And besides, Higson is a decent writer (unlike others who have taken on the role before- how many movies of Benson's work have been made?) and the idea might just surprise everybody and work pleasantly well. I won't write it off until I have a flick through.

[Loomis]

By and large the continuation novels were awful, with Ian Fleming Publications (Glidrose) never anything more than half-hearted. To paraphrase something written in "The Bond Files", if the literary series were managed to the same standard of excellence as the film series, Bond fans would be in heaven, but that's not been the case since the 1960s. I love "Colonel Sun", and greatly enjoy a couple of the Gardners and Bensons, but I often wish the literary Bond had died with Fleming.

Of course, in the eyes of most non-Bond fans (in other words, most regular people), it did die with Fleming. Crikey, I've had people who couldn't name more than three Bond novel titles laughing at me when they caught me reading Benson, asking me why I was wasting my time on it and why I wasn't reading Fleming if I wanted to read Bond.

The continuation novels? No one cares. Young James Bond? Hmmm.... something new. Well, good luck to Higson. I doubt I'll read the forthcoming books, but I certainly won't wish failure on this new venture.

[Max Zorin]

On the plus side, if Miramax does decide to make films out of these novels, they'd probably let Tarantino direct them.

And yes, I AM serious!

[Glor (009)]

I'd have to agree with most of what you wrote Loomis except for one part, "it's no wonder that only the most hardcore of Bond fans are prepared to treat them as important works of lasting value."

Those must be some HARD CORE fans. I have every novel from Casino Royale to The Man With the Red Tattoo and even I don't consider anything past about the second Gardner Bond as being important. They are just momentary diversions and pieces of my collection.

If the "Young James Bond" novels aren't any good, I won't collect them as technically they are outside the scope of the Bond series and are a new series of their own.

[Qwerty]

On the plus side, if Miramax does decide to make films out of these novels, they'd probably let Tarantino direct them.

And yes, I AM serious!

That'd be just a tad odd.

[marktmurphy]

It would be a shame if Higson didn't get the chance to write some 'proper' Bond stuff- certainly from what I've heard about his novels he would be the best hope we've had for a long while. An internet review says:

Higson's writing was a big help. "King of the Ants" is written in a sober, sensible style, but with the occasional turn of phrase which almost makes you visualise a twinkle in the author's eye. The dialogues are true to life and written with the expertise one could expect of someone familiar with script-writing. There is humour too, of course, mostly of the black sort. The rather detached, ironic narrative makes all the horror bearable, just as Tarrantino's brilliant direction elevates his films above the raw violence they depict.....The story unfolds with the intelligence and cold brutality of a Tarantino movie. Only minus the guns. In Higson's London of builders and layabouts, murder doesn't come with the simplicity of a gunshot. People have to be bludgeoned to death with sash weights or crushed by fridge-freezers. If that doesn't put you off, then this is a novel for you.

I posted some other pertinent links here: http://debrief.comma...30 but I expect the dimwits will just keep wittering on about 'Dawson's Creek meets Bond' or whatever soundbite they think makes them sound clever without actually thinking about why the IFP feel they need to do this, or how it could be a beneficial turn for the series.

[Loomis]

I'd have to agree with most of what you wrote Loomis except for one part, "it's no wonder that only the most hardcore of Bond fans are prepared to treat them as important works of lasting value."

Those must be some HARD CORE fans. I have every novel from Casino Royale to The Man With the Red Tattoo and even I don't consider anything past about the second Gardner Bond as being important. They are just momentary diversions and pieces of my collection.

That's the way I look at the Gardners and Bensons, too (and I'd view Wood the same way, although I haven't read him). Actually, I don't even consider "For Special Services" to be "important" (although I like it). For me, the (and excuse the upcoming preciousness) Holy Heritage of the Literary James Bond begins with "Casino Royale" and ends with "Colonel Sun".

But there are those fans who consider all the Flemings and every last one of the contination novels as constituting a single huge series (rather like the 1962-2002 film series, I guess), in which each book has more or less equal value, with, say, "Never Send Flowers" and "The Facts of Death" every bit as worthy of serious discussion and repeated readings as, say, "Goldfinger" and "You Only Live Twice".

[Max Zorin]

On the plus side, if Miramax does decide to make films out of these novels, they'd probably let Tarantino direct them.

And yes, I AM serious! 

That'd be just a tad odd.

And just a tad inappropriate, I would think.

[Qwerty]

Possibly, considering.

[Agent 76]

can you imagine , young james bond meets young felix leiter (cody banks) in a disco?

[Qwerty]

How utterly pathetic.

[Agent 76]

How utterly pathetic.

you got it!