22 replies to this topic

[Mr Twilight]

Even if it would never happend, is there any non-Bond book that you think would be great to make a Bond movie of. I believe some of the Cussler's Dirk Pitt books have potential.

[RazorBlade]

I would go with a non-fiction spy story. Even from ancient times. There were some instances where attackers sent swimmers into a walled city through the water supply. Very bondian even if it happened like 3000 years ago.

[Vauxhall]

Even if it would never happend, is there any non-Bond book that you think would be great to make a Bond movie of. I believe some of the Cussler's Dirk Pitt books have potential.

What exactly do you mean by "a Bond movie of a non-Bond book"? Do you mean a generic spy/action movie? In which case, I'd like to see more of John Le Carre's work put on the big screen and delivered to a wider audience. If shot well, it could come across very stylishly.

[Mr Twilight]

What exactly do you mean by "a Bond movie of a non-Bond book"?

For example, simply take a...Dirk Pitt book, re-write the role of Pitt as Bond and make it a Bond movie...Of course you have to make some adjustments in the character.

[Vauxhall]

What exactly do you mean by "a Bond movie of a non-Bond book"?

For example, simply take a...Dirk Pitt book, re-write the role of Pitt as Bond and make it a Bond movie...Of course you have to make some adjustments in the character.

Ah okay, thank you for explaining that to me. I will now take some time for further thought!!

[OmarB]

No, emphatically no. Why with a wealth of Bond stories in the novels, comics, etc would they go out of their way to steal another's story and plop Bond down in the middle of it. Ya know, Paul Haggis and Faulk wouldnt be too happy about it either.

But hey, if I must suggest a non-Bond book how about "Flowers For Algernon." Have Bond be the retard named Charlie who's in love with his rat.

Edited by OmarB, 31 August 2007 - 03:59 PM.

[Mister Asterix]

I was thinking over the weekend that The Day of the Jackal could be interesting with Bond added to it.

[Trident]

Many of Eric Ambler's works to me would seem perfect for an appearence of Bond. In particular 'Uncommon Danger' and 'Epitaph For A Spy'. I just don't think they'd necessarily make good movies today. Still I'd like to see something in that vein someday.

A thriller that might make a bondian concept for a movie would be 'Kolymsky Heights' by Lionel Davidson. It tells the story of the penetration of an ultra-secret Russian research station in the Siberian permafrost.

[Kilroy6644]

Maybe a rework of Alistair MacLean's Where Eagles Dare. Better suited for Brosnan, perhaps.

[yolt13]

I've pondered this idea before, and I think it has potential. While I'd prefer to see the Amis, Gardner, and Benson novels loosely adapted to screen, I don't see any reason why other spy novels which, on their own, aren't likely to be optioned for the screen converted to 007 stories. What sent me down that path in the first place was actually DIE HARD. The first DIE HARD was based on a Roderick Thorp novel which was actually a sequel to another book, neither featuring a New York cop named John McClane. The McClane character and many of the details of the DIE HARD were created by the filmmakers. For DIE HARD 2, the filmmakers turned to a completely unrelated novel by Walter Wager called 58 MINUTES. Whatever the result there may have been, the concept of adapting a good action story for another character is a sound one.

How about some of Edward S. Aarons' Sam Durell/ASSIGNMENT books? That character has never been a film property and the novels, though hard-edged and quite good, are relatively obscure. I can see several of them tweaked and fleshed out for Bond - especially the post-CASINO ROYALE 007.

[spynovelfan]

I think they might have already done it.

[Jericho_One]

I was thinking over the weekend that The Day of the Jackal could be interesting with Bond added to it.

Yes, I can see it.

[pgram]

Could you please write a few words about the books you propose, for those of us who haven't read them, and don't have the time to search for them?

I have already posted it before, but I think that Robert van Gulik's Judge Dee book series has potential. It is a series of detective books, taking place in ancient china. The stories are more like Agatha Christie/Conan Doyle style, but, with the correct adaptation for a potential film, and the addition of imaginative action sequences, they could provide the basis for good Bond films. What make them suitable is the treatment of characters and the depiction of different casts of society in a way that reminds me of the early Bond films.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judge_Dee

Especially, The Chinese Lake Murders. There has been a lot of demand of the fans for years for a reappearance of SPECTRE. In this book, there is an organisation resurrection, the way a potential resurrection of SPECTRE might occur (mind you, I, personally, am against the idea of a reappearance of SPECTRE. Still the story has potential and the organisation in discussion could be completely irrelevant). This book is the most action driven and suspenceful. It consists of three intertwined cases. If they could get rid of the one of them, the other two could make an excellent film, Bond or not.

http://en.wikipedia....se_Lake_Murders

[triviachamp]

Brokeback Mountain

[OmarB]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the concept. Sure it worked for Die Hard but that's because it was a new series and not established. I would hate to see them leaving the great material provided by the post Fleming authors rather than putting some work into them to make them viable as films.

[Mister Asterix]

I was thinking over the weekend that The Day of the Jackal could be interesting with Bond added to it.

Yes, I can see it.

Oddly, I can't. Which role would Bond take? He couldn't be the assasin for obvious reasons, and the only other leading role would be an investigative one. Fantastic book, but can't see it as a Bond movie.

Now, Million Dollar Brain perhaps?

[mra]That

[Trident]

Maybe a bit wide off the mark, as it's most unlikely that it will ever
be made into a film, much less a Bond flick: SS-GB by Len Deighton.


SS-GB is an alternative-history novel by Len Deighton, set in a United Kingdom fictionally conquered and occupied by Germany during World War II. The novel's name, SS-GB, refers to the branch of the Nazi SS that controls Britain, the SS-Great Britain branch.

For more see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS-GB

It's not really what the topic of this thread calls for. Still, I can't help but wonder where Bond might come into play in this plot. I think a raid on the Tower of London to free the King would just be what Bond might be involved with as a former Commando.

[spynovelfan]

I can think of hundreds that this could be done with. The first that springs to mind is Jack Higgins' early novels, particularly his series about a British secret agent called Paul Chavasse. Originally published under the pseudonym Martin Fallon, a few of them republished recently. THE KEYS OF HELL, A FINE NIGHT FOR DYING and MIDNIGHT NEVER COMES - all written in the 60s - could all work well. Here's the blurb from the latter:

'Paul Chavasse had everything a good agent needed. Flair, ingenuity, a superb intelligence, common sense - plus a willingness to kill. Now he was part of the walking wounded. So badly hurt on his last mission the figured he was through. But Chavasse was far from through. A few months of special training and he was ready to take one on the most dangerous men in the world. Max Donner. A millionaire with his own private army and a plan for stealing Britain's newest secret missile. Paul was ready for Max Donner. But he was not ready for Donner's beautiful young stepdaughter, Asta.'

More info here: http://www.scintilla...s/gert/higgins/

There are loads and loads of books that this could be done with - you wouldn't even need to adapt the whole book, but just take a concept or a key scene.

[Mr Twilight]

[quote]QUOTE(Mister Asterix @ 31 August 2007 - 18:27)
I was thinking over the weekend that The Day of the Jackal could be interesting with Bond added to it.


That

[OmarB]

Ian Fleming's
James Bond
in
The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants

[coco1997]

Well if Bond's involved the pants would indeed be traveling...away from the women's bodies.

[RazorBlade]

Ian Fleming's
James Bond
in
The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants

James Bond in chick flick. Oddly I too can see how that would work. Of course I am yet to take my psychiatric medication for today.

[007Bond]

Some of Malko LInge's adventures have a potential for myself.

http://www.sasmalko.com/