The rumors have been making the rounds for some time now. TheStar.com reports Bond producer Michael G. Wilson being his usual enigmatic self…
“I don’t know, The Hildebrand Rarity? What do you think?” Wilson said, chuckling. “If we can get away with Quantum of Solace, we can get away with anything.”
There’s only four titles of Ian Fleming tales that have yet to be used in the James Bond film series (all of them short stories) – The Hildebrand Rarity, Risico, The Property of a Lady, and 007 in New York. Do any of those sound particularly inspiring as a title for an action/adventure movie? Eh… in my opinion, not really. I could see Risico working as perhaps the title to a mission, much like a Thunderball, but the joke behind the title to that story is that foreigners don’t always pronounce English words correctly (‘Risico’ is meant to be a mispronounced ‘Risk’). I doubt the producers would want that origin floating about in this day and age, when you can get fired from a media job for breathing into a microphone incorrectly.
The Property of a Lady sounds a bit too Jane Austen for my tastes, but I could see it working in the Craig era despite the plot having already been plundered for the film version of Octopussy.
007 in New York is laughable though. Maybe it would work for a Conan or Asterix story (Asterix in Belgium, for example), but I’m sure the average movie-goer, who lives well outside the cocoon of Ian Fleming fandom, would be having a very healthy laugh over that particular title. It would have to be the greatest Bond movie EVER to redeem itself if the producers lost their minds and went with this title.
As for The Hildebrand Rarity… I certainly hope not. Quantum of Solace received a light ribbing from the media and dopey trolls like me on the Internet for being a bit of a daft title. Nothing sinister, but most of us have been rightly skeptical of the title (it’s never even mentioned in the film). And there are folks in the American media who can’t even pronounce the word ’solace’ correctly (they’re saying ’souluss’ for some reason). So can you imagine what the reaction would be to The Hildebrand Rarity? Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a great title for what it is, a short story written decades ago, but I could never see it working for the title of the next film in the series. Clearly the choice meats have been picked from the bone already as far as Fleming titles are concerned.
Or have they? Titles like GoldenEye and The World is Not Enough were derived from Fleming’s universe (the name of his home in Jamaica and James Bond’s family motto from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, respectively). There are a few Fleming chapter titles, characters, hell – even random sentences that could be shaped into a fitting title for a Bond flick. Here’s my personal shortlist:
- Shatterhand
- Valley of Shadows
- The Long Scream
- A Whisper of Love, A Whisper of Hate
Of those, ‘Shatterhand’ is my favorite. It’s the alias used by Blofeld in the novel You Only Live Twice, and a film under that title would be the perfect way to bring him back, perhaps working for this new organization Bond is up against. If they want Blofeld to stay dead it could be Mr. White’s alias. Or it could just be a completely new villain. Either way, it’s been far too long since we’ve had the name of the villain as the title of the film.
What of the other authors outside of Fleming who have written Bond novels? They have been constantly pushed aside since Kingsley Amis had his lone Bond adventure Colonel Sun published in 1968. I believe it mostly comes down to royalties. The filmmakers can more or less do what they want with the character of James Bond, so why pay another author (or his estate) for their story when they can liberally pluck elements from those stories for free? Possibly a touch shady, but it’s their character to begin with and has already happened a number of times before. For instance, the film version of A View to a Kill has many elements from John Gardner’s Role of Honor (the blimp, the crazy computer obsessed main villain, etc). Another good example is the ice palace in Die Another Day – ripped straight from the pages of Gardner’s Icebreaker. So long as they change the title, EON can lift whatever elements they desire from any of the continuation novels. If they did end up paying for an adaption, all they would really be paying for is the title. I doubt they would ever do this, considering they’d still have to pay their screenwriters on top of the royalty check.
However, that doesn’t stop me from wishing EON would spring for a Gardner or *shudder* a Benson title. Of all the Gardner books, I think the following titles would make great names for a Bond film…
- Role of Honor
- Scorpius
- Never Send Flowers
- Icebreaker
- Nobody Lives Forever
Now Raymond Benson… well, please don’t bother with any of his plots, but for titles alone I could possibly see…
- Never Dream of Dying
- Doubleshot
- The Facts of Death
I’m not sure if that ban on any derivative of ‘death’ or ‘die’ is still in effect though.
Even the recent effort from Sebastian Faulks, Devil May Care, has some big screen potential. And although I’m not really a fan of the Young Bond series (I don’t think I’m a fan of any ‘young INSERT CHARACTER HERE’ series), Charlie Higson has a couple of titles that could do the business as a film. Fair enough, Blood Fever sounds a bit too much like a horror film, but Hurricane Gold and By Royal Command have quite a ‘Bondian’ flavor if you ask me.
13 comments
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November 24, 2008 at 21:05
jadeddm
I don’t know, I’m still rather fond of the title, “Squeeze ‘em Deadly!”
November 26, 2008 at 15:54
Karl
Given they have gone to great lengths to re-establish the character/origins and now that DC’s version is a fully paid up agent with his licence, it seems to make sense to me to take ‘007 In New York’ as the jumping off point, shorten the title down to the obvious – ‘007′ – and get on with the next step, making Craig’s Goldfinger/Spy Who Loved Me moment.
That leaves three Fleming titles to go – all good, post-Quantum in my opinion.
Some of the Gardner’s, as you point out, are snappy titles. My own fave which you neglect to mention is ‘For Special Services’ which actually has a Fleming link (why Gardner used it) – I think it was an inscription on a gift to Fleming from the US after the war…
November 26, 2008 at 16:14
Matthew Conway
I’ve heard someone say this before… Personally, I think calling the movie just ‘007′ would be terrible. I’d rather have 007 in New York if it came down to a choice between the two. You may as well call it ‘James Bond’ if you’re going to go that route.
It’s not like a Superman or Spider-Man film where you can get away with just inserting the character name as the title of the feature. I think most Bond fans, and the general movie-going public, expect some kind of a proper title for each film in the series.
December 11, 2008 at 22:55
Danny K.
I feel It will be The Hildebrand Rarity. The Property of a lady is also cool and risico rocks.
January 11, 2009 at 19:14
R.K.
Personally, i would like most like to see Bond 23 be called the Hildebrand Rarity. Though Property of A Lady is acceptable but sounds to much like a romance film. Risisco is catchy but it just sounds like random letters put together.
February 8, 2009 at 20:52
Sam
I don’t know…I’m thinking Doubleshot sounds pretty cool. Bond’s not meant to be deep…its supposed to have a snazzy short little memorable title.
I think so, anyways.
April 15, 2009 at 20:00
Dean
Win Lose Or Die
May 13, 2009 at 09:06
Danny Gijzen
Ik vindt dat Bond 23 de titel {007 in New York} moet heten.
Bond 24 {RISICO}
Bond 25 {THE PROPERTY OF A LADY}
Bond 26 {THE HILDEBRAND RARITY}
August 10, 2009 at 03:08
aydan
i reakon the name for bond 23 should be nine lives is not enought close 2 the movie the world is not enought and it should start in africa
September 28, 2009 at 14:26
Dan
What about “Devil May Care”? They should do the movie based on the new Bond book.
November 15, 2009 at 15:04
Movie Lover
i think that the best f***ing name for the 23 bond would defenatly be (hurricane gold) because the actual bond story died when they didnt bring gadgets or sence of humor in casino royal or quantum of solace personaly i loved the name quantum of solace,but when i saw these movies for the first time i thought that their the best parts ever but you just got to f***ing admit that james bond isnt about blowing up stuff or shooting people with no murcy but its actualy about the aston martins and the gadgets and the walther ppk and vodka martini(shaken not stired)and the line (BOND JAMES BOND),so i think the only way you can show the people that james bond and q and money pny r back and that the real james bond is BACK is with a kick a#s#s name like (HURRICANE GOLD) (p.s you just got to addmit that daniel craig is deffenatly the best bond EVER other than offcourse(sean connery and rooger moore)
November 15, 2009 at 15:08
Movie Lover
and by the f***ing way hurricane gold is just kick a*s*s clasic bond viagra that just screams BOND IS BACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
November 15, 2009 at 15:21
Movie Lover
you know other than hurricane gold,(the hildebrand rarity and riscio)sound like awesome BONDISH Namessss and (the property of a lady)is even more awesome,while f***ed up names like 007 in new york sound like f***ed up marvel names i mean common you mite as well call it bond gets f***ed in the head i mean the intire meaning or story of bond going to new york is awesome but the name is f***ed the f*** up.