With the resurrection of the Bond franchise following the atrocities heaped upon it by the last three Pierce Brosnan outings, it was only a matter of time before Hollywood turned its baleful gaze towards the life of creator Ian Fleming.
Writer John Orloff, who adapted Mariane Pearls’ memoir, A Mighty Heart, has been signed to draft the screenplay about the exciting life of Fleming, chronicling his rise from a privileged childhood, to his services in British intelligence during WWII, through to his enormous success as a novelist. He would almost singlehandedly transform the spy genre into something special with the publication of Casino Royale in 1953, and the introduction of James Bond.
Orloff is set to concentrate on the more colorful moments of Fleming’s life, presumably his service during the war. One such moment could be when Fleming devised a plan to use the craftings of occultist Aleister Crowley to ensnare Nazi Rudolf Hess. While his plan wasn’t used, it would be this kind of creative thinking that would serve him well during his literary career.
It’ll be interesting to see if this project becomes more refined as the development continues, because Fleming’s life was every bit as outrageous as that of his most famous character. There have been three previous attempts to tell the tale of his life:
Goldeneye: The Secret Life of Ian Fleming (1989), starring Charles Dance.
Spymaker: The Secret Life of Ian Fleming (1990), starring Jason Connery no less.
Ian Fleming: Bondmaker (2005), starring Ben Daniels.
As long as they don’t call this thing The Secret Life of Ian Fleming again, I look forward to following this as it progresses.