The Next James Bond is ... James McAvoy. Sort Of.
By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (69)
Update: According to an interview that Collider did with James McAvoy, he is not actually attached to the below Ian Fleming project. Apparently, he read the script, but that’s as far as it got. He never even spoke with the producers.
Palmstar Entertainment and Animus Films are developing a biopic based on the life of Ian Fleming, according to our source, The Hollywood Cog. Currently working under the title, Ian Fleming, the movie will be about the man behind James Bond, specifically focused on the years that gave him inspiration for the Bond character.
Years before creating Bond, Fleming struggled and floundered under the shadow of his family name (his father was a member of Parliament, and his siblings were also well-known, as well, including Peter — a travel writer). Likable but lost, Fleming was little but an aimless playboy, until his experiences in World War 2 changed his life, and it was those autobiographical experiences during war time that inspired James Bond, who was based — in part — on Fleming.
The movie itself will be based on the book, Ian Fleming: The Man Behind James Bond, by Andrew Lycett, who has also written books on Arthur Conan Doyle, Dylan Thomas, and Rudyard Kipling.
The big news here, however, is that the movie — which has been independently financed to the tune of around $40 million — has James McAvoy attached in the lead, which sadly probably takes him out of the running to replace Daniel Craig in the future. McAvoy actually seems well suited to the role — he can do playboy (Bright Young Things), he can do period and war movie (Atonement), and he can do action (Wanted). Plus, he’s an excellent actor with a dry sense of humor befitting not just Fleming, but Bond.
Ian Fleming is a high priority project, though I’m not sure where it will fall in with McAvoy’s schedule — he’s currently got I’m with Cancer and Wanted 2 in the works, and he’s already wrapped filming on The Conspirator. Given the movie’s limited budget, however, it would seem the sort of film McAvoy could squeeze in between a comedy and an action sequel which I don’t believe even has a finished script, yet.
The project is currently searching for a director, who will be working off a script from Matt Brown (Ropewalk).
Follow @pajiba
← Inception Teaser Trailer II | Young Victoria Review →
Comments
Posted by: gem at December 29, 2009 11:19 AM
interesting.
i love bond and i love fleming.
gonna have to check out that book.
(apparently roger moore has a autobiography too-'my word is my bond'-gotta get that one too.)
don't know much about mcavoy. thought he was meh in wanted. and never bothered to watch atonement. (i did see on tv though that he was one of hollywood's most bankable stars. will farell was the least bankable-that made me happy.)