James Bond producers MGM and Danjaq have reached a settlement with the estate of writer Kevin McClory which gives them full rights to the iconic British spy and potentially opens the door for Daniel Craig’s 007 to go up against his arch nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld and the SPECTRE organisation.
The case in question spans back over fifty years and stems from a deal between Ian Fleming and Kevin McClory, who was brought in to help Fleming develop a concept for a Bond movie back in 1958. After several treatments and screenplays the movie fell apart, with Fleming subsequently publishing the project in 1961 as Thunderball. McClory and co-writer Jack Whittingham then successfully sued Fleming, gaining the rights to the various scripts they’d produced, as well as the film rights to Thunderball, meaning that EON was forced to allow McClory to serve as co-producer on the 1965 movie adaptation. McClory subsequently convinced Sean Connery to return as Bond for the ‘remake’ Never Say Never Again, which was released in 1983.
Considering how long this has dragged out, the timing of the settlement is certainly interesting, with Skyfall director Sam Mendes and writer John Logan currently developing Bond 24 for release in 2015. Could this mean we’ll be seeing the return of Blofeld, and if so, how will they update the character in this post-Dr. Evil world? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…
