Canada is the home of national healthcare, maple syrup, politeness, Tim Horton’s, and in what should be a rather interesting development, the expiration of the copyright on James Bond. io9 does a good job of breaking down how this came to be, but what it essentially means is that anyone, within Canadian borders, can reproduce and sell Ian Fleming‘s works, write new James Bond stories, or readapt what has already been published. And a couple of directors are thinking about the latter option.
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Speaking with CBC’s "q," Canadian filmmaking duo Lee Demarbe and Ian Driscoll (who have previously teamed on genre fare "Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter" and "Smash Cut") have revealed their plans to redo "For Your Eyes Only." Why that story in particular? Well, a portion of the tale takes place in Ottawa, where the duo are based, and often use as the shooting locations for their films. And their plans are even grander.
Demarbre and Driscoll say it would be the first in four movies they’ve already plotted out, and they’re already thinking of a black Bond to enter the series at some point. As for casting, the hope is to go for an unknown in the lead, though Jessica Paré‘s name has been tossed around as a hopeful to play Judy in "For Your Eyes Only." Moreover, they hope to invent "new tropes" for Bond, and mention Montreal hi-hop act Dead Obies as the ideal group to write a theme song.
All that said, this is a long way from happening. The duo admit producers have been reluctant to sign on because the Bond movie would legally be unable to screen in the United States, however, they hope that the worldwide marketplace means some different doors will open and they’ll be able to get this made. It’s all very early, and they still need financing and producers, but the hope is that the brand is too good to give up. It’ll certainly be interesting to see what rights holders, the Broccoli family, have to say….
….and speaking of them, Barbara Broccoli has revealed there won’t be too much time wasted in getting the followup to "Spectre" going. “We have put three years of work into ‘Spectre.’ It was a thrill, but now we want to enjoy the success and the reactions of the audiences. In spring we start again,” she told 20 Minuten.
Listen to the full CBC interview below and let us know what you think about a Canuck Bond, eh?