Bond 24 tabloid speculation starts, it will not be 'Devil May Care'

13-Jul-2013 • Spectre (2015)

In true, red-top shoot-from-the-hip style, The Sun's Bizarre entertainment editor claims he can reveal the title of the forthcoming Bond film - along with the officially announced release schedule and directorial comeback of Sam Mendes - that the film will be entitled "Devil May Care".

The name is plucked from the title of the lukewarmly received 2008 Fleming centenary novel by Sebastian Faulks. Never has an EON Production based their stories on any other author's work than their own screenwriter and Bond creator Ian Fleming, and this trend is highly unlikely to be bucked now, given the phenomenal success of the Fleming-inspired original "Skyfall" story, penned by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan. Both of Bond's long-time producers, Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, had a policy of not reproducing any of the story-lines conceived by past continuation novelist, Kingsley Amis.

MI6 Confidential explained back in 2011, producer Harry Saltzman had additionally blackballed the possibility of using Amis' novel, in part due to the issues of paying royalties and of Glidrose having rejected âPer Fine Ounceâ by Geoffrey Jenkins, with which Saltzman had been involved.

The article's author also ends the piece with the rhetorical question, "Could this be Daniel's last?" As many readers will recall, Craig is in fact contracted for the next two 007 adventures, Bond 24 and 25.

As ever, MI6 advises to take such rumours with a grain of salt. Especially when they are from The Sun.