British tabloid claims Bond 21 is `The Man With The Red Tattoo`

Casino Royale - 02-08-04

Another weekend, another column to fill with Bond rumours, a journalist's work is never done. This time around, Britain's best selling newspaper "The News Of The World" has constructed an almost convincing rumour about the title of the next film.

"The Man With The Red Tattoo" is tipped to be the next film by the paper, with a deadly virus as the main plot device.

Unfortunately, this is the title of the last James Bond novel written by Raymond Benson back in 2002. The "deadly virus" plot idea has also been lifted from Benson's novel:

Book Blurb: "When a British businessman and his family are killed in Japan, James Bond suspects a mass assassination. Investigating with the help of beautiful Japanese agent Reiko Tamura and his old friend Tiger Tanaka, Bond discovers that two powerful factions controlled by the mysterious terrorist Goro Yoshida are playing God. Between them they have created the perfect weapon, one small and seemingly insignificant enough to strike anywhere, unnoticed. With an emergency G7 summit meeting just days away, it’s a race against time as Bond confronts both man and nature in a desperate bid to stop the release of a deadly virus that could destroy the Western world."

The rights to "The Man With The Red Tattoo" are owned by Ian Fleming Publications, and will almost certainly never be made into a James Bond film. None of the post-Fleming novels by Kingsley Amis, John Gardner and Raymond Benson have ever been officially used as a basis for a Bond movie. Since exhausting Fleming's series of novels, Eon Productions (owners of the film rights) have created original stories rather than attempt to licence rights from IFP (formely Glidrose).

MI6 Rumour Rating: Nice idea, shame about the rights.

Thanks to `Zao` for the alert.

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