If Disney bought the James Bond franchise would a film of John Gardner's Never Send Flowers (1993) be any closer?

So, we all know that Disney's name has cropped up over the last two years or more in relation to their being an interested party in buying the James Bond franchise from Eon or at least in buying the distribution rights to the next Bond film or series of films. Obviously Disney have done a good job with growing the Star Wars franchise, so presumably they could do the same with the James Bond franchise. It might even result in a much-needed shot in the arm for the Bond films.

Many fans would likely be against the idea but to the John Gardner fan it opens up an interesting situation: if Disney did at some point buy the Bond franchise or the distribution rights would a film version of Gardner's Never Send Flowers(1993) be any closer in coming about?

As many literary Bond fans will know Never Send Flowers features the villain David Dragonpol's castle Schloss Drache which is described as looking like the castle at Disneyland and it of course features a climactic fight scene at Euro Disney in Paris (nowadays it's Disneyland Resort, Paris of course). There would of course be the inherent problem in the story for a modern audience as the assassination target in the original 1993 novel was Princess Diana and her two sons. Presumably this could be changed to another VIP target easily enough (a politician, rock star etc.)

What do we think? Would Disney be interested in adapting such a Bond novel into a film, given its obvious links to their amusement park properties around the globe and the potential for large-scale "product placement"? To my mind, it would seem an open goal that they would be rather silly to avoid exploiting.

So, dare I ask, what do we think of such an idea? :)

Not sure Disney buying the franchise and then using it to essentially shill their theme-parks would sit too well with most fans.

Aside from Never Send Flowers sounding like awful fan fiction, and one written by a 10 year old who once had something terrible happen to him at Disneyland, I recall Disney saying they weren't interested. 

So doubtful it will happen. And I hope it won't.

FieldsMan wrote:

Aside from Never Send Flowers sounding like awful fan fiction, and one written by a 10 year old who once had something terrible happen to him at Disneyland, I recall Disney saying they weren't interested. 

So doubtful it will happen. And I hope it won't.

Plus I doubt they would want any sort of action sequence involving terrorism associated with their theme parks.

I think at least two of the Gardner novels, maybe 3, would make great starting points for a movie, but never really considered NSF to be one of them.

Think I once read something that said the 80s Bonds had arguably already pinched bits of the Gardner novels, anyway ... like Scorpius being the head of a religious cult/Professor Joe in Licence To Kill, for instance.

Disney, where Teresa would be more than a saint, she'd be a Disney Princess...

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Think I once read something that said the 80s Bonds had arguably already pinched bits of the Gardner novels, anyway ... like Scorpius being the head of a religious cult/Professor Joe in Licence To Kill, for instance.  

They've taken nothing directly and I don't know if Michael Wilson has ever acknowledged reading them while he was writing the films. He's talked about the novels, but only to say that he wouldn't be adapting them.

Role of Honor had a blimp scene that may have influenced AVTAK.

Nobody Lives Forever (IIRC) was set in Key West and had a warehouse scene that reminded me of LTK when I read it.

Those are probably the most solid links. From there they tend to get rather tenuous.

I liked, and still to this day like, ICEBREAKER and NOBODY LIVES FOREVER as potential Bond films. If we're going to have Blofeld back for BOND 25, at least consider the possibility of adapting NOBODY LIVES FOREVER. I think it would free up the plot structure a bit to have Bond trying to survive and outwit every henchman, hired hand, and assassin in Europe as the contest for his head unfolds. I think using NOBODY LIVES FOREVER as BOND 25 would be a much smarter approach than trying to do a OHMSS or YOLT remake for Craig's last film.

I like the team-approach of ICEBREAKER, as well as the arctic setting and the Nazis are always fertile ground as villains. I"d love to see BOND 26 introduce us to a new actor and maybe take place mostly in Norway and use ICEBREAKER as a starting point and have a great ski chase, and maybe a snow-mobile chase. Can't believe SPECTURD went to Austria, on snow, and had no ski chase. Unbelievable.

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

Can't believe SPECTURD went to Austria, on snow, and had no ski chase. Unbelievable.

It's believable when you get a script actually stipulating "ski chase" that's mixed with Daniel Craig's attitude.

For a supposedly realistic take on Bond, the Cregg era is replete with instances where he takes ridiculous risks to his own and other's safety. Careening down a mountain in a fuselage is but one of these occurrences.