In an apparent fit of jealousy against fellow British pop culture icon Harry Potter, James Bond is getting a Broadway musical of his very own.
Okay, it's probably not like that. What's happening is a musical based on James Bond from Merry Saltzman's Placeholder Productions. Saltzman is the daughter of James Bond film producer Harry Saltzman (yay, nepotism!).
James Bond: The Musical boasts a brand new story by novelist Dave Clarke, with songs by singer/songwriter Jay Henry Weisz. According to Saltzman, the musical will utilize existing Bond villains along with some new ones created just for the production. It will also star a new Bond girl.
So is this becoming a trend? Turning big film franchises into stage productions or musicals? (We're expecting an Avengers: The Musical announcement from Marvel any minute now.)
Producers are hoping to open sometime in late 2017 or early 2018, most likely on Broadway. If not there, Las Vegas is also a possibility.
In the meantime, the 24th James Bond film, Spectre, comes to theaters on November 6, 2015. It stars Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Monica Bellucci, Dave Bautista, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw and Ralph Fiennes, and is helmed by Skyfall's director Sam Mendes. Spectre continues the exploration Bond's past that began in Skyfall with a cryptic message that leads to the revelation of a dangerous, covert criminal organization.
It's hard to imagine Bond bursting into song in James Bond: The Musical. One also assumes that Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark type special effects will be used to accomplish Bond's trademark action and fight scenes, though a budget for the production has not been disclosed.
Either way, we're guessing there will be no car chases.
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