From 1952 to 1964, Ian Fleming wrote nearly one James Bond book a year. These books comprise twelve unique novels and two short story collections. If you think that these books are the only things Fleming wrote in his lifetime, you'd be (mostly) correct. Fleming wrote a few nonfiction books, too, but those were somewhat Bond-adjacent; the travelogue book Thrilling Cities, and the true-crime expose The Diamond Smugglers.
But, in all of that, Fleming also wrote one audacious children's book about a flying car: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, published in 1964. And now, that book is about to get rebooted into a new film by the same people who make the James Bond movies, EON Productions.
According to Deadline, the Bond producers are working on a new movie version of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which was previously made into a musical film in 1968 starring Dick Van Dyke. Back then, the movie was partially adapted into screenplay form by Roald Dahl, a close friend of Fleming's, who went on to write the screenplay for the 1967 James Bond movie, You Only Live Twice.
There's no word yet on what approach the new Chitty Chitty Bang Bang might take, but it will almost certainly have to feature a flying magical car, as that is the central premise in the book and famous film. The real question is whether or not this version will be a historical piece, or somehow set in modern day. Plus, who could play Dick Van Dyke's character Caractacus Potts? Maybe Ryan Gosling could nail it?
While the news of a new Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is cool, it may come as a disappointment that EON and MGM are developing this film before announcing a new James Bond movie. Back in 1964, Bond fans would have loved one more Bond novel before Fleming's untimely death. And now, it seems like we might get a a new Chitty before we get a new 007.
