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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Mark Sweney

Licence to kill: could a James Bond horror emerge when book copyrights expire?

Sean Connery as James Bond in Dr No: he is wearing a black jacket and has one eyebrow raised.
Since Sean Connery first appeared in Dr No in 1962 the 25 films in the 007 franchise have grossed more than $7bn globally. Photograph: Cinetext Collection/Sportsphoto/Allstar

Amazon may have captured James Bond, paying billions to get creative control of the super spy, but a clock is now ticking that means 007 – or at least a version of him – could escape into the wider world in a decade’s time.

The character and plots of the original literary works by creator Ian Fleming become open for public use in most countries in 2035, raising the prospect of Bond starring in rival film and TV stories of espionage, comedy or even horror.

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