In recent years, the Bond films have made a concerted effort to return to their literary roots.

Martin Campbell’s 2006 reboot, Casino Royale, was a refreshingly faithful update of Fleming’s first Bond novel, and subsequent films have incorporated additional elements from the books. Skyfall introduced screen audiences to parts of Bond’s childhood and his upbringing in Scotland, previously found in the pages of You Only Live Twice. The character of Hannes Oberhauser, Bond’s skiing instructor mentioned in Spectre, was taken from the short story Octopussy (the peculiar decision to turn this minor character into the father of criminal mastermind Ernst Stavro Blofeld was, typically, an invention for the screen). With this trend in mind, there are a number of other stories from which future screenwriters could take inspiration.

What’s in a name?

The first and most obvious element to consider is the title. Until 1989’s Licence To Kill, the official Bond films all borrowed their titles from an existing novel or short story. Since then, inspiration has often been drawn from elsewhere in Fleming’s work and life. Goldeneye was named for the author’s Jamaica home where he wrote much of his material, while The World Is Not Enough was the literary Bond’s family motto, previously referenced in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Spectre took the name of the villainous organization first revealed in the novel Thunderball, originally an acronym for ‘Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion’. Only Casino Royale and Quantum Of Solace bucked the trend by taking their names from a Fleming novel and short story respectively.

A few Fleming titles remain unused, all of which are short stories: Risico, The Property Of A Lady, The Hildebrand Rarity, and 007 In New York. Of the bunch, Risico is probably the most feasible – make it the name of the villain or his organisation/plan/superweapon and we’re in business. The Property Of A Lady could work, but it’s a name that doesn’t quite meet the expectations of a modern action-thriller. Likewise, The Hildebrand Rarity is a little obscure, and Hildebrand was already used as the name of an MI6 safe house in Spectre. I would say it’s safe to count out 007 In New York entirely, but then again, I didn’t expect them to release a film called Quantum Of Solace, so who knows what could happen.

You Only Live Twice: Welcome to Japan, Mr Bond

Of the material left over from the books, the plot from Fleming’s You Only Live Twice is probably the most appropriate for a modern reworking. In this story, set months after the murder of his wife at the hands of Blofeld, Bond’s grief has driven him to even greater excesses of gambling and alcoholism (if that were possible). Concerned about his performance and wellbeing, M dispatches Bond to Japan on a diplomatic function. There, he is tasked by the Japanese Secret Service with assassinating the mysterious Dr. Guntram Shatterhand, whom Bond identifies as Blofeld in disguise. 007 infiltrates the villain’s reclusive castle residence, which is surrounded by a deadly ‘Garden of Death’, and defeats his nemesis by strangling the life from him.