Pssst: we’ve moved! Join me at intrepidallen.com for exclusive news on the best-selling Intrepid thriller series.
Today is International James Bond Day, which marks the 50th anniversary of the release of the first 007 movie Dr No – making it one of the most successful and longest-running film franchises of all time.
It’s a milestone day for me, too, as I’ve just returned the structural edit of Hunter: Intrepid 2 back to my publisher, Joel Naoum, at Pan Macmillan’s digital imprint, Momentum.
Equally significant is that we are currently in negotiation over the film rights to the Alex Morgan & Intrepid series with a well known and respected American film producer.
As we enter into this new phase of Alex Morgan’s journey it’s interesting to recall that Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, faced these very same milestones and challenges in bringing his character to a wider, international audience when he, too, was an emerging writer of escapist thrillers.
In fact, an early arrangement Fleming made, that would see Casino Royale reach the American market via a television movie, was a disaster. The character was re-written to become an American card-sharp called Jimmy Bond and the production was – to say the least – nothing like what Fleming had envisaged as a vehicle for his hero on his first mission.
The decision to sell the rights to Casino Royale at that time had consequences for the entire Bond franchise that took almost 50 years to resolve. As many of you would be aware, Daniel Craig famously entered the scene as 007 in Casino Royale in 2006 to great acclaim, rebooting the franchise within a more contemporary context. Â At one point however, it seemed highly unlikely that the film would ever be included within the long running franchise.
I’m beyond excited to be – in some small way – following in the footsteps of Fleming as I strive to  bring Alex Morgan & Intrepid to a greater audience.
To mark the occasion, here’s a photo of me with my two little Intrepid agents, Morgan and three-week-old Rhett, as I pushed the button on returning Hunter to the publisher today!
Happy reading…
Chris
PS Hunter will be released in eBook and print formats on December 1.