Fleming Turns 100, Winehouse Flakes Out

On May 28, Penguin UK and Doubleday in the US will celebrate the centennial of Ian Flemming’s birth by publishing the 36th Bond book, Devil May Care, written by Sebastian Faulks (Charlotte Gray). Devil May Care is set in the cold war, picking up where Fleming left off in 1966 with Octopussy and The Living Daylights. But would Ian Fleming, who only saw the first two Bond movies before his death in 1964, care for train wreck and Grammy award winner Amy Winehouse recording the theme for the latest 007 flick, Quantum of Solace? Well, there’s no worry of him rolling over in his grave, Variety just reported that Winehouse has backed out of recording it, and

according to her producer Mark Ronson, it would take “some miracle of science” to finish it, as the singer is “not ready to record any music.”

More on jinxed film and how Fleming stamps the UK after the jump

The Winehouse debacle marks another fiasco in the production of Quantum of Solace that some are calling a jinxed. Since production began on the 22nd bond movie in January 08, the filming has been plagued by accidents leaving one stuntman in a coma, an Aston Martin at the bottom of Italy’s Lake Garda and just today a crew member was found stabbed in Austria.

Now you might be asking yourself, “I don’t recall Quantum of Solace as the title of one of Flemings books.” Well, it turns out the title was chosen from an unrelated short story in Ian Fleming’s For Your Eyes Only (1960).

According to U.S. News & World Report,

novels featuring James Bond have sold more than 100 million copies and films based on those books have grossed almost $4.5 billion. To celebrate this cultural phenomenon, “Britain is pulling out all the stops–like so many Taittinger champagne corks–with a series of special events and memorials, including a Goldfinger golf tournament, a gala charity concert, and the issuing of six Royal Mail stamps featuring covers of some of the most popular Bond books.”

Also, there will be a yearlong exhibition at London’s Imperial War Museum: “For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond.”

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