New Bond book set in Sixties 'too much of a period piece to be filmed'

Fans of the recent James Bond book, Devil May Care, thought it would soon be on the big screen, presumably arriving to the sound of gunshots and a powerful soul number. It emerged yesterday, however, that the novel was considered too old-fashioned to film.

Eon Productions, the company behind the Bond film franchise, said it had no plans to make a film of the book, which was written by the British novelist Sebastian Faulks to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Ian Fleming, the creator of Bond.

Barbara Broccoli, who co-produced recent Bond films, said Devil May Care's archaic 1960s setting would be out of keeping with the current penchant for supercars and state-of-the-art gadgetry.

"Devil May Care is a period book which is set in the 1960s, and it really wouldn't fit as one of the films that Eon has been making recently," said Ms Broccoli.

A spokeswoman for the company added that a film version of Devil May Care was "not in discussion".

"I would have thought that if you could move Casino Royale from the 1950s you could move Devil May Care from the Sixties. But Eon know what they are doing," said Faulks.

But the author added that if the company changed its mind he would support the idea of a film.