To take over from Daniel Craig in the James Bond tuxedo, producer Barbara Broccoli has always been very clear, only a man will be considered. “James Bond can be any color, but he’s a maleshe said in January 2020 in Variety. I think we should invent other characters for women, characters of strong women. But it’s not particularly interesting to take a male role and ask a woman to play it. I think women are much more interesting than that.”
Obviously, the actress Suzuho Makaze does not share his opinion. Just like the all-female troupe of the Revue Takarazuka. From spring 2023, the 36-year-old Japanese actress will become the very first female incarnation of James Bond in a play called Casino Royale : My Name is Bond. An unofficial, edited version of Ian Fleming’s novel.
But given the way the novelist’s inheritance is controlled, how is this possible without the approval of the heirs?
It’s very simple: since 2018, Japan has increased the duration of copyright for heirs from 50 to 70 years after the death of the creator, to comply with what is applicable in most countries. Westerners. But this measure has no retroactive effect. Everything that fell into the public domain between 1999 and 2018 therefore remains subject to the 50-year rule. However, Ian Fleming passed away on August 12, 1964.
In Japan, James Bond has therefore already fallen into the public domain. Everyone can therefore interpret and transform it as they wish. And that’s how Suzuho Makaze will go down in history as the first James Bond.