I’m guessing the timing of this is very key, what with the James Bond 50th Anniversary and all, but K5 Films has just announced a forthcoming film based on the life of James Bond creator and writer Ian Fleming.

But this is where it gets interesting - it’s not your typical bio flick.  This look at Ian Fleming’s life will be an “action-packed story of one of Britain’s most celebrated yet mysterious legends”.  Based off of the book Ian Fleming, The Man Behind James Bond, this is an action filled look at the writer’s life, which can’t help but make me think of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, George Clooney’s look at Gong Show host/possible CIA agent Chuck Barris.

That said, what makes the film doubly interesting is that it will be helmed by Duncan Jones, the director behind two of my favorite sci-fi films of recent memory, Moon and Source Code.  While this unfortunately means that Duncan’s next sci-fi film Mute will be pushed off, it’s nice to see him again aligning himself with unique and interesting work. There’s really no better way to get out of your famous father’s shadow than by taking big risks and delivering, and this project is certainly an interesting one to take on.

I will be watching the development closely, and update as I know more. Here’s the official press release.

CANNES, FRANCE. Duncan Jones, the BAFTA Award-winning British director of Moon and international box office hit Source Code, will direct the action-packed story of one of Britain’s most celebrated yet mysterious legends — James Bond creator Ian Fleming.

Before Ian Fleming became the globally renowned best-selling author, his own life was no less exciting than that of the hero he created. Fleming travelled the world and masterminded real life top-secret operations, inspiring him to create James Bond. Duncan Jones’ take will explore and tie together those events in the author’s life that gave birth to Britain’s greatest superspy.

Duncan Jones remarked — “Fleming lived through one of the most perilous periods in world history, in a position that allowed him a unique vantage point of all the players, all the stakes. He witnesses true heroism first-hand. And he saw the evil men could do. Then, when the war ended, he went off to write fiction. The essential question for me is; where did Ian Fleming end and Bond begin?“

K5 Film (Oliver Simon and Daniel Baur), PalmStar Media Capital’s Kevin Frakes and Liberty Films’ Stuart Fenegan will produce the film in association with Jim Young and Robert Laycock of the Ian Fleming Estate. K5 International will handle worldwide rights.

Jones is currently in the process of casting the film, which is based on the authoritative biography “Ian Fleming, The Man Behind James Bond" by Andrew Lycett, and is anticipated to go into production later this year. It is the only film to be given the full support of The Ian Fleming Estate.

Kevin Frakes says, “Fleming is a larger than life character and it’s fantastic to be bringing him to the big screen with Duncan.“

“Duncan is one of the hottest directors currently working in film and everyone has been waiting to see what he would do next,“ say K5’s Co-Founding Partners Oliver Simon and Daniel Baur.

Stuart Fenegan commented, “The opportunity to make a period action film about the life of Fleming and origins of Bond — a hero we all grew up idolising — is too great for Duncan and me to resist.“