Everyone’s favorite eccentric, widowed inventor is about to be back in the driver’s seat of the most idiosyncratic flying car you’ve ever encountered. If you just read those words and thought “huh?” then you clearly were not raised on the iconic filmChitty Chitty Bang Bang, which is in the early stages of being remade by Amazon MGM Studios.
In exclusive new reporting fromDeadline, it appears thatBarbara BroccoliandMichael Wilson’s Eon Productions are in the early stages of development on the film alongside the aforementioned Amazon. If the names Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson sound familiar, it’s likely due to their work in theJames Bonduniverse, which has a unique — and perhaps even surprising — connection to the 1968 film.
How Is ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ Connected to James Bond and Roald Dahl?
You see,Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Carwas originally a children’s book written byBondauthor Ian Fleming in the mid-1960s, and quickly thereafter adapted into a screenplay by none other than Roald Dahl (alongside Ken Hughes and Richard Maibaum). In 1968, the film iteration was released, starring (newly-mintedmusic video star)Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Gert Fröbe, Anna Quayle, and Benny Hill, playing characters with delightful names like Caractacus Potts (Van Dyke), Truly Scrumptious (Howe), Baron Bomburst (Fröbe), and Coggins (a personal favorite played by Desmond Llewelyn).
Amazon MGM and Eon are currently in the earliest stages of production, meeting with potential writers and directors to tackle turning the project into something that might appeal to a more modern audience. According toDeadline, “the film is being developed with a theatrical release in mind,” rather than a direct-to-streaming situation.
Which would make sense considering the colorful and outlandish world Fleming created — one that truly begs for a large screen on which to view it. The original film featured some of the campiest and most fun performances from the actors involved (which is really saying something when you consider what a campy and fun career someone like Van Dyke has had over his 99 years).
This is Why 1968 Was the Most Radical Year in Cinema
1968 was a turbulent year, and Hollywood reflected it vibrantly with a series of landmark films which would change cinema forever.
The plot ofChitty Chitty Bang Bangis equal parts simple and outlandish, centering on Van Dyke’s widowed inventor and his two children, who go on adventures with their father and a woman admirer named Truly Scrumptious in an old race car he turns into a multipurpose magical machine, capable of flying through air and riding the waves — which is exactly what they do in a race to save their kidnapped grandfather. The movie also featured songs from the Sherman Brothers, who worked as the songwriters forMary Poppins. Their theme song went on to be nominated for the 1968 Academy Award in the category of “Best Original Song.”
As dark as one might expect a children’s story brought to screen by Dahl would be,Chitty Chitty Bang Bangwas such a beloved hit, it later became a hit stage musical as well, garnering Olivier- and Tony-nominations for its 2002 West End production. It came to Broadway in 2005 and is currently touring the United Kingdom.
There is currently no release date slated for theChitty Chitty Bang Bangremake.
