Alicia Malone
A sequel to the children’s classic “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” is on the way – in literary form.
Though the rights to the new novel have not yet been picked up, it’s almost a certainity – what with the success of the original film and Hollywood’s interest in known brands – we’ll be seeing the cloud-soaring car headed to cinemas again.
Frank Cottrell Boyce penned “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again”, a tardy follow-up to Ian Fleming’s 1961 book which was later turned into a film.
Frank Cottrell Boyce has set his story in the present day, giving Chitty Chitty Bang Bang a twenty-first-century lease of life. At the heart of the book is the Tooting family, who discover a massive, ancient racing-car engine and use it to soup up their VW Camper van. Before they know it they are zooming around the world as Chitty comes to life again and is restored to her former glory.
Lucy Fleming, the niece of Ian Fleming, told The Independent: “Everybody loves Chitty, and it seemed that it was time to have another look at her, to crank her up and get her off the ground again. It coincides with the 50th anniversary of the first books being written. We all love the film so much, but people don’t know the book so well: it took us a bit of time to find the right writer.”
With a script by Roald Dahl and Ken Hughes, and a cast including Dick Van Dyke and Sally Anne Howes, “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Bang” (1968) made quite a pretty penny when it was released at the box office, despite rampant rumours that the film had gone significantly overbudget and would struggle to recoup those costs.
Ian Fleming died just before “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” hit shelves.
