Exclusive: Is `Die Another Day` an Ian Fleming title after all?

When the title of the 20th James Bond big screen adventure was announced, it was reported that it was another of the recent monikers that was not derrived from any Ian Fleming adventures.

At the first press conference for the 2002 film, Pierce Brosnan joked to reporters that they were open to suggestions as they had exhausted original source material. The title was eventually revealed as "Die Another Day".

Producer Michael G. Wilson explained the title was derived from a phrase from a poem by AE Housman, "But since the man that runs away, lives to die another day". Bond utters the phrase when he exposes Gustav Graves is Colonel Moon in disguise.

In letters due for auction later this month, 007 author Ian Fleming wrote to his secretary in 1960 about his upcoming novel "Thunderball" -- and used the exact phrase:

‘I still regret the end of ‘Thunderball’, as my naïve and literal mind would like to know exactly what happened…what about Blofeld (or does he live to die another day?).’

Although this phrase did not appear in his novels, having the title penned by Fleming before the cinematic series was launched may cause some Bond scholars to chalk up "Die Another Day" in his camp after all.

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