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If you have seen the name Ian Fleming and the Curse of James Bond and wondered whether it is a new film, where it is showing and whether you can watch it, the answer is a little untidy. It is a 2026 feature documentary about the man who created Bond, it has already been on television in Britain and New Zealand, and from 19 to 22 November 2026 it has its Jamaican premiere at GoldenEye, the house on Jamaica’s north coast where Ian Fleming wrote the books. Here is what the film is, who is in it, what the premiere weekend involves and how you can see it.
The short answer
- What it is. A feature documentary of about 90 minutes about Ian Fleming, directed by Adam Low and commissioned by Sky Arts.
- Already shown. On Sky Arts in the UK on 12 May 2026, and on Sky Arts in New Zealand on 21 August 2026.
- The premiere. A three-night premiere weekend at GoldenEye, Oracabessa, from 19 to 22 November 2026, sold as a resort package from $4,625 for two.
- Elsewhere. No release has been announced in Australia or the United States (November 2026).
What the film is
Ian Fleming and the Curse of James Bond is directed by Adam Low, whose earlier subjects include Frankenstein, W.H. Auden and Alan Bennett, according to the New Zealand critic James Croot. The production company Lone Star lists the producers as Martin Rosenbaum and Nick Taussig, with editing by Joanna Crickmay and music by Philip Miller, and says it was broadcast on Sky Arts on 12 May 2026. Its distributor, Sphere Abacus, gives the running time as 91 minutes, with a two-part version of 45 minutes each also available, and names Embankment Films and Lone Star as the production companies. The Jamaica Observer says Gross Media, the company presenting the GoldenEye premiere, was an executive producer.
The distributor sums up the film’s argument: that Fleming’s success led him “to the edge of a precipice” and that, having tried to rid himself of 007, he found that Bond always struck back. That is the curse of the title. The film also looks at how the books reflect Fleming’s own life and his work in Naval Intelligence during the Second World War, and it combines rare archive footage of Fleming with material from the books and the films.
Who is in it
The distributor lists contributions from Ralph Fiennes, who took over as M in Skyfall, the novelists Kate Mosse, Percival Everett, Marlon James and William Boyd, the historian Alexis Albion and Fleming’s biographer Nicholas Shakespeare. Helena Bonham Carter reads from the books. Boyd is the author of the 2013 continuation novel Solo.
Jamaica is given a large part. In the premiere announcement reported by the Jamaica Observer, Low said he was “determined to put Jamaica at the centre of the story”, and named among the Jamaican voices Fleming’s longtime gardener Ramsay Dacosta, Marlon James and the culture minister Olivia “Babsy” Grange, whose relative was Fleming’s house manager. The film opens, the same release says, with a Rastafari benediction by the writer Barbara Blake-Hannah and a drive through Oracabessa to Desmond Dekker & The Aces’ “007 (Shanty Town)”.
The GoldenEye premiere weekend
GoldenEye calls the weekend the film’s “Jamaican and Western Hemisphere premiere”. It falls in GoldenEye’s 80th year: Fleming built the house in 1946, the Jamaica Observer notes. It runs as a three-night package from 19 to 22 November 2026. The resort lists what is included:
- Three nights’ accommodation and a daily “Fleming breakfast”.
- On the Friday, a Golden Hour Cocktail Party with the Nyabinghi Drummers and a barbecue dinner on Button Beach with the filmmakers.
- On the Saturday, a cocktail reception at the GoldenEye Villa, Fleming’s own house, then a candlelit dinner and a private screening of the documentary at Playscape.
The poster lists packages from $4,625 for two people over three nights, including taxes and fees. It does not name the currency, but GoldenEye prices its other offers in US dollars. Children aged 13 and over are welcome, and bookings go through the resort’s reservations team. The Jamaica Observer says the breakfasts are Fleming-themed: scrambled eggs, toast, guava jelly, local fruit and Blue Mountain coffee.
If those dates do not suit, the resort is also running a separate four-night “Ian Fleming’s GoldenEye at 80” package until 19 December 2026, with a guided snorkel over Fleming Reef and a birdwatching tour of the grounds; it publishes no price for it, and 25 to 30 November are blacked out. The house where Fleming wrote is let on its own as the Fleming Villa, and our guide to the Dr. No locations and GoldenEye covers the history of the place and how to get there.
How to watch it if you are not going to Jamaica
United Kingdom. The film was first shown on Sky Arts on Tuesday 12 May 2026, and listings at the time said it would also be available on demand through NOW. NOW listings change, and the film may no longer be available there, so check the NOW or Sky app before you count on it.
New Zealand. The Post reported that it would screen on Sky Arts at 7pm on Friday 21 August 2026.
Australia and the United States. No broadcaster or streaming service has been announced for either country. Tom’s Guide said in May that the film had international distribution in place, which suggests it may yet arrive, but there is nothing confirmed to point you to. We will update this page if that changes.
Is it worth your time?
We have not seen it, so this is a judgement from published reviews. The distributor lists four-star reviews from The Times, Heat, TV Times and the Irish Independent. James Croot, reviewing it for The Post in New Zealand, found it “not exactly breaking new ground” but “certainly not without its charms or fascinating insights”, and singled out Fiennes on how the films and books gripped him as a boy. In our view, that is the right expectation: a well-made portrait for readers who already know the outline of Fleming’s life and want it told with Jamaica at the centre, rather than a source of revelations.
If it sends you back to the books, start with Casino Royale, and see our Bond books for Christmas for the rest of the shelf.
Where to go next
- Dr. No filming locations and GoldenEye: the island where Fleming wrote, and how to visit.
- The Fleming Villa: Fleming’s own house at GoldenEye, let in its own right.
- Solo by William Boyd: the continuation novel by one of the film’s contributors.
- Bond in Jamaica: every Jamaican location on the site.
Last reviewed 9 November 2026.
Shop the story
Sources: Lone Star Productions, Ian Fleming and the Curse of James Bond; Sphere Abacus, programme page; GoldenEye, premiere weekend package; GoldenEye, Exclusives; Jamaica Observer, 7 September 2026; Future of the Force, Sky and NOW listings, 30 April 2026; Tom’s Guide, 12 May 2026; ScreenSearch, UK availability, 8 November 2026; The Post (New Zealand), review by James Croot, 18 August 2026.