Claim: James Bond is based on a character from a book series.

The James Bond series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming , who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections . Since Fleming 's death in 1964 , eight other authors have written authorised Bond novels or novelizations : Kingsley Amis , Christopher Wood , John Gardner , Raymond Benson , Sebastian Faulks , Jeffery Deaver , William Boyd and Anthony Horowitz . The latest novel is Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz , published in September 2015 . Additionally Charlie Higson wrote a series on a young James Bond , and Kate Westbrook wrote three novels based on the diaries of a recurring series character , Moneypenny .   The character has also been adapted for television , radio , comic strip , video games and film . The films are the longest continually running film series of all time and have grossed over $ 7.040 billion in total , making it the fourth-highest-grossing film series to date , which started in 1962 with Dr. No , starring Sean Connery as Bond . As of , there have been twenty-four films in the Eon Productions series . The most recent Bond film , Spectre -LRB- 2015 -RRB- , stars Daniel Craig in his fourth portrayal of Bond ; he is the sixth actor to play Bond in the Eon series . There have also been two independent productions of Bond films : Casino Royale -LRB- a 1967 spoof -RRB- and Never Say Never Again -LRB- a 1983 remake of an earlier Eon-produced film , Thunderball -RRB- . In 2015 , the franchise was estimated to be worth $ 19.9 billion , making James Bond one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time .   The Bond films are renowned for a number of features , including the musical accompaniment , with the theme songs having received Academy Award nominations on several occasions , and two wins . Other important elements which run through most of the films include Bond 's cars , his guns , and the gadgets with which he is supplied by Q Branch . The films are also noted for Bond 's relationships with various women , who are sometimes referred to as `` Bond girls '' .