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I think Cubby would have given into PB being Bond over TD. If it was about a young Bond, that would have made sense. I can also see a big name actor for Burton Trevor. I hope EON uses more of this stuff for the next reboot.
I think it got reworked into Goldeneye.
The early draft in TWINE is what I did find the most interesting, according to IMDb:
I think Brosnan in CR in a 2006 adaptation would have needed serious rewrites and a different cast to work. If it was possible at all. A Bond we'll in his 50s romancing a much younger Vesper would have come up as an old fool.
So much to discuss here. One is how much Eon repurposes unused ideas, even decades later. Here we see concepts reused in TSWLM, TLD, and SP.
Moore in OHMSS. I'm of the belief that anyone--literally anyone--would have been destined to fail right after Connery. Connery and the Beatles were like God in the '60s. So Lazenby's failure in the part unwittingly "cleansed the palate" and benefited Moore.
Moore may not have gotten Rigg either. They hired Rigg because Lazenby was an unknown, and Moore wasn't.
By 1972, the world had changed. The '60s and free love and revolution and The Beatles were over (except in the suburbs--see The Ice Storm for an excellent exploration of this). Enter Moore, who is defined by the '70s as much as Connery is by the '60s.
I also wonder how much the blaring James Bond theme at the end of OHMSS was intentional by Barry because he knew Lazenby wasn't coming back? Barry did say that he needed the music to "be Bond" because Lazenby wasn't fully up to the task...
Cubby wouldn't need to be convinced about Brosnan in 1986. Cubby actually cast Brosnan then! And the Remington Steele and blah blah blah...
Brosnan got horrible scripts, and horrible casting. And also Eon was in a state of creative turmoil after Cubby's death, and that hurt Brosnan. Cubby cast a huge shadow, and if I recall correctly, he was the one who didn't want a younger Bond who made mistakes for TLD.
It wasn't until 2006 that MGW and BB felt comfortable enough to put their personal stamp on the series' direction.
Brosnan in CR? Now *that* would have been epic pain face.
What if they had paired Brosnan with an actress like Monica Bellucci, for example. With major rewrites yes.
I mean it'd make more sense for a 42 year old Bellucci to be in a senior position in the Treasury than them retconning a 23 y.o Vesper. But apart from that minor nitpick, there's something so fitting that the first Bond novel is the first film for a new Bond, an origin story. I'm not saying it couldn't've worked for Brosnan but I don't want to live in a world where we didn't get the film that we got.
Charles Feldman, who had the rights, supposedly approached Broccoli and Saltzman about partnering on a version of CR, but having already had to do so with Kevin McClory on TB, they weren't keen on it and Feldman offered Connery the chance to play Bond for him, and when he turned it down it led to CR becoming the comedy mess it would be.
One can only imagine a Connery CR.
It’s a shame Feldman and EON couldn’t come to an agreement. Unless I’m mistaking, I believe if an EON version of CR was to have come to fruition, then they would’ve had Shirley MacLaine as Vesper, or so it was rumored.
Actually, it's Elizabeth Taylor, Feldman wanted her for the Vesper role opposite Connery.
As much as I love Monica Bellucci, I think Vesper would have suffered. Vesper needs to be vulnerable and somewhat naive and idealistic. You would not get that vibe with a mature woman who oozes sexuality like Bellucci. And I think major rewrites of CR to fit Brosnan would have made the story much poorer overall. A new FYEO with Brosnan as a more mature, mentor Bond? Released around 2004? Yes, it would have worked. But Brosnan for CR? No way.
I’m curious as to why you think TWINE in particular.
I would have preferred the former, as Dalton looked far too young in 1968/9. Though I don't see him wanting to stick around until 2002, even being as close to the EON team as he was. I would say, 1987, 1989 then either 1991 and 1993, or 1992 and 1994 would be more likely.
Fair enough.
Yeah in the sake continuity, even a lose one, Bond would come off as incredibly gullible.
I think Monica Bellucci could have nailed it, I mean a bit closer to how Vesper was written in the novel (loner, cold, vulnerable, an enigma/mysterious, a bit screwed up), her performance in SPECTRE speaks to that.
Monica Bellucci is a great actress, she could have nailed that.
Could Brosnan had pulled off a CR. Perhaps, I think he has the acting chops to do it. Given the right script and director I could see it. Forgive me, but does the novel actually say it's Bond's first mission as a double-o? Been a while since I have read the book. Why couldn't a version work with a jaded older Bond whose armour breaks down and he opens his heart only for it to be broken by Vesper?
There's no implication that he's a rookie in the book, in the book, if my memory serves, he's already a professional, and he'd been sent into that mission because he's the best gambler in MI6, and not because it's his first mission.
But it could have been great with Brosnan given of his attitude towards women, he's an easy go lucky guy, then suddenly it's only Vesper who could break him down, and that would change his life, remember Bond's backstory had been told in the books even before the events of Casino Royale, think of how he slept with a French prostitute in the AVTAK short story, so, given Brosnan Bond's background, it could have worked well, a man who thinks women are only for sex and pleasure would be changed by Vesper.
Right, I totally agree: it would have taken on another meaning with Brosnan, but the love affair between Bond and Vesper would have been as powerful with a seasoned 007.
Also he already had planned a sequel to what ended up becoming 'Never Say Never Again', which was called 'S.P.E.C.T.R.E.', guess that's why Danny's penultimate outing is hated by most Bond fans. ;) ;) ;)
I think a CR with Brosnan as an older Bond and Bellucci is an interesting What If? With the right script, maybe?
If McClory won the rights to do as many Bond films as he wanted in the 1960s, I predict we would have had Bond overload, and a lack of quality control, and Bond films would have died around the time the Matt Helm films did.
McClory was no saint and he was annoying but Fleming did Eon no favors for decades by selling his books to various people and by not attributing the work of others.
My guess is that he would do at least three films before the franchise died:
- Warhead (1963)
- S.P.E.C.T.R.E. (1965)
- Casino Royale (1967)
And since we're talking about Mcclory, after GoldenEye brought Bond into the new era, Mcclory tried to do another Remake of Thunderball, apparently with Dalton as Bond in one last outing (There also were rumours about either Jason Connery or Liam Neeson taking the role), so what if it happened? How could the story be changed to fit into the 90's or 2000's? Could Patrick Stewart have been Blofeld? Could a female Largo have worked?
Warhead - 1962 (Starring a different actor)
SPECTRE - 1964 (Starring another different actor)
(Assuming that Fleming was still alive until 1967 because McClory won the film rights, so there would be no court dramas that would give Fleming stress).
In 1965, Feldman attempted to buy the rights to Casino Royale but Fleming rejected and denied his request.
Then Fleming would have seen those films, and as he's seeing the failure that McClory's doing, he would start to talk to a friend of his to air and adapt his Bond novels (CR included) to the TV instead, it would be similar to The Man From UNCLE, The Saint, and Mission Impossible.
This Bond series based on the Fleming novels would dominate the Television in the 60's, along with The Saint and The Avengers, probably moreso than that.
Now, the franchise that McClory's building would come to an end because of box office failures, the Longitude 78 West was a success mainly because of the lead stars, but the second film, Warhead was where the downfall started, then it all came to an end with SPECTRE.
It's not until the 90's that the Bond novels would get a film treatment similar to how Mission Impossible and The Saint got some film treatments in the 90's, bought by 20th Century Fox :)).
It's sad to think what would happen, so very thankful that it didn't happened.
But here's an interesting what if scenario, what if Kevin McClory built his own franchise to rival EON's, with SPECTRE and Blofeld as the villain, since he won the Thunderball case, and EON could no longer use SPECTRE and Blofeld, and McClory's attempt to do some Bond films that could rival EON, what do you guys think would have happened? I mean two James Bonds fighting at the cinema? I mean the battle of the Bonds did happened in 1983, so what if McClory succeeded in making a Rival Bond Franchise? How long would it last?
It would probably be just a matter of time until some Canadian wrote a Bond multiverse story and published it.
'Bond Unknown: Into The Bond-Verse'
On a more serious look, having two Bond franchises on cinemas would probably end up on both forcefully having to stop, EON's would be the first one to stop, due to Mcclory's ambition for quantity over quality, which would also be the ultimate fate of the Mcclory Bond Cinematic Universe.
If McClory thwarted Eon's momentum, the question would be whether he did so before GF the film.