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http://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/ge_roadtoproduction.php3
*edit- thanks Samuel!
Nonetheless I can't see Dalton and Renny Harlin getting on anyway and I still maintain that GE with Dalton wouldn't have been as sucessful. Pity!
That's just my take on it based on what he has said in interviews and the way he has conducted himself over the years.
I've felt more bad for Lazenby being young and impressionable at the time, Bond being the only real thing he had going for him, and receiving dubious advice from his agent. It was his decision, but there were so many factors playing against him. I also felt bad for Pierce as well, who felt he had another Bond left in him and seemed to genuinely enjoy being Bond but was canned in the end.
But nonetheless it must be a bit disheartening - even for an actor of his age and professionalism. Trying to make your own version of Bond and then coming to the realisation that it just wasn't quite "clicking". What must be worse is having other Bond actors be critical of you - as Connery (a man who Dalton seemed to admire) apparently was.
Funnily enough I've actually enjoyed Dalton a bit more outside of Bond (i.e. Hot Fuzz). He just seemed to be having a more fun time in some of his other work. He's infact stated that the most fun he had on ANY film was firing a gun out of a police car window in Hot Fuzz during the final high speed chase - no mention of Bond. Who knows but maybe he preferred being away from the limelight - in which case good for him.
I agree about Lazenby, JBFan- I hope that if they ever cast someone as young as him again, he gets better taken care of (maybe get him to sign a contract BEFORE filming the first movie)
And about Dalts: Also agree- he's not the 'superstar' type. He's happy to be acting for the sake of acting, which is good! I think playing Bond was just another day at the office for him! I just wanted him around more cause he's awesome, lol
I never understand this kind of comment. If you look at Dalton's career pre Bond it was solid and interesting. Post-Bond his career went into a tail-spin. He appeared only in dross. Of all the actors to play Bond he has made the least of the part in terms of getting other work. He's a good actor and was a decent Bond, and it's a tragedy what became of him. In a way Bond appears to have destroyed him. Plus the mother of his child ended up bedding Mel Gibson. That's gotta hurt!
I reconsider my previous comments. He did have it hard, poor chap!
And @Getafix - I always enjoyed Hot Fuzz. Yeah it wasn't that "heavyweight" but Dalton was clearly having a good time.
My take on the original thread subject: the studio had wanted to sell pieces of the franchise piecemeal and Cubby filed an injunction halting this and they went to court. (Not sure of what the studio was doing but they were up to some shady crap)
They were battling all these years in the courts, Dalton was still planning on starring in a third Bond film. However when it all setteled in 1994, Dalton lost interest and thus decided to move on.
I guess it's okay for some fans and former Bonds to trash Tim, but I for one feel that his two films were better than all four Brozzas (and some of Moore's as well)
Dalton's been in some solid stuff since then. Look at his IMDB page. What has Laz been in? TV films and voice over stuff. Which is fine for most mortals but really weak for a Bond.
Put it this way, Sean Connery net worth is $300 million...Lazenby wouldn't be showing up to screenings if he had that kind of bank.
But to the topic, it's still says something that Dalton stuck around all the way until 1994; shows something of his commitment to the project. At the end of the day money talks though and as the article says, LTK underperformed at the box office and the series was in need of a shake-up. I think even in the 1989 it was in the cards that Dalton wouldn't be returning.
I've said this before but, watching LTK, there's a sense that things are "coming to an end". It's hard to put my finger on but one gets the impression the series was a bit tired by 1989.
I could be wrong but I don't get the impression that many people were sorry to see Dalton go in 1994.
Despite Bond fans liking to think Dalton jumped I believe as @JBFan626 says that it was more likely he was pushed. I think (I don't know) that Eon would have told him they needed a change but fed the media the idea Dalton walked, in order for him to save face.
Worth checking out the link provided by @Samuel001 above. ;)
So even if the legal problems never existed, EON had to pul a TSWLM, and make a huge amelioration in attendance, or else, IMO, the franchise was doomed for a long hiatus anyway. It seems possible that Bond 17 in 1991 would have been the first Bond film to have less than 30 millions movie-goers in attendance world wide. That would have been catastrophic.
So IMO it is right to say Brosnan saved the franchise, not because he was there at the right time, but because movie-goers wanted him as Bond, and it seemed almost mathematical and logical that attendance would improve dramaticly if Bond was played by an actor almost everyone wanted to see as Bond as the time. Maybe it was a safe choice, but it was needed because the franchise was on it's last leg. Brosnan wasn't the right choice to play Bond in 1995, but the only choice. EON couldn't have allowed themselves another risky choice as Bond... they needed to reverse the steam and give a big electrochoc to revive the franchise. And Brosnan delivered big time.
I fear that if any other actor got the the part in 1995, the amelioration in ticket sales and box-office revenue would have been minimal, like TLD with Dalton in 1987.
Besides, the Dalton-Brosnan change is the shortest Bond actor search in the franchise by a huge margin (Dalton resigned in april 1994 and Brosnan signed in may 1994). Which is considerably shorter than the longest search in the franchise which was Brosnan to Craig (18 months). But understandable since there were no clear favorite candidate after Brosnan. And in 1995, Brosnan wasn't the clear favorite, he was the only candidate.
OHMSS : 62 millions tickets sold - 19 millions less than YOLT
LALD : 91 millions tickets sold - 21 millions more than DAF
TLD : 48 millions tickets sold - 6 millions more than AVTAK
GE : 81 millions tickets sold - 42 millions more than LTK
CR : 90 millions tickets sold - 12 millions more than DAD.
So the most successful debute film if you look at total tickets sold :
LALD
CR
GE
OHMSS
TLD
And most successful debute film when compared with previous outing :
GE
LALD
CR
TLD
OHMSS
Yes TLD improved over AVTAK, but it's still the 3rd least successful outing in the franchise.