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http://www.zimbio.com/Pierce+Brosnan/articles/OvonWtPGb9u/Pierce+Brosnan+Didn+t+Choose+Quit+Playing
I remember that same article you posted, on Brosnan walking away from the role..
I remember there was a firestorm of controversy surrounding rumors that Brosnan was getting axed because of his age - - rumors he kept denying and denying... then after a while, he came out (in that article) and pretty much said he was done with the role..
I'll stand by my gut instinct, that as legit business people - why would EON sack Brosnan? - the man who reinvigorated the franchise, and easily had the most profitable run in franchise history.. DAD (as bad as it was) grossed the highest total box office of any Bond film to date (sans inflation)... they could've easily held CR back for one more outing... Brosnan took too much of his time trying to come to a decision whether or not he wanted to come back - amidst that time, he made a decision (to walk) that he obviously later regretted..... so after some time, he decided he'd give Bond one last go....... WOOPS! too late - by the time he wanted back, they were already steaming rolling ahead on CR
it's also no secret that Brosnan had expressed interest in wanting to an adaptation of CR, so I'm sure he felt slighted - because not only was his offer to come as Bond rejected - they were working on a film that he wanted to do... so naturally, like any good brat does, they run to the press to have a good cry session.
Not technically, but practically he WAS fired. Why? It's certainly a combination of Brosnan pricing himself so high, EON wanted to pay him less, and that he was very old for the role, they decided it was time to change to a much younger and better actor for a Bond revamp.
Don't let DC tell you he quit @jolearon, it holds no water.
From the article that actonsteve linked to above," I didn't stop voluntarily. We talked about a fifth movie and then came the call that I am out. Total change of direction. That was very hard."
I would also add that Lazenby and Dalton were both fired,. Fired meaning that the employer wanted to replace them. At best the employer was happy to let them go. The fact that all three technically quit or walked at some point, doesn't mean anything. Eon wanted them gone, so it doesn't really matter to Eon, how its publicly presented. Actually the more amicably the better, for all concerned. Employers routinely give employees the option to quit or be fired. There are so many ways to fire someone without actually firing them.
Yes Lazer was offered a long term contract after OHMSS but he got stupid, so Eon said to hell with you, let's beg back Sean, and Lazer was gone. It doesn't appear that Eon was crushed when Dalton "quit" either. They had their guy lined up. They knew what they wanted and Dalton probably had it figured out too. Now if there had been talk, that Eon wanted Dalts back and tried and tried to keep him but couldn't, then in that instance, Dalts would have quit, but that didn't happen. The Brozzer departure is straight forward. Eon said we don't want you anymore. He was fired. The only two that weren't fired were Sean and Rog. Sean quit twice and Rog was retired by Eon after maxing out his career. They would have enentually done the same thing to Sean if he had stuck around till he was 60 too.
Brosnan as stated, was more pushed before he jumped and Dalton I'm right in thinking simply stepped down a year before Goldeneye came about, and they found Brosnan as a replacement very soon after. Whether anyone agrees or disagrees about the timing of Brosnans termination, it was for the best as he had had a good four films and a Brosnan Bond for Casino Royale maybe wouldn't have worked out, i.e he was too old for the part by 2006 and Craig was much better suited this time around
what it more or less boiled down to, was Lazenby got influenced by his agent telling him that "Bond was out" - meaning that it was a sinking ship, and it would be career suicide to be on board any longer.... EON was trying to get him to return in the worst way - but eventually, Lazenby took the advice of his agent, and backed out of the role..
Dalton was not fired either - his departure came after 5 years of production being in limbo due to legal reasons, and just before things cleared themselves up to begin filming Bond 17, he backed out... it's no secret that Brosnan was heavily favored as a succesor to Dalton (heck, he was approached for TLD before Dalton was reconsidered for the role).. this was just the perfect opportunity to land him in the role - all the planets aligned just right for that one.. they didn't outright fire him after the long wait - they just didn't make an effort to woo him back, because they got Pierce.
But IMO Lazer Dalts and Broz were all canned, in that Eon wanted to go with someone else in all three cases. Even though they did initially make overtures to Laz, they eventually withdrew the offer, and the job was no longer available to him. He was not wanted anymore. I think the Dalts situation is a classic case of allowing him to exist in the most graceful of circumstances.
If they really were determined to continue with him, I'm sure they could have been quite persuasive, but it doesn't appear they tried too hard.
@6:11 quoting Lazenby from The James Bond Story documentary...
"Without any doubt, I should've done another one... just to take away the doubt that they fired me. Some people say that they fired me, and anyone who's known me or been around me knows that I walked away from it. Which, in retrospect was not a clever thing to do career wise."
I don't understand how there can be 2 interpretations to "I walked away" ... there was no mention of him being let go, or fired anywhere - the man himself even says it right there... "They didn't fire me, I walked away from it" ..... I get what your saying about 'we believe what we wanna believe'... but sorry mate - you're beliefs on lot of this are dead wrong.... sure, they withdrew the offer - after he already walked.
Yes one can argue that none of them were fired. It can be spun that way, but realistically none of the three ultimately were wanted. Contrast with Eon trying its best, making every effort to re-sign any of them, but no luck. That of course did not happen
But you can say they all quit. Fine. Yes all of Dalts, Laz and Broz walked away at some point in discussions. But bottom line, when all was said and done, Eon didn't want any of them to continue, and was quite content to move in new directions. No-one is dead wrong. We all have a good idea, what happened. We all have the same info.
Seven times was not enough !!
I suppose
The deals were very lucrative that EON was passing his way - if it was a marketing ploy, then it worked... he had deals for at one point 9 films, with a lot of money to eventually back up those deals.... his agent influenced him that Bond was a dying fad, and kept telling him to not sign - to move on, don't sign..
after a while, what do you expect EON to do? They were up against the clock to start production... they eventually had to pull the offer from the table and look elsewhere... that doesn't mean he was fired..... the mere fact that they negotiated and negotiated tells me, the mentallity was that they wanted him back.. but after constantly turning them down, they had to just let him go, and go their separate ways....... that doesn't mean fired.
Brosnan made claims to being axed (in a round about way)
but when Laz says, from his own mouth "They didn't fire me, I walked away." ...with no say or evidence from EON proving otherwise - then I tend to believe the man, especially after all the details in that one thread.
i just don't see how it can be spun any other way
Did They Jump Or Were They Pushed?
(Double Oh Nothing) - Lazenby was told Bond Towers was collapsing, so he jumped out of the window. It later transpired that it was just a minor tremor. Sadly, Lazzers never recovered from his fall.
Dalton was at the top of Bond Towers one day, basking in the sunshine. "It's great up here", he thought. But time was wearing on, and the sun was going down, so he decided to go back inside. Unfortunately the roof top door wouldn't open and he was stuck up there for six years. Eventually he decided the only way down was to jump. It later transpired that to open the door you had to push, not pull, adding credence to the claims that the door was always open for him, but perhaps, by that time, he'd had enough.
Brosnan had been shown the executive suites of Bond Towers before and offered the top job. However, Brozzer was contracted as a Steele worker, so couldn't take it. But he knew his time would come. Eventually Brosnan was hired. Having waited so long, he jumped into the first job with gusto, and did a great job. After that he discovered the office had a free bar and restaurant. It was on the floor above the gym, which Brosnan never ended up using. The next few jobs were less than up to par. After a real balls up, Babs and Michael took him up to the roof. Brosnan leant over the edge to see how far he could go before Babs and Mike would pull him back. Unfortunately he leant too far, and as he teetered on the edge, Broccoli and Wilson took their hands away, thumbing their noses at him as the weight of all that Guinness pulled him over. He landed right into a pile of duds and Nivea commercials.
(Seve) great stuff, however...
The official story was that, while showing a close friend of his around Bond Towers, Lazenby went up on to the roof and saw an even flasher building across the way. His friend persuaded him that he could easily jump from one tower to the other... but it turned out that he couldn’t
The truth was that he was hired as the caretaker, but he upset many of the tenants by holding wild parties in the penthouse while the owner was away and half of them moved out. When the owner came back he told Lazza he would have to go, but for the sake of appearances he would let him resign.
Twenty years later Bond Towers was starting to show it’s age and a new contractor called Dalton was called in to do the renovations. At first he just gave the outside a new coat of paint, but then he started knocking down a few internal walls and cracks started to appear in the foundations. Work had to be suspended for five years while a survey undertaken to assess if there was any permanent structural damage. It was found that the new work didn’t comply with council regulations and so regretfully the owner told Dalton that he would have to let him go, although for the sake of appearances, he would be allowed to resign.
The owner went down to the local pub to tell his hard luck story and drown his sorrows. All the punters there recommended he hire Brosnan to take over the renovation project. Brosnan came in and plastered over the cracks, then he suggested they should add some extra floors on the top of Bond Towers, in order to match other new tower blocks that were going up at that time. He recommended using flash new CGI building materials, but unfortunately he decided to get them on the cheap from a mate of his down at the local market. After a while the complaints started to mount up, the noise of the wind blowing through the CGI was keeping people awake at night and damp was seeping in where the old cracks had been plastered over. The owner told Brozza he would have to go, but for the sake of appearances he would let him resign. At first Brosnan was angry and told everyone who would listen that he had been fired. However about ten years later he began to tell a slightly different story, having cooled off and considered the bigger picture of the legacy
Eventually it was decided the Bond Towers would have to be torn down and rebuilt from the ground up...
EON production.....
"Seven Times Is Not Enough".....
Roger Moore (insert other avtors names)
JB will return in "Licence to Old Folks Home"
*chuckles like Zorin*
Sorry DC I missed this question. I don't dislike Dalton, I simply don't always enjoy his performances and he ranks bottom of the Bonds with me (but then, someone has to).
As far as TLD goes I'm glad it was Dalton rather than Moore. I love Sir Rog, but enough's enough, a younger man was desperately needed. I remember Dalton being cast and I was excited than a new Bond was on his way, and an actor who in Wuthering Heights in the early 70s had shown so much promise. Finally he could fulfill his promise.
Well, in my eyes he didn't, but he was still interesting casting.
Well you are not wrong. He did quit, but the only distinction I would make is that it does appear that Eon did reach a point where they didn't want anything to do with him. That even if Sean wasn't available, George was no longer an option. Compare with an actor that can misbehave, but the production company will put up with him, because he really is the guy they want. But you do make a compelling case for Laz as having quit, so I won't quibble, but I will say that all of Laz, Dalts and Broz ultimately became not the first choice of the producers.
Here's the link to the full article - http://www.gq.com/story/pierce-brosnan-bond-fired-interview
Says it all.