THE 21st CENTURY

Pierce Brosnan proved to be the real deal. He was the most popular Bond since Sean Connery, with the charm of Roger Moore and even some of the earnest acting chops of Timothy Dalton.

Unfortunately, he had to prove it through some mediocre films (one of which - Tomorrow Never Dies - even he didn't like). So for The World Is Not Enough, Brosnan became more vocal and demanded that the filmmakers try to find Bond's humanity again. They weren't totally successful in that film, but it did bode well for the franchise that they had started to think about it more. They even hired a good actress to appear in the next film: Oscar-winner Halle Berry, to co-star in Die Another Day, which was the first Bond film I've ever watched where I couldn't tell you what the plot was afterwards.

From an interview in the Scotland Herald with Pierce Brosnan, promoting The World Is Not Enough: "... This is the nineteenth instalment in the official Bond series and the producers are giving nothing away about No 20, though they do now have the rights to Casino Royale, filmed in the sixties as a spoof with David Niven and Woody Allen." (Not to mention a TV show in the fifties.)

"Ian Fleming's novel - the first in the series - had a strong emphasis on character, suspense and Bond's doomed love affair with Vesper Lynd; and Brosnan is very interested in the possibilities of a new version."
Meanwhile, Kevin McClory was still at work. First he teamed with Columbia Pictures to announce the production of several James Bond movies, based on writings by Ian Fleming, McClory and Jack Whittingham. Columbia planned to release its first Bond film in 1999, but after a series of legal setbacks, bailed out. Soon after, McClory revealed that he was in talks with Australian and German film companies to co-produce alternative James Bond 007 features, beginning with a reworking of Thunderball, to be shot largely in Australia.

The identity of the new 007 was not announced, but while at Columbia, McClory was quoted as saying "No, it's not Sean Connery. He's too old for the part now. But he has said he would play the villain in a James Bond film if the price was right." He didn't, however, dismiss Timothy Dalton as a possible Bond...

But Eon finally silenced McLory in the courts. Then Sony, who bought out MGM in 2004, also owned the rights to Never Say Never Again. The studio now releases the film on TV and DVD as part of the legitimate Bond canon.

But Brosnan was canned by EON in 2005, after asking for too much money (who is he -- Blofeld???). Plus, he was starting to show his age at 52. The tailors who fitted him state that, in his first Bond movie, GoldenEye (1995), he weighed 164 pounds, the lightest actor to play Bond. However, in his fourth, Die Another Day (2002), he weighed 211 pounds, making him the heaviest actor to play Bond!

So the never-ending search for a new Bond began again. Meanwhile, Brosnan blasted Eon in the press, saying he was glad to be out of the role and was grateful that he wouldn't have to deliver any more of the pointless one-liners or puns that had replaced actual human dialogue in the films. He told Entertainment Weekly: "I had all these stupid one-liners and loathed them. I felt like such a phony... It never felt real to me and I never felt I had complete ownership of the role. I'd look at myself in the suit and tie, and think 'What the heck am I doing here'?" Oddly enough, the week that EON announced the casting of Craig, Brosnan said he wanted the part back!

Then EON finally made their choice for Bond, shocking the world: Daniel Craig would become the sixth 007, and star in Casino Royale, which would portray a young Bond on his first mission. Hopefully it will also mean the re-emergence of Felix Leiter, who was forgotten in the nineties.

FILM PROJECTS IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Die Another Day

Warhead 2001

Casino Royale

Quantum of Solace

Skyfall



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