There has been much speculation over the years about what shape a third Timothy Dalton Bond film may have taken had he fulfilled his three-Bonds contract. The latest issue of the UK’s popular and glossy sci-fi, fantasy and cult film and TV magazine Infinity has a fascinating article on the Bond movie that never was – Dalton’s third unmade 007 adventure.
The magazine has been very generous to Bond fans in recent years with quality articles and celebrations of the 007 franchise, and this article maintains this high standard. Penned by Barry McCann, the Infinity article suggests that the third Dalton 007 film, had it gone ahead, would have marked a notable new direction for the series. As McCann also observes, many Bond fans regret that Dalton’s tenure as 007 was cut off after just two movies, The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989), both directed by John Glen. Dalton was due to start work on a third 007 adventure, but particular circumstances connected with the complex and controversial wheeling and dealing over the ownership of the studios – unfortunately – sabotaged the plan.
Interestingly, a third Dalton film would have been with a new director and a new screenwriter. John Glen was informed that, having directed five Bond films in a row, his services would no longer be needed. The veteran screenwriter Richard Maibaum, who had worked on 13 Bond movies, was also retired. EON sought a new writer to collaborate with Michael G. Wilson on a screenplay more suited for the 1990s, and settled on Alfonse Ruggiero Jr, who had worked on the TV series Airwolf.
Bond 17
McCann’s Infinity article explores the ideas and scenarios for ‘Bond 17’ that resulted from this collaboration, the basics of which were in place by July, 1990, and which envisaged a very modern and hi-tech storyline concerning the weaponisation of advanced new technology and robotics. The locations envisaged included Scotland, South America, Japan and Hong Kong. MI6 would be subject to the overall influence of a new a younger boss at the Ministry of Defence (MOD), Nigel Yupland, who regards M’s MI6 as anachronistic, and views the double-o section and Bond with scepticism – as a product of the Cold War (something that, in a sense, was retained for Judi Dench’s ‘M’ in Goldeneye). The MOD boss also has little time for ‘Q’ and his gadgets.
The main villain was a 30-year-old British-Chinese electronics expert, Sir Henry Lee Ching, who supplies robotic devices to major companies across the globe and also has a huge stake in the world’s arms industry. He also happens to be a friend of Nigel Yupland. With these sensitivities in mind, ‘M’ orders Bond to investigate Lee Ching and his business operations, and 007 discovers the devious entrepreneur is using his robotic devices to arrange ‘accidents’ at power plants. Lee Ching is also planning to release a devastating computer virus if the UK does not withdraw from Hong Kong (remember, this is 1990!).
There is plenty of detail in McCann’s description of the ‘Bond 17’ storyline, including on some intriguing ideas that were probably taken up later for Brosnan’s Tomorrow Never Dies and Die Another Day. As McCann notes, the Bond 17 synopsis aimed at returning to a glossy action romp with more fun back in the proceedings, with a reinstatement of Bond’s rakish wit that Dalton could have balanced with the darker intensity of his characterisation of 007.
So Close, Yet…
As Bond historians now know, producer Cubby Broccoli had approved the storyline and was enthusiastic to go forward with Dalton for the star’s third Bond film. Dalton himself was happy with the script, and the movie had an intended starting date of November, 1990. However, it became a tale of a film that was so close to being made, yet would slip through Dalton’s hands. Frustratingly, complexities over the sale of MGM/UA intervened, and Cubby was forced to consult his lawyers and put a halt on Bond production. Filming could not go ahead until all this was sorted out. In the meantime, Barbara Broccoli used the delay to call in two more writers to polish up the screenplay, the British duo William Osborne and William Davies, who had worked on the comedy Twins (1988).
The writing duo apparently came up with very different interpretations of the Wilson/Ruggiero Jr storyline, and also closely consulted Timothy Dalton to get his input on what they envisaged. Their version of Bond saw him as beginning to feel his age and have more doubts about his fitness to be a secret agent (a bit like the themes of the much later Skyfall), but still very much up for the task in hand. Their storyline also renamed the main villain, who was now the industrialist Sir Henry Ferguson, and included Las Vegas as an additional location in the middle section of the film (with 007 fighting it out with some female body-builders, reminiscent of Diamonds Are Forever). EON were keen to have Anthony Hopkins on board as the main villain, especially as he and Dalton had previously worked together so successfully in the award-winning historical drama The Lion in Winter (1968).
However, as McCann notes, the Osborne and Davies screenplay was about as far as the original Bond 17 project would progress, and has since fostered a few persistent myths, including one that the film was going to be entitled (after the Ian Fleming title) The Property of a Lady (which is incorrect). Moreover, by the time all the complex legal wrangles had been resolved in 1993, EON had decided that the storyline based around Hong Kong had lost its currency and that, in light of the end of the Cold War, a new plot was required that reflected better the new post-Soviet world. Screenwriter Michael France was hired to pen a story which became the outline basis for what became Goldeneye.
Dalton, perhaps sensing that MGM/UA also now wanted a new actor in the role, also decided to bow out. There is plenty of evidence that Cubby Broccoli wanted to retain the ever-loyal Dalton in the role of 007, but MGM/UA wanted to take the series in a new direction, with more targeting of a younger audience and a more ‘fun’ approach. Pierce Brosnan, having come so close to being Bond back in 1986, was finally given his chance by EON. The rest, as they say, is familiar history. The Michael France script was rewritten by Jeffery Caine and Bruce Ferstein, and Brosnan made his debut as 007 in Goldeneye (1995).
McCann’s article is rich in detail and he makes a fine job of unpacking the story of Dalton’s unmade third Bond film. If you love the dramatic ins and outs of Bond history, and also appreciate the Dalton films, this is a must-buy edition of Infinity. Issue no. 87 is on sale now at all good retail outlets, priced GBP £4.99, Can $15.99 and US $12.00.
