James Bond has been played by six different actors across more than 60 years of movies, and everybody seems to have their favorite. Some prefer Sean Connery, others grew up with Roger Moore, and plenty still consider Daniel Craig the definitive 007. But it turns out that having the wrong Bond can also cost a studio a director, and one of Hollywood's biggest action filmmakers has revealed that he actually turned down the chance to join the franchise because he didn't like the man wearing the tuxedo.
Speaking exclusively with Collider's Steve Weintraub while promoting his new action thriller The Beast, director Renny Harlin revealed that he was once offered the chance to direct a James Bond movie, but turned it down because Timothy Dalton wasn't his preferred choice for the character. Harlin, whose credits include Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, and Deep Blue Sea, explained that he had even met with longtime Bond producer Barbara Broccoli before deciding he couldn't commit to the project. When Weintraub asked which movie he had almost directed that might surprise people, Harlin recalled, "I was offered a James Bond movie in the early ‘90s, mid-90s. It was Daylights. I had the meeting with Barbara Broccoli and the whole team and everything. Of course, I wanted to be part of the James Bond legacy." He continued, explaining:
"I'll be frankly, completely honest and say the reason I didn't do it was I told them, and totally, honestly, this is with no disrespect to this actor, but Timothy Dalton was at that point Bond, and I said, 'He's not my Bond. I love this series, and I think my Bond is a different guy.' And I said, 'If you cast a new Bond,' which happens every few years, 'then I'm totally in. But I'm not going to do a Timothy Dalton Bond movie.' So we parted ways, and then maybe two years went by, and then they made the next Bond movie, and they replaced Timothy Dalton. So, Timothy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you fired or anything, but it's like, why couldn't they do it when I was there anyhow?"
Could Renny Harlin Have Directed Pierce Brosnan's James Bond?
Keith Hamshere/Mgm/Eon/Kobal/Shutterstock
Dalton played Bond in just two movies, The Living Daylights in 1987 and Licence to Kill in 1989, before leaving the franchise. Pierce Brosnan eventually took over for 1995's GoldenEye, which brought 007 back to theaters after a six-year absence. Harlin was one of the go-to action directors in the early 1990s, following his success with Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger, both of which demonstrated his eye for thrills and also an ability to deliver at the box office, both qualities that would have been valued by those behind Bond. There is one detail worth noting, however. Harlin refers to The Living Daylights during the interview, although that movie was released in 1987, several years before the early-to-mid-1990s period he describes.
The director ultimately never got his chance to make a Bond movie, but he's still making action thrillers nearly four decades after his Hollywood breakthrough. His latest, The Beast, stars Samuel L. Jackson and Joel Kinnaman in a story about a coup against the United States government that forces the president to use the presidential limousine's classified defensive and offensive capabilities to survive.
Image via United Artists
Keith Hamshere/Mgm/Eon/Kobal/Shutterstock
English (US) ·