The
Sinking Ship
Pierce Brosnan, on returning to Bond
This is a work in progress.
Here you will find quotes from Pierce Brosnan on returning to the role of James
Bond
Keep in mind that the Daniel Craig wasn’t officially named until October
14th 2005.
(Oct 17, 2005)
Pierce Brosnan thinks Bond producers will regret dropping
him
Former 007 star Pierce Brosnan is convinced James Bond producers are already
regretting their decision to replace him with younger star Daniel Craig.
The Irish actor, 52, was heartbroken at being dropped from the role of the
suave superspy, and he is certain movie bosses have made a huge mistake.
He says, "Whether they made the right choice, who knows? They're probably
scared s**tless, thinking, 'What have we done?'"
British actor Craig, who is the first blond Bond, was officially named as
Brosnan's replacement at a London press conference on Friday (14 October 05).
(October 7th 2005)
BATTLE ROYALE
As James Bond producers struggle with casting troubles, ousted
Brosnan offers a solution: himself
“Casino Royale,” the new James Bond film, is three months away from commencing
filming, and after months of wrangling, producers still haven’t found an actor
to slip into 007’s shoulder holster.
But the man who was fired from the role, Pierce Brosnan, said Friday that
producers could solve their $150 million problem simply by picking up the phone.
“They know where to find me,” Brosnan said. “Would I go back if they
asked me back? Sure I’d go back.”
In an exclusive interview with The Chronicle, Brosnan, who has made no secret
of the anger he felt at producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli for
being dumped after starring in four successful films that revitalized the Bond
franchise, now says he is ready to put bad feelings aside to go on one more
mission.
“No question; it’s unfinished business,” said Brosnan, who was in Mill
Valley to introduce “The Matador,” which opened the Mill Valley Film Festival. “It
feels that way.”
The 52-year-old Brosnan, who assumed the role in 1995’s “GoldenEye,” the first
Bond film after a six-year hiatus, and appeared in the last entry, “Die Another
Day” (2002), was dropped from the role in the summer of 2004 by Wilson and
Broccoli, who reportedly wanted to attract a younger audience with a more
youthful Bond.
“They just changed their minds; they had a different take on it one day,”
Brosnan said. “I was invited back to do the fifth and I was very happy. … And
the phone just (rang) one day and negotiations stopped. To this day I’m not sure
why.
“I was terribly upset. It was a real body blow. I thought I’d made some good
inroads with the character and felt a sense of ownership after having played him
four times, it was a sense of ease and confidence. I was looking forward to
making it edgier and grittier — and for all of that to go down in one phone call
was highly disappointing.”
But as the months progressed, two things happened. First, Clive Owen, thought to
be the first choice to succeed Brosnan, flatly turned down the role. Currently,
“Layer Cake” star Daniel Craig and “Fantastic Four” villain Julian McMahon are
currently thought to be the frontrunners; many others have tested.
Second, MGM has been taken over by Sony. Amy Pascal, chair of Sony Pictures,
has convened two “007 summits,” according to the British newspaper Sunday Times.
The Bond franchise is the studio’s most profitable commodity, and at a time of
corporate and box-office uncertainty, rumors persist that the studio would
prefer a proven winner in the role.
Brosnan’s four films have grossed a combined $1.45 billion worldwide.
Brosnan thinks the producers and Sony might have painted themselves into a
corner. But after his very public sacking, how could he go back?
The answer, it seems, is a friendship that goes back a quarter of a century.
Brosnan first met the Broccoli family in 1980, when his first wife, the late
Cassandra Harris, was a Bond girl in “For Your Eyes Only.” He was thought to be
the heir apparent to Roger Moore in the late ’80s, but his NBC contract with the
series “Remington Steele” precluded the move; Timothy Dalton assumed the role
for two financially disappointing films before the series took a hiatus.
When MGM and original Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli restarted the series in
1995, Brosnan was ready. Broccoli died in 1996, and his stepson, Wilson, and
daughter Barbara assumed stewardship of the series.
“Michael and Barbara, our families have known each other for many, many years —
it’s very hard to talk about their feelings or why they had a crisis of
confidence in doing a fifth,” Brosnan said. “There have been preposterous
ideas that I was asking for $40 million and $30 million, which is not true.
There was certainly a salary there that was not out of the ballpark, that other
men and women have received for the same (type of film).”
Brosnan begins shooting “Seraphim Falls,” a Civil War film with co-star Liam
Neeson, next week, and has a full slate scheduled for 2006, including a sequel
to his most successful non-Bond film, “The Thomas Crown Affair.”
However, Brosnan said he’d clear his schedule for “Casino Royale,” in which
he would be reunited with “GoldenEye” director Martin Campbell.
“Everything’s movable and doable,” Brosnan said. “Nothing’s set
in stone.”
(September 12th 2005)
Pierce Brosnan Set For James Bond Return
Expecting someone else? As the saying goes in Bond-lore, "never say never"!
The turf war over the casting of James Bond for the forthcoming movie "Casino
Royale" is about to end. If the trade press reports are anything to go by,
Sony, who took over MGM earlier in the year, have been turning down candidates
for the "vacant" 007 role proposed by the producers right, left and centre.
The casting of 007 is down to four people: Amy Pascal (Sony), Michael G. Wilson
and Barbara Broccoli (Eon Productions producers), and Martin Campbell (director
of "Casino Royale"). Each party have had their favourites, and due to the
much reported failure to find a suitable replacement by the producers, despite
their wide reaching casting calls, Sony has come to the inevitable conclusion:
if it's not broke, don't fix it.
Pierce Brosnan has been hinting to the media over the past few days that the
situation has changed and he was willing to step back into the tuxedo for a
fifth and final time - if the call from the producers came.
Following his `Editors Special Award` earlier this month, Brosnan gave an
interview with GQ that revealed the true state of affairs.
On the subject of his pay demands for a fifth movie, which was over hyped and
overblown by the tabloid press to a staggering figure of £20m ($35m USD),
Brosnan set the record straight: "Twenty million? Oh no, rubbish. Oh for
God's sake. Bollocks. No way. No, it was a handsome figure of maybe £10 million
or something like that. Given what the films make it was a spit in the bucket. I
wasn't being greedy. The age issue? Bollocks to that, too."
MI6 exclusively reported back in February that the figure Brosnan was
allegedly asking for was actually £10m ($17m USD) - a figure now confirmed by
Brosnan himself and not that staggering considering he was reportedly paid
around $16.5m USD (~£10m) for "Die Another Day". The "too old" rumours which
first started in the tabloid press and internet sites back in February 2004 have
also been quashed many times.
So what do Sony think about their newly acquired franchise being stalled due to
the vacant lead role?
Brosnan candidly explained, "Sony are pulling their hair out over it,
apparently. I was in their offices just a few weeks ago pitching Thomas Crown 2.
They said, "come back" and I said "it's not up to me, guys."
"I think I was caught up between the egos of the producers and the studios,
really. They (the producers) didn't know whether to go younger, they didn't know
what to do, period. I don't know what the truth is. It could be as honest as
that, but it seems strange, especially as each film made more and more money."
But Eon Producers have been silent on the whole affair ever since the first
headlines speculated that Brosnan's tenure as 007 was over. "Maybe it's all a
big, clever ploy just to bang the drum. We've seen it over the years with Sean
and Roger" said Brosnan in the GQ interview.
Latest News
MI6 has learned that Pierce Brosnan is now the top contender for the role of
James Bond in "Casino Royale" after all, due to studio pressure and the lack of
an obvious candidate to replace him. No date has been set for an official
announcement on the role, but news it imminent.
The major shooting location for "Casino Royale" will move to an Atlantic island
off the east coast of the USA, and not South Africa as originally planned.
Pre-production is on schedule and filming is still set to commence in early
January 2006.