The James Bond franchise was almost on the verge of extinction until Martin Campbell breathed life into the franchise twice. Coming up with two back-to-back reboots, Pierce Brosnan’s Goldeneye and Daniel Craig’s Casino Royale, Campbell marked a great success for the film series.
However, after the success of the Daniel Craig-led reboot in 2006, Martin Campbell refused to come back to the series. No one knew why the director didn’t want to return, until his interview for his action-thriller, The Protégé. During the 2021 interview, Campbell disclosed his reasons.
Martin Campbell Refused to Return for James Bond Sequels
There is no denying that Ian Fleming’s James Bond is the most renowned spy character of all time. All thanks to the book adaptations that remained timeless classics through generations. Playing the titular character of 007, several Hollywood stars have gained prominence in the industry.
But, there came a time in the early 90s, when the James Bond films were starting to lose their touch. After John Glen’s License to Kill (1989) featuring Timothy Dalton nearly failed to make an impact, the franchise nearly reached the verge of losing viewership and fanbase. But luckily the franchise was saved by Martin Campbell.
Campbell took control of the reins and came up with GoldenEye (1995) featuring Pierce Brosnan. His sequel surprisingly revived the franchise to its glory and the director thereafter came up with Casino Royale (2006) featuring Daniel Craig. But following his 2006 sequel, Campbell purposefully refused to return to the Bond franchise.
Daniel Craig’s Casino Royale Director Stated His Reasons
Despite breathing life into the James Bond franchise Martin Campbell took off after Daniel Craig-led Casino Royale achieved its commercial success. No one knew why the director never returned to the franchise, but all were curious. Thus in 2021 Campbell finally addressed the reason why he refused to direct more Bond movies.
Speaking with Slashfilm in 2021, during the promotion of his action-thriller, The Protégé, Martin Campbell stated his reasons behind quitting the James Bond franchise. Clearly stating how there was not much to discover with the Bond series, Campbell mentioned taking off from the renowned franchise.
“I felt I did my part with Goldeneye. I just felt, how many control rooms can I blow up? It’ll be a differently designed control room, but I’ll still be blowing it up. There will still be nutcases wanting to take over the world.”
“Also, with Bond, his character is his character. You’re not discovering much more if you see what I mean. So, that was the reason I decided to back off doing more with the exception of Casino Royale.”
Thus, eventually, as Martin Campbell felt there was no character development and rarely anything more to discover, he left the franchise, once and for all.
Watch the James Bond movies on Prime Video.
