Irish star Pierce Brosnan has been a charismatic 007 in the highly celebrated action franchise. Brosnan was the fifth actor to play the titular spy James Bond in four films in the franchise until his departure from the series after the 2002 movie, Die Another Day.
Brosnan’s James Bond was also a hit spectacle in the cinematic universe of the character. As much as he would have liked to continue the saga in the spy thriller series, he was fired from the franchise and it was pretty disappointing for him.
Pierce Brosnan Was Fired From James Bond Franchise
Pierce Brosnan was shocked when he heard the news that he was being replaced for the titular character, James Bond, by someone else. The actor told The Guardian,
“I was in the Bahamas, working on a movie named ‘After The Sunset’ when my agents called me and informed me that the negotiations have stopped. Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson were not quite sure what they want to do. ‘They’ll call you next Thursday’, my agents informed.”
The producers or the studio had a different plan structured for their next installment of the franchise, only it did not involve Brosnan as the lead actor. At the time, the studio was looking for a new actor to ignite the screen wearing the shoes of the character. The producers, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli informed the actor that he was no longer a 007. Brosnan recalled,
“I was in Richard Harris’ house in the Bahamas. Producers Barbara and Michael were on the line. ‘We are so sorry,’ she was crying. Michael was stoic and said: ‘You were a great James Bond. Thank you very much.’ And I replied: ‘Thank you very much, Goodbye.’ That was it. I was utterly shocked and just kicked to the curb with the way it went down.”
The 70-year-old actor, however, wanted to go on one more mission and he was ready to set aside the conflict for the sake of the role as he felt it was unfinished.
Pierce Brosnan Was Upset With His Departure
Brosnan was very close to the franchise and he also had a good relationship with the producers. But for the actor, the sudden end of his tenure as Bond was unexpected, and it left him devastated. “They just changed their minds; they had a different take on it one day,” Brosnan said revealing that a fifth Bond film was in talks already when it all happened.
“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.”
He said,
“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.”
Brosnan’s tenure as James Bond was a grand success as the four films of his tenure grossed over a combined $1.45 billion globally. Later, he was replaced by Daniel Craig in the $7.8 billion franchise (all James Bond films combined), as the studio reportedly was looking for a younger actor to target the youth.
Pierce Brosnan recently appeared on the Netflix comedy The Out-Laws, which is currently available for streaming.
Source: SFGATE
