The Lost Adventures Of James Bond - book

This sounds interesting ... a book covering the likes of the 2 Daltons that weren't made, interviewing Toby Stephens about playing Bond on the radio and other obscure, lost or forgotten bits of 007.

Possibly one either for the Christmas list, or for spending a part of those Xmas present Amazon gift cards/vouchers one might receive .

Nice find Blunty. That definitely intrigues me. A fourth Dalton for one. Yes, yes.

Aye, I have read about the 3rd (partially set in Scotland and had sci-fi-ish elements with Bond coming up against malevolent AI if memory serves ... certainly would've been interesting to see Dalton's more down-to-Earth 007 caught up in that, closest I can imagine is the level in 007 Legends based on Moonraker that you play as Craig's Bond) but similarly didn't know anything for a 4th had ever been planned.  

I see the author is our latest new member .

Hello!  So glad to see that there is already a nice discussion about the book already!  That's fantastic.

Blunt Instrument -- where did you spot that photo with the Dalton cover?  I haven't seen that pic before.

That's correct I write about Dalton's third Bond.  I don't want to give too many spoilers but there were two different versions of the same movie.  One was more of a thriller and the other was what can broadly be called an action-comedy.  

I tracked down Alfonse Ruggiero who co-wrote the unmade third film and did an interview with him.  I haven't read any interviews with him before about Bond so I think this might be an exclusive!

The Dalton cover came up as part of a Google search I did on the book.

Got it, makes sense. Thanks for letting me know.

Excuse my ignorance but why would Dalton not have done Goldeneye?....

Here's the short version. Dalton was contracted to do a third Bond film. Legal battles and studio problems prevented that third film from immediately going forward. Eon was keen to make more Bond films with Dalton and worked on scripts for him. By the time Bond 17 was gearing up, the studio wanted to find a new actor. Enter Pierce.

My new book explores different iterations of that third film, as well as a possible scenario for a fourth.

As far as I know Dalton was approached for Goldeneye, but he felt his time had passed.

The actual reason that Dalton did not play Bond in GoldenEye is a little murky. Dalton has publically said that he was willing to do the third one but that Broccoli felt that, given the time between films, that Dalton would have to commit to several. So, they parted as friends. There is also compelling evidence that the studio didn't want Dalton to play Bond in GoldenEye and that Eon reluctantly agreed to cast another actor.

But this much is not disputed: If it weren't for the six-year gap between films, Dalton would have made a third Bond film. Hopefully a fourth one too.

Ah, got the wrong end of the stick...so the proposed third film alluded to in the book was not an EON production? that's why i was asking why Daltons third film would not have been Goldeneye.
Think i need a lie down.

Silvertoe --- I got way ahead of the story and jumped to the ending.  The third and fourth films discussed in my book were Eon productions and they were for Dalton.  Their original plan was to make multiple Bond movies for Dalton.

Not to confuse the issue but I also write about a different first Bond movie for Dalton.

I've got a copy on order and had already been meaning to get the previous "Many Lives" book. I also saw part of the youtube book launching and must say the tidbits released so far are just mouth watering. I was knocked out hearing the Landis bit.

Not sure why some retailers show the Dalton cover vs the alternate. Perhaps it's a US vs UK publisher reason?

Lost Adventures of 007 wrote:

Silvertoe --- I got way ahead of the story and jumped to the ending.  The third and fourth films discussed in my book were Eon productions and they were for Dalton.  Their original plan was to make multiple Bond movies for Dalton.

Not to confuse the issue but I also write about a different first Bond movie for Dalton.

Right...Sooo why would Dalton NOT be offered Goldeneye?

Silvertoe -- It's a long story but GoldenEye and 'Bond 17' can be viewed as two different projects. Dalton would have been offered the seventeenth Bond film had it gone into production immediately following LTK. There were many different iterations of Bond 17, which I write about the book. One would have been a James Bond origin story about Bond in his younger days. There were other versions as well. However, when it came to shoot the film GoldenEye too much time had passed. And while Eon and Dalton were keen to go forward with Dalton on another film, the studio was not.

My book is about (among other things) that period when Eon was developing scripts for Dalton and Bond.

Hegottheboot --- Thanks for the question about the covers. Both versions of the book of the same content. There are two different printing outlets though with slightly different requirements. The Dalton cover is supposed to be for Amazon. The gun cover is supposed to be for bookstores/libraries. At least, that's the theory. I prefer the layout for the Dalton cover. But its essentially the same book, regardless of what cover you go with.

Lost Adventures of 007 wrote:

Silvertoe -- It's a long story but GoldenEye and 'Bond 17' can be viewed as two different projects.  Dalton would have been offered the seventeenth Bond film had it gone into production immediately following LTK.  There were many different iterations of Bond 17, which I write about the book. One would have been a James Bond origin story about Bond in his younger days. There were other versions as well.  However, when it came to shoot the film GoldenEye too much time had passed. And while Eon and Dalton were keen to go forward with Dalton on another film, the studio was not.  

My book is about (among other things) that period when Eon was developing scripts for Dalton and Bond.

Hegottheboot --- Thanks for the question about the covers.  Both versions of the book of the same content. There are two different printing outlets though with slightly different requirements.  The Dalton cover is supposed to be for Amazon.  The gun cover is supposed to be for bookstores/libraries.  At least, that's the theory.  I prefer the layout for the Dalton cover. But its essentially the same book, regardless of what cover you go with.  

I promise i'm not being purposely difficult,i am genuinely interested in how the process works, are you saying that scripts are written for the particular actor and not the character? I mean why would Goldeneye had Dalton done Bond 17 not have been the next film and yet it was good enough for Brosnan? . I know i risk sounding stupid here but if i'm missing something forgive me.

Silvertoe-- The Bond scripts are often written for the actor but there are instances where the script is written for the character. In those cases, they might not know who the Bond actor will be but they know they want to make another film. If Dalton made a Bond film, immediately after LTK, it would have been one of the scenarios that I discuss in the book. It would not have been the exact screenplay that was used for GoldenEye because that version wasn't written yet and would have passed through the hands of many different writers. But when I say it's a long story, it's because I devote 80 or so pages of The Lost Adventures of JB taking the reader through the evolution. You might also be interested in my other book The Many Lives of James Bond, where I interview Bond creatives about the evolution of Bond stories in film, comics, books, etc..

Indeed...Thanks for your patience,now i geddit.

Shades of an ironpony thread for a time there, but we got there in the end.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Shades of an ironpony thread for a time there, but we got there in the end.

Care to explain? ....Seems you are implying Ironpony is stupid or that i am stupid or both.

Felt like it was going in circles for a bit, is all.

As an FYI, the book isn't just about Dalton's unmade films. I also explore unexplored ideas in the Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan era. I also look at Bond comics, video games, and books. There's also a rare interview with Toby Stephens about his excellent radio dramas. I haven't seen Stephens talk about Bond much. So it was great to get his thoughts on playing 007.

More I read, the more I must check out the book in the new year. The Dalton aspect was the hook but seeing just above about Moore/Brosnan, I'm intrigued.

Yes, it's firmly on my shopping list too.

Hilly and Blunt Instrument --- Hooray. That delights me to no end!