Not many long-running film series get to decide when their final entry will be. It’s usually a box-office flop that kills any chance of the next sequel until, years later, a possible reboot. But this was definitely on the mind of producer Cubby Broccoli and star Timothy Dalton when production on ‘Licence To Kill’ was wrapping up. They had run out of Ian Fleming titles and scraped together bits so far unused from the novels. Dalton went so far as to say he felt it might be the last 007 outing in an interview for the film. Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson also cast doubt on the future of the series in a press piece after the film was released but before the long legal action did in fact put them on hiatus for years.
Looking back now, is ‘Licence To Kill’ a good bookend for the original unbroken run of films? Bond quits the secret service (for real this time, not just taking some paid leave), to the point where MI6 is trying to get him off the field by any means necessary. All’s well that ends well though, with M offering Bond his job back at the end of the adventure. With Bond putting the phone down on London and jumping in the pool with Pam, in the last draft before the shooting script was changed, it is revealed that she had stashed a chunk of Sanchez’s cash in her plane and the two could run off into the world together.
It is a shame that this little character detail was taken out, as if things had worked out differently in the 1990s, this may have been the last Bond film for much longer than the eventual six-year gap. Aside from the maligned winking fish motif, it can be argued that this marks the end of the last chapter of the continuous run of films: 1962-1989. Do you feel this was intentional at the time, or just fans retconning franchise history?
News
A big concert will mark the 60th anniversary of the James Bond film series at the Royal Albert Hall on October 4th. Tickets for The Sound of 007 in Concert are on sale now! It is being curated by composer David Arnold and will feature title song artists Dame Shirley Bassey and Garbage amongst other musical guests yet to be announced. The last time we saw an event like this was for the 50th anniversary, so be sure not to miss this if you can be in London!
“You can watch it all on TV. It's the last program you're likely to see.”
ITV has had a nasty habit of showing the same Bond film that is re-releasing in cinemas in the UK on Saturday night in primetime. Whether this is just a coincidence that the broadcaster plans to end the run of films on the same 60th anniversary weekend remains to be seen (no terrestrial TV premiere of ‘No Time To Die’ has been announced yet) but it may have made some negative dent in the box-office. Regardless, 007 is pulling in decent ratings for the UK’s biggest commercial channel in one of the most prestigious slots in the schedule. Recent official BARB ratings for films include:
1.1m The Spy Who Loved Me - Sat 25th June @ 8pm
1.279m The Living Daylights - Sat 23rd July @ 8pm
1.025m Goldfinger - Sun 24th July @ 4pm
Listen
It’s a Timothy Dalton double-header as we took a week’s summer vacation from Last Week In Bond. With Dalton’s films back in UK cinemas, we assembled two different James Bond & Friends panels to discuss the most impactful elements of each of his films.
Watch
Duran Duran is on tour and playing ‘A View To A Kill’ in their set. Here they are at the Rock in Rio Lisboa on 25th June 2022 (starts at 13:30).
MI6 Archives
A few months before ‘Licence To Kill’ opened in the USA, the latest actress to take on the iconic Bond Girl role, Carey Lowell, appeared in the March 1989 issue of Vogue.
Exit Through The Gift Shop
A one-off Bluray Steelbook for ‘Dr. No’ will be released in October in the UK to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the film. Shockingly, it is just a regular HD release and not 4K, but it does come with some reproduction artwork and a cardboard dragon tank you can build.
You can pre-order it via Amazon UK.
More Bond
In need of some daily 007? Check out our other outlets: