A Cancelled James Bond Remake Might Have Revived Timothy Dalton's 007

Few James Bond adventures have had as many legal headaches attached to its legacy as "Thunderball." EON Productions ran a relatively tight ship when it came to maintaining the 007 brand for over six decades, but there was one series creative that gave them a decades-spanning struggle in the name of writer-producer Kevin McClory.

Only a few years before "Dr. No" introduced movie audiences to the suave super spy, McClory collaborated with Bond scribe Ian Fleming, in addition to screenwriter Jack Whittingham, on a potential screen adaptation. Their plans ultimately fell through and all went their separate ways. Things turned contentious, however, when McClory discovered that Fleming had not only taken the meat of the drafts they wrote together to form his novel "Thunderball," but he also didn't credit him.

McClory sued and ultimately won his case, ensuring that anything having to do with "Thunderball" moving forward would have to credit him too. EON ambassadors Harry R. Saltzman and Albert Broccoli struck a deal with him to be able to move forward on "Thunderball" as a feature, but at the same time, their agreement also noted that McClory couldn't option another version for at least a decade.

With the help of producer Jack Schwartzman, "Thunderball" was remade nearly two decades later into the unofficial Sean Connnery revival of Bond in "Never Say Never Again" with McClory as executive producer. In the years to follow, however, it became clear he was itching to get as much mileage out of his partial ownership as he could. What was the plan? It was to essentially remake "Thunderball" for a second time, one that nearly featured another 007 alum reprising his role outside of the main series: Timothy Dalton.

Despite only starring in only two Bond vehicles (1987's "The Living Daylights" and 1989's "License to Kill"), Dalton's darker spin on the character has been cherished by Bond fans. His performances exist in this fascinating middle ground between the more lighthearted presence that preceded him in Roger Moore and the darker take that would help define Daniel Craig's tenure decades later. Dalton was a great Bond who had expressed interest in a third outing, yet fell through on account of some legal strife between MGM and EON (via The Week).

With that in mind, it makes sense that McClory felt like he could court Dalton in the same way he courted Connery. "Never Say Never Again," even to this day, is such a bizarre slice of Bond history that it doesn't even feel real. It's technically a movie about 007, but it lacks a lot of the character's official trademarks. It certainly would have been strange to see Dalton in the same predicament, especially with the foundation of the same story.

The title of McClory's unproduced second remake of "Thunderball" went under a few names, with the most prolific one being "Warhammer 2000." It sounds less like a Bond title and more of an CD-ROM game produced during the turn of the millennium. Not much is known about how it would have distinguished itself from "Thunderball" or "Never Say Never Again," but I think it's safe to say that the project's shuttering was a great idea all around.

"Warhammer 2000" emerged out of McClory wanting to make his own competing series of Bond movies. In 1997, Sony had announced that they were working closely with him, much to the chagrin of MGM and EON Productions (via Variety). The plans shuttered in 1999 after Sony and MGM settled their contention out of court after a series of back-and-forth lawsuits that argued the legitimacy of McClory's input on the 007 film franchise as a whole. The settlement pretty much meant that Sony wouldn't make any Bond movies — at least for the time being.

Sony ended up purchasing the rights to the MGM library in 2005, which led them to distribute Daniel Craig's first 007 adventure "Casino Royale." Up until "No Time to Die," the Bond films were mostly still in control of MGM and EON Productions. Even when the MGM library was sold to Amazon, Michael G. Wilson and Barabara Broccoli still had a lot of creative input. But now that Amazon MGM Studios has sole ownership over everything 007, the franchise is heading into uncharted territory, a notion that has fans feeling fearful of its future. They could technically bring Dalton back into the foray as an older Bond if they wanted to, although I can't envision a world where that would be a good idea. It's time to bring in some new blood.

As for McClory, about seven years after the writer-producer passed away in 2006, his estate had reached a settlement with MGM that reverted all of his "Thunderball" rights back to the studio (via The Hollywood Reporter). Therefore, they now belong to Amazon MGM Studios. The once fruitful idea of a competing Bond series is now pretty much null and void.