The villain Bond could not defeat
Image: TMDBThe project became entangled in legal and business disputes involving the producers and MGM/UA during the studio's turbulent ownership period.
Development could only go so far while the future of the franchise remained uncertain. The intended return slipped away, and the gap after Licence to Kill continued to grow.
Dalton eventually announced his departure in 1994 — at 48, five years after his last film. The series returned with Pierce Brosnan in GoldenEye the following year.
It is tempting to describe that film as Dalton's third adventure with a different actor inserted. The history is more complicated: the Hong Kong and robotics project discussed here was a distinct story, although development of the next Bond film eventually led to GoldenEye.
The missing Dalton adventure was defeated by circumstances far less cinematic than its screenplay.
No missile countdown. No collapsing headquarters. Just a production unable to get moving.
