10 Awesome Planned Movie Cameos (That Sadly Never Happened)

The old “James Bond is a codename” theory refuses to die, despite a wealth of evidence debunking it. The idea of making it canon was briefly flirted with during production of Die Another Day, where the director wanted to feature a Sean Connery cameo to mark the fortieth anniversary of the series. Neither the producers nor Connery thought it was a good idea.

With Skyfall the series celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, so a Connery cameo was mooted again. In Skyfall’s third act Bond heads to his childhood home Skyfall Lodge, and the role of kindly groundskeeper Kincade was briefly earmarked for Sean. It would have been a great surprise for Bond fans but Sam Mendes decided against it, feeling it would be too distracting.

That said, there’s an unconfirmed report Connery actually did agree and even shot rehearsal footage. In this version, Skyfall was a home for retired agents, with Connery playing a 00 agent whose identity is left up to the imagination. Connery’s health forced him to step away, so the script was rewritten to make Skyfall Bond’s home instead.

This report sounds extremely unlikely, though, since Connery retired from acting in 2003.

Can you think of any other planned cameos that didn't happen, and which of the cameos mentioned here would you most like to have seen? Share you thoughts in the comments below.