8 Things We Learned From The Lost Adventures Of James Bond Book

A villain spin-off? The death of Bond? We take a look at Mark Edlitz's fascinating new 007 book.

The Lost Adventures of James Bond
Bowker

When looking across the pantheon of the greatest characters in movie history, one name that so often crops up is that of James Bond.

The suave 'n' smooth - or should that be shaken not stirred? - spy antics of 007 have been wowing cinema audiences for nearly 60 years now, with the 25th entry in the franchise on the way next year in the shape of the Daniel Craig-starring No Time to Die.

Of course, Bond isn't a property solely constricted to the silver screen. Created by author Ian Fleming, James first reared his head back in 1953. And in the decades since, we've seen the James Bond IP make its way to TV screens, audio productions, video games, comic books and so much in addition to the established books and movies.

Along the way, however, there are so many great Bond stories that have been lost. Whether that's projects that ultimately didn't get off the ground, or releases that did happen but have been left in the shadows for so many years, there are numerous great 'what ifs?' and hidden gems where 007 is concerned.

Luckily, Mark Edlitz has put together The Lost Adventures of James Bond, which is a fascinating, deeply detailed read that has so much for Bond fans to devour.

Having taken a look at this book, then - and without trying to give away too much - here are eight things we learned from The Lost Adventures of James Bond.

The Book is available here:

To pick up the paperback:

https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Adventures-James-Bond-Forgotten/dp/173546161X

For the e-book:

https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Adventures-James-Bond-Forgotten-ebook/dp/B08N6XC69L

8. The Third Timothy Dalton Movie

The Lost Adventures of James Bond
Eon Productions

While Sir Sean Connery and Sir Roger Moore both got seven movies each, and Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig had four pictures a piece (and soon to be a fifth for Craig), Timothy Dalton was, at least in sheer number of appearances, one of the lesser James Bonds.

Despite impressing during his time as 007, Dalton only managed to have two outings as the iconic Bond. But as is so often the case in the movie industry, there was scope for so, so much more for Dalton's James. In fact, not only was their scope for it, there were actual plans in place for what a third Dalton 'Bond' would look like.

Following his appearances in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill, the plan for Dalton's 007 were detailed in a treatment from Michael G. Wilson and Alfonse Ruggiero.

In this film, the action would have started with a chemical weapons lab in Scotland being decimated thanks to a robotic machine going nuts. From there, the House of Commons and the Prime Minister (hopefully not Thatcher) got involved to dig deeper on this issue - which would have involved bringing in Bond for assistance.

What followed is a plot that involves a former CIA operative, a Terminator-like presence, a killer robotic car, Hong Kong, a villain with plans of global domination, and the obvious twists and turns that one would expect from a James Bond film. Also, GoldenEye was at one point being considered as the title of this movie.

Instead, a licensing disagreement meant that the Bond franchise was put on hold in the aftermath of 1989's Licence to Kill. By the time that the next 007 picture was able to happen, Dalton's contract with MGM had long since lapsed.

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