8 Things We Learned From The Lost Adventures Of James Bond Book
3. There Was To Be A Villain Spin-Off Movie
Following the release of Pierce Brosnan's Tomorrow Never Dies in 1997, MGM actually had plans to do a spin-off movie of sorts centred on Vincent Schiavelli's Dr Kaufman.
The Dr Kaufman character was only a supporting villain in that '97 picture, but this planned spin-off would've seen him take centre-stage in a prequel film.
As detailed by former MGM/United Artists EVP Jeff Kleeman in The Lost Adventures of James Bond:
After the release of Tomorrow Never Dies, at UA we became very interested in making two spin-off movies. One would be a kind of prequel centered on Dr Kaufman, the Vincent Schiavelli character. Think of it as our Better Call Saul. It would have been a one-off movie. Something fun, unexpected, and a bit eccentric.
The other spin-off discussed? That would've be a movie focussing on Michelle Yeoh's Wai Lin character.
Rough plot outlines were in place, with it believed that Brosnan would also likely have made a cameo in the Wai Lin picture. Ultimately though, conversations at the top of the food chain thought it wise to focus attention and finances on other projects rather than moving forward with either of these spin-offs.