The original script for James Bond reboot after Roger Moore’s departure in the 1980s feels like another Indiana Jones film than a Bond film. Whenever a Bond actor retires from the role, producers don’t just have to find a new actor to don the tuxedo; they need to find a way to reinvent the franchise. They ended up following the silly, tongue-in-cheek humor of Moore’s tenure with the darker, grittier, more faithful Timothy Dalton Bond films – but that wasn’t their first thought.
When Moore left the role of 007 after A vision for a deathhe was widely criticized for having aged out of the role. To combat these complaints, the producers initially planned to reboot the series with a much younger Bond earlier in his career. Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson began working on the script, but the project was eventually abandoned. And it’s probably for the best because, based on the details that have since been revealed, it looks like yet another Indiana Jones film than a Bond film.
A scrapped 1980s James Bond script looks suspiciously like Indiana Jones
It’s a jungle adventure about a search for lost gold
Unproduced screenplay by Maibaum and Wilson would have been an origin story revolving around a twenty-something Bond. Motivated by his family’s legacy, Bond would join the Secret Intelligence Service and embark on a mission in Asia with an older agent — the current 007 — who would guide him. The villain would be a warlord named Kwang, who operates within the Golden Triangle as an arms and opium trafficker. With its jungle setting, its villain searching for lost gold, and its final battle set in a tomb, this script sounds more like a Indiana Jones film than a James Bond film.
Broccoli liked the script, but felt the underlying premise was fundamentally flawed. He thought audiences would reject a story about a rookie Bond still learning the ropes.
Although Maibaum and Wilson were happy with the script, it was ultimately discarded by producer Albert R. Broccoli. Broccoli liked the script, but felt the underlying premise was fundamentally flawed. He thought audiences would reject a story about a rookie Bond still learning the ropes, especially after the box office failure of Young Sherlock Holmes. Ironically, a decade after Broccoli’s death, his daughter Barbara Broccoli produced a 007 origin story, Royal Casinowhich became one of the most popular Bond films.
Why James Bond’s Indiana Jones-Style Movie Plan Would Have Been A Risk
Could have been another Moonraker
In theory, a Indiana Jones-style James Bond movie looks cool. Indiana Jones after all, it was heavily influenced by the Bond franchise. But Indy’s adventures have their own style that deviates from the norms of a Bond film. If the Bond franchise had produced a film in the style Raiders of the Lost Arkso it may have seemed very enigmatic and strangeas Die another day or the bizarre (but underrated) Moonraker.