15 replies to this topic

[JoeMI3]

Hey guys, I'm Joe. I'm new to CBn and I wanted to weigh in on some forums and create some of my own. I was curious if anyone has ever heard of this before. I recently watched a TND interview with Pierce and his last question was about collaborating with Kevin McClory in the early 90s to create another Remake of Thunderball. Apparently he states they were gonna give the Broccolies "a run for their money". He says they had Japanese investers lined up, but it was pulled down by excessive paperwork and that Sony (the distributor at the time) really had no reason to do a remake of a remake of a Bond film from the 60s. Has anyone ever heard of this before?? I have never heard of this before, and I'm a pretty big Bond fan. I read online about the Dalton remake "WarHead 2000 AD" that was planned for 1999, and also how McClory wanted to get the rights to Casino Royale. If anyone wants to see the interview, I'll see if i can post the link. Thanks.

Edited by JoeMI3, 02 July 2014 - 01:43 AM.

[Guy Haines]

I must admit this is a new one on me. Then again, so many would be rival Bond projects kept being mooted by Kevin McClory and others that it wouldn't surprise me.

 

JoeMI3, have you read "The Battle For Bond" by Robert Sellers, a fascinating account of the history of "Thunderball"? It follows all the twists and turns from the first "screen treatment" by Messrs. Fleming, McClory and Whittingham, through the publication of the novel and the subsequent court case, the making of the film Thunderball, the making of Never Say Never Again, and indeed the various Bond films that Kevin McClory planned, promoted but never got around to making.

 

It is a really interesting book about Bond, and about film production generally  I bought it when it was first published, which was fortunate because it was withdrawn from sale not long afterwards and then re-printed after certain items were removed from it, for legal reasons I believe.

[Hansen]

Just bought it. Thanks for the tip, Guy

[JoeMI3]

No I have not, it sounded pretty intresting though. I love behind the scene books alot, and with Bond theres plenty to go around. Kevin McClory really wanted to milk Thunderball as much as possible, which I always found humorous.

[Terry]

Hello fellow Bond fans,  Been a while since I posted but I love this sort of topic.  Seller's BATTLE FOR BOND is one of the best books on my shelf.  I highly recommend it.  He did touch on this episode only lightly and I suspect there wasn't a lot of information available.  The earliest article I have is from the October 10th, 1989 edition of the THE DAILY EXPRESS.  Kevin McClory was talking about hiring Pierce Brosnan to do WARHEAD 8 which was to be the first of as many as eight more Bond movies (so why not WARHEAD 1?).  The Jeannie Williams column in USA Today ran the story on December 7, 1989 calling the movie, ATOMIC WARHEAD.  Brosnan reportedly held a secret meeting with McClory in Dublin.  McClory offered him one million pounds to star in the ten million pound movie.  PEOPLE magazine ran a short piece on the subject in December as well with Brosnan commenting on doing Bond, "My mind would be open if the possibility came up again.  It's like running for President--once you decide you can do the job, it's very hard to dissuade yourself."  At this time, Brosnan's wife, Cassandra Harris, was battling cancer and this would be one of the factors that kept Brosnan from doing the role at that time.   

[JoeMI3]

Goodpoints about Pierce's late wife, I wonder what thess 8 alledged Bond films would've been. Thunderball remade 8 times?? Hahahaha.

[Guy Haines]

The problem with Kevin McClory's "Warhead" projects, as I see it, is that he only had the rights to the story "Thunderball" and the characters therein - Blofeld, Largo, Domino and so on. If he had tried to produce a rival series of Bond films, he'd have had the official Bond film producers consulting their lawyers on a daily if not hourly basis, as I daresay they did when NSNA was being made. I can't see how McClory could have produced "Warhead 1" through to "Warhead 8" without the audience noticing the vague resemblance to the film which preceded it.

 

Now, I know film critics sometimes argue that if you've seen one Bond film you've seen them all, but this would have been a bit like  "Die Hard"  and "Die Hard 2" - Bond, having stopped SPECTRE extorting billions through nuclear terrorism finds himself in the next film stopping SPECTRE extorting billions through probably the same kind of nuclear terrorism. Different locations, perhaps, and different action set pieces, but with Largo still as the antagonist and Blofeld still in the background.

 

It might have worked for a couple of films, but eight? I doubt it.

[JoeMI3]

Exactly. Same story done 8 times, now to be honest, some would put me on a cross for this but Thunderball isn't really a spectacle of a Bond film. I like the first three Connery films, and DAF is a guilty pleasure of mine, just wish it was darker and grittier. Also I haven't seen NSNA in awhile but they had to change the characters' names aswell. I recently found out that EON has got the rights back for Blofeld/SPECTRE as of November 2013. So now my question is - Will Blofeld return in BOND 24?

[S K Y F A L L]

This is all news to me. CBn, the gift that keeps giving. Interesting stuff.

[SAWfinger]

I do remember this coming up in the early 1990s, when there was a big gap between the last Dalton Bond film and the official appointment of Brosnan in '94. There were various rumours, including the 'Japanese investors' bit (even including possible Japanese locations) and the title being 'Atomic Warhead'. I have no doubt that there was contact between McClory and Brosnan, as they were two fellow Irishmen who moved in the same social circles and (I believe) at one point were both members of the same club in Ireland. One could also see that, having come so tantalisingly close to being James Bond after Roger Moore stepped aside (and then suddenly having it whipped away from under his feet), Brosnan was very frustrated and possibly would have been tempted by McClory's blarney. On the other hand, at the back of his mind, Brosnan (one suspects) still held on to the hope that the official Bond role might just possibly come his way again one day. So, to have thrown in his lot with McClory would have risky. Brosnan must also have realised that McClory was very good with the old Irish 'blarney' (flattering talk), but was pretty wise to this, too. The thing that you must always bear in mind about McClory is that he was a master publicist, always milking his Bond 'rights' by regularly putting out announcements to the media. And the media lapped it up, even though the telephone contact number he gave out in press releases was often to a public telephone box in a street in Amsterdam! It also helped McClory to remain in the public eye. I lost count of the number of times he announced a new title for his latest Bond 'project' but, especially towards the end of his life, he was clearly living in a bit of a fantasy world. He also threw Dalton's name into the mix at various points as well. He also (I understand) approached Liam Neeson, another fellow Irishman, at one point. McClory (or his helpers) even resurrected the Brosnan 'news' in 2006 (McClory died a bit later in November, 2006), obviously trying to woo a disappointed Brosnan after he had been 'let go' by EON in 2005.  

[JoeMI3]

I honestly think the death of Brosnan's wife is what ultimately ended the Warhead project - EON was crippling at the time with legal/finacial issues and that was such a golden opportunity to create a Rival Bond, while the real thing was down. And also Liam Neeson? Wow, another favorite actor of mine. I make fan Bond videos/trailers on youtube and I've made some of Brosnan returning to 007 in a November Man like trailer and even Liam Neeson being Bond aswell. Liam was offered for GoldenEye, thats all I recalled. Interesting stuff indeed.

[Guy Haines]

Just as an aside about the Robert Sellers book I mentioned above, what I found fascinating about it wasn't so much Kevin McClory's oft promised "Warhead" projects and cast as the original screen treatments which preceded the novel Thunderball. Some of them were quite different in detail from the finished films years later. The proposed cast  and production team was also interesting - Richard Burton as 007, for example. Or in the director's chair, Alfred Hitchcock.

 

But the proposed cameo role I found most unlikely was former US President Harry S.Truman - as himself - at the start of one of the treatments, warning the world of the dangers of atomic war, which I imagine he'd be well qualified to comment about. It seems Messrs' Fleming, McClory and Whittingham thought they were going to make a film with a serious message as much as an entertainment.

[Syndicate]

So Kevin  McClory  could not done like comic book writers and artist. Where they could keep coming up with different stories and villains. Also still have a M, Q, Miss Moneypenny and Felix leiter in there when needed. He not  really just stuck with the Thunderball story and what in there. Outside of that it would be laywer time. IF he want to go the way like a comic book writer and artist on the movie side.

[FlemingBond]

i'm surprised this is new news to so many. 

[Bill]

For whatever it is worth, I remember a small blurb on the Brosnan/McClory Warhead project back in, of all things, TV Guide sometime between 1989 and the official announcement of Brosnan being hired for GoldenEye.  I may even have it buried in my Bond archives somewhere.  It was only a few sentences, and I seem to also remember that it was going to be produced by Ruddy Morgan Productions. 

[Royal Dalton]

Yeah, that was for a television series.

 

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