For fans of James Bond, would you like to learn about a twist that nearly happened in Skyfall that would have sent the 007 world both shaken and stirred?
Well, it involved bringing one of the world’s biggest stars – and the man who made James Bond what he is – back into the fold alongside another more modern Bond.
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Director Sam Mendes has revealed that conversations took place that would have seen Sean Connery return to the spy movie franchise.
Only he wouldn’t be playing James Bond, he’d have been a completely different character altogether.
It doesn’t quite feel right, does it? Perhaps that’s why it didn’t happen in the end.
Connery was briefly considered for a role as Kincade, the groundskeeper of Skyfall Lodge.
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Skyfall Lodge, according to the early drafts of the script for Daniel Craig’s third outing as the tuxedo-wearing man of mystery, was to be attacked by the villain Silva, played by Javier Bardem, with Connery as Kincade set to team up with Bond to solve the problem.
Skyfall Lodge was considered as a retirement home for former 007 agents, of which Connery would obviously be the most notable one. He starred in more Bond films than anyone else, after all.
However, it wasn’t to be. Mendes and his team decided that seeing another character famous in the James Bond Universe – particularly one who played the titular character in the first place – would have taken audiences right out of the story and made suspension of disbelief harder.
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They’re probably right, too.
Mendes said: “There was a definite discussion about [Connery playing Kincade] way, way early on.
“But I think that’s problematic.
“Because, to me, it becomes too… it would take you out of the movie.
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“Connery is Bond, and he’s not going to come back as another character.
“It’s like, he’s been there.
“So, it was a very brief flirtation with that thought, but it was never going to happen, because I thought it would distract.”
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In the end, they had a rethink and Kincade’s story was changed, as well as the 007 retirement home idea.
It might have been difficult getting the Scotsman on board, anyway.
Connery retired from acting back in 2006 after shooting The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
He even refused to come back for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, too.
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That might have been a blessing in disguise for him, in fairness.
Still, fans can only wonder what it might have been like to see Connery back fighting the bad guys in a James Bond movie one last time.
Topics: Film and TV, Daniel Craig, James Bond, Celebrity, Weird
Tom Wood