While his running asJames Bondended withLicense to Kill , Timothy Daltonwas originally place to do a dissimilar version ofBond 17until it was hit by production troubles . Instead , there was a six - class gap between films and Dalton left , leaving Pierce Brosnan to take over as the iconic undercover agent forGoldenEye .

Pre - production onBond 17(rumored to have the titleProperty of a Lady ) started in May 1990 , and would have been much different thanGoldenEyeended up being . WhileGoldenEyewas about the surrender of the Soviet Union , which happened in 1991,Property of a Ladywould have been set in Hong Kong , focused on a program by a man of affairs to get Britain to withdraw from Hong Kong , potentially   sparking World War III .

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Timothy Dalton was originally set to come in back as Bond until production issues do the originalBond 17to get repeatedly delayed and subsequently canceled . The disappointing box office returns ofLicense to Killled longsighted - time producer Albert Broccoli , who had been involved with the series since 1959 as a founder of Eon Productions , to doubt whether he was still a good leader for the company . This caused a serial of dominos to devolve that held up the production of the next moving-picture show past the expiration of Dalton ’s contract bridge .

Broccoli put Danjaq , the company that maintain the copyrights on theBond films , up for sale . At the same prison term , MGM / UA ( who distributed the films ) was appear to be bought . After a bargain with an Australian financial services company fell apart , they were buy by Gallic film caller Pathe Entertainment . To help finance the buyout , Pathe sold off international rights to the Bond films at far less than mart value and without giving Danjaq a part of the net profit . Danjaq litigate , MGM - Pathe Communications sued back , and the cause were finally resolved in December 1992 . MGM - Pathe went bankrupt , come back as Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer , and started yield ofBond 17 in early 1993 .

There was just one small issue : Timothy Dalton ’s contract pass away in 1993 . He ’d been sour on film since early on , saying back in 1990 that he expected the lawsuits could have been the end not just of his metre as Bond , but the franchise in world-wide . In conversations withBarbara Broccoliafter she took over as producer from her beginner ( a persona she still has today ) , Dalton in reality showed excitement about come back to the Bond franchise ; however , they want him to come back for more than just one motion picture . Between the farsighted interruption between movies and being reticent about returning for “ four or five ” Bond films ,   Dalton decided he could n’t commit and officially stepped down as Bond in April 1994 .

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While Dalton ’s version ofBond 17never happened , GoldenEyeended up rejuvenate theJames Bondfranchise . It was a box government agency achiever , inspired a dear N64 video game , and startedPierce Brosnan ’s four - plastic film run asJames Bond . While it ’s fascinating to think about what might have been , the franchise went in a much dear way than gestate after Dalton entrust .

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