In the long, dramatic history of James Bond casting, no near-miss cuts deeper than the one that derailed Pierce Brosnan in 1986. This wasn’t a rumor, a screen test, or a hopeful audition. Brosnan had the job. He’d been fitted for suits, photographed for the iconic gun-barrel sequence, and was preparing to sign what would have been a massive, multi-film contract to become the next 007. Then, with hours to spare, a single clause detonated everything.
The culprit was not Bond producers or creative doubts—but a cold, legal technicality buried in his television contract.
The Role He Already Owned
After A View to a Kill, the producers were searching for a younger Bond to succeed Roger Moore. Brosnan, fresh off global fame from Remington Steele, was the unanimous choice. Industry insiders considered it a done deal. Even Brosnan himself later said he went to bed believing James Bond was finally his.
But NBC still technically owned him.
The “Zombie” 60-Day Clause
Although Remington Steele had been officially canceled due to low ratings, Brosnan’s contract contained a standard network safeguard: a 60-day option allowing NBC to revive the show if circumstances changed. At first, no one cared—until the Bond announcement hit the press.
Almost overnight, the public rediscovered Remington Steele. Reruns surged. Ratings spiked. NBC executives realized they were sitting on a suddenly valuable asset tied to a rising international superstar. On Day 59—with less than 24 hours left—they exercised the option.
The show was revived purely to capitalize on Brosnan’s Bond buzz.
The Call That Ended Everything
NBC proposed a compromise: Brosnan could film Bond and a shortened fifth season of Remington Steele. But Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli refused outright. His reasoning was simple and brutal—James Bond could not appear weekly on American television as a suave detective.
Brosnan later described the moment as devastating. In the documentary Everything or Nothing, he recalled the call as “a physical blow to the chest.” He had been Bond—for a few hours.
Then it was gone.
The Fallout: Watching Another Man Take the Walther
Within days, the role was reassigned to Timothy Dalton, who debuted in The Living Daylights. Brosnan was forced back onto a set he’d emotionally left behind.
Ironically, NBC’s plan collapsed. The revived Remington Steele season flopped and was canceled again after just a handful of episodes—ending the show permanently and leaving Brosnan with nothing but regret.
The Nine-Year Wait
What followed was a slow, painful exile. Brosnan watched Dalton make two Bond films, then saw the franchise stall entirely due to legal disputes. Nearly a decade passed before fate finally corrected itself.
In 1994, when Dalton stepped away, the producers didn’t audition anyone. They called Brosnan.
Destiny Delayed, Not Denied
In 1995, Brosnan debuted in GoldenEye, launching one of the most commercially successful eras in Bond history. His maturity, polish, and quiet edge—once considered “too TV”—became his greatest strengths.
Today, the 1986 fiasco is legendary: a cautionary tale about contracts, clauses, and how close even destiny can come to slipping away. Brosnan eventually got the tuxedo, the Aston Martin, and the words he was born to say.
But first, one clause broke his heart.