Steven Spielberg is now the highest-grossing film director of all time, with a net worth of $11.5 billion. However, there was a time when he wanted to direct a film in the James Bond franchise, and was repeatedly denied.
Spielberg has returned to sci-fi with Disclosure Day, which just hit theaters on June 12. However, the critically acclaimed filmmaker can’t remembers what it’s like to be an up-and-coming director. In a recent appearance on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, Spielberg revealed that he reached out to direct a 007 movie, but it never happened.
Steven Spielberg’s One-Door-Closes-One-Door-Opens Involved the James Bond Films
James Bond is getting rebooted, with Dune director Denis Villeneuve attached to direct, with a script by Steven Knight. So far, no actor is attached to become the popular spy, but there is a lot of anticipation about the franchise.
Spielberg addressed the franchise, and revealed that he was “consistently turned down” by late producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli. “I’d always wanted to make a James Bond film from the day I saw Dr. No, so I called Cubby after Jaws and volunteered,” Spielberg recalled. “I said, ‘If you need a director, I would love to direct one.’ And he said no.”
The director moved on to different projects, and revealed Broccoli reached out to him, but for a different favor. The producer wanted to use the five-note musical melody from his sci-fi classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind for an upcoming Bond film, which was 1979’s Moonraker.
“I said, ‘I’ll make you a deal. I’ll give you permission to use the five notes if you let me direct a Bond film,'” Spielberg explained. “And he said no. But I gave him the five notes anyway. So they consistently turned me down — at least, Broccoli did. He never explained why he wasn’t letting me into the Bond family.”
Decades later, Spielberg revealed what would be his answer if he were approached today: ‘If they ever asked me to make a Bond film now, my answer would be: ‘You can’t afford me.'”
Losing James Bond Led to a Major Franchise
Spielberg is largely one of the most recognizable filmmakers of all time, with his work ranging from sci-fi, war, drama, and crime films. He also got his adventure franchise thanks to losing Bond. In the same interview, he revealed that he first heard about Indiana Jones when talking about his Bond rejection with Star Wars filmmaker George Lucas.
“When I told that story to George Lucas in 1977, when we were in Hawaii together getting ready for the release of Star Wars: A New Hope, he said, ‘I have something better than Bond. It’s called Indiana Smith,’ which is what it was called at the time. He told me the premise of the Indiana Jones series, and that’s how I got that job.”
Both the Bond and Indiana Jones franchises were successful, but the Harrison Ford-led adventure films cemented Spielberg’s legacy, and grossed $2.37 billion at the worldwide box office from five films.
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- Created by
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Ian Fleming
- First Film
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Dr. No
- Latest Film
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No Time to Die
- Cast
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Daniel Craig, Pierce Brosnan, Sean Connery, Timothy Dalton, Roger Moore, David Niven, George Lazenby
- Character(s)
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James Bond
The James Bond franchise focuses on the titular British Secret Service agent, who has the codename 007.
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- Created by
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George Lucas
- First Film
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Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Latest Film
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Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
- First Episode Air Date
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March 4, 1992
- Cast
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Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies, Ke Huy Quan, Alfred Molina
- Movie(s)
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Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Indiana Jones is an American media franchise consisting of five films and a prequel television series, along with games, comics, and tie-in novels, that depicts the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton “Indiana” Jones, Jr. (portrayed in all films by Harrison Ford), a fictional professor of archeology.