Pierce Brosnan has said his time as James Bond 007 is over for good...

Pierce Brosnan - "It's All Over"
14th October 2004

Pierce Brosnan says he has come to the end of his career as the world's most famous secret agent James Bond 007. Speaking to the press in Nassau, Bahamas, Brosnan said his time was up, "It's over, it's over, it's absolutely over".

Although Brosnan was willing an enthusiastic about a fifth adventure as 007 in Bond 21, and having been asked by producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson to reprise his role after "Die Another Day" filming completed, no contracts were signed - and there began the saga that saw press rumours fly out of control this year. Brosnan described his version of events in a Sun Media interview this week.

Come In 007, Your Time Is Up

"They invited me back right before I went to present that film. They said: 'We're so happy with the success, we want you to come back!' I went on the road a happy man, you know. I thought we'd get a fifth and no more. That would be it, really. And then one day the phone rang - I was here (in Nassau shooting "After the Sunset") - and my agents told me that the goal posts had moved and that they had changed their minds. It's very hard to find the truth in that town (Hollywood) or in this business at times, but it was their prerogative to change their minds. They can do it! It was disappointing. It was surprising. And I accepted the knowledge after 24 hours of being in shock."

"If you have that thought ruminating in your head - knowing that things are going to change, knowing that you're going to get older, knowing it only lasts a certain amount of time playing a certain role - then you clearly prepare yourself for what's down the road, even though you don't know what's down the road. But you prepare yourself emotionally. "So you know something's going to be finished, it's going to be over. And it comes with a great disappointment, but it also comes with a great satisfaction of having achieved the success with it that I had achieved."

The Legacy

The original 007, Sir Sean Connery, still harbours bitterness towards the franchise that made him an international star after his departure from the series was far from congenial. So does Brosnan feel the same bitterness? "None, none, none! It's not worth having. If I did, it would make all the great decade, the four films, the lovely success, meaningless. Bitterness against whom, and for what reason?" The news of Bond 21's delay from the original release date of November 18th 2005 to 2006 doesn't bother him either. "Go figure!" Brosnan said.

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