Brosnan Tempers Rhetoric in Recent T.V. Appearances

Pierce Brosnan, who has been waging somewhat of a PR war with James Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli over his future as 007, has dramatically tempered his rhetoric in his latest television appearances promoting his new film, Laws of Attraction. While print interviews still contain Pierce’s oft-quoted statements that “The producers are in a state of paralysis,” and “They don’t know what to do,” Pierce all but avoided discussing James Bond in two recent high-profile T.V. appearances on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno (April 29) and The Tavis Smiley Show (April 30).

On The Tonight Show With Jay Leno — certainly the largest T.V. audience of Pierce’s Laws of Attraction press tour — Pierce said nothing about James Bond. The only mention of Bond came as part of a Leno joke (he asked Pierce if when he was dating he used the line “I’m Remington Steele” or “I’m James Bond’”). On PBS’s The Tavis Smiley Show, host Smiley, who again and again said that he was a “huge” James Bond fan, got little from Pierce on the current state of affairs. In the provocative interview — in which Pierce spoke of his environmental concerns and even called the current U.S. administration “men of war” — the subject of James Bond was left until the very end. Here Pierce simply shrugged and said, “I’m not sure where it’s gonna go from here, but, it’s been good.” [Read the complete transcript of the interview here.] Pierce did give his standard “paralysis” speech on ABC’s The View, but it appears this show was taped before the Leno and Smiley interviews.

Does this sudden lack of Bond talk indicate some sort of change in the current situation? Is it resignation on Pierce’s part that the role is, indeed, going to another actor, or does it indicate a possible resumption of talks? Or perhaps Brosnan is simply trying to keep the interviews focused on Laws of Attraction (which opened #4 at the box office this weekend) and away from the always enticing topic of James Bond.

MGM Vice Chairman Chris McGurk has stated that Bond 21 is on schedule for 2005 and that a decision as to who will play Bond will be made “in the next few months.”

Stay tuned.

Related articles: