20 facts you might not know about 'GoldenEye'

Licence to Kill, starring Timothy Dalton as Bond, came out in 1989. Production on a new movie came out in 1990, which would have completed Dalton’s three-movie deal. There was a script and everything. Then, when looking for a director, legal issues with MGM and the Broccoli family’s production company stalled production. This stopped the film until 1993, at which point Dalton’s contract had expired. The Broccoli’s wanted him back, but Dalton passed on returning, and this script was never made.

Fleming is the creator of James Bond, and many of the movies are based on his novels. However, the story of GoldenEye is not from any of his books. That being said, the title is tied to the British author. Goldeneye was the name of Fleming’s estate down in Jamaica.

The delay in a new Bond film came at a notable time in world history between Licence to Kill and GoldenEye: the Berlin Wall had fallen, and the Cold War had ended. Things had changed so much the producers briefly thought about making this new movie a period piece. Instead, they decided to approach the idea of Bond in this new context.

The producers gunned for a big name to replace Dalton. Liam Neeson, Hugh Grant, and Mel Gibson all turned the part down. Ralph Fiennes also met with Barbara Broccoli about the part. (He would eventually be cast as M in the Daniel Craig series.) In the end, though, Brosnan got the role.

Brosnan could have become 007 even sooner. He had been the first choice to replace Roger Moore, but his contractual obligation to the TV show Remington Steele kept him from taking the role. Dalton ended up getting the gig. Then, several years later, Brosnan would in turn get to replace Dalton.

With a new Bond came a new M, head of MI6. Judi Dench, not yet an Oscar winner but already a British acting luminary, was given the part. This was notable, as she was the first female M in the Bond series. In real life, Stella Rimington had become the head of MI5 in 1992, which may have given the producers the idea.

Originally, Alec was Augustus Trevelyan, and he was also going to be more of a mentor to Bond. Anthony Hopkins and Alan Rickman were offered the role, but both turned it down. They would end up casting Sean Bean, at which point Alec was changed to Bond’s peer, not his mentor.

GoldenEye gave us a new Bond, a new M, and a new Miss Moneypenny as well. Caroline Bliss had been playing the role, but she was replaced by Samantha Bond for this film. That being said, Desmond Llewelyn did return as Q.

Michael France got the “story by” credit on the movie, and Jeffrey Caine and Bruce Feirstein shared screenwriting credit. Kevin Wade also provided a polish on the script but did not get credit as per the WGA. However, he did create Joe Don Baker’s character, a brash CIA agent, and they decided to name him Jack Wade in the writer’s honor.

Bond films had traditionally been shot at the legendary British studio Pinewood. However, First Knight was filming there, so it wasn’t available. Undeterred, they decided to convert an old Rolls Royce factory in Hertfordshire into a studio, which they dubbed Leavensden Studio.

Action movie innovator John Woo was approached to direct GoldenEye, but he declined the offer. He would eventually get into franchise filmmaking with Mission: Impossible II. Martin Campbell, a largely unknown director from New Zealand, got the gig instead. He would later return to the series with 2006’s Casino Royale, Daniel Craig’s first movie as Bond.

Bond movies have often featured the “gun barrel” opening. For GoldenEye, computer graphics were used to do that. This is notable because it marked the first time CGI was ever used in the James Bond franchise. Not the last time, of course.

The movie shot the bungee jump scene at Contra Dam in Ticino, Switzerland. Stunt performer Wayne Michaels performed the 720-foot jump. At the time, it set a record for the highest bungee jump off a fixed structure.

Irina, the singer who sounds like she is “strangling a cat?” She is played by Minnie Driver. Driver had been on TV in small roles before, but in 1995, she had her first two feature-film parts, and people don’t exactly remember Circle of Friends.

Just before shooting, Brosnan hurt his hand in an accident at his house. For a little while, he required a hand stand-in for shots involving close ups of his hand. His stand-in? That would be his son, Christopher, who was 22 at the time and working on the production as an assistant trainee.

Bond movies are known for their product placement. This was the first movie where the Bond franchise had a deal with BMW, who released a “007 Model” of their new Z23. It sold out in a day. Additionally, the scene where the tank runs through the truck was originally going to be a Pepsi truck, but then Perrier stepped up and provided 90,000 cans for the scene.

GoldenEye isn’t the most iconic Bond song, but it had some real names attached to it. Bono and The Edge from U2 wrote the song, which was then performed by Tina Turner. Notably, Ace of Base was up for the gig and had written a song, but then, their record label pulled them from the project out of fear it would be a flop.

The six-year wait may have gotten people excited for a new Bond movie. GoldenEye had a budget of $60 million and made $356.4 million worldwide. Adjusted for inflation, it made the most money of any Bond movie since Moonraker. It also saw an 83 percent increase in box office from Licence to Kill, the biggest increase ever from movie to movie in the franchise.

In 2021, Yahoo put together a survey of Bond superfans and “scholars.” The question: What is the best Bond movie? Her Majesty’s Secret Service came in third, and Casino Royale came in second. Topping the survey, though? That would be GoldenEye.

In 1997, not long before Tomorrow Never Dies was released, a GoldenEye video game finally came out. It was well worth the wait. GoldenEye 007 is considered one of the best Nintendo 64 games of all time, and one of the top first-person shooters ever. The multiplayer mode also became immensely popular. It’s been called one of the best video games ever by multiple publications, and it was also the third-highest-selling Nintendo 64 game.