Timothy Dalton fantasy plots and humour. A fan of the literary character, often seen re-reading and referring to the novels on set, Dalton determined to approach the role and play truer to the original character described by Fleming. His 007, therefore, came across as a reluctant agent who did not always enjoy the assignments he was given, something seen on screen before, albeit obliquely, only in George Lazenby's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". In "The Living Daylights," for example, Bond tells a critical colleague, Saunders, "Stuff my orders! ... Tell M what you want. If he fires me, I'll thank him for
James Bond in film the next Bond film, with Anthony Hopkins as a potential villain, adding that Hopkins had been in discussions with Eon for a number of weeks. Dalton also stated that the earliest production could begin would be in January or February 1994. Dalton's six-year contract expired in 1993, and after reading France's script for what would become "GoldenEye", he announced on 12 April 1994 that he would not be returning to play Bond; he was replaced by Pierce Brosnan. After Michael France delivered the original screenplay, Jeffrey Caine was brought in to rework much of the material. Kevin Wade was also