Pierce Brosnan was offered the role of James Bond, but the publicity improved "Remington Steele"s ratings and it was renewed, requiring Brosnan to contractually return to the show, this caused Eon Productions to have to look elsewhere for the new 007. The producers instead hired Timothy Dalton for "The Living Daylights" (1987), and "Licence to Kill" (1989). While Brosnan was reluctant to discuss losing the Bond role, in part because Dalton was a friend, he appeared in Diet Coke commercials portraying what the "Los Angeles Times" described as "a dashing Bond-like character", and NBC advertised "Noble House" with Brosnan dressed in a
James Bond in film John Glen, Maurice Binder, Richard Maibaum and cinematographer Alec Mills. It was also the final film which was produced by the partnership of Albert Broccoli and Michael Wilson. The relatively disappointing box office returns for "Licence to Kill" led to Albert Broccoli questioning his own leadership of the series, and he put Danjaq, holders of the Bond film copyright, up for sale. Timothy Dalton was quoted at the time as saying "My feeling is this will be the last one. I don't mean my last one, I mean the end of the whole lot. I don't speak with any real