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 $8.9 million ($ million in dollars) from June that year. From its budget of $36 million, "Never Say Never Again" grossed $160 million. McClory attempted to produce another "Thunderball" adaptation as "Warhead 2000 AD" following the success of "GoldenEye" in 1995. Liam Neeson and Timothy Dalton were considered for 007, while Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were developing the film at Columbia Pictures. MGM launched a $25 million lawsuit against Sony, and McClory claimed a portion of the $3 billion profits from the "Bond" series. After a prolonged lawsuit, Sony backed down, and McClory eventually exhausted all legal avenues to