GoldenEye, Pierce Brosnan, 1995 United Artists/Courtesy Everett Collection Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text Few modern filmmakers can claim that they've made movie history, but Martin Campbell can say he's done it twice. The New Zealand native and accomplished action director is the only person to ever helm the first chapters in two different actors' tenure as Bond... James Bond. In 2004, Campbell was tapped by veteran producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael W. Wilson to launch Daniel Craig's first outing as James Bond, 2006's Casino Royale. He accomplished this nine years after rejuvenating the then-dormant franchise with Pierce Brosnan's first 007 film, 1995's Goldeneye. Related Stories Movies Lee Tamahori, 'Once Were Warriors' and 'Die Another Day' Director, Dies at 75 Business Amazon Paid $20 Million for Control of James Bond, But There's Fine Print That Isn't Public The latter - released Nov. 17, 1995 - saw Brosnan's dashing Bond struggling to stop his former colleague and friend, 006/Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean), from using a deadly Russian satellite's EMP capabilities to throw the world back into the Stone Age. (Prior to Goldeneye, Brosnan famously inked a deal to play Bond in 1987's The Living Daylights. But, at the last minute, his contract for NBC and MTM's Remington Steele was renewed and the coveted role went to Timothy Dalton.) GoldenEye influenced Casino in that it showcased Campbell's seemingly effortless approach to crafting blockbuster-friendly set pieces with gritty, kinetic visuals. His particular dynamic visual style was, at that point, something the Bond franchise had never really done before. He and his team, including long time cinematographer Phil Méheux, also put that action through a character-first lens - ensuring that every victory Bond earns or blow he takes feels like one of our own. But, at the time, there was no guarantee Campbell and his collaborators' exciting take on the first Bond film of the '90s was going to be celebrated 30 years later - let alone succeed on opening day. "There was uncertainty as to whether Bond still worked," Campbell tells The Hollywood Reporter in an interview celebrating Goldeneye's 30th anniversary. "The studio was budget-conscious. They often asked: 'Did anybody want to go see it? Was Bond relevant anymore?'" The answer would turn out to be a resounding "yes," as Campbell's film ranked (domestically) as one of the 10 highest grossing films of 1995. It also earned $356.4 million worldwide on a budget of $58 million, according to Campbell. But the road to that success was a struggle, due to a protracted lawsuit between studio MGM and other stakeholders over the franchise - one that put a six-year gap between when audiences could get their Bond fix on the big screen. Timothy Dalton's second and final outing for Her Majesty's Secret Service, 1989's License to Kill, performed poorly at the summer box office that year. Critics and audiences were soft on the violent film's darker and more grounded take - a take that they would, ironically, later embrace in Casino Royale. The lengthy lawsuit, plus Kill's box office shortcomings, allowed what Campbell acknowledges as a "course correction" for the franchise when he came onboard. One of Campbell's first creative conversations was a critical one: Who would play James Bond? "It had to be Pierce," Campbell says. Barbara and Michael's father, the late Albert "Cubby" Broccoli, had the final say in recasting their lead role, as the Broccolis seemed to want Dalton to return. But in a meeting with MGM, it was Cubby who decided to go with Brosnan. So, with Brosnan officially enlisted to strap on the shoulder-holstered Walther PPK, Campbell and his producers turned their attention to the script. Four writers (three credited) would work on the film in total. Martin Campbell, Famke Jenson, Pierce Brosnan and Izabella Scorupco Eric Robert/Sygma/Getty Images "The first draft I saw was from writer Michael France," Campbell says. "It was very heavy. Michael is someone who writes every beat of action, down to the close-up of a trigger, and he is very good at it. But the whole thing, though, I struggled with [that] first draft." After having Jeffrey Caine come on for a rewrite, with the screenwriter adding the prologue that introduced Bond and 006 on a past mission, the script still required some finessing. So the filmmakers received help from a surprising choice. "We brought in the writer who wrote Working Girl for Mike Nichols, Kevin Wade," Campbell recalls. "He came in and really helped break the back of the script. He did a very good job restructuring it and added some very good scenes. He was only contracted for one month, I believe because that's all we could afford, and he did a good job. He was uncredited, but he knew