One James Bond movie that was canceled and never went into production had an even worse costume moment than when Roger Moore wore a clown costume. James Bond is famously known for being impeccably dressed, no matter the circumstances, but that doesn’t mean that even 007 is immune from the occasional fashion faux pas. One Roger Moore moment is often considered the low point of the James Bond historical wardrobe, but new information from behind-the-scenes telling of the James Bond franchise shows it could have been worse.
In 1983’s Octopussy, Roger Moore donned a clown costume to avoid West German police while trying to infiltrate the airbase of Afghan prince Kamal Khan. Over the years, James Bond has had some horrific moments, such as when Sean Connery dressed up in yellow face to blend in while he was in Asia. Also in Octopussy, Moore wore a gorilla costume and made Tarzan sounds, a choice that has not aged well over the last 40 years. All of these, however, might have been topped in the worst costume category if the third Timothy Dalton James Bond film had moved forward.
Timothy Dalton’s Canceled Third James Bond Movie Had 007 In A Cowboy Outfit
In the 2020 book, The Lost Adventures of James Bond by Mark Edlitz, the author spends a significant amount of time talking to those who were involved with the planned third and fourth Timothy Dalton James Bond movies. Dalton played James Bond for just two films in the 1980s before he was replaced by Pierce Brosnan, but at least two other films were in planning before the change was made. In the first of those films, Bond is hunting a villain named Vinellis and tracks him and a pilot friend to a rodeo.
To disguise himself from Vinellis, Bond was going to follow a cowboy into a dressing room, knock him out, steal his clothes, and dress up as a rodeo cowboy, so he can find Vinellis undetected. In a later scene, Bond is captured and forced to ride a mechanical bucking bull before Bond is able to get free. What results from this event is a standoff straight out of a classic Western movie where Bond is facing three of Vinellis’ goons to see who is the quickest on the draw. Bond draws first and kills them all before continuing his hunt for Vinellis.
Dalton’s Bond Wearing A Cowboy Outfit Would Have Changed His Version Of 007
Timothy Dalton’s James Bond is often referred to and known as one of the more no-nonsense Bonds. Timothy Dalton’s Bond had very little humor or wry wit in his character, just the simple, down-to-business special agent with a license to kill. Perhaps because he lacked some of the panache of Sean Connery and Roger Moore, Dalton did not last long as bond, but Dalton dressing up as a cowboy would have completely changed the character Dalton gave audiences in his two movies.
The cowboy outfit and standoff scene wouldn’t even have ended there. Pages were written whereby angry cowboys employed by the rodeo start chasing after James Bond because of what he did to their colleague. Later in the treatment, Bond escapes in a monster truck parked at the rodeo. All of it combined to paint a picture of an entirely different James Bond than Dalton had produced in The Living Daylights and License to Kill. Dalton would become famous for playing a darker and more serious Bond, and not as the frivolous playboy that Moore and Connery portrayed.
James Bond
- Created by
- Ian Fleming , Albert R. Broccoli
- First Film
- Dr. No
- Latest Film
- No Time to Die
- Upcoming Films
- James Bond 26
- Cast
- Sean Connery , George Lazenby , Roger Moore , Timothy Dalton , Pierce Brosnan , Daniel Craig
