Why Steven Spielberg Was Rejected From Directing A James Bond Movie - Twice
He's one of the greatest storytellers in cinema history, but according to the big boss of James Bond, producer Cubby Broccoli, Steven Spielberg wasn't the right man for the job when it came to bringing a 007 mission to the big screen. In an interview with BBC Radio 2 (via The Independent), Steven Spielberg recalled how, after setting his sights on the world's most famous secret agent, he was turned down not once but twice for the gig.
The director went after Bond after his groundbreaking blockbuster shark movie had taken the world by storm. "I called Cubby Broccoli twice," Spielberg said. "After 'Jaws,' which was such a huge success, I thought, 'Hey, people are giving me final cut now.' So I called up Cubby and offered my services, but he didn't think I was right for the part."
Whatever talents Broccoli thought the director was lacking, it didn't stop Spielberg from having another crack at trying to add the beloved Bond franchise to his filmography. It was after what became the classic sci-fi movie that earned Steven Spielberg his only writing credit that he had another go. He said, "Then even after 'Close Encounters [of the Third Kind]' came out and was a big hit, once again I tried to get on a Bond film, and now they can't afford me." Interestingly, it was in a franchise of his own that, in 1989, Spielberg fulfilled his wish of directing James Bond — just not in a James Bond film.
Indiana Jones was Spielberg's unofficial version of Bond
After accepting meeting Mr. Bond wasn't going to happen, Steven Spielberg took an alternative method to telling his own adventure series — with a brand-new hero, swapping an Aston Martin and a Walther PPK for a fedora and a whip. In an interview with the Daily Mail, he explained that when it came to his battle for Bond, "I've never asked again. Instead, I made the Indiana Jones series."
It turned out all right as well. Swapping spies for snakes ("Why did it have to be snakes?"), the entire Indiana Jones timeline is riddled with homages to 007 — from Indy wearing the same dinner suit combo as Sean Connery did in "Goldfinger" to having the man himself play Dr. Henry Jones, the father of our hat-wearing-hero, in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." The film is considered a close runner-up to "Raiders of the Lost Ark," which is deemed the absolute best Indiana Jones movie, according to fans.
Years later, it was revealed that Spielberg couldn't help himself. During Connery's AFI Life Achievement Award ceremony, Spielberg explained that he picked Connery for Indy's pop for a reason. "When George Lucas and I created the Indiana Jones series, it's no secret that Bond movies were somewhere on our minds," he confessed. "So when we had to cast Indiana Jones' dad, I thought, who could possibly be more adventurous and daring and dangerous and charming and more wily and wonderful than Indiana Jones? Well, James Bond, of course."