Footage from a canceled James Bond 007 game has leaked, leading to fans expressing sadness over what could’ve been. James Bond is one of the most recognizable characters in all of fiction thanks to his suave style, charming one-liners, unique name, and more. The character has existed for over 70 years dating back to Ian Fleming’s first novel, Casino Royale, and then his debut on the big screen in 1962 with Dr. No. Since then, there have been 25 movies with six actors playing the iconic spy. Gamers are also well aware of his tenure in gaming with titles like Goldeneye and 007 Nightfire, but it has been over a decade since we have gotten a new James Bond game.
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Thankfully, there is a new James Bond game on the way courtesy of Hitman developer IO Interactive and it hopefully won’t be too long before we get to see more of it. The new 007 game is expected to be a brand new, original story with IO Interactive’s own James Bond, rather than using one of the actors from the film. However, not much else is known about it. With that said, there was almost another James Bond game in the late 2010s and it’s not at all what you might expect.
Traveler’s Tales, the developer responsible for the various LEGO games, pitched a LEGO James Bond game around 2016 to The LEGO Group. The team produced a trailer, showing what it would look like if they recreated a number of famous scenes from the films in LEGO format. Courtesy of Reddit user kecskecske6, the trailer has been revealed. We see scenes from Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, and more, along with a quirky recreation of the legendary gun barrel opening seen at the start of each movie. There are even unique models for the different Bonds as the Daniel Craig-era one is blonde, while the others have darker hair. It’s a very unfinished trailer, but it does provide a good look at how TT would’ve injected its signature style of humor into the world of James Bond and made a fun game out of the spy’s greatest adventures. The developer has offered this same treatment to the Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Indiana Jones films as well as original games centered around Marvel and DC heroes.
They’re all incredibly successful, but LEGO James Bond would never see the light of day unfortunately. According to Reddit user and r/legogaming mod LEGOGameMuseum, a former developer told them that the game was rejected by The LEGO Group due to how violent and sexually charged the James Bond films are, not to mention having characters named Pussy Galore. It was difficult to cater the game toward a family friendly audience as a result. A similar project was also pitched back in 2005, but it never saw the light of day for similar reasons.
In recent years, LEGO has made sets for more adult-oriented projects, including James Bond. There was a No Time to Die-themed set that featured 007 and his Aston Martin. Whether or not this will open the door for a possible LEGO James Bond game remains to be seen, but one can hope as it sounds like a really fun idea, especially since it will be another few years before a new 007 movie releases as they are still trying to cast the next James Bond.
With that said, a game like this was released back in 2012. 007 Legends was the last Activision-era James Bond game and was a culmination of James Bond’s greatest adventures around the release of Skyfall. The game put Daniel Craig’s Bond in different eras of the franchise with films like Moonraker and Die Another Day. Unfortunately, the game was mauled in reviews and is likely one of the reasons why Activision did not pursue further James Bond titles and the Broccoli family pumped the brakes on future James Bond video games.