The Hunt For Red October was largely sold around the late, great Sean Connery's leading turn, but he was actually a last-minute replacement for a previous James Bond villain. After names like Cary Grant and David Niven passed on it, relative unknown Sean Connery was cast as James Bond for 1962's Dr. No. Connery's suave charm combined with his ability to portray the tougher aspects of 007 made him an instant screen icon and gave birth to a franchise that is still running nearly 60 years later.
Sean Connery originally bowed out of the franchise with 1967's You Only Live Twice, but was later lured back for Diamonds Are Forever by a healthy paycheque. Connery essentially retired from acting following a miserable experience making 2003's The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but one of his final roles was actually reprising Bond for a video game adaptation of From Russia With Love, where he proved the voice.
The Hunt For Red October book by author Tom Clancy featured the first appearance of his most famous character, CIA analyst Jack Ryan. The story involved a Soviet submarine captain named Marko defecting to the U.S. with the titular, high-tech submarine, which begins a tense cat and mouse chase. It was later adapted into a nail-biting thriller from director John McTiernan, and The Hunt For Red October cast Alec Baldwin as Ryan and Klaus Maria Brandauer as Marko.
Klaus Maria Brandauer is an acclaimed Austrian actor best known for appearing in Out Of Africa and Never Say Never Again. The latter cast him as the villainous Maximilian Largo alongside Sean Connery, who returned as James Bond for the first time in twelve years. This 1983 adventure is essentially a remake of Connery's own Bond Thunderball and is not an official EON production. Brandauer later had to exit The Hunt For Red October due to a prior commitment and personally recommended Connery as his replacement.
Luckily for producers Connery, who had just come off production on Indiana Jones Ane The Last Crusade, was available and stepped in with little prep time. While losing Klaus Maria Brandauer so early into filming must have been stressful, it no doubt helped The Hunt For Red October's box-office tally when Sean Connery stepped up as a replacement. The movie was a solid hit upon release and received great reviews, and later kicked off a series of Jack Ryan movies, though Harrison Ford would replace Alec Baldwin for the next chapter Patriot Games. Connery would soon reunite with Klaus Maria Brandauer for his next film, 1990's The Russia House.