Timothy Dalton's run as James Bond proved to be short-lived, but there were some unmade 007 adventures he almost starred in. It's been argued - and the actor himself would have agreed - that Roger Moore stayed on in the role of Bond for too long. He retired from the part following 1985's A View To A Kill, having played the spy for seven movies. Pierce Brosnan was famously hired to replace him for The Living Daylights, but after his waning TV series Remington Steele was unexpectedly renewed, he was forced to drop out.
Instead, the part went to Dalton, who had previously been approached for both On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Live And Let Die. Dalton had felt the Moore era had gotten too silly and wanted to return to the grit found in Ian Fleming's book. Dalton pioneered a darker version of 007 nearly two decades before the Daniel Craig Bond movie era, but audiences weren't quite ready for that approach in the late '80s. Dalton is Christopher Nolan's favorite 007, and many feel the actor is the most underrated Bond. There were also three different, unmade James Bond movies he was linked to.
1 The Living Daylights: Prequel Version
An early plan for Bond 15 - which became The Living Daylights - would have been an origin story for the titular spy. As revealed in the book The Lost Adventures of James Bond, a treatment was co-written by longtime franchise writer Richard Maibaum and co-producer Michael G. Wilson and saw a young Bond train under an experienced agent called Trevor Burton. Bond would grow close to his mentor, with the two later infiltrating the lair of a warlord named Kwang. Needless to say, the mission goes bad, Burton is killed and Kwang escapes. The movie would end with Bond tracking down Kwang and killing him.
This would have earned him Burton's "007" number, and he would have been sent on his next mission: to take down Dr. No. This prequel idea didn't get very far, as franchise producer Albert R. Broccoli felt audiences didn't want to see an inexperienced, fumbling version of the character; he was also worried about focusing too much on Bond's backstory. Intriguingly, certain concepts from this unmade prequel made their way into later James Bond movie outings. Notably, Casino Royale served as an origin story for 007 but addressed Broccoli's concerns by making him experienced in combat, but still emotionally immature.
2 Bond 17 (Working Title)
Licence To Kill was Dalton's second and final Bond adventure. The sequel had the misfortune to come out in a rather crowded summer blockbuster season (which included Batman '89, Ghostbusters 2 and the third Indiana Jones) and wound up being the lowest-grossing 007 movie of all time. The film was by no means a bomb, but it certainly dinged the series' reputation. Now, Licence To Kill is considered a bold, violent new step for the series and Dalton's best, but it took a few years for fans of the series to come around to its charms.
Considering the fact it took another six years for GoldenEye to arrive, and that Dalton was replaced by Brosnan, some might assume that was a result of License To Kill's performance. That wasn't the case, as not only was Dalton set to return for Bond 17, but there were early plans for a Bond 18 with the actor too. The story for Bond 17 (via 007 Info) involved the spy heading to Hong Kong to investigate a businessman called Sir Henry Lee Ching. Lee wanted Britain to withdraw from Hong Kong and planned to use a computer virus to disable every military unit in the world.
In a concept seemingly recycled from the scrapped prequel, Bond's mentor - this time named Denholm Crisp - would have appeared, but as a villain. Main antagonist Lee was to be depicted as a genius with electronics and even had his own special car outfitted with gadgets, leading to an epic Bond car chase. One of the most controversial elements of Bond 17 is that Lee's mute girlfriend would have been revealed to be some kind of Terminator-like cyborg who attacks and gets destroyed by 007 in the third act. Bond eventually kills Lee and prevents World War III, and the untitled sequel was aiming for a 1991 release.
3 Reunion With Death
Legal issues prevented Bond 17 from happening, and Dalton's seven-year contract ended in 1993. While he briefly considered returning for GoldenEye, he eventually decided against it as he would have had to commit to more than one film. Amid the franchise's legal woes, a story treatment was developed for a potential fourth Dalton outing dubbed Reunion With Death. This sent Bond to Japan, where he would have taken on the Yazuka. In a nice callback, he would have worked with the son of Tiger Tanaka, the head of the Japanese Secret Service that 007 encountered in 1967's You Only Live Twice.
While Reunion With Death would have featured an opening set in New York, the majority of it took place in Japan. It would have been one of the first in the franchise to make M a bigger part of the plot, who would have sent 007 to Tokyo to investigate the death of his friend. This would have brought him face-to-face with Yakuza leader Nakasone and his wife Michiko. Naturally, Bond would have fallen in love with Michiko, but in a dark twist, she would have died in the final act. 007 would have avenged her death and foiled Nakasone's plans, but his victory would have been bittersweet.
The 17th film eventually became Brosnan's first James Bond movie GoldenEye, with Broccoli very eager for Dalton to reprise the part. Reportedly, Anthony Hopkins - who once turned down Bond himself - was being eyed to play main villain Trevelyan, who would have been more of a mentor to Bond. Ultimately, Dalton decided against a return, as he was only enthused about making one more James Bond adventure, not three or four. Dalton's era was simultaneously ahead of its time AND the victim of bad timing; his more brooding take would be embraced by audiences during the Craig years, while the lawsuits robbed fans of a third (and potentially fourth) Dalton adventure.
Source: 007 Info, The Lost Adventures of James Bond