Kevin McClory's unfilmed 1976 script for the
rogue James Bond project "Warhead", based on a screenplay
he penned with Sean Connery and author Len Deighton, was previously
sold at Christies auction house in a combined lot on Thursday
4th December 2008 for £46,850.
Another copy of the screenplay has come up for auction, again
at Christies, but this time the estimated sale price is a much
lower £1,000 - £1,500. The Warhead script features
various characters in the cast list
Bond girls called Justine Lovesit and Fatima Blush.
Robert Sellers devotes a chapter in his book
The Battle For Bond to the film project, Warhead - The Bond Film
That Never Was. In it, he gives a detailed description of the
background to this script which was a collaboration between producer
Kevin McClory, thriller writer and creator of the Harry Palmer
character immortalised on screen by Michael Caine - Len Deighton,
and the first screen Bond - Sean Connery. Sellers depicts this
script as: one of the great-unfilmed scripts in cinema history,
described in Hollywood circles as 'Star Wars' underwater. As
a result of a combination of legal objections from Eon Productions
and Connery's and Paramount's ensuing reservations, Warhead was
never made.
With Never Say Never Again, Kevin McClory used
his hard fought for rights to the Thunderball script updating
it with '80s technology.
Sean Connery was enticed back to the role of Bond by a number
of inducements including total creative control, a $3million
fee, and a percentage of the profits. The film's ironic title
pre-empted the media frenzy which greeted Connery's return
as 007. Connery's performance in the film was widely regarded
as
having held the whole movie together.
The screenplay will be auctioned by Christies
as Lot 51 in the 'Pop Culture' event on June 26th 2013 in London.
It's estimated
sale price is £1,000 - £1,500.
