Unmade Bond 15

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Cast & Crew
James Bond:	None specified; as Roger Moore had retired from the role and a new actor had not been cast when the script(s) were written
Writer(s):	Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson
Facts & Figures
Released:	Aborted
Preceded By:	A View to a Kill

Unmade Bond 15 refers to a proposed EON-Produced James Bond movie, that was devised by writer Richard Maibaum and Bond producer Michael G. Wilson following the 1985 film A View to a Kill. With aging Roger Moore stepping down, the story was designed as a reboot/origin story for the cinematic James Bond, as well as a fresh start for the next Bond actor.

The story would see a younger Bond in his 20s, motivated by conflict with his family legacy, joining Secret Intelligence Service to a mission in Asia. Teamed up with a older agent/present 007; Burton/Bart Trevor and a young woman Betje Bedwell, Bond is faced with a Asian Warlord named Kwang, who operates at the Golden Triangle and supports the regional Communists with arms and opium.

The work began few months after the May/June premiere of A View to a Kill. A three-page pre-title sequence had been written sometime in the fall of 1985. On October 24th, Maibaum and Wilson had extend this first treatment to 19 pages, then to 35 pages on November 3rd, 1985.

While Maibaum and Wilson were thrilled with the potential of their script, it was ultimately rejected by producer Albert R. Broccoli. Although Broccoli did like the script, he was highly concerned about audiences being turned off by rookie James Bond learning the ropes. It is speculated that Broccoli's decision was influenced by the box-office disappointment of the 1985 film Young Sherlock Holmes.

Following a exhaustive casting for new James Bond, Timothy Dalton is ultimately cast and the finished, 15th Bond movie, would become The Living Daylights.

Plot summary

The following plot summary is based on the 35-page script dated November 8th, 1985.

Pre-titles in Austria

Early in the story, James Bond had to survive the Krimml waterfalls.

The pre-title sequence starts in Austria in the year 1972, with James Bond in his mid-to-late 20s and who is currently a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and an Assistant Military Attaché for the British Embassy in Vienna. Staying at a mountainside castle converted to a hotel, he is in bed with a young lady named Elsa, who is engaged with Graf Siegried Von Rahm, a nobleman Bond is investigating.

In order to get closer to Von Rahm, Bond agrees to go hang gliding with him. Once in the air, it becomes apparent that Von Rahm knows who Bond is and what he has done with Elsa, and slices the fabric of Bond's hang glider with a knife. This causes the hang-gliding Bond to plummet into the Krimml waterfalls. Bond survives the waterfall and is picked up by a fisherman.

Come night-time, Bond, still wet in a tattered outfit, goes to a Opera that Von Rahm and Elsa are attending. Enraged Bond finds Von Rahm and punches him, prompting Von Rahm's bodyguards to attacking him. Bond takes down the bodyguards, quipping to Elsa that Bond "never cared all that much for Grand Opera". The pre-titles end with Bond's arrest.

Scotland and Meeting M

After his arrest, Bond is brought to the British Embassy. The ambassador there lambasts Bond for having knocked "the living daylights" out of Von Rahm and that his behavioral problems will eventually get him dishonorably discharged from the Royal Navy. There will be a trial over the incident, and Bond heads back to his family home in Scotland, in order to clear his head a bit.

Bond returns to his ancestral home in the Scottish highlands, where he meets "Aunt Charmaine"[sic] and Bond's paternal grandfather - who is described resembling Donald Crisp, and refers James Bond as "Jamie". James and grandfather shoot clay pigeons at the moor for a while, before the latter asks the former to accompany him to his study.

The grandfather wants to talk about James's future, and explains he is running out of money -- and even if he had some, James would gamble it away. The grandfather explains the long naval tradition in the Bond family. One of his ancestors who fought in Trafalgar in 1805 and at Jutland in 1916. While Bond understands his family legacy, he feels his future lies in some another area.

The grandfather points to the family coat of arms and quotes the family motto; "The World is Not Enough", with Bond answering that he has never figured out what it actually meant, with grandfather lamenting "Someday, I hope to God that you will." The grandfather wishes Bond to go to the "Blaydes Club"[sic] to find a old suitor of aunt Charmaine, who frequents there. The man who may have the key to setting a new direction in Bond's life.

Bond goes the Blaydes in London, where Bond meets a "impressive, warrior type" of man, to whom Bond laments that he "has no war to fight." The man responds to Bond that there is a "war that never stops -- the covert war." The man reveals that he is the director of the Secret Service, and confides in Bond, telling tells that he is an excellent candidate for the MI6.

The man deems that Bond excels in languages and that Bond had completed his military combat training brilliantly. Despite Bond's reported disciplinary problems, the man doesn't believe them to be major problem, that they are only life problems irrelevant to espionage operations.

Bond declines, with the man noting that if Bond were to join MI6, he would be cleared of the impending trial regarding the Vienna incident. Nevertheless, Bond still declines, needing more time to reflect on it. Bond then asks of the Man's name, with him responding that "at the club, he is known as Admiral Messervy, and that the office, he is known as M."

Bond holds a party at his house, full of girls and card games. Then Bond gets a phone call from Aunt Charmaine, telling that his grandfather has died. At the funeral, he quietly realizes that joining the Secret Service is the best thing to do. Bond goes to his grandfather's study and calls M, telling that Bond "will give it a try."

Singapore, meeting Trevor

Next, Bond is piloting a Douglas DC3 (i.e. same as what Bond flies in Quantum of Solace against the SIAI-Marchetti SF.260) transport plane to Singapore. He lands in airfield belonging to Universal Exports, the MI6 front company. Upon arrival, he meets Felix Leiter and Q (possibly not Desmond Llewelyn), and tells them he is to find a MI6 agent named Bart Trevor (who in older scripts is named Burton Trevor). They answer by telling that Trevor is at the Red Dragon Inn.

At the inn, Bond finds Trevor, a man in his forties with a weary, "once handsome" face marked by the hardships he has gone through during his life, as well as by his excessive consumption of alcohol. Before Bond is able to sit next to him, Trevor stops him and orders him to sit in a specific way (back to the wall, eye to the door). Trevor is unimpressed by Bond, seeing him as "navy flyboy" who is wet behind his ears. Neither get along with each other at first, with Trevor one point remarking to Bond to "Keep cool. And while you are at it, keep your mouth shut", that its "rule number 2".

Trevor explains that "Universal Exports" is known to people due to its shady reputation, that it "flies anything, for anyone, everywhere, no questions asked." Further explaining that Bond is to fly him and machine part crates to one General Kwang, who is the "top dog warlord" and the biggest heroin dealer in the Golden Triangle area. Trevor then tells that Bond was chosen for this job simply because Bond was only one available in this urgent situation. Trevor then tells Bond that he operates on "need to know basis".

Then, two dangerous looking Malaysians, Po and Dai approach Bond and Trevor, the former two telling the latter to cancel tomorrow's shipment. Trevor explains that Po and Dai work for Ambong, one of Kwang's main competitors. Trevor and Bond try to leave, but Dai draws a knife. Trevor stops Bond from acting rashly, and lulls Po and Dai into false sense of security -- only for Trevor to make a surprise attack on them. Bond and Trevor defeat the two in a massive brawl.

Singapore, meeting Betje

Trevor and Bond return to a hotel (which was the Raffles Hotel in a older script). There, Bond spots a woman named Betje Bedwell (Eurasian, dressed in a "chic" Chinese-influenced attire) and her bodyguard Kow Tow, whom Bond describes a "enormous Chinese eunuch". Although Bond is wary of her, he is still curious and follows her. She finds her shopping at a apothecary, where she buys a rhinoceros horn, and she later goes to a discotheque, where Bond decides to approach her.

Afterwards, Bond and Betje exit to go around Singapore at night. They hit it off, dancing on a deck of a sailing ship and later eat local delicacies at a street vendor. Afterwards, Bond takes her to a jewel store, where he buys a 22K gold-covered iris orchild. Unbeknownst to them, they've been trailed by Kow Tow this entire time.

Bond and Betje return to the former's hotel room, where both go to bed together. Afterwards, Betje then tells that can never see each other again.

Airport attack, flying the DC3

The next day, Bond meets Trevor, Q and Leiter by the DC3 that Bond is to pilot. The crates that are to be transported to Kwang's compound (which are supposed to contain machine parts) are loaded on the plane, but they lack instructions on where to take them.

Then Betje and Kow Tow appear (with former carrying the box containing the rhino horn), with Bond and Betje acting like they don't know eachother. Betje tells that she will be instructing on the Kwang's cargo's destination.

Then, they are attacked by two trucks, driven by Po and Dai respectively, with Dai's being equipped with a flamethrower. Bond and company scramble, with Trevor shooting at the two trucks to provide cover for Bond to get into the plane's cockpit. Bond acts quick and gets the plane off the air.

Airborne, Bond and co.'s plane fly over the jungles and the Gulf of Siam. But when they enter the airspace of Thailand, they are fired upon by unknown party. They manage to survive the anti-air fire, with Trevor taking over the plane's control, letting Bond to take a break from flying. Bond uses this time to go check the crates, and finds that they are transporting guns for the Red Army, and not machine tools as Trevor told him, confusing him of the purpose of the flight.

Kwang's fortress

The Thailand-Laos-Burma Border viewpoint at Wat Phra That Pha Ngao.

Bond and co. land at a small, hillside village, where they are greeted by a man called La Font. He described as a handsome, tough Frenchman who was a major during the Indo-China war and now works for General Kwang and his opium smuggling business. La Font, who has the authority, orders Kwang's soldiers to unload the crates.

Bond, Trevor and La Font ride horses through a jungle path to reach Kwang's Fortress. There, they meet General Kwang - described as a man in his early 50s who looks more like a poet than a warlord - who is painting a picture of "ruined tomb-like structure with three pagoda-like rock formations behind them". Betje, who is Kwang's concubine, presents the rhino horn to him - with Trevor whispering to Bond that a rhino horn in considered a aphrodisiac in Traditional Chinese medicine.

La Font takes Bond and Trevor to the quest-quarters, with La Font telling them to wait. The agents take the Q-Branch traveler kit and start sweeping the room with a mic detector. Trevor tells that he is just being cautious, as he once triggered a bomb in a toilet which was rigged when flushed. Bond quips that it would had been a "sanitary way to go."

Near the gates of the compound, Bond and Trevor observe the arrival of a another warlord, Kim Feng, who is accompanied by three escorts. Kwang greets them, and as Kim Feng and co. get further inside the compound, Bond notices that one of the escorts is fiddling with something and rushes to stop him. Bond's hunch is right, as the escort had pulled a pin off a grenade, with Bond getting the grenade and throwing it away, saving Kwang's life. In retaliation, La Font guns down the two remaining escorts.

General Kwang tells Bond and Trevor that tomorrow he needs to test his new weapons, "on live targets". Trevor suggests Kwang that they fly to Kim Feng's camp and extract revenge there, with Kwang agreeing.

In private, Trevor berates Bond for making a colossal mistake, with the former telling that his mission was to locate and get close to Kwang in order to either capture or kill him. Bond is in disbelief and Trevor is forced to reveal that he is a "agent of the 00 Section", and has the licence to kill. Bond then asks why Trevor didn't tell of this sooner, with the latter telling that he didn't trust Bond and is now unsure if he can after Bond's mistake.

When Bond asks him if Kwang is wanted for drug trafficking, Trevor tells him that the CIA and MI6 are after him for another reason: he made a deal with the Communists, particularly Pathet Lao, to turn the Golden Triangle into a base serving to launch raids against Thailand, Malaysia and the rest of Burma. While Bond realizes his error, Trevor notes that because Kwang now owes Bond his life, it might give them a chance to kindap him in their next flight.

While they are fixing the plane, Bond sports Kwang's group of concubines going into the jungle. Bond decides to follow, and eventually finds Betje, thanks to the golden orchid he brought in Singapore. They make love in the reeds, with Betje telling of her past afterwards. That her father was an English lumberjack and her mother was Asian (the mother is German in a older script). The parents were killed by insurgents and Kwang found her after the raid, when she was 6 years old. He made her go through school, and when Betje reached her teens, made her his favorite concubine.

Because Kwang has started to lose his sexual prowess, he made her to go to Singapore to acquire a rhino horn. She tells that Kwang fears that if his men would discover of his sexual impotence, his imago would be sullied and he would lose his followers.

Kim Feng's camp, party, Bond captured

At the airstrip, the Douglas DC3 is boarded by Bond, Trevor, La Font and some of Kwang's soldiers, including a pilot named Song. Bond and Trevor realize that they are unmanned and have to comply with La Font's plan and game another time to abduct General Kwang. Bond flies them to Feng's camp, where Kwang's men abduct Feng.

Feng is brought to Kwang, with latter lamenting that he never considered Feng his enemy, and wants to know why Feng would want him dead. Feng tells that Kwang's plan will be the end of all the other warlords in the area.

Kwang hosts a celebration at his fortress in the evening, with Bond and Trevor as quests. Trevor notices that Kwang is wearing robes that bear the seal of the Manchu Dynasty. Trevor tells Bond about the "Manchu Hoard", a lost cache of jewels, coins, weapons and other valuables plundered by the Manchu people over six centuries.

Kwang comes to them and offers them $100,000 to fly him to a secret location. Seeing this as a chance to abduct Kwang, Bond and Trevor agree. While on his own, Betje hands a note to Bond, telling to meet her privately at night-time. Bond plays it casual and checks the table he is close to, lifting a dish which contains the severed head of Feng.

Bond goes to the concubines quarters to find Betje. There, she tells that Kwang wants to retire to South America and that she doesn't want to spend her remaining days with Kwang, pleads Bond to help her somehow. She then tells that Kwang likely wants Bond to fly to China and find the Manchu Hoard, which Kwang intends to split with the members of Pathet Lao. Betje then tells Bond that she would want to spend the rest of her life with Bond.

However, Kow Tow has been eavesdropping the two, and hearing of Betje's betrayal, barges in. He rushes at Bond, with the latter taking the Rhino's Horn and causing Kow Tow to ram into it. The horn perforates his eye and lodges inside his brain, killing Kow Tow in near instantly.

Bond realizes that they are in trouble and the two try to escape, only to run into La Font and some soldiers. The two are taken to Kwang's cellar, where Kwang announces that Bond and Betje will be executed. Trevor, in a gambit to better the odds of saving Bond's life - instead suggests Bond might not be a mere mercenary, but even a spy. Therefore, it would be sensible to torture him for information before killing him, to which Kwang agrees.

Escape from Kwang's Fortress

James is taken to a torture chamber, where he is violently beaten with bamboo sticks by La Mont's henchman. Trevor, pretending to be on side of the drug-runners, enters the chamber and offers guidance on how to torture information out of people. But Trevor pulls a gun, assembled from the Q faux-toiletry kit, shoots the henchman dead.

Trevor frees Bond, weakened by the beatings, and tells that they need to leave the fortress. Bond starts quipping about Trevor rather suggesting brainwashing than torture, with Trevor retorting with "At least you still have your head!"

Before escaping from the fortress, Bond brings up that they need to rescue Betje. However, Trevor is uncompliant and thinks that Bond is thinking with his heart, bringing up that "Rule #1 is that you never fall in love on a mission". Bond admit he has, with Trevor telling Bond that his "priorities are wrong" and that "he will never make a good agent". But regardless, Trevor agrees to go save Betje, granted Bond can contain himself.

They manage to locate Betje in a cell, being prepared for the execution. They kill her captors and free her. Outside the courtyard, Trevor throws a new rule at Bond; that rule #5 is "always look for a way out" and that Trevor had spotted one the day they got there.

They get out of the compound and head into the jungles. They then hear horses approaching, realizing they have been found. Bond, who has been weakened from the prior torture, tells Trevor to take Betje and leave without him. In a desperate gambit, Trevor chooses sacrifices himself to mislead the soldiers of Bond and Betje's location. Trevor asks Bond to give the Q-gun, and tells Bond "just remember the rules."

Trevor starts shooting at the guards, covering for Bond and Betje's escape. He does well until Kwang and La Font appear horseback, with them gunning down Trevor. They realize they will likely not find Bond and Betje, so they return back to camp.

Following Kwang to China

The next morning, Betje tends to the wounds on Bond's back and chest and gathers berries for them to eat. At one point they start making love. Afterwards, they realize that although they are temporarily out of harms' way, Kwang will likely hunt them down sooner than later. The two make the decision to go to the airstrip to see what they can do to ruin Kwang's plans.

Arrive at the airstrip, they see Kwang's men wearing Chinese Red Army uniforms, including Song. Also, the DC3 that Trevor and Bond brought to Kwang now sports Chinese markings. Bond realizes what Kwang's plan is; Kwang and his men is going to the place where the "Manchu Hoard" is, posing as a Chinese government official(s), loading all the treasure and then departing.

The DC3 takes off with Kwang aboard before Bond and Betje are able to board. Bond takes the opportunity to knock out a airstrip guard and grabs his weapon. He gets into a small two-seater plane and invites Betje to join him.

Once in the air, Bond sets off in pursuit of Kwang's DC3. Betje asks Bond of his plan, with Bond responding than its "a case pending". They lose the DC3 in a thick cloud layer. Soon, he spots a an area filled with ruined tombs and pagoda-like rock that looks like the painting Kwang was making when he first met him, and upon looking more, finds the DC3.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Kwang is meeting some members of Pathet Lao, who too are in Chinese Red Army uniforms. (In a earlier script Kwang poses as "Chinese Minister of Antiquities" to bunch of local villagers, and that he is there to transport the artifacts to the museums of Beijing, Guangzhou and Hangzhou.) Kwang and La Font enter the catacombs and eventually find the hoard, which is guarded by a 30-foot statues of Chinese Demon Dogs.

The hoard contains treasure chests with gems and jewelry, while the Demon Dog statues are filled with gold coins. Kwang tells his men to take the chests, but to leave the gold coins from the Demon Dogs for Pathet Lao.

Bond and Betje arrive to the area and spot Song, who is at the DC3 overseeing the transfer of the hoard aboard. Bond and Betje subdue Song and use the plane's short-range navigation equipment to inform Felix Leiter of their present location and what Kwang is planning.

Betje recommends stealing the plane with all the treasure aboard. Instead, Bond shoots up the plane's controls, rendering it inoperable. Betje berates Bond, saying that with all the treasure, "the world would have been theirs". To which Bond quietly responds with "The World is Not Enough" -- the family motto. Now understanding what it means, as well as his own purpose.

Battle at the Tomb

Bond and Betje make their way to nearby burial grounds to get another route to access the catacombs. Betje is scared of the place and asks Bond if they could leave. However, Bond spots Kwang and draws his gun, going after him. Bond and Betje separate, with Betje exploring the "tomb of the Empress", while Bond goes to kill Kwang.

Bond gets a clear line of fire to take down Kwang, but is spotted by La Font and his men. The echo of their shots reverberates throughout the burial chamber. Bond and Kwang's men engage in a shoot out at the catacombs. Once Bond runs out of ammo, he snatches a battle ax from one of the statues as Kwang walks towards him. Bond realizes that the Demon Dog statues are filled with gold coins, as the other henchmen approach.

Betje then emerges from the tomb of the Empress, dressed in a gold dress and a funerary mask. The sudden appearance, intensified by the reflections of the torches, frightens La Font's men, who flee and leave him alone. Kwang is little startled by it and moves up towards stairs, right next to the dog statues. Bond smashes open one of the statues and the flow of coins pour over Kwang, with the mounting flow of the coins burying Kwang and killing him.

Betje grabs an empty bag and begins to fill it by dipping into the river of gold coins, but Bond grabs her and they leave the place, with Betje still clinging to the bag. They run towards the entrance and face two men. Bond takes care of one of them while Betje takes care of the second with her bag full of gold.

La Font spots them and starts shooting. They try to escape the gunfire, but the bag slows them down. Bond then snatches Betje's bag and tears off the golden dress, which does not please the latter.

Once outside, they find that the Chinese Red Army has arrived and they are shutting down Kwang's operation. Bond and Betje head for the two-seater plane, but realize upon arriving there that La Font has beaten them to it. La Font has a gun drawn and orders Bond to pilot him out of the country and to leave Betje behind. Bond, fearing what the Chinese Red Army will do to her, asks La Font to take Betje. La Font refuses and forces Bond to come closer, which causes Betje to mouth off. While La Font is bit distracted by Betje, Bond grabs La Font's gun. After the struggle, the gun goes off and it kills La Font.

The two then board the plane and take off. Betje complains that the Red Chinese will collect all the treasure. Bond replies that it belongs to the Chinese people and that Bond will asks MI6 to go easy on her. Also, Bond tells that it won't be that bad, once she sells her story to "News of The World". Bond then brings up that Betje did snatch that 40-karat diamond which she happily admires.

Debriefing

Back in London, at the MI6 office, Miss Moneypenny (with a new actress, succeeding Lois Maxwell), announces Bond to M and the Chief of Staff. Bond enters and the Chief of Staff congratulates him, telling that he is accepted to 00 Section. He then asks what number Bond will be, with M suggesting Trevor's. Chief christens Bond as 007. Then they start talking about Bond's next mission, that he will going to Jamaica to investigate a certain "Doctor No".

Characters

James Bond (actor undecided)	Naval Lieutenant, MI6 field Agent and a 00 Agent candidate
M (actor undecided)	Head of MI6
Miss Moneypenny (actor undecided)	M's secretary
Q (actor undecided)	MI6's weapon expert
Felix Leiter (actor undecided)	American CIA agent operating in Asia
Charmian Bond (written "Charmaine" in scripts)	James Bond's "spinster" aunt
Unnamed Father of Andrew Bond and Charmian Bond	James Bond's paternal Grandfather
Bart Trevor (Burton Trevor in early scripts)	Current 007, Bond's mentor in MI6
Betje Bedwell	The Bond girl, Kwang's concubine
General Kwang (Unpublished Villains Wiki entry)	Asian Warlord, main antagonist
La Font	Frenchman working for Kwang, secondary antagonist
Kow Tow	Kwang's henchman, bodyguard assigned to guard Betje
Song	Kwang's henchman, an aviator involved with Kwang's final plan
Kim Feng	Rival Asian Warlord to Kwang
Ambong	Unseen warlord rival to Kwang. He is the boss of Po and Dai.
Po and Dai	Two thungs working for Ambong, Kwang's rival. They attack Bond and Trevor in Singapore.
Graf Siegried Von Rahm	Nobleman, antagonist of the pre-titles
Elsa	Lady engaged with Von Rahm

Influence on later Bond media

Although the script was rejected, it would be greatly influential to the future Bond film installments.

• One of the most notable aspects of the story is that it was meant to be a reboot/origin story for James Bond, featuring the agent early in his career. The same idea formed the crux of the 2006 Casino Royale, with the plot focusing on James Bond right after receiving the 007 status.
• Character of Bart/Burton Trevor, a mentor character for James Bond, was revisited in the early development of GoldenEye (film), with the main villain originally being Bond's MI6 superior/older 00 agent, before being rewritten into Alec Trevelyan.
• The villain Kwang has a labyrinthine influence on later Bond films.
  • He/reworked version of him was initially planned to be the main villain of Licence to Kill, an Asian drug baron, before being rewritten into South American drug baron Franz Sanchez. Additionally, in the finished version of the aforementioned movie, there is a Hong Kong Narcotics agent named Kwang.
  • Kwang is responsible for the death of Bond's mentor, Bart/Burton Trevor. This would make him somewhat similar to General Ourumov, who (seemingly) kills Alec Trevelyan at the beginning of GoldenEye (film). Only difference is that Trevor is killed for real, where as Trevelyan faked his death and is revealed to be the true villain.
  • While also a unmade Bond film, in the original unmade Bond 17 scripts by Michael G. Wilson and Alfonse Ruggiero, the villain Sir Henry Lee-Ching's father is revealed to have been a Asian opium-smuggling warlord, much like what Kwang is in the unmade Bond 15.
  • Opium ultimately plays part in the final version of Bond 15, The Living Daylights, as the villains are engaged in a triangle deal, with arms dealer Brad Whitaker paying diamonds for a large shipment of opium from the Afghan Mujahideen, which would turn a profit within days of distribution in the streets of the US, and so continue supplying the Soviets with arms.
  • Additionally, Brad Whitaker is defeated with a use of a statue, much like General Kwang is in the unmade Bond 15.
• Before Bond joins the MI6 mission to Asia, he goes to his ancestral home in the Scottish highlands, where he meets his paternal Grandfather and Aunt Charmian. This ancestral home would eventually appear in Skyfall as the Skyfall Lodge.
• In The World is Not Enough, there is a exchange of words between Elektra King and James Bond, where Elektra muses that she "could've given [Bond] the world" and with Bond responding with "The world is not enough." A similar exchange between Betje Bedwell and James Bond takes place near the end of the unmade Bond 15.
• Die Another Day begins with Bond, posing as Van Bierk, arriving to Colonel Moon's fortified camp in a aircraft to inquire about Colonel Moon's possession of weapons, with Moon telling that he intends to use them to invade South Korea. This bears similarity to the unmade Bond 15, as Bond and Trevor go to General Kwang's fortress posing as mercenary smugglers and with the General having massive amounts of weapons he plans to use to help communists invade the "Golden Triangle" countries.
• The scene where Bond and Trevor are harassed by Po and Dai in the Red Dragon Inn's bar may have influenced the scene in Licence to Kill, where Dario and his men intervene with Bond and Pam's meeting at the Barrelhead Bar. Dai also likes to show off his knife, like Dario does.

While it is unknown if its just a coincidence or done purposefully, the premise of Anthony Horowitz's Forever and a Day is quite similar to the "unmade Bond 15". As, both are origin stories for James Bond and where the death of a person previously designated 007 is a major plot point. Also, villains in both stories are major drug barons.

Trivia

• If the ending would had played out the way it did - that freshly minted 007/Bond's next assignment would be the one in the 1962 movie version of Dr. No (and granted the movie following the unmade 15th Bond is not a Dr. No remake) - it would have potentially created quite a few plot holes. At the beginning of the 1962 Dr. No, its established that Bond is already a seasoned agent, to a point M addresses not only the type of gun Bond carries, but also mentions that due to his weapon jamming on his "last job", he spent six months in hospital. Furthermore, when Bond enters Moneypenny's office in Dr. No, he begins flirting with her -- where as in unmade Bond 15, Moneypenny quickly lets Bond in. Additionally, Bond is introduced playing baccarat with Sylvia Trench before heading to MI6 in the 1962 film, which there is no reference to in the 1985 scripts.
• While the name of the Bond girl - Betje - may sound strange, it is a real name. It is a Dutch and Limburgish diminutive of the name Elisabeth. In context regarding to Ian Fleming, it may refer to the English writer John Betjeman, whom Fleming befriended in 1960.

Sources

• "The Lost Adventures of James Bond" by Mark Edlitz, ISBN: 9781735461625
• "The Making of the Living Daylights" by Charles Helfenstein, ISBN: 978-0984412624
• "Scripting 007: Behind the writing of the James Bond movies" by Clement Feutry (Version 2.2 - Nov 30, 2024) - Chapter 15: "The Living Daylights"