Shaken And Stirred

Pierce Brosnan is now saying that getting sacked as James Bond is a "body blow":

Brosnan, 52, who incarnated the British secret agent in four screen outings that reaped 1.45 billion dollars in ticket sales, said he was stunned and disappointed over the decision to dump him.

"I was terribly upset. It was a real body blow," the Irish star said in an interview with The San Francisco Chronicle, breaking his silence on the decision by producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson to replace him.

"I was looking forward to making (Bond) edgier and grittier -- and for all of that to go down in one phone call was highly disappointing," Brosnan said, adding that he had been invited to make a fifth Bond film but that negotiations suddenly collapsed without explanation.

"To this day Im not sure why," he said, dismissing media reports that his demands of an exorbitant salary of 30 to 40 million dollars had scuppered the talks.

But wait a minute! I seem to recollect that Brosnan, in fact, quit the franchise. Am I getting totally senile? Set the Wayback Machine for July, 2004, Sherman:

Pierce Brosnan told Entertainment Weekly that he is quiting James Bond, "That's it," says the actor otherwise known as Bond, James Bond. "I've said all I've got to say on the world of James Bond."

Brosnan said that "Bond is another lifetime," and unless Brosnan's statement is a negotiating ploy -- Sean Connery, for example, quit for a whole movie before being lured back for bigger bucks -- Eon productions must find another star to carry 007's Walther PPK in the as-yet-untitled 21st Bond movie, which is already scheduled to be released on Nov. 18, 2005.

For Brosnan, playing James Bond will always be a fond memory. "We went out on a high," he says, "and I look back affectionately at that time and doing those four movies. But I've said all I gotta say on it."

Oddly enough, we had a sermon this past Sunday on the fallacy of believing oneself indispensible. I think Mr. Brosnan may understand that lesson a bit better now.