The Female-Led James Bond Spin-Off Movie That Never Happened

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in November of 1989, James Bond has struggled with his own relevance. “Licence to Kill” was released that same year, but it proved to be the last James Bond movie for six years. Eon Productions scrambled to came out with “GoldenEye” in 1995, starring Pierce Brosnan, the best James Bond. (Yeah, I said it.) “GoldenEye” featured a scene wherein M (Judi Dench) told 007 right to his face that he was a remnant of an earlier time, and the bad guys were merely ex-Soviets who tried to keep the Cold War going as best they could. Energy for the war, “GoldenEye” pointed out, had waned. 

Brosnan starred in four films as James Bond, but he ran into another relevancy problem after the events of September 11, 2001. During the George W. Bush administration, wars began anew, and Bond’s slick, lighthearted spy shenanigans no longer seemed relevant. Eon Productions attempt to adapt with the times was Lee Tamahori’s 2002 film “Die Another Day,” a massive miscalculation on every level. The first portion of that film saw Bond (Brosnan) being abducted and tortured for a prolonged period. It was bleaker and harder-edged than any Bond film previous. Then, once Bond had been rescued, the film turned into a cartoonish romp along the lines of “Batman & Robin,” complete with an ice castle, a villain in a steroid-administering vest, and an invisible car. “Die Another Day” is one of the worst James Bond movies. 

However, there was one part of “Die Another Day” that everyone seemed to love: the character of Giacinta “Jinx” Johnson, played by Halle Berry. Just as capable as Bond, and equally gorgeous, Jinx was an NSA agent who teamed up with 007 to solve the villain’s mystery du jour. Both fans and MGM liked the character, and plans were even put into motion to give her a starring role in her own spinoff movie. 

Sadly, it never came to be.

According to a write-up in Variety, MGM was seeking to make a female-led James Bond spinoff as early as 1997, as Michelle Yeoh’s appearance in “Tomorrow Never Dies” proved to be popular. Yeoh’s character, Wai Lin, could certainly have headlined her own action franchise in England and the United States. The 007 producers aimed to hire Yeoh for “Die Another Day,” but that plan fell through, leading them to hire Berry to play the new character, Jinx. 

The story goes that Jinx attracted similar attention, however, and MGM, still eager to release a female-led James Bond spinoff, decided she should be the franchise’s next big star. Neal Purvis and Robert Wade were actually hired to write a screenplay, and it seems that “Philomena” and “The Queen” director Stephen Frears, of all people, was in talks to direct.

A 2020 Variety interview with Bond honchos Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson revealed even more details. It seems that the Jinx movie would have cost upwards of $80 million, a sizeable budget for the time. Broccoli was 100% on board with Berry as Jinx, and she felt that it was high time James Bond broke out of its decades-long prison of clichéd machismo. When MGM refused to commit to the $80 million budget, however, the Jinx movie fell apart. Broccoli and Wilson were disappointed to say the least. No one at the studio wanted to spend that much on a female action star. 

Berry was also dismayed, of course. In 2020, she talked to Digital Spy, and said, “It was very disappointing. It was ahead of its time. Nobody was ready to sink that kind of money into a Black female action star. They just weren’t sure of its value. That’s where we were then.”

Because Jinx fell through, Berry felt another superheroine should be in the mix. She starred in “Catwoman,” partly as a response. 

According to a report from ScreenRant, the “Jinx” movie would have been a prequel to “Die Another Day,” explaining the origin story of the character. A user on Twitter (now known as X), going by the handle @007InLA, seemingly secured a copy of Purvis’ and Wade’s “Jinx” script and leaked a few of its details. 

The story was that Jinx, when she was a young girl, lost both of her parents in a bomb blast. She was to be found on the streets by an American spy named, sigh, Damien Falco, who raised Jinx among a hard-bitten Think-Tank called The Rand Corporation. It’s unclear if the “Rand” part refers to Ayn Rand or of the think-tank was meant to be the Cato Institute, a libertarian think-tank based in Washington D.C. Naturally, Falco would eventually hire Jinx to “do a job” for him, and Jinx would learn her spy skills out in the field. 

This sounds like standard spy stuff, but with Berry in the lead role,and a well-moneyed machine behind it, there’s no reason “Jinx” shouldn’t have worked. The culprits for its failure seem to be the predictable one-two-punch of money and sexism. 

In 2006, James Bond finally returned with “Casino Royale” with Daniel Craig in the 007 role, taking place in a hard-edged, humorless, post-9/11 world. Audiences responded well to the political adaptation. Whoever the next James Bond is, it will be interesting to see how he navigates the current political climate.