Bond movies originally killed off Judi Dench's M before Skyfall

Quantum of Solace very nearly killed off Judi Dench's M before her death in Skyfall.

Directed by Marc Forster, the sequel to Casino Royale was released 14 years ago and saw Daniel Craig's 007 locking horns with Mathieu Amalric's Dominic Greene, who sought to seize Bolivia's natural reserves.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, co-writer Neal Purvis revealed that their original plans for M in the film were scrapped following an early draft.

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"[Killing M] was a given back when we started Quantum of Solace," he shared.

"And I wouldn't say it was a throwaway scene or anything because it was still emotional – but it was a very sudden thing that happened roughly in the middle or two-thirds of the way into an early draft of that story."

They decided that if M really was going to be struck off for the first time in Bond's cinematic history, it needed to be done "properly", Purvis said, "with the right amount of emotional depth that that movie just didn't seem to have the time or room for".

He added: "We did write that scene, but thankfully it was cut."

In the end, Dench's final appearance as the Head of MI6 unfolded five years later.

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During the climactic and spectacular Skyfall estate shootout, one of Raoul Silva's henchmen manages to wound her, and despite fighting on, M ultimately dies in Bond's arms. Ralph Fiennes's Gareth Mallory then steps in as her successor.

Meanwhile, actor Craig – who relinquished his licence to kill last year – previously gave his thoughts on Quantum of Solace, saying that the movie only "kind of works".

"It's not Casino Royale… It was like, literally, troubling second album syndrome. In a way, we could not top Casino," he said.