Lost James Bond Screenplay Featured 007 Killing M

Before Skyfall, Guardian reports there was another 007 screenplay floating around Hollywood. Once Upon A Spy featured Bond learning about his supervisor M's days as an agent for MI6. Upon slowly unraveling the mystery throughout the film, Bond would realize the rogue agent and villain he had been searching for all along was his boss. 

Once Upon a Spy did not survive, but its key elements were lifted for Skyfall. M is faced with a conflict from her past, and ultimately dies to be replaced by a new M, who is male. The information all comes from the book Some Kind of Hero: The Remarkable Story Of James Bond Films, which further lays out why the original screenplay doesn't work.

“We always found [the script] really, really difficult to make credible or satisfying. It was very dark … The only thing that remained was that M’s past comes back to haunt her and she dies at the end.”

You know, I get the idea of keeping Bond from getting too dark... but if I'm being honest I think that's what held Spectre back. It definitely could have been darker, and while I don't want a gritty hardcore Bond, if the story warrants it, take the chance!