James Bond star Pierce Brosnan's sacking as agent 007 was a stunning "body blow," he revealed in an interview, as the hunt for his successor as the suave superspy reportedly drew to an end.
Brosnan's comments came as news reports in Britain said the year-long search for a new Bond had ended with the selection of 37-year-old British actor Daniel Craig as the first ever blond Bond.
But Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), which holds the lucrative Bond franchise, declined to comment on the growing rumours that Craig had been cast in "Casino Royale," which is set to begin production in January.
"The studio has no comment at this time," spokesman Steve Elzer told AFP.
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.
"There was certainly a salary there that was not out of the ballpark, that other men and women have received for the same (type of film)," he said.
But despite being baffled and disappointed over the decision to axe him from the 43-year-old film series, Brosnan said he would still be happy to play the agent with a licence to kill one last time if asked to do so.
"They know where to find me," the actor said. "Would I go back if they asked me back? Sure Id go back," he said.
Brosnan first played the world's most famous spy in 1995's "GoldenEye," the first Bond film to be made after a six-year pause, and reprised the role in "Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997), "The World Is Not Enough" (1999) and in 2002's "Die Another Day."
