Colin Salmon was almost 'the next James Bond' for quite some time, before losing out to Daniel Craig. By this time, however, the full breadth of the British media, at least, had caught wind of Salmon's near-Bond status and he was interviewed about it left, right and centre. He reportedly even signed autographs as James Bond. Sadly for Salmon, Double-O status was not to be.
Shame, actually, because while Daniel Craig is as good a Bond as I can imagine, having Colin Salmon in the role really would have shaken things up much, much more. In case you didn't know: Colin Salmon is black.
He's now been announced as starring in Neil Thompson's Clubbed, a new British film with a budget just under £2 million. Idris Elba from The Reaping had been linked to the part, just like Salmon had been linked to Bond, but it was not to be. I don't think Elba will be hurt so much.
Likely to be a wish fulfillment favourite with brainless bouncers for years to come, Clubbed is an 80s period piece about a factory worker who learns martial arts and becomes a nightclub doorman. Think Flashdance meets No Retreat, No Surrender perhaps?
Salmon plays the martial arts mentor, the lead is sometime-Jesus Mel Raido and both Jim Cartwright and Paul Abbott are being named as script consultants on Geoff Thompson's screenplay. I have no idea what that 'script consultant' credit really means - do you?
