The film was originally to be titled 'Licence Revoked', until studio heads at MGM complained that "revoked" was too highfalutin a word for the American market. Viewers weren't quite ready for it in 1989, and wouldn't be until the franchise's reboot with 'Casino Royale' in 2006. 'Licence to Kill' made a deliberate point of peeling away many of those elements.
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Unfortunately, the problem with this approach is that, as much as audiences were weary of the series' direction, they had also grown to expect certain things from a James Bond movie – things like a larger-than-life villain with a world domination plot, outlandish gadgets and plenty of broad comedy. 'Licence to Kill' (and to a lesser extent, Dalton's debut in ' The Living Daylights') represented what was, up until that point, Bond at his most stripped-down, least gimmicky and darkest. With the casting of Dalton, the producers attempted to return to a more serious, leaner and meaner James Bond. People were simply growing tired of where Bond was going. Although they still made a lot of money, box office returns had tapered off with the last few pictures. By the end of his tenure in 1985's 'A View to a Kill', the 007 movies had become increasingly bloated, campy and dumb.
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Roger Moore had basically driven the series into the ground over the course of his seven films. The failure of 'Licence to Kill' is largely a matter of bad timing. If not quite a match for the incomparable Sean Connery, his portrayal of the character was certainly much truer to Ian Fleming's original conception than audiences had seen in many years. He not only looked great in a tux, but (unlike his immediate predecessor) wouldn't induce laughter during fight scenes.
He was suitably handsome and debonair, yet also made a convincing man of action. The actor had all the right qualities for the role. Timothy Dalton never got a fair shake as James Bond.
That's saying something for a franchise with fifteen previous entries. In more sobering respects, it was also the first (and thus far only) Bond movie to disappoint at the box office. It was the last 007 picture actively produced by the legendary Albert "Cubby" Broccoli, the last with a risqué opening titles sequence by Maurice Binder, and the last of the budget-conscious Bond adventures. The film was the final outing (of only two) for star Timothy Dalton, as well as the last directed by John Glen (who helmed the series throughout the 1980s). 'Licence to Kill' marks several endings for the James Bond franchise.
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