The Unfilmed Shark Scene For Live And Let Die Is Very Jaws-Esque

The formula for James Bond movies hasn't changed much since 1962's "Dr. No." A Bond film needs: exotic locales, a dynamic villain, multiple romantic interludes, punny quips (which often accompany someone's death), a vehicular chase scene of some kind, gadgets, and a martini that's shaken and not stirred.

That's not to say that James Bond films haven't changed over the years. In the Roger Moore era, which began with 1973's "Live and Let Die," the films took on a campier tone. In fact, one deleted scene from that film might have been too campy, even for this period. The scene was shared via the Writing Bond Twitter account, which analyzes the scripts from the long-running spy franchise.

In "Live and Let Die," Bond is tasked with taking down Dr. Kanaga, aka Mr. Big (Yaphet Kotto), the prime minister of the fictional country of San Monique who also controls a massive heroin operation. His evil scheme is to flood America with free heroin, addict millions, and then jack up the price–with the help of a local witch doctor named Baron Samedi, who may or may not have actual voodoo powers (we said it was campy).

In an early draft of the film, Bond's investigation is briefly stalled when he crosses paths with a shark. It even vaguely resembles "Jaws," which would come out two years later. Here's what could have happened.

The scene comes about 40 minutes into the film, when Bond hires Quarrel Jr. for a fishing expedition that's really a chance to surveille the spot where Mr. Big's men killed the last MI6 agent, Baines (Quarrel Jr. is also the son of the fisherman who helped him take down Dr. No). In both versions of the scene, Bond is pretending to fish as part of his cover story. In the deleted version, Bond inadvertently hooks a massive shark. Bond prepares to shoot the shark, but Quarrel gives him a gas pellet gun to use instead. With this, Bond shoots the shark through the mouth, and the gas pellet causes the shark to rapidly inflate and explode. This way, it leaves no blood to attract other sharks (we're not going to touch the science on that one).

The scene they actually filmed is much different. In the movie, Bond is fishing when his new ally Rosie Carver (Gloria Hendry), a CIA Agent, discovers a hidden panel inside Quarrel's cabin with a pistol and some electronic equipment inside. Suspecting Quarrel is a double agent, she takes the gun and confronts him, forcing Bond to explain who Quarrel really is.

Of course, multiple elements of the deleted scene would be used in other parts of the film. Mr. Big later tries to feed Bond to the sharks he keeps in a tank in his lair. After that, Bond force-feeds Mr. Big a pellet from a gas gun, causing him to inflate and explode. It makes sense why the scene was altered. Why spend a boatload of money on an inflatable shark that doesn't affect the plot? Still, it would have been quite the scene.