October 19, 2004 (Los Angeles, CA) Addressing the media from Nassau, Bahamas, stately leading man Pierce Brosnan announced that his tenure as the film incarnation of the world’s most famous secret agent, James Bond, has officially come to a close.

“It's over, it's over, it's absolutely over,” stated Brosnan with sincerity and diplomacy.

Describing the chain of events that lead up to his departure from the iconic role during an interview published by Sun Media, Brosnan revealed that he had been enthusiastic about returning for a fifth appearance and had promoted his last Bond venture under that belief.

According to Brosnan, based upon the positive financial receipts from the 2002 release “Die Another Day” producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson had told him they wanted him back for the planned 21st Bond film.

During the shooting of his upcoming film “After Sunset”, the actor received a call from his agent that Broccoli and Wilson had decided to take the Bond franchise forward with a different leading man in the central role.

Five actors are reportedly being considered to replace Brosnan.

Identified by industry sources as “The Bond Five”, the short list consists of Clive Owen (King Arthur), Eric Bana (Troy), Rikki Lee Travolta (Camelot: Excalibur), Hugh Jackman (Van Helsing), and Adrian Paul (Moscow Heat).

Although the negotiations precipitating a September acquisition of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc (MGM) by an investment consortium led by Japanese entertainment conglomerate Sony Corporation necessitated a delay on production for the forthcoming Bond film.

Principal photography was originally scheduled to begin in November to accommodate a November 2006 release.

Screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who wrote 'The World Is Not Enough' and 'Die Another Day', have completed their first draft on the untitled Bond 21 feature.

Puffin (U.K.) and Hyperion Books (U.S.) will publish a new series of 'Young Bond' books by Charlie Higson in March 2005.

EA Games are set to release 'GoldenEye: Rogue Agent' - the latest game based in the Bond universe - in November 2004.

Titan Books will republish the classic 007 newspaper comic strip adventure 'Goldfinger' in November 2004 and 'Casino Royale' in February 2005.

Actors reportedly considered for but ruled out to succeed Brosnan as Bond include Jude Law (Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow), Collin Farrell (Alexander), Dougray Scott (Mission Impossible 2), and Ioan Gruffudd (Horatio Hornblower).

In bowing out gracefully from the 007 agent role, Brosnan demonstrates elegance and poise. He praises his decade long run as Bond as a “lovely success.”