Then, there are other films with roles so clearly meant to be played by different actors that they don't even bother to hide their disappointment at having to settle for someone else, like ...

We all know that Tom Selleck was nearly Indiana Jones, that Winona Ryder was supposed to be Mary in The Godfather Part III , and that Paul Blart was originally to be played by a children's sock puppet full of dead hamsters. In most cases, the new actors make the characters their own -- Harrison Ford didn't try to act like Tom Selleck, and Steven Spielberg didn't slap a mustache and an uncomfortably revealing pair of shorts on him to make him more Tom Selleck-like.

7 Skyfall Conspicuously Features An Old, Bearded Scotsman (That Isn't Sean Connery)

Eon Productions

Skyfall found Daniel Craig's 007 battling a former agent hellbent on destroying Judi Dench, a scheme which strains even the credibility of a franchise full of jetpacks and invisible cars, because she is a goddamn treasure. The mysterious term "Skyfall" is revealed to be the name of a frumpy old house in Scotland where Bond grew up.

Eon Productions

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Like Hogwarts' sad, depressing brother.

In one of the worst plans in the history of plans, Bond whisks M away from London and takes her to his titular childhood home, which they promptly outfit with crazy booby traps, as if they're expecting the Wet Bandits and not an elite squad of professional killers. And who helps them in this Kevin McCallister-like endeavor? Kincade, an old, bearded Scotsman -- you know, like the old, bearded Scotsman who played James Bond back in the 1960s.

Columbia Pictures/Eon Productions

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The Finding Forrester hat is a dead giveaway.

It turns out that, yup, the filmmakers originally wanted Sir Sean Connery, the 007 of yesteryear, to cameo as Kincade. Because seemingly every franchise these days has to fashion its story as a meta allegory for the making of the movie, Connery would be playing the gamekeeper who helped raise James Bond and make him who he is. Get it? It would literally be James Bond returning to his roots. They even drive there in a goddamn Aston Martin.

According to director Sam Mendes, he opted not to bring Connery back because it would "take you out of the movie." Plus, it's doubtful they'd ever be able to coax Connery out of retirement, and even more doubtful they'd be able to convince him to take a role where he tries to save a woman's life, instead of smacking her in the mouth for talking back to him.