Editing Licence to Kill (section)

===Writing and themes===
The initial outline of what would become ''Licence to Kill'' was drawn up by Wilson and Maibaum.{{sfn|Barnes|Hearn|2001|p=176}} Before the pair could develop the script, the [[Writers Guild of America]] (WGA) [[1988 Writers Guild of America strike|went on strike]] and Maibaum was unable to continue writing, leaving Wilson to work on the script on his own.{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=234}} Although both the main plot and title of ''Licence to Kill'' owe nothing to any of the Fleming novels, there are elements from the books that are used in the storyline, including a number of aspects of the short story "[[For Your Eyes Only (short story collection)#The Hildebrand Rarity|The Hildebrand Rarity]]", such as the character Milton Krest.<ref name=documentary/><ref name=comm/> Felix Leiter's mauling by a shark was based on the novel ''[[Live and Let Die (novel)|Live and Let Die]]'',{{sfn|Barnes|Hearn|2001|p=176}} whilst the [[Live and Let Die (film)|film version of the book]] provided the close similarity between the main villain, Mr. Big, and ''Licence to Kill''{{'}}s main villain Sanchez.{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=235}} The screenplay was not ready by the time casting had begun, with [[Carey Lowell]] being auditioned with lines from ''[[A View to a Kill]]''.<ref name=documentary/>

The script—initially called ''Licence Revoked''—was written with Dalton's characterisation of Bond in mind,{{sfn|Barnes|Hearn|2001|p=176}} and the obsession with which Bond pursues Sanchez on behalf of Leiter and his dead wife is seen as being because "of his own brutally cut-short marriage".{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=225}} Dalton's darker portrayal of Bond led to the violence being increased and becoming more graphic.<ref name=comm>{{cite video |year=1999 |title=[[Audio commentary]] |location=''Licence to Kill'': Ultimate Edition |medium=DVD |publisher=MGM |people=John Cork}}</ref> Wilson compared the script to [[Akira Kurosawa]]'s ''[[Yojimbo (film)|Yojimbo]]'', where a samurai "without any attacking of the villain or its cohorts, only sowing the seeds of distrust, he manages to have the villain bring himself down".<ref name=documentary/> Wilson freely admitted that the idea of the destruction-from-within aspect of the plot came more from ''Yojimbo'' and [[Sergio Leone]]'s remake of that film, ''[[A Fistful of Dollars]]'', than from Fleming's use of that plot device from ''[[The Man with the Golden Gun (novel)|The Man with the Golden Gun]]''.{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=235}}

For the location Wilson created the Republic of Isthmus, a [[banana republic]] based on Panama, with the pock-marked Sanchez bearing similarities to General [[Manuel Noriega]].{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=235}} The parallels between the two figures were based on Noriega's political use of drug trafficking and [[money laundering]] to provide revenues for Panama.{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=236}} Robert Davi suggested the line "loyalty is more important than money", which he felt was fitting to the character of Franz Sanchez, whose actions were noticed by Davi to be concerned with betrayal and retaliation.<ref name="glen"/>

The United Artists press kits referred to the film's background as being "Torn straight from the headlines of today's newspapers"<ref>{{cite news|last=Harmetz|first=Aljean|title=Creating a Thriller, Their Words Are Their Bond|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=9 July 1989}}</ref> and the backdrop of Panama was connected to "the [[Medellín Cartel]] in Colombia and corruption of government officials in Mexico thrown in for good measure."<ref>{{cite news|last=Johnston|first=Sheila|title=A cleaner, harder 007|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=16 June 1989}}</ref> This use of the cocaine-smuggling backdrop put ''Licence to Kill'' alongside other cinema blockbusters, such as the 1987 films ''[[Lethal Weapon]]'', ''[[Beverly Hills Cop II]]'' and ''[[RoboCop]],'' and Bond was seen to be "poaching on their turf" with the drug-related revenge story.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=236–7}}