Claim: Pierce Brosnan worked with a director.

The World Is Not Enough -LRB- 1999 -RRB- is the nineteenth film in the James Bond series , and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond . The film was directed by Michael Apted , with the original story and screenplay written by Neal Purvis , Robert Wade and Bruce Feirstein . It was produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli . The title is taken from a line in the 1963 novel On Her Majesty 's Secret Service .   The film 's plot revolves around the assassination of billionaire Sir Robert King by the terrorist Renard , and Bond 's subsequent assignment to protect King 's daughter Elektra , who had previously been held for ransom by Renard . During his assignment , Bond unravels a scheme to increase petroleum prices by triggering a nuclear meltdown in the waters of Istanbul .   Filming locations included Spain , France , Azerbaijan , Turkey and the UK , with interiors shot at Pinewood Studios . Despite mixed critical reception , The World Is Not Enough earned $ 361,832,400 worldwide . It was also the first Eon-produced Bond film to be officially released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer instead of United Artists , the original distributor .