Although Goldeneye 007 was the shooting game to have on the Nintendo 64 staff at Rare reveal Nintendo suggested cancelling the project.
Behind the scenes before the game's release with the console back in 1997, Rare was finding it difficult bringing the game together and initially weren't keen to do a movie tie-in. Speaking to EDGE magazine, Rare's Mark Betteridge noted that Nintendo was "very keen" for the studio to work on the shooting game featuring Pierce Brosnan as 007.
Rare's George Andreas felt that during development it was a "bit of a mess" and that there wasn't much faith within the company aside from the core few who worked on the game.
After numerous delays Nintendo suggested that Rare cancel the project and fortunately for legions of gamers worldwide, the team weren't informed and the game shipped.
On a related note - wondering why Activision is bringing a remake of the game to the Wii?
Destructoid spoke to Activision's Julian Widdows who feels the Wii audience deserve a "cutting edge" title and that it feels "natural to bring GoldenEye home to Nintendo."