He wished to turn it into a movie but died before he could, and his widow sold the rights to his former agent, Charles Feldman. Gregory Ratoff bought the rights to it and produced the first live-action Bond, the television episode of Climax! Mystery Theater. The story behind Casino Royale is legally complicated. This led the two to later make their own film based on the script titled Never Say Never Again, and for EON productions (the company behind the Bond films) to lose the right to use the name SPECTRE from 1973 to 2013, redefining Bond plots in the process. The screenplay was an original work written by the trio, and later Fleming published it as his own novel. No, Thunderball was to be the first Bond film. Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham sued Ian Fleming for the rights to the story. Thunderball is responsible for some behind-the-scenes controversy. Bond must charm Domino (Claudine Auger) into joining him, and together they set out to stop SPECTRE. Once again going against SPECTRE, Bond must stop the organization from holding the world ransom using nuclear warheads. This marked the first time the actor portraying Bond was featured in the gun barrel, a tradition that would last for the rest of the series.

Prior to this film, it was stuntman Bob Simmons. One interesting thing about Thunderballis this is the first time Sean Connery performed the iconic Gunbarrel opening. By now, Connery has perfectly slipped into the role and James Bond was a worldwide phenomenon.

The fourth Bond film in as many years sees Connery once again in the role of 007.

007 casino royale movie