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THUNDERBALL was the fourth James Bond film when it opened Dec. 22, 1965, but it would have been the franchise’s first episode had things gone differently six years earlier.

Novelist Ian Fleming, who created 007, producer Kevin McClory & screenwriter Jack Whittingham had partnered in 1959 to develop an original story and screenplay they called JAMES BOND, SECRET AGENT, which would have been Bond’s big screen debut. What happened next isn’t entirely clear, but Fleming apparently decided not to go forward with McClory when one of the producer’s other films under-performed.

This wasn’t the first time Fleming had scrapped plans for a Bond spin-off. After a TV series and newspaper comic strip went into his deep freeze, Fleming re-used some storyline elements in his novels. He also did it with SECRET AGENT while writing THUNDERBALL, but here it wasn’t clear if he had the right to do so.

McClory insisted Fleming wasn’t entitled to use that story material. After Harry Saltzman acquired from Fleming the movie rights to the Bond novels and then partnered with Albert R. Broccoli to produce them with distribution through United Artists, McClory took them to court. With the THUNDERBALL rights tied up, they chose DR. NO as their first Bond film.

McClory’s case went to court Nov. 19, 1963. Ten days later, Fleming settled and gave McClory the movie rights to THUNDERBALL plus £50,000 in damages. Although the movie THUNDERBALL was adapted from Fleming’s novel, the settlement specified these writing credits: “Screenplay by RICHARD MAIBAUM & JOHN HOPKINS – Based on the original story by KEVIN McCLORY, JACK WHITTINGHAM and IAN FLEMING.”

THUNDERBALL, starring Sean Connery, was directed by Terence Young, director of DR. NO (1962) and FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963). Guy Hamilton, who directed GOLDFINGER (1964), was asked to do THUNDERBALL, but passed. Young stepped in and THUNDERBALL became his third and final Bond film.

It’s the only Bond movie where Saltzman & Broccoli are credited as executive producers not producers. It’s also the only Bond episode from their Eon Productions where McClory is credited as producer. McClory did, however, produce a second Bond movie not associated with Eon — Warner Bros.’ NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN (1983), which was Connery’s final on-screen performance as 007. NEVER was a remake of THUNDERBALL, which McClory’s settlement 20 years earlier permitted.

It was in THUNDERBALL that Connery first performed the now iconic Bond opening gun barrel sequence. Because this was the first Bond filmed in the new Panavision wide screen process, it was decided to show Bond firing his gun rather than just use an actor in shadows as they had been doing. After THUNDERBALL, Bond would always do the gun barrel shooting.