Never Say Never Again (1983 film)

Sean Connery's unofficial return as Bond, made outside Eon.

Never Say Never Again is a 1983 Bond film directed by Irvin Kershner and made by Jack Schwartzman's Taliafilm rather than Eon Productions. It remakes the Thunderball story, which Kevin McClory co-created and kept the film rights to after a long legal fight, and McClory was executive producer. Sean Connery played Bond for the seventh and last time, twelve years after Diamonds Are Forever.

Quick Facts

Screenplay

Lorenzo Semple Jr.; Dick Clement (uncredited), Ian La Frenais (uncredited)

Story

Kevin McClory
Jack Whittingham
Ian Fleming

Based on

Thunderball, Ian Fleming

Director

Irvin Kershner

Producer

Jack Schwartzman

Cinematography

Douglas Slocombe

Music

Michel Legrand

Editing

Ian Crafford

Lore & Background

The title plays on Connery's reported 1971 vow never to play Bond again. Because he was 52, the script makes a point of Bond being older and past his best. Filmed in France, Spain, the Bahamas and at Elstree Studios, it was released by Warner Bros. on 7 October 1983 to good reviews and $160 million, though it earned less than Eon's Octopussy that same year.