Octopussy (film, 1983)

Octopussy (1983) is the thirteenth film of the James Bond film series and the sixth to star Roger Moore as fictional British secret agent James Bond. It is a loose adaptation of Ian Fleming's fourteenth and final James Bond novel Octopussy and the Living Daylights, and incorporates elements from multiple short stories in the novel. The film's title comes from the short story of the same name in the book. Octopussy marks the first appearance of Robert Brown in the role of M. Although there has been speculation over time weather Brown's M is supposed to be Sir Miles Messervy (who was played by Bernard Lee in eleven Bond films) or a new character, many James Bond experts and novelists believe the character to be Admirial Marion Heargraves, whom Brown portrayed in The Spy Who Loved Me, implying that Heargraves was promoted to the rank after Messervy retired. Roger Moore was originally going to leave the series after For Your Eyes Only, but due to competition from the rival un-official James Bond film Never Say Never Again, the studio signed Moore on for two more films (see below section for further information). This was also the first James Bond film to be co-distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which merged with United Artists in 1981. MGM would later distribute all following Bond films to this day. Octopussy was also the last Bond film to include the title of the following film during the end credits.

• Roger Moore as James Bond 007
• Louis Jourdan as Kamal Khan
• Maud Adams as Octopussy
• Robert Brown as M
• Desmond Llewelyn as Q
• Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny

At the time of Octopussys production and release, Kevin McClory was granted the rights in court to produce his own rival James Bond series as long as the films were based on the Bond novel Thunderball, which McClory owned the copyrights to as a result of a legal case in 1962. This resulted in McClory producing the rival James Bond movie Never Say Never Again with Orion Pictures in 1983, with Sean Connery playing James Bond in the film for his seventh and final time. Roger Moore was originally going to leave the official Bond series after For Your Eyes Only which caused the studios to begin testing out multiple actors to take over the role, including Pierce Brosnan (who would play Bond later on) and James Brolin. However, when EON Productions became aware of the rival film, they persisted to have Moore return to the role as a result of the expected rivalry, with Moore then signed on for two more films. EON and McClory were planning to release their Bond films around the same time in the summer of 1983, which resulted in the media dubbing the rivalry "the Battle of the Bonds". However, when George Lucas announced the release of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi on Memorial Day 1983, the producers of both films decided to move the releases to separate dates to avoid competition with Star Wars. Octopussy was released in June 1983, and Never Say Never Again was released in October 1983. In the end result, Octopussy grossed slightly more money total at the box office then Never Say Never Again, possibly due to Octopussy coming out in the Summer, and Never Say Never Again coming out in the Fall. Kevin McClory would later attempt to partner with Sony Pictures in the 1990's to produce an adaptation of both Casino Royale and Thunderball (entitled Warhead A.D.), with future Bond actor Timothy Dalton reprising his role; however, a large courtroom battle against MGM and EON Productions throughout the 1990s forced McClory to discontinue producing any further installments in his would-be rival James Bond series.