James Bond the films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe), and the single most successful adjusted for inflation. In 1967 "Casino Royale" was adapted into a parody Bond film starring David Niven as Sir James Bond and Ursula Andress as Vesper Lynd. Niven had been Fleming's preference for the role of Bond. The result of a court case in the High Court in London in 1963 allowed Kevin McClory to produce a remake of "Thunderball" titled "Never Say Never Again" in 1983. The film, produced by Jack Schwartzman's Taliafilm production company and starring Sean Connery as Bond, was not part of the Eon
David Niven a French comedy with Bourvil and Jean Paul Belmondo was the most popular film at the French box office in 1969 but was not widely seen in English speaking countries. He did a war drama "Before Winter Comes" (1969) then returned to comedy in "The Statue" (1971). Niven was in demand throughout the last decade of his life: "King, Queen, Knave" (1972); "Vampira" (1974); "Paper Tiger" (1975); "No Deposit, No Return" (1976), a Disney comedy; "Murder by Death" (1976), one of several stars in a popular comedy; "Candleshoe" (1977), again for Disney; "Death on the Nile" (1978), one of many