James Bond in film "Die Another Day" was written and performed by Madonna, who also had a cameo appearance in the film as a fencing instructor. "Die Another Day" had a budget of $142 million and earned $431.9 million at the box office. In 1999 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer obtained the rights to the 1967 film "Casino Royale" from Sony Pictures Entertainment for $10 million in the out-of-court settlement of a lawsuit. The case was brought by MGM after Sony had announced a deal with Kevin McClory to produce a third version of the "Thunderball" novel, for which McClory held the film rights. McClory had previously acted
Die Another Day also described the weak point of the film as "the seemingly non-stop action sequences and loud explosions that appear to take centre stage while the Bond character is almost relegated to second string." Roger Moore, who played Bond in earlier films, said: "I thought it just went too far – and that's from me, the first Bond in space! Invisible cars and dodgy CGI footage? Please!" "Die Another Day" was novelised by the then-official James Bond writer, Raymond Benson, based on the screenplay by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. An effort is made to depict some of the film's more