You Only Live Twice (film) declined the offer to direct, but accepted after producer Albert R. Broccoli called him saying: "You can't give up this job. It's the largest audience in the world." Peter R. Hunt, who edited the first five Bond films, believed that Gilbert had been contracted by the producers for other work but they found they had to use him. Gilbert, producers Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, production designer Ken Adam and director of photography Freddie Young then went to Japan, spending three weeks searching for locations. SPECTRE's shore fortress headquarters was changed to an extinct volcano after the team learned that the
James Bond in film it would be his last film as Bond, leaving Broccoli to tell Alan Whicker, "it won't be the last Bond under any circumstances—with all due respect to Sean, who I think has been certainly the best man to play this part. We will, in our own way, try to continue the Bond series for the audience because it's too important". George Lazenby was signed on to play Bond for OHMSS. Between Sean Connery giving his notice at the beginning of filming "You Only Live Twice" and its release, Saltzman had planned to adapt "The Man with the Golden Gun" in