James Bond in film of the funding for the Bond films, fell into financial difficulties following the box office failure of "Heaven's Gate" (1980), bringing uncertainty to the future of the funding. The situation was resolved in May 1981, when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquired United Artists. Following "For Your Eyes Only", Roger Moore had expressed a desire to stop playing James Bond. His original contract had been for three films, a requirement fulfilled with "The Spy Who Loved Me". Subsequent films had been negotiated on a film-by-film basis. The producers engaged in a semi-public quest for the next actor to play Bond, which would be for
The Spy Who Loved Me (novel) first name Fleming purloined for the novel's heroine. "The Spy Who Loved Me" was published in the UK on 16 April 1962, as a hardcover edition by publishers Jonathan Cape; it was 221 pages long and cost 15 shillings. Artist Richard Chopping once again undertook the cover art, and raised his fee from the 200 guineas he had charged for "Thunderball", to 250 guineas. The artwork included a commando knife which was borrowed from Fleming's editor, Michael Howard at Jonathan Cape. "The Spy Who Loved Me" was published in the US by Viking Books on 11 April 1962 with 211