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
James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me Ernst Stavro Blofeld and his organisation SPECTRE; however, this was changed to avoid a possible lawsuit over the rights to this character, which originated from the novel "Thunderball". The paperback edition became an instant bestseller in the UK, staying on the British bestsellers list for several months. Critical reception of the novel were mixed, though most praised Wood's skill as a writer. Marghanita Laski, writing in "The Listener", called Wood "an apparently promising thriller writer struggling to emerge from obligatory bits of set-piece nastiness." Former Bond author Kingsley Amis wrote in "The New Statesman" that, despite several reservations, "Mr Wood