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
Motifs in the James Bond film series can be a private island ("Dr. No", "The Man with the Golden Gun"), underwater ("The Spy Who Loved Me"), mountaintop retreat ("On Her Majesty's Secret Service", "For Your Eyes Only") volcano ("You Only Live Twice"), or underground base ("Live and Let Die"), a ship ("Thunderball", "Tomorrow Never Dies"), an oil rig ("Diamonds Are Forever") or even a space station ("Moonraker")—among other variations. Bond usually sabotages the lair and, with time ticking down, dispatches the supervillain, rescues the principal Bond girl and they escape as the place blows up. In some cases, the villain or his primary henchman escapes to launch