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) Bond, but also by the police officer involved. Benson argues that this runs counter to another theme in the novel, which had also appeared in a number of other Bond books including "Goldfinger": the concept of Bond as Saint George against the dragon. In this Black agrees, who sees "The Spy Who Loved Me" as being "an account of the vulnerable under challenge, of the manipulative nature of individuals and of the possibility of being trapped by evil". "The Spy Who Loved Me" was written in Jamaica at Fleming's Goldeneye estate in January and February 1961, and was the shortest