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 has bravely tackled his formidable task, that of turning a typical late Bond film, which must be basically facetious, into a novel after Ian Fleming, which must be basically serious. ... the descriptions are adequate and the action writing excellent." T. J. Binyon, writing in "The Times Literary Supplement" said, "Christopher Wood's style is lusher than Ian Fleming's, and teeters throughout on the brink of parody." Maurice Richardson in "The Observer" called "The latest licensed ersatz Bond"" a ""[s]uitable silly season read." Australian novelist Eileen Alderton, writing for the "Australian Women's Weekly" called it "a gutsy, punchy novel" that has