By 1964, with Feldman having invested nearly $550,000 of his own money into pre-production of "Casino Royale", he decided to try a deal with Eon Productions and United Artists. The attempt at a co-production eventually fell through as Feldman frequently argued with Broccoli and Saltzman, especially regarding the profit divisions and when the "Casino Royale" adaptation would start production. Feldman approached Sean Connery to play Bond, but rejected Connery's offer to do the film for one million dollars. Feldman eventually decided to offer his project to Columbia Pictures through a script written by Ben Hecht, and the studio accepted. Given Eon's series led to spy films being in vogue at the time, Feldman opted to make his film a spoof of the Bond series instead of a straightforward adaptation.