3. Never Say Never Again
Named after the comment made by Sean Connery, that he would “never play Bond again,” Kevin McClory of Thunderball fame came back to haunt the franchise. You may remember that Eon granted McClory rights to that story, which he reworked as Never Say Never Again, casting Connery in the lead. It was one of those ugly Hollywood feuds, one that did not go well for the instigators. Connery’s return to the role did not outperform Moore’s final film, not from a critical standpoint. That said, it did fine at the box office because Bond sells.