Editing Never Say Never Again (section)

===Cast and crew===
When producer Kevin McClory had first planned the film in 1964, he held initial talks with [[Richard Burton]] for the part of Bond,<ref>{{cite news|title=A Rival 007 – It Looks Like Burton|newspaper=[[Daily Express]]|date=21 February 1964|page=13}}</ref> although the project came to nothing because of the legal issues involved. When the ''Warhead'' project was launched in the late 1970s, a number of actors were mentioned in the trade press, including [[Orson Welles]] for the part of Blofeld, [[Trevor Howard]] to play M and [[Richard Attenborough]] as director.{{sfn|Barnes|Hearn|2001|p=152}}

In 1978, the working title ''James Bond of the Secret Service'' was being used and Connery was in the frame once again, potentially going head-to-head with the next Eon Bond film, ''[[Moonraker (film)|Moonraker]]''.<ref>{{cite news|last=Davis|first=Victor|title=Bond versus Bond|newspaper=[[Daily Express]]|date=29 July 1978|page=4}}</ref> By 1980, with legal issues again causing the project to founder,{{sfn|Barnes|Hearn|2001|p=153}} Connery thought himself unlikely to play the role, as he stated in an interview in the ''[[Sunday Express]]'': "When I first worked on the script with Len I had no thought of actually being in the film."<ref name="Mann (1980)">{{cite news|last=Mann|first=Roderick|title=Why Sean won't now be back as 007&nbsp;...|newspaper=[[Sunday Express]]|date=23 March 1980|page=23}}</ref> When producer Jack Schwartzman became involved, he asked Connery to play Bond; Connery agreed, negotiating a fee of $3 million (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|3|1983}}}} million in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US|df=y}}), casting and script approval, and a percentage of the profits.{{sfn|Barnes|Hearn|2001|p=154}} Subsequent to Connery reprising the role, Semple altered the script to include several references to Bond's advancing years – playing on Connery being 52 at the time of filming{{sfn|Barnes|Hearn|2001|p=154}} – and academic Jeremy Black has pointed out that there are other aspects of age and disillusionment in the film, such as the Shrubland's porter referring to Bond's car ("They don't make them like that anymore"), the new M having no use for the 00 section and Q with his reduced budgets.{{sfn|Black|2004|p=58}}  Originally, Semple wanted to emphasize Bond's age even further, writing the script to include him in semi-retirement working aboard a [[Scotland|Scottish]] [[fishing trawler]] hunting [[Soviet Navy]] [[submarine]]s in the [[North Sea]].<ref name=":1" /> Connery's casting was formally announced in March 1983.{{Dubious|date=February 2024}}. He trained with [[Steven Seagal]] to help get in shape for the production.<ref name=":1" />

For the main villain in the film, Maximillian Largo, Connery suggested Klaus Maria Brandauer, the lead of the 1981 [[Academy Award]]-winning Hungarian film ''[[Mephisto (1981 film)|Mephisto]]''.{{sfn|Benson|1988|p=243}} Through the same route came [[Max von Sydow]] as Ernst Stavro Blofeld,{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=195}} although he still retained his Eon-originated white cat in the film.{{sfn|Chapman|2009|p=135}} For the [[femme fatale]], director Irvin Kershner selected former model and ''[[Playboy]]'' cover girl [[Barbara Carrera]] to play Fatima Blush – the name coming from one of the early scripts of ''Thunderball''.{{sfn|Barnes|Hearn|2001|p=155}} Carrera said she modeled her performance on the [[Hinduism|Hindu]] goddess [[Kali]], and to "mix that in with a little bit of [[Latrodectus|black widow]] and a little bit of [[Mantis|praying mantis]]."<ref name=":1" /> Carrera's performance as Fatima Blush earned her a [[Golden Globe Award]] nomination for [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture|Best Supporting Actress]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Barbara Carrera|url=http://www.hfpa.org/browse/?param=/member/28374|work=Official [[Golden Globe Award]] Website|publisher=[[Hollywood Foreign Press Association]]|access-date=2 September 2011|archive-date=1 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201175659/http://www.hfpa.org/browse/?param=/member/28374|url-status=live}}</ref> which she lost to [[Cher]] for her role in ''[[Silkwood]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture|url=http://www.hfpa.org/browse/?param=/year/1983|work=Official [[Golden Globe Award]] Website|publisher=[[Hollywood Foreign Press Association]]|access-date=3 September 2011|archive-date=9 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009002346/http://www.hfpa.org/browse/?param=%2Fyear%2F1983|url-status=live}}</ref>
Micheline Connery, Sean's wife, had met up-and-coming actress Kim Basinger at the [[Grosvenor House Hotel]] in London and suggested her to Connery; he agreed after Dalila Di Lazzaro refused the Domino role. For the role of Felix Leiter, Connery spoke with Bernie Casey, saying that, as the Leiter role was never remembered by audiences, using a black Leiter might make him more memorable.{{sfn|Benson|1988|p=243}} Others cast included comedian [[Rowan Atkinson]], who would later parody Bond in his role of [[Johnny English]] in 2003.<ref>{{cite web|title=Johnny English|url=http://plrcatalogue.pearson.com/Samples/PRFS_058277957X.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061030162248/http://plrcatalogue.pearson.com/Samples/PRFS_058277957X.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 October 2006|work=Penguin Readers Factsheets|access-date=5 September 2011|year=2003}}</ref> Atkinson's character was added by Clement and La Frenais after the production had already started, in order to provide the film with a comic relief.<ref name=":1" /> Edward Fox was cast as M in order to portray the character as a young technocrat in contrast to the older portrayal by [[Bernard Lee]], and to parody the [[Margaret Thatcher|Thatcher]] ministry's budget cuts to government services.<ref name=":1" />

Connery wanted to persuade [[Richard Donner]] to direct the film, but after their meeting, Donner decided he disliked the script.<ref name=":1" /> Former Eon Productions' editor and director of ''[[On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)|On Her Majesty's Secret Service]]'', [[Peter R. Hunt]], was approached to direct the film, but declined due to his previous work with Eon.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Director Peter Hunt – "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" |publisher=Retrovision |url=http://retrovisionmag.com/jamesbond.htm |access-date=5 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981206131445/http://www.retrovisionmag.com/jamesbond.htm |archive-date=6 December 1998}}</ref> Irvin Kershner, who had previously worked with Connery on ''[[A Fine Madness]]'' (1966), and had achieved success in 1980 with ''[[The Empire Strikes Back]]'', was then hired. A number of the crew from the 1981 film ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'' were also appointed, including first assistant director [[David Tomblin]], [[Cinematographer|director of photography]] [[Douglas Slocombe]], second unit director [[Mickey Moore]] and [[production designer]]s Philip Harrison and [[Stephen B. Grimes|Stephen Grimes]].{{sfn|Benson|1988|p=243}}{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=197}}