Thunderball (film) in the context of "Sean Connery"

Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman co-produced most of the Eon films until 1975, when Broccoli became the sole producer. The single exception during this period was Thunderball, on which Broccoli and Saltzman became executive producers while Kevin McClory produced. From 1984 Broccoli was joined by his stepson Michael G. Wilson as producer and in 1995 Broccoli stepped aside from Eon and was replaced by his daughter Barbara, who has co-produced with Wilson since. Broccoli's (and until 1975, Saltzman's) family company, Danjaq, has held ownership of the series through Eon, and maintained co-ownership with United Artists (UA) since the mid-1970s. The Eon series has seen continuity both in the main actors and in the production crews, with directors, writers, composers, production designers, and others employed through a number of films.

The James Bond franchise focuses on the titular character, a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have written authorised Bond novels or novelisations: Kingsley Amis, Christopher Wood, John Gardner, Raymond Benson, Sebastian Faulks, Jeffery Deaver, William Boyd, Anthony Horowitz and Charlie Higson. The latest novel is On His Majesty's Secret Service by Charlie Higson, published in May 2023. Charlie Higson wrote a series on a young James Bond, and Kate Westbrook wrote three novels based on the diaries of a recurring series character, Moneypenny.

The character—also known by the code number 007 (pronounced "double-oh-seven")—has also been adapted for television, radio, comic strips, video games and film. The James Bond franchise is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. The films constitute one of the longest continually running film series and have grossed over US$7.04 billion in total at the box office, making James Bond the fifth-highest-grossing film series to date. It started in 1962 with Dr. No, starring Sean Connery as Bond. As of 2021, there have been twenty-five films in the Eon Productions series. The most recent Bond film, No Time to Die (2021), stars Daniel Craig in his fifth portrayal of Bond; he is the sixth actor to play Bond in the Eon series. There have also been two independent Bond film productions: Casino Royale (a 1967 spoof starring David Niven) and Never Say Never Again (a 1983 remake of an earlier Eon-produced film, 1965's Thunderball, both starring Connery). Casino Royale has also been adapted for television, as a one-hour show in 1954 as part of the CBS series Climax!.