James Bond in film Deighton together with Sean Connery to work on a script. The script ran into difficulties after accusations from Eon Productions that the project had gone beyond copyright restrictions, which confined McClory to a film based on the "Thunderball" novel only, and once again the project was deferred. Towards the end of the 1970s developments were reported on the project under the name "James Bond of the Secret Service", but then producer Jack Schwartzman became involved and cleared a number of the legal issues that still surrounded the project and licensed the rights from McClory. With Connery still committed to the
The Man with the Golden Gun (film) romancing each other. Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman intended to follow "You Only Live Twice" with "The Man with the Golden Gun", inviting Roger Moore to the Bond role. However, filming was planned in Cambodia, and the Samlaut Uprising made filming impractical, leading to the production being cancelled. "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" was produced instead with George Lazenby as Bond. Lazenby's next Bond film, Saltzman told a reporter, would be either "The Man with the Golden Gun" or "Diamonds Are Forever". The producers chose the latter title, with Sean Connery returning as Bond. Broccoli and Saltzman then decided