20 Things You Didn't Know About Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

2. Goldfinger, Part 2

Diamonds Are Forever Moon
MGM/UA

In reminding audiences that James Bond had not lost his Midas touch, the producers looked to Goldfinger for inspiration on how to recapture the British agent’s box office magic, so much so that Diamonds Are Forever was originally conceived as a sequel to the earlier film.

Screenwriter, Richard Maibaum had planned for Goldfinger’s twin brother (also to have been portrayed by Gert Fröbe) to avenge his brother’s death using a laser-wielding supertanker.

However, the license to use SPECTRE and its members, including Ernst Stavro Blofeld, was only valid until 1975. The filmmakers, therefore, decided that, despite the less-than-ideal response to On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, a cap needed to be put on SPECTRE’s long-running role in the franchise so that Double-0 Seven could put the past behind him and move on to pastures new.

Nevertheless, the supertanker plot was loosely adapted in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).

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I started writing for WhatCulture in July 2020. I have always enjoyed reading and writing. I have contributed to several short story competitions and I have occasionally been fortunate enough to have my work published. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I also started reviewing films on my Facebook page. Numerous friends and contacts suggested that I should start my own website for reviewing films, but I wanted something a bit more diverse - and so here I am! My interests focus on film and television mainly, but I also occasionally produce articles that venture into other areas as well. In particular, I am a fan of the under appreciated sequel (of which there are many), but I also like the classics and the mainstream too.