Thunderball, shooting script, November 1964

Thunderball, shooting script, 30 November 1964

138 pages of mimeographed typescript, manuscript annotations tipped in on lined paper, blue wrappers

This is an early draft of the Eon Productions shooting script.

After the McClory vs Fleming court case had been settled, Eon productions proceeded with the movie, working with Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, Richard Maibaum and Josh Hopkins. The script underwent significant revisions from the earlier versions, most notably that Russians were originally the villain, later changing to Sicilian mafia, and finally changed again to the international criminal organisation SPECTRE. Both McClory and Fleming claimed to have created SPECTRE.

Filming commenced on 16 February 1965.

Part of the exceptional collection of material that document the genesis of Bond on the big screen. See also lots 77, 142, 153 and 154.