How a legal battle over SPECTRE forced the creation of a new Bond villain
In short: When a copyright injunction stripped the James Bond franchise of its iconic villain organization, producers had to pivot. The result was the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me, which replaced Blofeld with a megalomaniac and introduced the indestructible, metal-toothed henchman Jaws to the world of 007.
The production of The Spy Who Loved Me was defined by existential threats to the franchise. Following the poor reception of 1974's The Man with the Golden Gun, the series faced a leadership crisis. Producer Harry Saltzman, struggling with personal financial reversals and the terminal illness of his wife, was forced to sell his 50% stake in Danjaq, LLC for £20 million in 1975. This deadlock stalled new projects until the shares were eventually sold to United Artists.
Creative direction proved equally volatile. Ian Fleming had permitted the use of his novel's title, but the plot was entirely original. Numerous writers, including Anthony Burgess and John Landis, submitted drafts featuring everything from the Pope's kidnapping to the destruction of the Sydney Opera House. Broccoli ultimately rejected these as too political. When director Lewis Gilbert returned, he insisted on shifting Roger Moore’s portrayal of Bond away from the style of Sean Connery toward a smoother, more humorous character closer to the original books.
The most significant hurdle was a legal injunction filed by Kevin McClory, who claimed sole rights to the villainous organization SPECTRE and its leader, Blofeld. To avoid delaying production, Broccoli ordered all references to them removed. This forced the team to invent Karl Stromberg, a reclusive scientist planning to trigger global nuclear war to establish an underwater civilization. To provide a memorable physical threat, Christopher Wood created Jaws, a henchman inspired by a metal-brace-wearing man named Sol 'Horror' Horowitz. The film also broke new ground by featuring a Soviet KGB agent, Anya Amasova, as Bond's ally—a move Broccoli made to ensure the film could be viewed in the Soviet Union.
The film was shot between August and December 1976 across Egypt, Italy, and the Bahamas. Despite the chaotic development, it was a critical success and a return to form for the series. Moore himself cited it as his personal favorite, and the film earned three Academy Award nominations.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: The Spy Who Loved Me (film)
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