produced the previous Bond flick  _Thunderball (1965)_ (qv) with Kevin McClory (qv), and did not  want to do so again. United Artists allegedly offered  Charles K. Feldman (qv) $500,000 for the rights to "Casino Royale"  in 1965 but the offer was rejected. Forced to produce the film on  his own, Feldman approached Sean Connery (qv) to star as Bond.  Unwilling to meet his $1 million salary demand, Feldman decided to  turn the film into a spoof, and cast David Niven (I) (qv) as Bond  instead. After the film went through numerous production problems  and a spiraling budget, Feldman met Connery at a Hollywood party and  reportedly told him it would have been cheaper to pay him the  million dollars.