James Bond Franchise

James Bond was created in 1953 by author Ian Fleming, where he featured in 12 novels and two short stories. The most famous fictional British spy has since appeared in numerous film adaptations, starting with a 1954 CBS production, before Sean Connery took up the mantle in 1962 for the most famous series, known as the Eon Productions.

There have been three other adaptations since the start of the Eon Productions. Casino Royale (1967), which shouldn't be confused with the 2006 Eon Production starring Daniel Craig, Never Say Never Again (1983), which is sometimes considered part of the Eon canon because it stars Connery as Bond, and a 2012 short entitled Happy and Glorious which was produced for the London Olympics, which also starred Daniel Craig.

Bond himself has famously been played by a number of actors. After playing Bond during the first five films, Connery chose to retire, not wanting to be pigeon-holed into being known for one role. George Lazenby took over for On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) declaring that it would be his only James Bond film.

Connery returned for a sixth time in Diamonds Are Forever (1971) before retiring again and handing over to Roger Moore. Moore played the role seven times - making him the actor to have portrayed Bond the most on screen - but, depending on whose story you believe, after the flop of A View to a Kill (1985), Moore either retired or was let go, paving the way for Timothy Dalton's two film cameo. Dalton brought the character back to its darker roots, away from the playboy that Moore had portrayed.

Despite the world moving closer to political correctness following the end of the Cold War, the decision was made to return Bond to a lighter hearted character again under Pierce Brosnan during the 1990s, before the decision was made to reboot the franchise under Daniel Craig with 2006's Casino Royale.

The full list of Eon Productions James Bond films is below:

1. Dr. No (1962)  ★★★
2. From Russia With Love (1963)  ★★★★
3. Goldfinger (1964)  ★★★★★
4. Thunderball (1965)
5. You Only Live Twice (1967)
6. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
7. Diamonds Are Forever (1971) ★★★
8. Live and Let Die (1973)
9. The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
10. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) ★★★★
11. Moonraker (1979)
12. For Your Eyes Only (1981)
13. Octopussy (1983)
14. A View to a Kill (1985)
15. The Living Daylights (1987)
16. Licence to Kill (1989)
17. GoldenEye (1995)
18. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
19. The World is Not Enough (1999)
20. Die Another Day (2002)
21. Casino Royale (2006)
22. Quantum of Solace (2008)
23. Skyfall (2012)
24. Spectre (2015)
25. No Time to Die (2021)