Speaking previously with Variety, Semple said: “Frankly, we thought he was kind of unbelievable and as I recall, even kind of stupid. So Gregory thought the solution was to make Bond a woman, ‘Jane Bond’ if you will, and he even had a plan to cast Susan Hayward in the role.”

The screenwriter also shared that Ratoff claimed to have once had a relationship with Hayward, meaning he thought it would be more likely to persuade her to play 007. However, it was never meant to be as the…