Never Say Never Again, released in 1983 by Warner Bros., is an adaptation of the James Bond novel Thunderball, which was previously filmed in 1965 as Thunderball. Unlike the majority of Bond films, it was not produced by EON Productions. The film, like the original, stars Sean Connery as British Secret Service agent James Bond 007. Connery had been the first actor to portray Bond in a motion picture, in 1962's Dr. No, but he left the franchise in 1971 after his participation in a string of commercially successful films, interrupted by George Lazenby's brief portrayal of Bond; Diamonds Are Forever was Connery's last Bond film. Eleven years later, in Never Say Never Again he would portray Bond for his seventh and final time on the screen. It was reportedly his favorite Bond movie to work on.

Although the film was not part of [EON Productions|EON's] Bond film franchise, subsequent mergers and dealings mean that it is currently owned, like the rest of the series, by United Artists' parent, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer: It was released only four months after the EON Bond film Octopussy, starring Roger Moore. MGM acquired the distribution rights in 1997 after its acquisition of Orion Pictures. The film also marks the culmination of a long legal battle between United Artists and Kevin McClory that goes back to his working on the original story with Ian Fleming and Jack Whittingham.

The title is based on a conversation between Sean Connery and his second wife, Micheline Roquebrune. After initially retiring from the role following Diamonds Are Forever (1971) he told the press he would "never again" play James Bond; her response was that he should never say "never again". She is credited at the end of the film for her contribution. As a result, it was the first Bond movie to use a non-Ian Fleming originated title. The film opened in the autumn of 1983 and was a commercial success, grossing $160 million at the box office.