In a recent podcast interview, Steven Spielberg took a few shots at the Bond franchise, suggesting he’s still not entirely over Cubby Broccoli rejecting him multiple times as a potential Bond director. The first rejection reportedly came right after Jaws, which would have put Spielberg in line for The Spy Who Loved Me instead of Lewis Gilbert. Talk about a fascinating alternate timeline for Bond fans to contemplate…

Broccoli later approached Spielberg about using the iconic five-note Close Encounters of the Third Kind motif as an entry password in Moonraker. Considering Spielberg wanted to direct Bond in the first place, trading five notes for a Spielberg directing job seems like a sensible bargain. What was Broccoli thinking?!

Judging by Spielberg’s closing remark that “they can’t afford me” if they asked today, there still appears to be some resentment there, but frankly, after learning the history I can’t say I blame him.