The James Bond film franchise had become a lucrative one for producer Cubby Broccoli since the series began in 1962 with 'Dr No', and despite the fact that the actor portraying the British secret agent had changed from Sean Connery to Roger Moore (via one film starring George Lazenby in the role). Broccoli's Eon Productions released the 18th Bond film 'Octopussy' (via MGM/United Artists) in June of 1983, starring Roger Moore in his sixth film portraying Bond. That film saw Bond thwart a Soviet-backed plot to convince the West into nuclear disarmament via an 'accidental' nuclear explosion at a US base in West Germany, under the guise of smuggling priceless treasures from East to West.
Also that year a 'rival' Bond film, starring original actor Sean Connery, was to be released via a different production company. Connery had last played Bond in 1971's 'Diamonds Are Forever' and at the time of this production was 52 years of age (Moore was 56 by this time). How that situation came about is somewhat complex, but dates back to when author Ian Fleming (who created James Bond for a series of novels) began working with Kevin McClory, an Irish screenwriter with a view to bringing his creation to the screen. They had been working on several drafts of a script when Broccoli and Harry Saltzman purchased the film rights to the character. 'Dr No' became a success, launching the franchise, and it wasn't until Fleming used the aborted script as basis for his novel 'Thunderball' that McClory took legal action, claiming he had created many of the elements of the story, most notably the use of the name 'SPECTRE' for the organised crime syndicate. The High Court in London agreed, and when Eon Productions wanted to adapt the 'Thunderball' novel into a Bond film, they were obliged to give McClory a producer's credit in the completed movie (1965). Furthermore, the court also stipulated that McClory, as owner of the concepts, would (after a period of ten years) be able to produce a film of his own using that concept.
By the time the ten years had elapsed, McClory was indeed attempting to get a rival Bond film off the ground, but as the 'official' franchise had by that time become firmly established, he was embroiled in further legal tussles with Eon Productions. However he convinced original actor Sean Connery to reprise his role (offering the actor input into the script and the casting), and once Connery was on board, funding was soon made available and he secured director Irvin Kershner (who had recently helmed 'The Empire Strikes Back', the second 'Star Wars' film). The film, a reworking of 'Thunderball' using many elements originally created by McClory, and humorously titled 'Never Say Never Again', was released in the US by Warner Brothers in October 1983 (December 1983 in the UK).
The two films performed similarly at the box office, with 'Octopussy' doing a little better, taking $187m as opposed to the $160m that 'Never Say Never Again' grossed. Critically, the reviews for the 'official' film were mixed at best, while the Connery outing (also starring a younger Kim Basinger) got a better reception. McClory had plans to make further films after this, but these never came to fruition and he died in 2006, just after the Bond film series had been rebooted now with Daniel Craig in the role, making his debut with 'Casino Royale'.
Trailers for both films are shown below (2023 edit: replaced dead link for Octopussy trailer) :
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