by 1966 the film adaptations of ian fleming's james bond series, produced by albert r. broccoli and harry saltzman, had become a successful and popular film franchise. however, the rights to fleming's first bond novel "casino royale" had been secured by rival producer charles k. feldman. he had attempted to get "casino royale" made as an eon productions james bond film, but broccoli and saltzman turned him down. believing he could not compete with the eon series, feldman then decided to shoot the film as a parody, not only of james bond but of the entire spy fiction genre. the casino segment featuring peter sellers and orson welles is the only portion based upon the novel.