Founding Danjaq S.A. was founded by
Albert R. Broccoli and
Harry Saltzman after the release of the first James Bond film
Dr. No, in 1962, to ensure control of all future films in the series. The new company was named Danjaq from combining the names of Broccoli and Saltzman's respective wives (
Dana Broccoli and
Jac
queline Saltzman). The company was originally domiciled in the
Canton of Vaud in Switzerland, hence the appearance of "
S.A." letters in the first legal name of the company. In 1962, Danjaq began its association with
United Artists.
Ownership Due to a series of failed business interests, Harry Saltzman's personal financial difficulties forced him to sell his 50% share of Danjaq to United Artists in 1975. In 1986, Albert and
Dana Broccoli acquired United Artists' 50% stake in the company and so assumed complete control of Danjaq.
John Cork claims that in exchange for the sale,
MGM/
UA received an exclusive distribution deal with Danjaq that is far more lucrative than when the shares were originally owned by Broccoli and Saltzman. Danjaq's legal domicile was changed from Switzerland to Delaware in October 1992. The Delaware company's legal name was
Danjaq, Inc. The company was converted to a limited liability company in January 1997. In 1999, as part of a settlement of a lawsuit between MGM and
Sony, Sony acquired MGM's interest in the
Spider-Man film rights, while Danjaq bought out the rights to the novel
Casino Royale. Following the death of Albert Broccoli in 1996 and Dana Broccoli in 2004, control of Danjaq was passed to Dana's son (and Albert's step-son),
Michael G. Wilson.
Copyright status Although the trademarks for material related to the Bond films are held by Danjaq, the copyrights to the first twenty film properties and
No Time to Die are co-owned by Danjaq, LLC and
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (the technical successor to subsidiary
United Artists). The copyrights to
Casino Royale,
Quantum of Solace,
Skyfall and
Spectre, are shared between Danjaq, LLC, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., and
Columbia Pictures. Danjaq, LLC also credited as one of its present copyright owners of the 1967 film
Casino Royale, the other being original production unit Famous Artists Productions.
Films made outside the control of Danjaq Two Bond films have been made outside the control of Danjaq: The first was the 1967 film
Casino Royale, with
David Niven as Bond, and the second was the 1983 film
Never Say Never Again, a remake of
Thunderball.
Never Say Never Again was the result of a legal dispute involving
Kevin McClory, one of the credited co-writers of the story used for the novel
Thunderball, who was awarded the film rights to the novel in a 1963 settlement with
Ian Fleming. ==Litigation==