James Bond: Never Say Never Again was NOT the last time Sean Connery played 007 on film

Back in 1971 the original James Bond was convinced to return for one final outing, Diamonds Are Forever, after his replacement George Lazenby quit.

After his sixth outing, Connery said he would “never again” play the part of 007.

However 12 years later he starred in the unofficial Never Say Never Again, a remake of Thunderball – rivalling Sir Roger Moore’s Octopussy in 1983.

After seven movies as Bond, Connery really did throw in the towel as the MI6 agent. However it now turns out he played Bond on film one more time, back in 1997.

In one of his last big roles before retirement, Connery was shooting disastrous flop The Avengers.

No not the Marvel superhero movie, but a big screen adaptation of the 1960s spy TV series in which the former Bond played the film’s villain, Sir August De Wynter.

And it was The Avengers’ director Jeremiah S Chechik, who recently revealed to Empire that he had the privilege of filming Connery in character as Bond.

During an interview with The Telegraph in 2014, Fiennes let slip he was in talks with Bond producers to star in Goldeneye.

Fiennes said: “There was a conversation that was great and a meeting with Cubby Broccoli [who died in 1996], that was terrific.

“I think that’s all I can say, except that it didn’t lead to anything on both sides.

“I don’t think I felt ready to commit and I think they were looking at Pierce [Brosnan].”