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James Bond, Declassified: 50 Things You Didn’t Know About 007

On Oct. 5, 1962, the first Bond film, Dr. No, hit theaters. Five decades and 22 films later, the spy has been immortalized as a legendary screen hero. TIME has compiled the most interesting stories, anecdotes and tidbits from the franchise

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The 300-Year-Old Title: “You Only Live Twice”

By Oct. 01, 2012
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You Only Live Twice

You only live twice;

Once when you’re born,

And once when you look death in the face.

The 17th century Japanese poet Matsuo Basho wrote those words more than 300 years before Ian Fleming was inspired by them — and used them as the title of his 12th novel. (Fleming also used the verse in a haiku Bond writes to his friend Tiger Tanaka in the novel.) The book did indeed get a second life as a film in 1967. By that time, Bond had become such a lucrative franchise that producers were able to claim the then astronomical budget of $9.5 million — nearly as much as the budgets of the first four films combined.

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