James Bond Movies in Order: The Complete 007 Watch Order Guide
- 🔑 Eon Productions has released 25 official James Bond films between 1962 and 2021, across six actors who have played 007: Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig. Two more films exist outside this official numbered series.
- By actor and film count: Sean Connery leads six Eon films (1962-1971, including his one-off return), Roger Moore has seven (1973-1985), Timothy Dalton has two, Pierce Brosnan has four, and Daniel Craig has five, ending with No Time to Die in 2021.
- George Lazenby played Bond exactly once, in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), the Eon film sandwiched between Sean Connery’s original six-film run and Connery’s later one-off return in Diamonds Are Forever (1971) — making Lazenby the shortest-tenured of the six official actors by a wide margin.
- Two films sit outside the official Eon series: a 1967 Casino Royale spy spoof starring David Niven, and Never Say Never Again (1983), an unofficial Sean Connery remake of Thunderball made by a rival studio over a rights dispute.
- As of February 2025, Amazon MGM Studios and the Broccoli family announced a joint venture giving Amazon MGM full creative control of the franchise going forward. No next actor, director, or release date has been confirmed.
- This guide covers only the 25 already-released Eon films plus the two non-canon titles outside that series. It does not speculate about who plays Bond next, since no actor, director, or release date has been officially confirmed for any future installment as of this writing.
The James Bond movies are best watched in their original release order, starting with Dr. No (1962) and running through No Time to Die (2021), because the series was built era by era around six different lead actors rather than one continuous story. There are 25 official films from Eon Productions, the studio behind the main series, plus two further films made outside that series that most watch-order guides treat as optional extras.
This guide lays out the full 25-film release order by actor, explains where the two non-canon films fit, and answers the questions people actually search before starting a rewatch.
What order should I watch the James Bond movies in?
Release order is the order almost every guide recommends, and it is the one used on this page. Bond films are not serialized the way a modern franchise is — each actor’s era stands on its own, with only light callbacks between them (Daniel Craig’s five films, from Casino Royale to No Time to Die, are the one stretch that plays as a single continuous story and reward being watched in sequence). Release order also matches how the films were designed to be seen: each one reflects the spy-movie conventions of its own decade, from the Cold War gadgetry of the 1960s to the grounded, serialized tone of the Craig era.
How many James Bond movies are there, and who played Bond in each?
Eon Productions has made 25 official James Bond films since 1962, across six leading actors. Here is the complete release-order list:
| # | Film | Year | Actor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dr. No | 1962 | Sean Connery |
| 2 | From Russia with Love | 1963 | Sean Connery |
| 3 | Goldfinger | 1964 | Sean Connery |
| 4 | Thunderball | 1965 | Sean Connery |
| 5 | You Only Live Twice | 1967 | Sean Connery |
| 6 | On Her Majesty’s Secret Service | 1969 | George Lazenby |
| 7 | Diamonds Are Forever | 1971 | Sean Connery |
| 8 | Live and Let Die | 1973 | Roger Moore |
| 9 | The Man with the Golden Gun | 1974 | Roger Moore |
| 10 | The Spy Who Loved Me | 1977 | Roger Moore |
| 11 | Moonraker | 1979 | Roger Moore |
| 12 | For Your Eyes Only | 1981 | Roger Moore |
| 13 | Octopussy | 1983 | Roger Moore |
| 14 | A View to a Kill | 1985 | Roger Moore |
| 15 | The Living Daylights | 1987 | Timothy Dalton |
| 16 | Licence to Kill | 1989 | Timothy Dalton |
| 17 | GoldenEye | 1995 | Pierce Brosnan |
| 18 | Tomorrow Never Dies | 1997 | Pierce Brosnan |
| 19 | The World Is Not Enough | 1999 | Pierce Brosnan |
| 20 | Die Another Day | 2002 | Pierce Brosnan |
| 21 | Casino Royale | 2006 | Daniel Craig |
| 22 | Quantum of Solace | 2008 | Daniel Craig |
| 23 | Skyfall | 2012 | Daniel Craig |
| 24 | Spectre | 2015 | Daniel Craig |
| 25 | No Time to Die | 2021 | Daniel Craig |
Sean Connery’s six films include his 1971 return in Diamonds Are Forever, after George Lazenby’s single outing. Roger Moore holds the record with seven films across 1973 to 1985. Timothy Dalton has two, Pierce Brosnan four, and Daniel Craig five, closing out the series to date with No Time to Die in 2021.
What are the two non-canon James Bond movies?
Two Bond films exist entirely outside the Eon series and are not part of the numbered list above. The first is a 1967 spy-spoof version of Casino Royale, a comedic, star-studded production made by a different studio that owned the rights to that one Ian Fleming novel separately from Eon’s deal; it stars David Niven as an aging Bond and is not connected to Daniel Craig’s 2006 film of the same name. The second is Never Say Never Again (1983), an unofficial remake of Thunderball that brought Sean Connery back to the role outside Eon’s control, the result of a long-running legal dispute over who held the rights to that particular story. Most watch-order guides, including this one, list both as optional curiosities for completists rather than part of the main sequence — neither uses an Eon film number, and skipping both changes nothing about the main storyline.
Where should a new viewer start?
Release order from Dr. No is still the standard recommendation, but starting with Casino Royale (2006) is a reasonable alternative for a first-time viewer who wants the most modern entry point. The Craig era has the clearest through-line of any stretch in the series and the most contemporary pacing, so some guides suggest it as a way in before circling back to the earlier decades. Purists generally favor starting at the beginning, since the Connery and Moore eras set the template — gadgets, a pre-titles sequence, a memorable theme song, a larger-than-life villain — that every later film, including Craig’s, plays with or against.
What’s next for the James Bond franchise?
As of February 2025, Amazon MGM Studios and longtime Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson announced a joint venture that gives Amazon MGM full creative control of the franchise going forward. No next actor, director, or release date has been officially confirmed since. This guide covers only the 25 films already released, plus the two non-canon titles above — the already-concluded catalog, not speculation about what comes next.
The bottom line
Twenty-five official films, six actors, one release order that still works six decades on. Start at Dr. No if you want the whole story from the beginning, or at Casino Royale if you want the most modern entry point first — either way, the two non-Eon films are worth knowing about but safe to skip on a first pass.