Before he was known for films such as “E.T” or “Jurassic Park”, Spielberg was denied his dream gig with the bond films. Back in the 1970’s, before he proved to be the most bankable filmmaker of all time, Spielberg was turned down to work on the Bond film.
“I went to Cubby Broccoli and I asked if I could do one and he said ‘No’,” said Spielberg in an interview with the Daily Mail. “Iv’e never asked again. Instead, I made the Indiana Jones series.”
According to “The Complete Making of Indiana Jones” by J.W Rinzler, Spielberg was approached by George Lucas who pitched the idea of Indiana Jones to him because of his interest in directing an old-fashioned kind of Bond film. Spielberg told Lucas he always wanted to direct a Bond film that starred Sean Connery and Lucas responded “I’ve got something you might like as much as Bond” and broke down the story of “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. Ironically, Connery was eventually cast as Indiana Jones’s father in the third installment, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”