The film is loosely based on Fleming's Casino Royale, the only Bond book for which producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman did not hold the rights. Rather than try and compete with the popular Sean Connery movies, the filmmakers decided to shoot the novel as a spoof.

The film's tagline: "Casino Royale is too much... for one James Bond!" refers to Bond's ruse to mislead SMERSH in which six other agents are pretending to be "James Bond", namely, baccarat master Evelyn Tremble (Peter Sellers); millionaire spy Vesper Lynd (Ursula Andress); Bond's secretary Miss Moneypenny (Barbara ...