United Artists paid Sean Connery a then-record $1.25 million salary to return as Bond, plus a deal for two back-to-back films of his choice, after he had declined to reprise the role in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Before Connery's return, the producers considered replacing George Lazenby with John Gavin and also looked at Clint Eastwood, Adam West, Burt Reynolds, Robert Wagner, Roger Moore, and even singer Tom Jones, though Broccoli felt Jones was too famous to be believable as Bond.

Michael Gambon turned down an offer to play Bond, telling producer Broccoli he was 'in terrible shape'.

Connery used his $1.25 million fee to establish the Scottish International Education Trust, a fund allowing Scottish artists to seek financial support without leaving their country.

Jill St. John was originally offered the smaller role of Plenty O'Toole but was promoted to the female lead Tiffany Case after being recommended by Sidney Korshak, becoming the first American Bond girl.

Paul Williams was originally cast as Mr. Wint but was replaced by Bruce Glover after a disagreement over compensation; Glover said producers initially thought he looked 'too normal' for the villainous role.

A cameo appearance by Sammy Davis Jr. at a roulette table was filmed but ultimately cut from the final film.

An earlier script draft by Richard Maibaum had Bond avenging his wife Tracy's death and featured a villain who was Auric Goldfinger's twin brother wielding a laser cannon aboard a supertanker, an idea borrowed from an early draft of On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

The character Willard Whyte was created after producer Albert Broccoli had a dream in which his friend Howard Hughes was replaced by an imposter, inspiring the film's plot involving a reclusive billionaire.

During the scene of Plenty O'Toole's drowned body, Lana Wood's feet were loosely tied to a sinking cement block at the bottom of the pool; she was eventually submerged and had to be rescued by onlookers.

For the famous Mustang jump through a narrow alley, the original stunt driver could not perform it and wrecked several cars; with only one car left, stunt driver Bill Hickman completed the jump in a single take, resulting in a visible continuity error where the car changes sides mid-jump.

Filming in Las Vegas relied heavily on hotels owned by Howard Hughes, a friend of producer Cubby Broccoli, and clearing the streets for shooting was arranged through cooperation with Hughes, the police, and the local shopkeepers' association.

The moon buggy was built by custom car fabricator Dean Jeffries on a rear-engined Corvair chassis and was capable of real road speeds, but its fiberglass tires had to be replaced during filming because the desert heat and terrain destroyed them.

A scene depicting Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd killing a character by forcing a scorpion down his throat was rewritten to satisfy British censors.

Diamonds Are Forever's title song was the second Bond theme performed by Shirley Bassey, following her work on Goldfinger, with John Barry composing the score for his seventh Bond film.