Agent 007: MGM's Tireless Money-Maker.

"BOND, James Bond."

When Sean Cannery, an obscure Scottish actor, first uttered that cool introduction in the 1962 classic "Dr. No," little did anyone imagine that agent 007 would endure seven U.S. presidents, the Vietnam War, civil rights marches, the Beatles, hippies, yippies, yuppies, and the end of the Cold War. Bond has also been subjected to furious legal battles and a studio whose financial fate was imperiled.

Through it all, Bond persisted as the golden gusher that has kept Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. afloat.

With the latest Bond installment, "The World Is Not Enough," which opens Nov. 19, the series is expected to easily move past $3 billion in worldwide box-office returns.

"It's the highest-grossing film franchise of all time," said Gerry Rich, president of worldwide marketing at MGM/UA. "Nobody comes close."

As impressive as Bond's box-office take has been, it only represents one piece of the riches the franchise has generated. MGM has generated tens of millions of dollars from Bond-related merchandising deals for watches, BMWs, cell phones, video games, vodka and more. For "The World is Not Enough" alone, promotional partners - including Visa, BMW, and Omega watches - are expected to pay MGM a combined $100 million, just as the partners did for the previous "Tomorrow Never Dies."

"(The Bond franchise) gets a great post-theater workout in merchandising and videos. It's the gift that keeps on giving," said Bishop Cheen, an analyst at First Union Capital Markets. "James Bond is as important to MGM as Mickey Mouse is to Disney."

That importance has been underscored by MGM's relentless campaign to maintain control over its franchise - just the way Disney ruthlessly holds onto Mickey Mouse.

It has not been easy - MGM has struggled to keep itself afloat, even selling off valuable assets like its library to media mogul Ted Turner, who frequently runs Bond film packages on his super station, WTBS.

Kirk Kerkorian, MGM's principal owner, never considered selling the rights to the Bond franchise, even in the studio's darkest days. If he had, MGM would have been irreparably crippled. As it turns out, the studio is currently enjoying one of its most profitable years in recent history.

The Bond series originated in a series of novels written by Ian Fleming, a writer and former member of the British secret service. When President John F. Kennedy disclosed that he enjoyed the thrillers about the suave spy who was "licensed to kill," the books took off. Canadian producer Harry Saltzman acquired the film rights from Fleming in 1961.

Saltzman decided to make "Dr. No" as the first Bond movie, but had trouble financing it, so he went into partnership with Albert "Cubby" Broccoli. The two men made a deal with United Artists, which later merged with MGM. Broccoli later bought Saltzman's rights to Bond in 1976 and formed a production company called Danjac, which today has offices in L.A. and London.

While MGM has had some successful non-Bond releases, 007 remains the asset that MGM relies on most for financial protection. And the studio ferociously fights off all poachers. That became clear in 1997 when Sony Pictures Entertainment decided that Bond was so lucrative that it would try to create its own Bond series, based on a deal with Kevin McClory - who collaborated with Fleming to produce the screenplay of "Thunderball." McClory maintained that he had the right to create new Bond adventures spun off from this collaboration.

After more than a year of legal baffles, MGM settled the dispute in March, buying out any Bond-related rights that Sony had, for $5 million. It also got the rights to "Casino Royale," Fleming's first novel.

Columbia Pictures, now a division of Sony, had produced a film version of "Casino Royale" in 1967. It is the only Bond novel that MGM didn't own.

"The legal battle with Columbia underscores the vigor with which we would oppose any attempts to poach on the franchise," said MGM spokesman Craig Parsons. "This was a major scorched-earth defense. We will do anything to protect our rights."

Today, Danjac is run by Broccoli's daughter, Barbara, and her half-brother Michael Wilson. It has a staff of 25 and produces the Bond films for a production fee and a percentage of each film's profits, along with ancillary income from such sources as the merchandising deals. The privately held company does not release its revenues and MGM officials declined to divulge any specific terms of their arrangement with Danjac. But MGM insiders insist that Danjac remains steadfastly loyal to MGM and would never sell its rights to the Bond novels.

The Bond character himself has gone through numerous changes over the years. Whenever the series' popularity has shown signs of waning, the actor playing Bond at the time has been dumped, and another, younger Bond has been brought in.

But it's not easy switching actors. Loyal fans might not accept a newcomer, and younger audiences might spurn a 007 from their parents' generation.

"It's a tightrope," Rich said. "You have to keep it up to date so it is contemporary, but you always have to maintain the elements that truly made it singular with an eye to the really loyal Bond enthusiasts."

One Bond who fell flat with audiences was Timothy Dalton, who critics characterized as terminally glum. Dalton, who replaced Roger Moore, starred in two Bond films -- "The Living Daylights," which earned $51 million domestically in 1987, and "License to Kill," which plunged to $35 million in domestic returns in 1989.

Aside from switching stars, another factor that has helped Bond to remain popular is the adherence to a timeless formula.

"It's male fantasy, nearly four decades of testosterone," said analyst Cheen. "It's romantic, it's all over the world, it's got sex, derring-do, great toys and good guys and bad guys. It's a morality play."

And Bond is a relative bargain to promote. MGM might spend $25 million on promoting a Bond movie, said Rich, but licensees for recent Bond releases have been paying MGM four times that amount to have their products featured in or associated with the film.

So, what's the future of 007? Bright, according to Rich, who adds that even before the 19th Bond film's debut this week, MGM is already getting ready for the 20th Bond installment.