For a Few Dollars More premiered in Italy on 18 December 1965 (it would not be released in the US until May 1967).
After the success of A Fistful of Dollars (released in Italy in September 1964, and in the US in 1967), Sergio Leone worked quickly to develop a sequel. Luciano Vicenzoni wrote the script in 9 days (Leone hired Sergio Donati to do some uncredited rewrites) and Eastwood was approached to star, but hesitated as he had not seen A Fistful of Dollars. Leone arranged to have the film screened in Los Angeles, and despite only an Italian version in existence, the audience loved the film and Eastwood agreed to make the sequel.
Charles Bronson declined the role of Douglas Mortimer and Lee Van Cleef was cast. Ennio Morricone composed the score before filming began, which Leone then sometimes played while filming.
For a Few Dollars More was even more popular than A Fistful of Dollars, becoming the highest-grossing film in Italy to that time (it would also become the highest-grossing Spanish film of all-time when it was released there in 1966).
