No Time to Die turns five this week, and Daniel Craig’s final James Bond film remains a franchise milestone that movie lovers return to. As the 25th Bond film, it was built as an ending: Barbara Broccoli said it would tie up loose narrative threads from Craig’s previous Bond films and come to an emotionally satisfying conclusion. The making of the film had just as many twists. Here are eight things you didn’t know about No Time to Die.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge quietly polished the script
At Daniel Craig’s request, Phoebe Waller-Bridge provided a script polish in April 2019. With that credit, she became the second female screenwriter credited with writing a Bond film, after Johanna Harwood co-wrote Dr. No and From Russia with Love.
Danny Boyle’s exit came down to the script
Danny Boyle was confirmed to direct with a production start date of December 2018. He and John Hodge left in August 2018 over creative differences. Reports at the time blamed the casting of Tomasz Kot as the lead villain, but Boyle later confirmed the dispute was over the script.
Cary Joji Fukunaga made Bond history
Cary Joji Fukunaga was announced as the new director in September 2018. He became the first American to direct an Eon Productions Bond film and the first director to receive a writing credit for any version. Purvis and Wade were brought back to start working on a new script with him.
The first Bond shot on 65mm IMAX film
No Time to Die is the first film in the series to have sequences shot with 65mm IMAX film cameras. Fukunaga and cinematographer Linus Sandgren pushed for using film over digital to enhance the look of the film.
The production cost reached £214 million
The budget was reported to be between $250 million and $301 million. B25 Limited, Eon’s subsidiary company created for the film’s production, reported a total production cost of £214 million.
Craig earned $25 million after bigger reports
Reports claimed Craig had received a $100 million offer from MGM to do two more Bond films but turned it down, and later that $150 million was offered. Craig denied the $150 million figure. Eventually, he was paid $25 million for his involvement.
Rami Malek’s Safin had no ideology
Malek was announced as playing Safin at a live stream event at Ian Fleming’s Goldeneye estate in Jamaica on 25 April 2019. The actor revealed in an interview that his character would not be connected to any religion or ideology.
Craig’s finale was written as an ending
With Craig’s departure, Broccoli said No Time to Die would tie up loose narrative threads from Craig’s previous Bond films and come to an emotionally satisfying conclusion. Craig had said in August 2017 that the next film would mark his final appearance as Bond.
Which of these Bond 25 details did you know before, and which one will you save as your favourite? Tell us your pick.
Facts from Wikipedia: No Time to Die, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Film images from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.
