Just ahead of Spectre‘s release in 2015, Daniel Craig famously bristled at the idea of returning for another James Bond film. But 15 years after suiting up for the first time in Casino Royale, Craig is taking one final crack at James Bond. Here’s everything we know about the twenty-fifth film in this long-running franchise.
Title
The official title for the film is No Time to Die.
No Time to Die Plot
No Time to Die sees James Bond retired from MI6 and attempting to live a normal life in Jamaica (where Ian Fleming wrote the first Bond novel) with his girlfriend Madeleine Swann. That is until his former contact Felix Leiter reaches out for help, and Bond is sucked back into the international spy life. He reunites with Moneypenny and Q along with the new 007, Nomi, on a mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist. Things get extremely dangerous when he crosses paths with Safin, a mysterious and unsettling villain who believes he’s heroic and has treacherous new tech at his disposal.
Behind the Scenes
Beasts of No Nation director Cary Joji Fukunaga is helming No Time to Die, taking over from Danny Boyle, who was originally set to helm the project. In early 2018, Boyle signed on to direct the film, writing the script with John Hodges. However, the pair departed in August 2018 after a script dispute with producers.
Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who wrote an initial draft of Bond 25, were brought back on to pen the script, with Fukunaga, Scott Z. Burns, and Fleabag‘s Phoebe Waller-Bridge also working on the script. Filming ended in late October 2019, six months before the world premiere. No Time to Die will be the longest Bond movie at two hours and fifty-four minutes, surpassing Spectre’s record at 155 minutes.
Pop sensation Billie Eilish is the latest artist (and youngest person) to have the honor of performing a Bond theme song. The ethereal tune, aptly titled “No Time to Die,” was written by Eilish and her brother, producer and songwriter Finneas.
Hans Zimmer is scoring the film. The official Bond Twitter account confirmed the news, with Zimmer also posting about the news on Twitter. The Smiths guitarist is on the score alongside Zimmer.
CONFIRMED: @HansZimmer will compose the score for #NoTimeToDie. Director Cary Joji Fukunaga said: “I’m beyond excited that Hans is scoring #NoTimeToDie. The music of Bond has always been iconic and I’ve already witnessed Hans adding his touch of genius to the Bond legacy.” pic.twitter.com/L3q06ymLyH
— James Bond (@007) January 13, 2020
No Time to Die Cast
Of course, Daniel Craig is returning to play James Bond for one last round. In conjunction with the film’s release, Variety reports that a retrospective of Craig’s time as Bond is coming to Apple TV. Being James Bond will look back at Craig’s Bond films and be available as a free rental from September 7 to October 7. It will include never-seen-before footage from Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, Spectre, and more peeks into No Time to Die as the actor gives his commentary and thoughts about his work.
MGM Studios
No Time to Die will also bring back Bond’s MI6 team: Ralph Fiennes as M, Naomie Harris as Moneypenny, Ben Whishaw as Q, and Rory Kinnear as Tanner. Léa Seydoux and Jeffrey Wright also reprise their roles as the aforementioned Dr. Madeleine Swann and Felix Leiter. And, Christoph Waltz will reappear as Ernest Stavro Blofeld, the incarcerated head of SPECTRE who seems to be calling the shots from prison.
Joining the cast are Lashana Lynch as Nomi, a new 00 agent who joined active duty during Bond’s retirement. Craig’s Knives Out costar Ana de Armas plays Paloma, a CIA agent who works with Bond. The film also stars Billy Magnussen, David Denick, and Dali Benssalah. Rami Malek will go head-to-head with Craig as Bond villain Safin.
A previous No Time to Die featurette dives into the enigmatic new villain. The video, which features Safin coming face to face with Madeleine Swann, who has mysterious ties to the villain, and Bond, reveals just how menacing and destructive he really is.
While the character is described as Bond’s most challenging adversary yet, it seems Safin feels a kinship between the two. In the clip, he tells Bond, “We both eradicate people to make the world a better place. I just want to be a little tidier.
The first photos of the A-list cast in action can be found in the gallery below. Entertainment Weekly also released a series of images from the upcoming film.
Tomorrow… the first trailer for #NoTimeToDie #Bond25 pic.twitter.com/9Wc5CRzhO1
— James Bond (@007) December 3, 2019
— James Bond (@007) December 3, 2019
No Time to Die Release Date
No Time To Die is set to debut in the US on October 8, 2021.
Feature Image: MGM Studios
Originally published on January 24, 2020, with updates on February 2, 2020, March 4, 2020, July 22, 2020, September 1, 2020, September 3, 2020, September 14, 2020, and August 31, 2021.