No Time to Die: Everything You Need to Know
(Updated 09/05/2021)
Nearly every James Bond movie ends with a teaser note saying that Bond will return, but sometimes we have to wait quite a while. It has been six years, for instance, since Daniel Craig last wore Bond's suit in 2015's SPECTRE. Now the actor has filmed his final run as Britain's most famous superspy, and the film, NO TIME TO DIE, is finally set for release in October.
For a number of reasons, this new James Bond movie has raised more questions than most. So let's break down the movie we knew for a long time as Bond 25, and look at everything we know about NO TIME TO DIE, including the spectacular final trailer.
Bond Is Back in October
NO TIME TO DIE hits theaters on October 8. The release date has been changed around a few times and we're so excited to finally be able to see the movie.
Check Out the New James Bond Trailers!
[Image credit: United Artists Releasing]
The first NO TIME TO DIE trailer does a lot. It shows that Bond has been retired for some time, and follows a few key beats as he goes back into action. It also suggests a serious tie to SPECTRE, the prior film in the series.
[Image credit: United Artists Releasing]
Want to see more? The second major trailer, just above, has a lot of footage not in the first trailer, not to mention a healthy preview of the action and even some of the humor of the movie. While the general plot outline is pretty serious, this looks a bit more lighthearted than the previous Daniel Craig Bond outings. Craig almost appears to be having fun in a few scenes. Roger Moore would be proud.
[Image credit: United Artists Releasing]
Finally, there's the latest and final trailer, which offers an overview of all of Craig's Bond movies, the better to remind us all of the themes of loss and isolation that connect all his films. There's also a whole lot of new action and character footage here — and it's all edited together in a way that doesn't give too much away!
The New Billie Eilish James Bond Theme Song
[Image credit: United Artists Releasing]
James Bond movies always generate a lot of interest for their theme songs, and NO TIME TO DIE is no different. Billie Eilish co-wrote and performs the new Bond movie theme song, abd you can hear the full thing via the embed just above. We've written more about her song, and some of the other great 007 themes, here.
Will James Bond Die in No Time to Die?
In GOLDFINGER, in 1964, the title villain pointed a laser at 007 as he was strapped to a table, and quipped "no, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die." That line became an apt summary of the entire Bond franchise, as one galaxy-brain bad guy after another has expected Bond to simply die. He never does.
The new title tells you straight out that there isn't any time to die, so Bond will probably survive! We do know that this new 007 movie begins with James Bond in retirement, which means that someone else has taken over his former position at MI-6. Events in the story pull Bond back into action, and despite the fact that this will be the final movie featuring Daniel Craig in the lead role, there's no reason to believe that the character of James Bond is going anywhere.
What's the Story Behind No Time to Die?
There's a short version, which is to mention that United Artists Releasing says that "James Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology."
That, however, is likely only the tip of the iceberg.
The Felix Leiter Connection
So what does that synopsis mean? First of all, it's no small thing that Felix Leiter returns. The CIA operative might be the longest-running Bond film character who isn't M, Q or Moneypenny. Leiter appeared in the first Bond movie, DR. NO, played by Jack Lord, and has been played by seven more actors. There isn't even a hard and fast relationship between Leiters and Bond eras. David Hedison took over the role when Roger Moore became Bond, for example, then was replaced by John Terry when Timothy Dalton was cast, but came back as Leiter for the Dalton-led movie LICENSE TO KILL.
Knowing all that, Jeffrey Wright stands out. Including NO TIME TO DIE, he has played Felix Leiter in three of the five Daniel Craig Bond movies, beginning with CASINO ROYALE, in 2006. The Daniel Craig movies, while mostly working as standalone films, have more of a constant overarching story than most runs in the franchise. That's in part because the producers long ago ran out of Ian Fleming novels to adapt to film, and have leaned heavily on screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade for stories — and Purvis and Wade have woven a large narrative tapestry featuring all Fleming's characters, in a modern context.
The Mysterious Role of Ana De Armas
After working together in KNIVES OUT, Daniel Craig recommended rising star Ana De Armas for NO TIME TO DIE. "When I got the phone call, this character didn't exist," she told Complex. "They were thinking about it and they wrote it for me and I was like, ‘excuse me, what?"
One of the "they" referred to there is Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the hot writer/producer who created and stars in the hilarious series "Fleabag" and also created the show "Killing Eve." De Armas seems bowled over by her contribution to the film. "You have writers like Phoebe Waller-Bridge," she said, "who is on fire right now and is so brilliant, who actually wrote my scenes."
The No Time to Die Villain
So far, we know little about the new villain in NO TIME TO DIE, aside from the fact that he is played by Rami Malek, who won the Best Actor Oscar in 2019 for his work in BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY. He's playing the "mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology," but we don't know what that tech is
We do know that Malek's character is named Safin and that his face is marked by extensive scarring. "I could be speaking to my own reflection," he says to Bond at one point, but we don't know precisely why Safin thinks he and Bond are so much alike — aside, presumably, from the fact that the villain is willing to kill people to get what he wants.
What About Blofeld?
Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the leader of SPECTRE, has been one of Bond's longest-running bad guys. Typically, it took all of 007's skills to shut down any one of Blofeld's intricately-plotted power grabs. And yet Blofeld was finally defeated for many years by something mundane: A lawsuit.
The details aren't super-important now, but the basic story is that a conflict between Ian Fleming and screenwriter Kevin McClory meant that rights to SPECTRE and Blofeld, created by McClory for the THUNDERBALL film script, reverted to the screenwriter, while Fleming retained all the other elements. An agreement was eventually reached which allowed both elements to appear in and even provide the title for 2015's SPECTRE. In that movie, Blofeld, with a new backstory, was played by actor Christoph Waltz.
In 2017, Waltz said that he would not be back for NO TIME TO DIE. But the film has changed quite a bit since then. At that point, the film didn't even have a director. Given his revelations in the last film — spoiler alert — which included the orphaned Bond being adopted as a child by Blofeld's father, he's too big a part of the story to be cast aside.
The first NO TIME TO DIE trailer reveals that Waltz does indeed return and that Blofeld will have several scenes from jail, where he lingers after the events of the last movie. Can we think of him like a Hannibal Lecter for the Bond series? He's expected to advise Léa Seydoux's character on a course of action and tease Bond about both his future and his past. And don't forget that Lecter escaped in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. We don't expect Blofeld to remain caged, either.
The No Time to Die Director
[Image credit: United Artists Releasing]
Quite a few different filmmakers were considered and/or approached to make NO TIME TO DIE. The final choice was not the obvious choice. Cary Joji Fukunaga is not yet a household name, but he directed the entire first season of HBO's "True Detective" and wrote IT CHAPTER ONE, in addition to directing the films BEASTS OF NO NATION, SIN NOMBRE and JANE EYRE.
Fukunaga is an inspired choice with a strong visual style. More than anything else, we can't wait to see the first trailer, just to get a sense of what he has come up with for the movie.
NO TIME TO DIE opens on October 8!
All images courtesy of United Artists Releasing / Sony Pictures.