No Time to Die

• 1. Introduction

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  In a November 2024 interview about No Time to Die, Daniel Craig left no doubt about the fate of his James Bond. "He's dead! How many times do I have to blow him up?" he asked. The 2021 film is the twenty-fifth in the James Bond series and the fifth and last to star Craig. Its road to cinemas was anything but smooth. A director and a composer were replaced along the way, and a global pandemic pushed the premiere back again and again. This documentary asks why the producers chose to end a long-running hero, how the film survived its own troubles, and how audiences and critics answered it.

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• 2. Project Heracles

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  Madeleine Swann is an adolescent when she watches Lyutsifer Safin murder her mother. Safin's own family had been killed by Madeleine's father, Mr. White, acting on orders from Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Madeleine wounds Safin, then falls into a frozen lake. Safin pulls her out.

  Years later, Madeleine persuades James Bond to visit the grave of his ex-lover Vesper Lynd in Gravina in Puglia, hoping to help him move on. The tomb explodes. SPECTRE operatives led by Primo, a mercenary with a bionic eye, attack Bond. During the escape, Madeleine takes a congratulatory phone call from Blofeld. Bond decides she has betrayed him, sends her away, and tells her they will never meet again.

  Five years later, SPECTRE agents break into an MI6 laboratory and kidnap the scientist Valdo Obruchev, who secretly works for Safin. They also steal Project Heracles, a programmable nanobot bioweapon that targets DNA and was developed under M. Bond, now living in Jamaica, is asked by his CIA ally Felix Leiter to pull Obruchev out of a SPECTRE party in Cuba. Nomi, Bond's successor as Agent 007, warns him not to interfere. M refuses to explain Heracles. Bond accepts Felix's offer anyway.

  At the Cuban party, Bond works alongside Paloma, Leiter's Cuban agent. Blofeld, watching from Belmarsh prison through his own bionic eye, releases a nanobot mist meant to kill Bond. It kills the SPECTRE members instead, because Obruchev had secretly reprogrammed the nanobots to target them.

  On a trawler, Bond questions Obruchev while Leiter and his associate Logan Ash look on. Obruchev glances at Ash, which exposes Ash as a co-conspirator. Ash shoots Leiter, traps him and Bond below deck, and sinks the ship with explosives as he flees with Obruchev. Bond escapes. Leiter dies.

  Blofeld, Bond learns, will speak only to Madeleine, his psychiatrist. Safin has coerced her into infecting herself with a nanobot dose meant to kill Blofeld. She is too distressed to face him, but Bond touches her before she leaves and unknowingly infects himself. In the interrogation, Blofeld reveals that he staged the ambush at Vesper's grave to make Bond blame Madeleine. Bond briefly strangles him, and Blofeld dies soon afterward from the nanobots Bond carries.

  Bond reconciles with Madeleine at her childhood home in Norway and meets her young daughter, Mathilde. Madeleine insists the girl is not Bond's child, despite a resemblance. Ash arrives with his thugs and chases the three into a forest. Bond kills Ash and his men, but Safin takes Madeleine and Mathilde.

  Q then gives Bond and Nomi a submersible glider so they can slip into Safin's nanobot factory. From there, Safin and Obruchev plan to distribute the nanobots worldwide, potentially killing millions and establishing a new world order.

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• 3. Faces Old and New

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  Léa Seydoux returns as Madeleine Swann, which makes her the first woman to play the female lead in two Bond films in a row. Fukunaga said Madeleine matters because she lets the film explore Bond's unresolved trauma over the death of Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale. Seydoux promised an emotional experience: "I bet you're going to cry." She added that she cried while watching it, even though she appears in it.

  Rami Malek plays Lyutsifer Safin, a bioterrorist and scientist on a revenge mission against SPECTRE. Producer Barbara Broccoli said of the character, "He's a nasty piece of work." Malek said Safin sees himself as "a hero almost in the same way that Bond is a hero." Fukunaga called him a "hyper-intelligent and worthy adversary." Malek also revealed that Safin would not be tied to any religion or ideology.

  Lashana Lynch plays Nomi, the new holder of the 007 number. Lynch hoped to make a franchise that had been slick for years feel more relatable, and wanted to "throw a human spin on it." Her Nomi is an agent who is still working things out and who deals with anxiety.

  Jeffrey Wright makes his third appearance as Felix Leiter, after Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. That makes him the first actor to play Leiter three times. Wright was surprised not to be asked back for Skyfall and Spectre, but felt the absence gave his return "more weight."

  Ben Whishaw's Q is revealed in this film to be gay. Whishaw said he had now made the three films he was contracted for and suggested, "I think I'm done now." Naomie Harris says Moneypenny has "grown up somewhat" since Spectre, though her soft spot for Bond remains.

  Ana de Armas, who had worked with Craig on Knives Out, plays Paloma. She described the character as "irresponsible" and "bubbly." Costume designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb dressed Paloma in a navy Michael Lo Sordo gown, chosen so she could fight beside Bond while still suiting a black tie event.

  Christoph Waltz returns as Blofeld, now in MI6 custody. After Spectre, reports said Waltz had signed for further Bond films on the condition that Craig came back. In October 2017 he announced that he would not return, without giving a reason. His casting stayed out of the press launch and was revealed only in the trailer in December 2019. One more late surprise sits in the cast list: the veteran British civil servant Hayden Phillips makes a cameo as the antagonist Sir Sebastian d'Ath.

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• 4. Craig's Farewell

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  Immediately after Spectre reached cinemas in 2015, Daniel Craig complained bluntly about the rigours of playing Bond. In May 2016 came a report that MGM had offered him $100 million for two more films and that he had turned it down. In October 2016 he said he had made no decision and called Bond "the best job in the world doing Bond." He also denied that $150 million had been offered for the next two instalments.

  Craig was eventually paid $25 million for his part in No Time to Die. In August 2017, on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, he said the next film would be his last. He repeated that position between November 2019 and March 2020. He later acknowledged that injuries from earlier Bond films had deterred him from returning. Broccoli promised that the finale would "tie up loose narrative threads" and reach an emotionally satisfying conclusion.

  In 2006, after the premiere of Casino Royale, Craig had already proposed that his Bond should die, and Broccoli agreed. He called it "the only way I could see for myself to end it all." Michael G. Wilson described it as "the fitting way to deal with a situation where a person is risking their life all the time." Wilson added, "Eventually, the odds catch up with you."

  The production team weighed several deaths, including a shooting by an anonymous gunman. Fukunaga rejected a "conventional weapons death" as wrong for a man who had managed to "escape from everything else." Craig said the team chose Safin's bioweapon because it kills "the only thing that Bond wants in life... to be with the people he loves."

  Inside Safin's island facility, Bond finds Mathilde, whom Safin has abandoned, and reunites with Madeleine. Nomi kills Obruchev and escorts Madeleine and Mathilde off the island. Bond convinces M to authorise a missile strike, then kills Primo and Safin's remaining men. Safin reappears, shoots Bond repeatedly, and infects them both with nanobots programmed to kill Madeleine and Mathilde.

  Bond shoots Safin dead and opens the blast doors so the missiles can reach inside. Seriously wounded, and knowing he can never touch Madeleine or Mathilde, he radios Madeleine to say goodbye. Madeleine confirms that Mathilde is his daughter. Bond answers that he knew all along. The missiles then destroy the facility, and Bond dies.

  At MI6, M, Moneypenny, Nomi, Q and Bill Tanner drink to Bond's memory. Madeleine drives Mathilde to Gravina in Puglia and begins to tell her about her father.

  Anthony Horowitz, the author of several Bond novels, was disappointed by the decision. He told The Times that he had once nearly killed Bond himself but held back, calling it impertinent to kill a character he had not created. "Bond shouldn't die, Bond is forever," he said.

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• 5. Directors and Drafts

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  Development began in February 2016, and in March 2017 producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson asked the screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade to write the script. The pair have worked on every Bond film since The World Is Not Enough in 1999. They mapped out the story during 2017. Sam Mendes, who directed Skyfall and Spectre, said he would not return, and Christopher Nolan ruled himself out.

  By July 2017, Yann Demange, David Mackenzie and Denis Villeneuve were being courted to direct. In December 2017, Villeneuve decided against the job because of his commitments to the first Dune film from 2021.

  Danny Boyle emerged as the frontrunner in February 2018. His pitch discarded the Purvis and Wade version and had John Hodge write a script from Boyle's own idea. Boyle wanted to set the story in present-day Russia and explore Bond's origins. A leaked casting sheet from that period asked for a "cold and charismatic Russian" in the male lead and a "witty and skillful survivor" in the female lead. It also sought male supporting actors of Māori descent with "advanced combat skills." Hodge's draft was greenlit, with production due to start in December 2018. Hodge also introduced the idea of Bond having a child, which survived into the final script.

  In August 2018, Boyle and Hodge left 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. Broccoli and Wilson had "lost confidence" in the Russia idea. The release date now hinged on finding a replacement within sixty days.

  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. He had been considered for Spectre before Mendes was hired. Linus Sandgren joined as cinematographer in December 2018.

  Purvis and Wade came back in September 2018 to write a new script with Fukunaga. Paul Haggis, who had written Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, delivered an uncredited rewrite in November 2018. Scott Z. Burns did the same in February 2019. In April 2019, at Craig's request, Phoebe Waller-Bridge polished the script, working on dialogue, character and humour. Purvis and Wade said the larger role for Paloma, who began as a simple contact, was probably her doing at Fukunaga's request.

  Waller-Bridge became the second woman credited with writing a Bond film, after Johanna Harwood, who co-wrote Dr. No and From Russia with Love. At the Bond 25 launch event, Broccoli was asked about the MeToo movement and said Bond's attitude to women would move with the times. Waller-Bridge argued that Bond was still relevant, saying "the important thing is that the film treats the women properly."

  Fukunaga also considered ideas that never reached the screen. One was to set the film inside Bond's head, while Blofeld tortures him in Spectre, until the end of act two of three. Safin and a henchman were first to wear masks based on Siberian bear-hunting armour. The henchman was cut before filming. Fukunaga asked for changes to Safin's costume and introduced a mask based on Noh, the Japanese style of theatre, because he felt the original mask dominated the costume.

  The production ran under the working title Bond 25 until the 20th of August 2019, when the name No Time to Die was announced. Broccoli said the team wanted a title that gave nothing away but would take on "a deeper resonance" once audiences had seen the film, as Fleming titles often do.

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• 6. On Location

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  Cameras were due to roll on the 3rd of December 2018 at Pinewood Studios, but Boyle's departure pushed the start to April 2019. This is the first Bond film with sequences shot on 65mm IMAX film cameras. Fukunaga and Sandgren pushed for film over digital to sharpen the look. The budget was reported at between $250 million and $301 million, while B25 Limited, Eon's subsidiary for the film, reported a total production cost of £214 million.

  In March 2019, a second unit began work in Nittedal, Norway, capturing scenes on a frozen lake. On the 25th of April 2019, a live stream from Ian Fleming's Goldeneye estate in Jamaica introduced the cast and marked the official start of production. Principal photography began on the 28th of April 2019 in Jamaica, including Port Antonio. In May 2019, Craig injured his ankle there and had minor surgery. The injury later forced the crew to reschedule a Havana chase sequence.

  In June 2019, a controlled explosion damaged the 007 Stage at Pinewood and left a crew member with minor injuries. That month, the production also returned to Norway to film a driving sequence along the Atlantic Ocean Road, featuring an Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Aston Martin confirmed that the DB5, the DBS Superleggera and the Valhalla would also appear.

  Scenes with Craig, Fiennes, Harris and Kinnear were shot around London, including Whitehall, Senate House and Hammersmith. In July 2019, the crew filmed in Aviemore and the surrounding Cairngorms National Park, as well as at the Ardverikie House Estate and on the banks of Loch Laggan. The forest scene was shot in Buttersteep Forest in Windsor Great Park.

  In late August 2019, the second unit moved to southern Italy to film an Aston Martin DB5 chase through Matera, including a doughnut in Piazza San Giovanni Battista. In early September, the main unit with Craig and Seydoux shot sequences in Maratea and Gravina in Puglia. Filming continued in the town of Sapri through September, using its "midnight canal" and railway station. In the film the town is called "Civita Lucana." In late September, scenes were filmed in the Faroe Islands.

  The Ministry of Defence confirmed that filming took place around the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dragon and a Royal Air Force C-17 aircraft at RAF Brize Norton. No weapons were fired. The British Army's Household Cavalry unit was also filmed. A seaplane sequence was shot at CMA CGM's Kingston Container Terminal in Jamaica.

  Ben Whishaw praised Fukunaga's approach, saying it felt "almost as if it were an independent film." He called the shoot "quite improvisational" with few takes, and "very light," if sometimes chaotic.

  Principal photography wrapped on the 25th of October 2019 at Pinewood, with the Havana chase sequence. Fukunaga confirmed further pick-up shots on the 20th of December 2019. Visual effects came from Industrial Light & Magic, Framestore, DNEG and Cinesite, under supervisor Charlie Noble. Post-production ended without further changes, because the release date had been delayed.

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• 7. The Sound of Goodbye

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  Dan Romer, who had worked with Fukunaga on Beasts of No Nation and Maniac, was announced as composer in July 2019. He left in November 2019 over creative differences. Hans Zimmer replaced him by January 2020, the first time in the series that a composer was replaced during post-production. It was the second major personnel change after Boyle's departure. Steve Mazzaro produced the score, and Johnny Marr played guitar. A score album planned for March 2020 on Decca Records was held back until the 1st of October 2021, to coincide with the film.

  In January 2020, Billie Eilish was announced as the performer of the theme song, which shares the film's title. Her brother, Finneas O'Connell, co-wrote and produced it. At 18, Eilish is the youngest artist to record a Bond theme. The song was released on the 13th of February 2020, and its music video followed on the 1st of October 2020.

  Two older songs also shape the mood. The French singer Dalida's "Dans la ville endormie" is heard briefly in the opening scene. Louis Armstrong's version of "We Have All the Time in the World," composed by John Barry with lyrics by Hal David, first appeared in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. It recurs three times in the score and plays in full over the closing credits, recalling the love and loss Bond experiences.

  On the 14th of March 2021, at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, the theme won Best Song Written for Visual Media. That was six months before the film's release. The song had come out during the 2019-20 eligibility period, in anticipation of the original April 2020 release date.

  At the 94th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Sound and Best Visual Effects. It won Best Original Song, becoming the third Bond film to do so after Skyfall and Spectre. It was also nominated for five British Academy Film Awards, winning one, and for two Critics' Choice Movie Awards, winning one. It won a Golden Globe Award as well. The theme had arrived only weeks before the film's first postponement.

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• 8. Delays and Verdicts

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  No Time to Die was first scheduled for November 2019, then moved to February 2020 and later April 2020 after Boyle's departure. A China premiere and a countrywide publicity tour planned for April 2020 were cancelled because of the early outbreak of COVID-19 there. By March 2020, the virus had spread globally and the World Health Organization had declared a pandemic. Two Bond fan sites wrote a joint open letter asking the producers to delay the release. On the 4th of March 2020, MGM and Eon announced a postponement to the 12th of November 2020 in the United Kingdom and the 25th of November 2020 in the United States. It was the first major film affected by the pandemic.

  The cost of waiting was steep. An estimated 70,000 cinemas in China had closed. Variety said the studio had already spent $66 million on promotion. The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the delay wasted between $30 million and $50 million in marketing, and that global box office losses could have exceeded $300 million had the film stayed in its April 2020 slot.

  In October 2020, the film slipped again, to the 2nd of April 2021, once it became clear that theatrical markets, especially in the United States, would not see full demand. Cineworld, the world's second-largest cinema chain, then closed its cinemas indefinitely. Its chief executive, Mooky Greidinger, called the delay the "last straw." The chain reopened in May 2021. In January 2021, the film was rescheduled for the 8th of October 2021, with an earlier United Kingdom date of the 30th of September announced the next month. In August 2021, Australia's release moved to the 11th of November because of lockdowns in several states.

  Ownership was shifting behind the scenes. The Sony Pictures deal to co-produce Bond films with MGM and Eon expired with Spectre in 2015, so this is the only Craig Bond not co-produced by Columbia Pictures. In April 2017, several studios bid for distribution rights. MGM kept North American, digital and worldwide television rights through United Artists Releasing, a joint venture with Annapurna Pictures, and Universal became the international distributor. No Time to Die is the only Bond film released by United Artists Releasing.

  The film grossed $774.2 million worldwide, made up of $160.9 million in the United States and Canada and $613.3 million in other territories. That made it the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2021, the third-highest-grossing Bond film, and the third-highest-grossing film of all time in the United Kingdom. Combined production and promotional costs of at least $350 million meant it was estimated to need at least $800 million to break even.

  The opening weekend brought in $119.1 million from 54 countries, beating a projection of $90 million. It was the first overseas debut above $100 million since the pandemic began that did not include the Chinese market. In the United States and Canada, it opened to $55.2 million, the fourth-best opening in the franchise. Its Thursday previews, at $6.3 million, were the franchise's best. Deadline Hollywood blamed the slight underperformance on the 163-minute runtime, which limited the number of showtimes.

  Metacritic gave the film a score of 68 out of 100 from 67 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it an A-minus. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian called it "an epic barnstormer." Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that it "takes its place among the best of the entire series."

  Other critics were cooler. John Nugent of Empire felt the plotting and exposition in the middle third did not justify the runtime of 2 hours and 43 minutes, though he still called the film a fitting end to the Craig era. Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent dismissed the biological weapon premise as "generic spy nonsense." She said Rami Malek gave almost nothing to the role beyond his accent and stereotyped disfigurement makeup. Peter Rainer of The Christian Science Monitor asked, "Has James Bond become irrelevant?"

  On the 20th of February 2025, Amazon MGM Studios announced that it had gained full creative control of the Bond franchise from Eon Productions. That made No Time to Die the last film in the series produced under the custodianship of Albert R. Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson or Barbara Broccoli. In June 2025, Denis Villeneuve, who had turned down this film, was announced as director of the 26th Bond film.

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