Last time to see Daniel Bond! The difficult road to the release of the new 007 film

007: No Time to Die”, the latest in the 25th film in the series, has become a worldwide hit with approximately $313 million (about 35.25 billion yen, based on the exchange rate as of October 11, 2021).

Let’s take a look back at the arduous journey of this film, which was finally released six years after the previous film “Spectre”.

Daniel Bond’s final film

This is the final film of Daniel Bond, the sixth James Bond played by actor Daniel Craig.

Craig played the role of Bond for 15 years, the longest in the series, but he famously refused an offer to play Casino Royale in 2006.

In 2012, when “Skyfall” was released, he blurted out, “I’ve been trying to quit since the moment I became Bond, but they just won’t let me go. …… ” Immediately after “Spectre” in 2015, he said, “I’d rather break a glass than play Bond again. I’d rather break a glass in front of me and slit my wrists. I won’t do it again. I just want to move on.

The production of the 25th film has been in the works since 2016, but it wasn’t until 2018 that Craig officially signed the contract.

The battle between Craig, who was reluctant to continue, and the producers, who wanted to make another Daniel Bond film, lasted for two years.

The turbulent 25th film starts with a board-down drama

The 25th film was set to be released in 2019, and Danny Boyle, who had directed “Trainspotting” (1996) and the opening ceremony of the London Olympics, was appointed as the director.

However, just three months after his appointment as director, Danny Boyle announced his resignation, followed by the resignation of screenwriter John Hodge.

The completed script went back to the drawing board, and the production suddenly came to a halt.

Finally, filming began, but…

Carrie George Fukunaga was an exceptionally strong choice to replace Danny Boyle as director, but she was already more than a month behind schedule.
The film finally cranked into production in the spring of 2019, but Craig injured his ankle when he fell during filming.

Despite being told that the injury required surgery and that it would take six weeks to recover, Craig was back on set in two weeks.

There are rumors that the injury disrupted his schedule and almost forced him to cancel a scene with Rami Malek, who plays the villain. ……

In addition, an explosion at the studio slightly injured a staff member, damaged part of the set, and the women’s bathroom at the studio was vandalized.

Pandemic threatens theatrical release

After much hardship, “No Time to Die” was scheduled to be released in April 2020, but due to the spread of the new coronavirus, the release date was postponed.

The release date was extended to November 2020, six months later, and then to April 2021, and finally to October 2021 (September 30 in the UK).

When “Bond 25” was first planned in 2016, it was supposed to be released on November 8, 2019, so the total delay was about two years. That’s a total delay of about two years, and a gap of seven years since the last film.

It’s been a long time coming, but there were rumors that the film was going to be sold to a major video distribution service, so I’m glad that it was able to make it to theaters.

I hope you can see the last of Daniel Bond on screen.