James Bond fans have something to look forward to, as the silver-screen spy returns to theatres. This marks the twenty-fifth installment in the James Bond series, which has lasted over 65 years. It’s quite an impressive feat, and as real-life technology advances, the list of Bond gadgets becomes ever cooler – though it’s hard to top the X-Ray Polaroid laser from License to Kill.
This film marks the twenty-fifth installment that has been produced by Eon Productions, and is being directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga. He is known for writing most of the films he has directed, and his feature films include Sin Nombre, Jane Eyre, and Beasts of No Nation. He was also awarded the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for his work as director and executive producer on HBO series True Detective. This also marks the first American filmmaker to direct an official James Bond film.
In No Time to Die, the basic plot is that James Bond is now living out his retirement in Jamaica. Of course, the CIA has an urgent mission, critical mission that only the world’s greatest spy can accomplish. Bond must rescue a kidnapped scientist, leading him onto the trail of a villain who wields some dangerous new technology. It’s basic spy movie plot, but the trailer looks pretty cool. The James Bond series has also been known for including some iconic moments inside casinos, though with 2019 technology, it’d be interesting if James Bond started playing online casinos like this site.
Daniel Craig will be reprising his role as James Bond for the fifth time as James Bond, though it will be his final appearance. Daniel Craig has been cast as James Bond since Casino Royale in 2006, marking his fourteen year tenure as the titular character. It also makes Daniel Craig the longest-running actor to play James Bond, though not the actor starring in the most James Bond films. That goes to Roger Moore and Sean Connery, respectively, as Roger Moore and Sean Connery have both starred in seven (including the unofficial Never Say Never Again).
To prepare for this role, Daniel Craig actually visited the Central Intelligence Agency’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia, and received some useful advice on how the espionage industry actually works. As one CIA representative said, it was explained to Craig that real-life espionage is “a lot more ‘cloak’ and a lot less ‘dagger’ than presented in the entertainment world of spy v spy”. While espionage films like James Bond and Bourne Identity are full of high-octane action scenes and high-tech weaponry, it turns out the life of a CIA officer is a lot less thrilling and a lot more focused on developing relationships and personal skills, according to retired agents.
The villain is being played by Rami Malek, an American actor of Egyptian heritage. Rami Malek starred as Freddie Mercury in the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, a major box office success that grossed over $900 million USD worldwide. Rami Malek is also well-known for his breakthrough role as computer hacker Elliot in television series Mr. Robot, for which he received several accolades.
Also cast in No Time to Die are Ralph Fiennes as M, the head of MI6, Naomie Harris as Bond’s ally, along with Ana de Armas, Dali Benssalah, David Dencik, Lashana Lynch, and Billy Magnussen.
This will also be the first film in the series which will be distributed by Universal Pictures. Sony Pictures’ contract had expired after Spectre, and it was announced in 2017 that MGM had won a bidding war between Sony, Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and Annapurna Pictures – though MGM won the domestic, digital, and worldwide television rights to the film, Universal was announced as the international distributor, as well as holding the rights for physical home entertainment distribution.