No Time To Die Preview
Image courtesy of People.com
This past week, Billie Eillish’s newest song for the upcoming James Bond film, both named No Time to Die, topped the U.K. charts. The release marked the greatest opening week ever for a James Bond song, selling 90,000 copies in its first seven days of release and gaining 10.6 million streams, according to IGN.com.
The song is the most recent of the teasers that the movie producers have released, including a trailer that aired during Super Bowl LIV. Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, the film is set to be released on November 25, 2020. With a budget of $250 million, it is the second-largest Bond project, surpassed only by Spectre (2015), which had a budget of $300 million. According to imdb.com, the official description of the film reads as follows: “Recruited to rescue a kidnapped scientist, globe-trotting spy James Bond finds himself hot on the trail of a mysterious villain, who's armed with a dangerous new technology.”
This brings me to the significance of the film itself. No Time To Die is actor Daniel Craig’s “last hurrah” with the Bond character. According to The Guardian, though he declared that he would rather “slash his wrists” than make another Bond movie after Spectre, he is back for one last film (or so we think). No Time To Die marks Craig’s fifth Bond appearance, the longest-serving bond below Roger Moore (seven appearances) and Sean Connery (six appearances). His first film was Casino Royale (2006), which was the fourth-highest-grossing movie in 2006, and earned a Rotten Tomatoes Score of 95%. The next film was Quantum of Solace (2008), which was a bit of a letdown, only earning a Rotten Tomatoes Score of 65%. Craig’s Bond bounced back with Skyfall (2012), my personal favorite Bond movie, which won a British Academy Film Award and Academy Award for music. The most recent Bond film, Spectre, had mixed reviews from critics, earning a Rotten Tomatoes Score of 63%.
Other actors and actresses in No Time to Die have been gaining attention too. There are a number of returners that Bond fans will be familiar with, including Naomie Harris as Moneypenny, Ben Whishaw as Q, Ralph Fiennes as M, and Christoph Waltz as past-villain Blofeld. After Judi Dench’s departure, new faces are also being added to the cast: according to IMDB, Ana de Armas, who starred alongside Craig in the 2019 hit, Knives Out, will join as the character “Paloma.” Bohemian Rhapsody star Rami Malek, who won an Oscar, will play the villain named “Safin.” Other new names include Dali Benssalah, Billy Magnussen, David Dencik, and Lashana Lynch.
Personally, I am very excited for what will be a pivotal moment for the Bond franchise. In spite of the movie’s title, Bond will have plenty of time to shine, as the runtime clocks in at two hours and forty-three minutes. It will be interesting to see how Craig will handle his status as a veteran Bond on a final mission, and where Cary Joji Fukunaga has taken the franchise, for a possible recasting of the character. I think that this film is a monumental movie event and its sentimental value will greatly enhance the experience.