THE LONG GOODBYE

FOLLOWING A LENGTHY DELAY, DANIEL CRAIG’S JAMES BOND SWAN SONG IS ALMOST UPON US. WITH CLASSIFIED ACCESS TO THE CREATIVE TEAM OF NO TIME TO DIE , TOTAL FILM REVEALS (00)7 UNTOLD STORIES BEHIND THE MAKING OF BOND’S MOST IMPORTANT MISSION TO DATE, HOW CRAIG IS BOWING OUT ON AN ALL-TIME HIGH AND WHAT COMES NEXT…

- JORDAN FARLEY

1 THE END

No Time To Die has been a long time coming, and then some. The first major release to pull the trigger and move out of the way of Covid in March, Bond 25 has been in a holding pattern ever since. It was earmarked for a 12 November release all those months ago – a fast-approaching date which no longer feels set in stone – and stalwart producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson continue to face unprecedented challenges on an almost daily basis. But they see NTTD as the perfect film for the present moment.

“The thing that’s really wonderful about this film is that it celebrates heroism and service,” Broccoli tells Total Film. “It was always the intention of the movie that Bond represents bravery and personal sacrifice. And what better time to be making a film about that than now?”

A global pandemic may have conspired to extend Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond by seven months, but his exit has been on the cards since day dot of NTTD – a unique opportunity that Broccoli and Wilson embraced. “When you look at how the character’s evolved over these five films in Daniel’s hands, it did feel like we needed to complete the cycle with him,” Broccoli nods. But with the end of Craig’s era imminent, attention has inevitably turned to the future.