No Time To Die Trivia | 85 facts about the new James Bond film

“No Time To Die” is the 25th James Bond film and the final one starring Daniel Craig as the 007.

Let’s find out some trivia and facts about the new film.

1. No Time to Die is a 2021 spy film
2. It is the 25th in the James Bond series
3. The film is produced by Eon Productions
4. It stars Daniel Craig in his fifth and final outing as the fictional British MI6 agent James Bond
5. It is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga
6. From a screenplay by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Fukunaga and Phoebe Waller-Bridge
7. Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Christoph Waltz, Rory Kinnear and Ralph Fiennes reprise their roles from previous films
8. With Rami Malek, Lashana Lynch, Billy Magnussen, Ana de Armas, David Dencik and Dali Benssalah also starring
9. In this film, Bond, who has left active service with MI6, is recruited by the CIA to rescue a kidnapped scientist, which leads to a showdown with a powerful adversary
10. Development began in 2016
11. It is the first Bond film distributed by Universal Pictures
12. Universal Pictures acquired the international distribution rights following the expiration of Sony Pictures’ contract after the release of Spectre in 2015
13. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer subsidiary United Artists Releasing holds the rights for North America, as well as worldwide digital and television rights
14. Universal also holds the worldwide rights for physical home media
15. Danny Boyle was originally attached to direct and co-write the screenplay with John Hodge
16. Both left due to creative differences in August 2018
17. Fukunaga was announced as Boyle’s replacement a month later
18. Most of the cast had signed on by April 2019
19. Principal photography was from April to October 2019 under the working title Bond 25
20. The final title was announced in August 2019
21. No Time to Die had its world premiere at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 28 September 2021
22. It was released in cinemas on 30 September 2021 in the United Kingdom and on 8 October 2021 in the United States
23. After being delayed by Boyle’s departure and later by the COVID-19 pandemic
24. The film received generally positive reviews
25. With many citing it as a fitting conclusion to Craig’s time as Bond
26. Development of No Time to Die began in early 2016
27. In March 2017, screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade were approached to write the script by producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson
28. They have worked on every Bond film since The World Is Not Enough (1999)
29. Sam Mendes stated that he would not return after directing Skyfall and Spectre
30. Christopher Nolan ruled himself out to direct
31. By July 2017, Yann Demange, David Mackenzie, and Denis Villeneuve were courted to direct the film
32. In December 2017, Villeneuve decided against the role due to his commitments to Dune
33. In February 2018, Danny Boyle was established as a frontrunner for the directing position
34. Boyle’s original pitch to Broccoli and Wilson saw John Hodge writing a screenplay based on Boyle’s idea with Purvis and Wade’s version scrapped
35. Hodge’s draft was greenlit, and Boyle was confirmed to direct with a production start date of December 2018
36. However, Boyle and Hodge left in August 2018 due to creative differences
37. During Boyle’s time as director, a leaked casting sheet described the male leading role as a “cold and charismatic Russian” and the female leading role as a “witty and skillful survivor”
38. Production also sought male supporting roles of Māori descent with “advanced combat skills”
39. It was reported at the time that Boyle’s exit was due to the casting of Tomasz Kot as the lead villain
40. However, Boyle later confirmed the dispute was over the script
41. Following Boyle’s departure, the release date became contingent on whether the studio could find a replacement within sixty days
42. Cary Joji Fukunaga was announced as the new director in September 2018
43. Fukunaga became the first American to direct an Eon Productions Bond film and the first director to receive a writing credit for any version
44. Fukunaga had been considered for Spectre before Mendes was hired, and afterwards had expressed an interest to Broccoli and Wilson about directing a future Bond film
45. Linus Sandgren was hired as cinematographer in December 2018
46. Purvis and Wade were brought back to start working on a new script with Fukunaga in September 2018
47. Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace screenwriter Paul Haggis turned in an uncredited rewrite in November 2018
48. With Scott Z. Burns doing the same in February 2019
49. At Daniel Craig’s request, Phoebe Waller-Bridge provided a script polish in April 2019
50. Waller-Bridge was hired to revise dialogue, work on character development and add humour to the script
51. Waller-Bridge is the second female screenwriter credited with writing a Bond film after Johanna Harwood co-wrote Dr. No and From Russia with Love
52. Barbara Broccoli was questioned about the Me Too movement at the Bond 25 launch event, where she stated that Bond’s attitude towards women would move with the times and the films should reflect that
53. In a separate interview, Waller-Bridge argued that Bond was still relevant and that “he needs to be true to this character”
54. Instead suggesting that it was the films which had to grow and evolve, emphasising “the important thing is that the film treats the women properly”
55. Some concepts changed during development with Fukunaga
56. An early unrealised idea he considered was to have seen the film take place “inside Bond’s head”, while being tortured by Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Spectre, up until the end of act two of a three-act structure
57. Originally, Safin, the villain, and his henchman would wear masks based on Siberian bear-hunting armour
58. The henchman character was written out before filming, and Fukunaga requested changes to Safin’s costume
59. A new mask based on Noh, a Japanese style of theatre, was introduced as Fukunaga felt that the original mask was dominating the costume
60. The film entered production under the working title of Bond 25
61. The title No Time to Die was announced on 20 August 2019
62. Broccoli said, “We were struggling to find a title. We wanted a title that wouldn’t give away anything but would be understandable, and after you see the movie, have a deeper resonance, because that’s often what Fleming titles are all about”
63. In July 2019, Dan Romer was announced as composer for the film’s score, having previously worked with Cary Joji Fukunaga on Beasts of No Nation and Maniac
64. Romer left the film due to creative differences in November 2019
65. Hans Zimmer replaced Romer by January 2020
66. It is the first time in the Bond series history that a composer has been replaced during post-production, and the second major personnel change for the film after Danny Boyle left as director
67. Steve Mazzaro produced the score, while Johnny Marr played guitar
68. The No Time to Die score album was set to be released through Decca Records in March 2020 but was delayed to 1 October 2021 to coincide with the release of the film
69. In January 2020, Billie Eilish was announced as the performer of the film’s theme song, with her brother, Finneas O’Connell, serving as co-writer as well as the track’s producer. The song, which has the same title, was released on 13 February 2020
70. At the age of 18, Eilish is the youngest artist to record a James Bond theme song
71. Despite the film’s delay, the song was nominated for and won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, on 14 March 2021
72. In October 2020, it was announced that a song “Dans la ville endormie” by French singer Dalida will be featured, for a scene situated in France
73. It was followed with a 10″ vinyl single issue, and an official clip made in the style of James Bond credits
74. No Time to Die’s opening weekend set a $119.1 million box office from 54 countries, including the United Kingdom, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico and Spain
75. The result was better than the projected $90 million
76. It was the first film since the COVID-19 pandemic that crossed $100 million in an overseas debut without the China market
77. In the United States and Canada, No Time to Die is projected to gross $65-85 million in its opening weekend
78. The film made $6.3 million from Thursday night previews, the best total of the franchise
79. According to review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 84% of 284 critics have given the film a positive review
80. With an average rating of 7.4/10
81. The site’s critical consensus reads, “It isn’t the sleekest or most daring 007 adventure, but No Time to Die concludes Daniel Craig’s franchise tenure in satisfying style”
82. Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 69 out of 100
83. Based on 60 critics
84. Indicating “generally favorable reviews”
85. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “A–” on an A+ to F scale