With Daniel Craig’s last Bond film, “No Time to Die,”Next weekend, the success franchise’s creators, Barbara Broccoli & Michael G. Wilson will be in U.S. cinemas. They are here to answer the two questions that fueled Agent 007.
Craig’s arrival came with an immense overhaul of the Bond series, as Broccoli, Wilson and their team at Eon Productions oriented 2006’s “Casino Royale”reflect the gritty spy films of 2000s like Jason Bourne. The Bond franchise has survived for almost six decades through 25 films. Wilson, Broccoli, and Wilson all agree that the reinvention was based on two questions they ask each time they begin work on a new title.
“1. What is the world going to be afraid of in two or three years when the film comes out? And 2. What are the emotional and personal challenges Bond will face? The combination of those two things means that we do something fresh each time,” Broccoli told CNN (via ScreenRant
For an example of those two questions at work, look no further than Craig’s 2012 acclaimed film “Skyfall.”This book was written at a time in which hacktivist groups such as Anonymous and LulzSec were making news and internet privacy was on the rise. “Skyfall” sees Bond face off with a former MI6 spy turned hacker bent on revenge against Bond’s boss, M. The film also ties that into the personal relationship that Bond and M had developed over the previous two films.
“Of course, now it turned out to be four years hence because of COVID,” Wilson said.” You have to get out your crystal ball and take a stab at it. In this particular case, I think we came pretty close to what the world is concerned about.”
“No Time to Die” was originally intended for release in April 2019, but was pushed back after Danny Boyle left the director’s chair and was replaced by Cary Joji Fukunaga. The film was in the can, and it was ready to be released in April 2020. However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused many delays that led to this month.
The wait was worth it as MGM/Universal reported Saturday that the film has a worldwide opening of $113million in 54 countries and an opening weekend of more than $30 million in the U.K., which is the highest ever since the pandemic. “No Time to Die”American cinemas will release the film on October 8.