Daniel Craig has revealed that he sat on the explosive ending of his 007 swansong, No Time to Die, for as long as 15 years. SPOILERS incoming, as the movie ends with a hugely shocking twist, killing off Craig’s iteration of James Bond in epic fashion, as the iconic spy sacrifices himself in order to save his newfound family. In a companion book for No Time to Die, Taschen’s ‘James Bond Archives’, Craig has revealed that this was always the plan, with the actor stating that he had always wanted his version of the character to end up dead.
“When I started as Bond on
Casino Royale
, one of the early discussions I had with Barbara [Broccoli] and Michael [G. Wilson] was that I would like to be killed off when I am finished.”
Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga from a screenplay by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Fukunaga, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and starring Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, Lashana Lynch, Ana de Armas, and Rami Malek alongside Daniel Craig, No Time to Die picks up five years after the capture of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, with James Bond having now left active service. He is approached by Felix Leiter, his friend, and a CIA officer, who enlists his help in the search for Valdo Obruchev, a missing scientist. When it becomes apparent that Obruchev was abducted, Bond must confront a danger the likes of which the world has never seen before.
The movie ends in a hugely dramatic, vastly surprising fashion, as Bond is infected by the villainous Safin with a vial containing nanobots programmed to kill love-interest Madeleine and their daughter Mathilde. After murdering his way through a countless number of henchmen before killing Safin, Bond decides to allow himself to die courtesy of several missiles that have been trained on Bond’s location. Saying goodbye to Madeleine and Mathilde, the heart-breaking events provide a finite conclusion to Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond unlike any in the long-running franchise before.
The ending came as a shock to audiences, Bond fans, and critics alike, and knowing that Daniel Craig has been sitting on this secret ever since first appearing in Casino Royale way, way back in 2006 is certainly impressive, and suggests that Craig would perhaps have made a pretty good spy himself.
No Time to Die of course features Craig’s final outing as James Bond, with the actor recently admitting that he will struggle when another actor takes his place. “I thought [Spectre] was it. And I’m really, really happy that I was given the opportunity to come back and do [No Time to Die], because we’ve sort of wrapped up a lot of the stories,” Craig said. “And just a chance to come do one more was wonderful… It’s been incredible to do these films. It’s very emotional. I’m glad I am ending it on my own terms. I’m grateful to the producers for letting me do that. But I sure miss it. I’ll probably be incredibly bitter when the new person takes over.”
No Time to Die is scheduled to be released on DVD, Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray in the UK on 20 December 2021 and in the US on 21 December 2021. This comes to us via Yahoo.