No Time to Die is finally hitting European cinemas this week, meaning the end of Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond is officially here. For 007 fans, it’s hard to imagine where the franchise goes from here as the Craig era has so completely reinvented the long-running movie series in so many ways, from a nuanced portrayal of the secret agent to its more modern attitudes and sexual politics.
But continue it will, as franchise head Barbara Broccoli has confirmed that the hunt for the seventh actor to play 007 will commence next year. While speaking with Total Film Magazine (via Games Radar), Craig was asked where he thinks Bond could go next, but the outgoing star responded, “it has nothing to do with me.” Instead, he reflected on his time in the role and how he wanted to “do something different with it.”
I think that’s what we’ve done. I was given a chance, an incredible opportunity when I was given this role, to do something different with it, and that I’ll be forever grateful for. I wanted to, not bring it up to date in an obvious way, but to make it as relevant as possible.
Craig went on to say that he’s always wanted to subvert the series’ tropes, and he teased that No Time to Die takes this “even further”.
First and foremost, we make Bond movies, and Bond movies have all of these things that go on and tropes, and I wanted to subvert every single one of them. And I think we achieved that, over the years. And with this one we’ve gone even further…
The marketing has made this clear already. Bond 25 will start with the spy having retired from MI6 and having been living in domestic bliss for five years with Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux). That’s a situation we’ve never seen the notorious womanizer in before. Likewise, the promotion has made much of the four prominent female characters in this film – Madeleine, Nomi (Lashana Lynch), Paloma (Ana de Armas) and Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) – another first for the franchise.
Following the movie’s worldwide premiere on Tuesday night, the first reviews are now out there for Craig’s final outing – and they’re generally positive. Early reactions are praising the scale, the action and Cary Fukunaga’s direction, as well as labeling it a fitting farewell to the longest-serving Bond there’s ever been. Audiences can judge for themselves when No Time to Die opens in the UK on September 30th and in the US from October 8th.
