No Time to Die’s journey to the big-screen was a long, arduous, pandemic delayed one, but it’s easy to forget that even before all that Daniel Craig’s swansong was already subject to upheaval when Danny Boyle exited the project due to creative differences with producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. Now the Trainspotting director has been talking about the experience while doing press rounds, revealing that the Bond producers “just lost confidence in it”.
Speaking with Esquire UK ahead of the release of his Disney+ Sex Pistols show Pistol, Boyle revealed that his mission would have sent 007 to present day Russia and explored Bond’s origins, but that he was a bit reluctant from the beginning. Boyle said “I remember thinking, ‘Should I really get involved in franchises?’ Because they don’t really want something different. They want you to freshen it up a bit, but not really challenge it, and we wanted to do something different with it. Weirdly — it would have been very topical now — it was all set in Russia, which is of course where Bond came from, out of the Cold War. It was set in present-day Russia and went back to his origins, and they just lost, what’s the word…they just lost confidence in it. It was a shame really.”
Boyle also shared a script similarity between his John Hodge-written 007 film, and what ended up in Cary Fukunaga’s No Time to Die, saying “The idea that they used in a different way was the one of [Bond’s] child, which [Hodge] introduced [and which] was wonderful,” as well as putting forward both Robert Pattinson and I May Destroy You breakout star Paapa Essiedu as future James Bond incumbents.
SEE ALSO: Paul Verhoeven is disappointed that Bond ditched sex in No Time to Die
You can check out the full interview here, but let us know whether you’re still disappointed we didn’t get Boyle’s Bond, or if you’re happy with how No Time to Die turned out, by heading to our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.
No Time To Die stars Daniel Craig (James Bond), Ralph Fiennes (M), Naomie Harris (Moneypenny), Rory Kinnear (Tanner), Léa Seydoux (Madeleine Swann), Ben Whishaw (Q), Jeffrey Wright (Felix Leiter), and Christoph Waltz (Blofeld), while new additions include Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody), Ana de Armas (Blade Runner 2049), Lashana Lynch (Captain Marvel), Billy Magnussen (Velvet Buzzsaw), Dali Benssalah (A Faithful Man) and David Dencik (Top of the Lake).
