Daniel Craig’s 15-year tenure as James Bond came to a satisfying conclusion in last year’sNo Time to Die. Now, the actor has revealed that he knew he would be playing the iconic spy for a long time afterCasino Royalewas released.
TheNo Time to Diestar recently opened up about his famous role, confirming that he was told by longtimeJames Bond producer Barbara BroccoliafterCasino Royale’s 2006 premiere that he would be in four more 007 films. The prospect of playing Bond for so long was something that was exciting for Craig yet terrifying at the same time.
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Craig’s depiction of James Bond would go on to become one of the franchise’s best, something Broccoli could obviously see from the start. “‘I was sitting in the back of a black Mercedes driving away from the Berlin premiere ofCasino Royalewith Barbara Broccoli in the back - just me and her - everything was good, the movie was doing great, it was like ‘we’d done it, it was time for a bit of celebration,'” recalled Craig Speaking on the Awards Chatter Podcast. “‘I said ‘how many of these movies do I have to make?’ And she was like ‘four’. And I was like ‘oh, really? That’s a lot?'” Craig then added, “‘I said ‘‘OK, if I make four can I kill him off at the end?’’ And she paused, and she just went ‘yes’. I had a sort of plan in my head, I don’t know what the plan was, that if we got it right and if we got it to a place, then they needed to reset.”
No Time to Dietakes place a few years after the events ofSpectreand follows the globe-trotting James Bond on his next mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist and save the world from the mysterious villainSafin (Rami Malek), who’s armed with advanced technology. When Craig’s Bond is forced to call in a missile strike in order to destroy Safin’s factory where he has technology, Bond is eventually killed in the blast, only seconds after learning that he is the actual father of love interest Dr. Madeleine Swann’s daughter, Mathilde.
It was not too long ago thatNo Time to Diedirector Cary Joji Fukunagashared with Empire that Bond’s death was always the plan from the start, but that the main trouble was figuring out how he and the rest of the writers would go about it. Ultimately, it came down to giving the most closure for the character and the story.
Now with Craig’s Bond era complete, the questions that have been on many fans’ minds is what will be next for the Bond franchise storywise, and who will fill the role as the iconic 007 agent? There has been tons of speculation thatactors like Henry Cavill, Idris Elba, or Tom Hardy can take on the role, while other rumors are hinting that the next film in the franchise will center on a much younger Bond. Either way, it seems fans won’t know for a little longer, as Broccoli confirmed in a recent interview that casting for the next James Bond film will not begin anytime soon, and whoever fills the role, they will most certainly have big shoes to fill.
No Time to Dieis now available on digital and Blu-ray.
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