'No Time To Die' trailer released

'No Time To Die' - Teaser Poster revealed

EON Productions has revealed today the official teaser poster artwork for the 25th James Bond film, No Time To Die. The poster, which can be seen in full on the official James Bond site here, features a photograph of Daniel Craig in tuxedo as agent 007 taken by photographer Greg Williams, who has collaborated with the series since 2002's Die Another Day with the exception of SPECTRE in 2015. Over this image of Bond against the turquoise wall of a place known as Palacio Velázquez in Cuba (we have yet to see what relevance has this scene into the movie), the film's logo is overimposed. The logo, created by Empire Design using the 1929 typography Futura Black, is notably huge in the US one sheet versions. International variations show it considerably smaller, with the title translation assigned to each location.

No Time To Die will be released worldwide from April 3, 2020. Directed by Cary Fukunaga, the film will include Rami Malek, Ana De Armas, Billy Magnussen, David Dencik and Lashana Lynch. Coming from previous Bond films are Léa Seydoux, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Ralph Fiennes  Rory Kinnear and Jeffrey Wright playing CIA agent Felix Leiter for the third time.

OFFICIAL: Bond 25 title confirmed as 'No Time To Die'

PRESS RELEASE

James Bond Producers, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli today released the official title of the 25th James Bond adventure, No Time To Die. The film, from Albert R. Broccoli’s EON Productions, Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios (MGM), and Universal Pictures International is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation, True Detective) and stars Daniel Craig, who returns for his fifth film as Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007. Written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade (SPECTRE, Skyfall), Cary Joji Fukunaga, Scott Z. Burns (Contagion, The Bourne Ultimatum) and Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Killing Eve, Fleabag) No Time To Die is currently in production. The film will be released globally from April 3, 2020 in the UK through Universal Pictures International and in the US on April 8, from MGM via their United Artists Releasing banner.

No Time To Die also stars Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Billy Magnussen, Ana de Armas, Rory Kinnear, David Dencik, Dali Benssalah with Jeffrey Wright and Ralph Fiennes.

In No Time To Die, 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. 

Other members of the creative team are; Composer Dan Romer, Director of Photography Linus Sandgren, Editors Tom Cross and Elliot Graham, Production Designer Mark Tildesley, Costume Designer Suttirat Larlarb, Hair and Make up Designer Daniel Phillips, Supervising Stunt Coordinator Olivier Schneider, Stunt Coordinator Lee Morrison and Visual Effects Supervisor Charlie Noble. Returning members to the team are; 2nd Unit Director Alexander Witt, Special Effects and Action Vehicles Supervisor Chris Corbould and Casting Director Debbie McWilliams.

www.007.com

Bond 25: Rejected Title Revealed

It's been two months since the synopsis and cast of Bond 25 had been announced in Ian Fleming's Goldeneye estate in Jamaica, but there is still no title. The thing is... there was one until April 24, the day before the announcement.

Far from being Shatterhand or Eclipse, the fifth Daniel Craig 007 movie was going to be titled A Reason To Die, but Universal and United Artists Releasing decided it wasn't strong enough for a James Bond film. Meanwhile, shooting of the movie continues at Pinewood Studios after shooting in Jamaica and Norway. Later this year, the production will move to Matera.

Agent 007 will drive the classic Aston Martin DB5 and the Aston Martin V8 Vantage from The Living Daylights, and the Aston Martin Valhalla will aslo make an appaerance. Enjoying a retirement in Jamaica, Bond will be back in action to assist Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) on a CIA operation to rescue a kidnapped scientist from a man who can handle a dangerous technology. Léa Seydoux will return in the role of Madeleine Swann from SPECTRE, while Ana De Armas and Lashana Lynch will be the new incorporations with Oscar winner Rami Malek, David Dencik and Dali Benssalah. 

Last week, Prince Charles visited Pinewood Studio to greet Daniel Craig, Naomie Harris, Lashana Lynch and Ralph Fiennes as they were shooting the scenes on M's office. The film, directed by Cary Fukunaga, will be released on April 8, 2020.

Daniel Craig is joined by Rami Malek, Ana De Armas, Léa Seydoux and Jeffrey Wright in the yet-untitled Bond 25

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

JAMAICA, APRIL 25, 2019 – GoldenEye in Jamaica. James Bond Producers, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli today confirmed the start of principal photography on the 25th official James Bond film begins on 28 April 2019. From Albert R. Broccoli’s EON Productions and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios, the film is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and stars Daniel Craig, who returns for his fifth film as Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007.

Metro Goldwyn Mayer will release the 25th James Bond feature film domestically through their United Artists Releasing banner on April 8, 2020; through Universal Pictures International and Metro Goldwyn Mayer in the UK and internationally from April 3, 2020.

Director Cary Joji Fukunaga confirmed the returning cast, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Rory Kinnear, Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Jeffrey Wright and introduced Ana de Armas, Dali Benssalah, David Dencik, Lashana Lynch, Billy Magnussen and Rami Malek.

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.

The 007 production will be based at Pinewood Studios in the UK, and on location in London, Italy, Jamaica and Norway.

Wilson and Broccoli commented, “We’re thrilled to return to Jamaica with Bond 25, Daniel Craig’s fifth instalment in the 007 series, where Ian Fleming created the iconic James Bond character and Dr No and Live And Let Die were filmed.”

Written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade, Scott Z. Burns with Cary Joji Fukunaga and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, other members of the creative team are; Director of Photography Linus Sandgren, Editor Tom Cross and Elliot Graham, Production Designer Mark Tildesley, Costume Designer Suttirat Larlarb, Supervising Stunt Coordinator Olivier Schneider, 2nd Unit Stunt Coordinator Lee Morrison and Visual Effects Supervisor Charlie Noble. Returning members to the team are; 2nd Unit Director Alexander Witt, Special Effects and Action Vehicles Supervisor Chris Corbould and Casting Director Debbie McWilliams.

Spectre, the 24th James Bond film, was a global box office hit, opening #1 in 81 territories around the world, including the U.S., and earning $880 million at the global box office. The film broke a new all-time box office record in the UK with the biggest seven-day opening of all time at $63.8 million. Skyfall, the 23rd film in the series, earned $1.1 billion worldwide.

The start of production launch of Bond 25 was streamed live on the official James Bond channels: 007.com, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and the video is now available on demand on all of these sites.

INTERVIEW: Jeff Kleeman, former United Artists VP, on GoldenEye's success and Bond 25

Versión en español en Bond En Argentina

Graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in English, Jeff Kleeman has actively worked on the relaunching of the cinematic James Bond as United Artists’ Vice-president in the 1990s, conducting the difficult task of installing Pierce Brosnan as the new Bond on his first three movies. 

In this interview, Jeff talked with us about the uncertainty of GoldenEye’s release, the way in which Titanic affected Tomorrow Never Dies’ box office numbers and the treatment of spoilers in the promotional campaign of The World Is Not Enough. He also gave us his professional point of view on the two delays suffered by the Bond 25 release date.

First of all, thank you Jeff for allowing us to interview you. How did you become involved with United Artists and what are your fondest memories on working with the first three Pierce Brosnan 007 films?

I’d previously worked for Francis Coppola at American Zoetrope under a deal he had with Sony that led to Bram Stoker’s Dracula.  When the Sony deal’s term ended, Francis decided not to renew and moved Zoetrope back to Northern California.  Gareth Wigan, a wonderful executive who oversaw the Zoetrope deal for Sony, suggested I meet John Calley who was coming out of retirement to oversee a new incarnation of United Artists.  I met with John and he offered me a job in the room which I enthusiastically accepted, especially because I knew UA controlled the rights to James Bond. I could write a lengthy book detailing amazing memories of my three Bond experiences.  For now, I’ll it to one...

GoldenEye had a Royal Premiere in London.  Before the screening started, a group of us were offered the honor of meeting Prince Charles.  We were instructed on proper behavior and arranged in a semi-circle.  Prince Charles began on the left end and one by one shook our hands and had a brief conversation with each of us.  I was approx four people in from the left side.  Opposite me, approximately four in from the right side, was Tina Turner.   We looked directly into each other’s face.  As Prince Charles held out his hand to me, Tina, like a mischievous kid, stuck her tongue out at me.   The Prince had his back to her so he was completely unaware.  He asked me about my work on GoldenEye and as I attempted to answer Tina began making a series of increasingly silly faces that only I could see.  What a surreal moment, the premiere of a Bond movie, talking with the Prince of England (who was incredibly charming) while Tina Turner tries to crack me up!

Internet played an important part in the promotion of GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough. How did you and the team deal with these new dynamics, like, regularly posting updates on the production online and the fact that people on the other side became much more impatient with a Bond release?

Did the Internet play an important role in their promotion?  GoldenEye came out in 1995.  Handheld screen devices were still to come and when we released Hackers around that same time many people were initially confused by the premise because the desktop (dial-up) online experience was still not well understood by mainstream audiences. Which isn’t to say there wasn’t an important online component to promoting those films, there might have been, but I wasn’t directly involved in it. However, the biggest new factor, the one that differentiated GoldenEye release from previous Bond films, was the Nintendo GoldenEye game.  It was a huge success and brought a new generation of kids into the Bond fold, something that the subsequent Bond films massively benefited from. The escalation of Bond releases to one every other year was a result of GoldenEye success.  MGM/UA realized Bond was its most bankable asset so they pushed for more films as quickly as possible.  We dealt with that the only way we could, by coming up with new methodologies that allowed us to write, shoot and navigate post-production more rapidly. Many of those methods have now become the norm for most studio franchises.

This leads ut a bit to Bond 25 and not only the internet but social networking. As you probably know, the upcoming Bond film had a change of director (Danny Boyle for Cary Fukunaga) and the release date has also changed three times between November 2019 and April 2020. Many Bond fans felt a bit disappointed, worried and even angry for these things. Would you say the immediacy of communications now causes these sort of feelings or it also happened in the 1990s?

The immediacy of today’s communications has led to a very different filmmaking environment, especially for high profile projects like Bond films. With GoldenEye MGM/UA questioned whether the public would have maintained an interest in Bond and it was only deep into production when the teaser trailer (“You know the name. You know the number”) was released in theatres that we were able to gauge any kind of response. Today, we often have audience reactions long before we’ve begun work on a script.

The three Bond films you worked on were released between November and December, a trend also followed by Die Another Day and the Daniel Craig movies, which were all released in the last trimester of their production years. Now Bond 25 is set for the beginning of 2020 (first February, then changed to April). Would you tell us it will impact differently to have a tank like Bond early in the year than closer to the Christmas season?

It should not have an impact.  When we originally began work on GoldenEye it was slated for a summer release - the kind of big June summer movie we see every year. We ended up postponing our start of production and that pushed us to Fall/Winter.  Some folks were very concerned by this change.  But as we now know, things went splendidly.  So well, that we got into the habit of releasing future Bond films then.  GoldenEye release date was happenstance, not strategy.  In general, I don’t think that one particular month is better than another, what matters most is what’s also happening at the time you release your movie.  Tomorrow Never Dies was released on the same day as Titanic (December 19, 1997 in the US). It would probably have performed even better if it had been held until February or April the following year having allowed Titanic to come and go.

Our final question is related to certain marketing techniques concerning spoilers. The trailers of GoldenEye revealed Bond's friend agent 006 as the main villain, while The World Is Not Enough hid the fact that the main villain was Elektra King, the woman he fell for. How is more or less the process of dealing with things like that? Is it completely an EON decision or does the studio have an important say? 

EON was always very collaborative.  Whatever the contractual rights of any of the parties, we all made decisions as a team.  With GoldenEye, we felt the idea of 006 vs 007 was a selling point.  It was a way to bring people back to Bond and introduce new audiences to Bond.  It’s a tiny spoiler that we felt didn’t ruin the experience of watching the movie.   However, we’d intentionally cast and scripted The World Is Not Enough, so as to mask Elektra King’s villainy for a while.  In that case it was important to us to keep that reveal out of the early marketing.  While there are some movies that rely on a plot twist to define the entire film’s experience, much like a punchline defines a joke, that doesn’t tend to be the way Bond films work.  The best are a consistent experience from beginning to end that can be enjoyed over and over again, no matter how aware you might be of the plot before you start watching.

We thank Jeff Kleeman once more for his very interesting insight that helps us to rethink the cinematic James Bond phenomenom on the big screen and to understand the interesting creative process behind the layout of these films from its commercial point of view. We also thank Phil Poggiali for contacting us with Jeff to make this interview possible.

Nicolás Suszczyk

OFFICIAL BOND 25 NEWS: Cary Joji Fukunaga Directs, Release Date Set for February 2020

It was announced today by producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, with Daniel Craig, that True Detective's Cary Joji Fukunaga will direct the upcoming James Bond film after Danny Boyle's departure last August. The release date, originally set for a November 2019 release, will be delayed three months and is now set for 14 February 2020. 

“We are delighted to be working with Cary. His versatility and innovation make him an excellent choice for our next James Bond adventure,” said Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.

Daniel Craig will play James Bond for a fifth (and probably last) time. After screenwriter John Hodge departed the project with Boyle, it is understood that the film will be based on the original treatment penned by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade, who have been in the series since 1999's The World Is Not Enough.

What else can be said? May James Bond be your funny Valentine this time, ladies!

EON Productions: Bond's First Line of Defence

James Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli during a premiere for 2015's SPECTRE.

Oscar-winning British director Danny Boyle has left Bond 25. In a very short statement, EON Productions and Daniel Craig announced he was no longer directing the upcoming James Bond film due to "creative issues". For some, this is bad news. On the other hand, others are relieved.

While this may delay Bond 25's schedule a bit, there's something rather important to point out. There are some good news inside the bad news. This is the fact that this is the perfect example to prove how much producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli defend their franchise, the legacy of the great producer Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli (with Harry Saltzman during the first 12 years) and previously Ian Fleming, who created James Bond.

Since 2008, EON showed interest for auteur directors like Marc Forster and Sam Mendes, the first one helming Quantum of Solace that year and the second one behind Skyfall and SPECTRE in 2012 and 2015, respectively. Following this logic, in May this year Danny Boyle was announced as the director of Bond 25, with his long time collaborator John Hodge as screenwriter.

Boyle and Hodge had an apparently innovative idea, which EON liked enough to discard the original script penned by the regulars Neal Purvis & Robert Wade, present in the series since 1999's The World Is Not Enough. This way, the shooting was announced for December 2018 with Annapurna and Universal distributing the movie by November 2019.

The bomb was dropped last Monday when Boyle decided to leave the director chair empty. 

Depending on the time it takes them to find a new director, this could delay the November 2019 release date of the film. However, it is good to take into account that EON may have had another filmmakers shortlisted before going for Boyle. Plus, there's the possibility they re-hire Purvis and Wade and focus on their original idea. Back in July 2017, even before Daniel Craigannounced his return to the role, EON released a statement announcing November 2019 as Bond 25's release date and that Purvis and Wade were working on the script. In that case, they could reach that deadline after all.

But the good news inside the bad news is that this ordeal with Boyle's departure reaffirms the fortitude of producers Wilson and Broccoli and the zealous way in which they defend their James Bond saga, inherited from the legendary producer Albert R. Broccoli who, in 1962 with his then partner Harry Saltzman, knew how to build a solid cinematographic identity for the character: a pop-culture myth that has survived more than five decades, geopolitical changes, entire generations, globalization and many changes in the actors portraying the leading role.

Rumours and insiders point out that Boyle's departure was due to his insistence to cast Cold War actor Tomasz Kot as the leading villain, in his idea a Russian nemesis in a script based on a "modern-day Cold War". Apparently, Daniel Craig, who has a say in the casting, felt the Polish actor was "too left-field" for the role. Other sources point out that Barbara Broccoli was infuriated with Boyle bringing his whole crew for the movie, namely John Hodge who caused the forced departure of Purvis and Wade in favour of the Boyle/Hodge idea.

Following with more speculation, it's also probable that Boyle wanted to gamble too far with his style and the particular stamp every one of his movies has. We can see that in both Trainspotting movies, the drama Slumdug Millonaire and Trance to understand what that personal stamp is (narration, vocal song soundtrack, surrealism, etc). 

The origins of the big screen James Bond: Sean Connery surrounded by producers Albert R. Broccoli (left) and Harry Saltzman (far right) with author Ian Fleming (sitting).

The thing is we'll never know exactly what idea he proposed for the upcoming James Bond adventure, but probably he wanted an abrupt change, either in the artistic or story field. Other speculation point out the Russia angle as proposed by Boyle was a political gamble that could have gone too far. Remember that EON always wanted to avoid political feuds as much as possible to make everyone line up in Bond's side. This way, in 1963's From Russia With Love, SPECTRE replaced the Russians from the same novel as the main enemy. In You Only Live Twice, it's Blofeld the one who wants to frame Russia as the responsible part in hijacking an American space capsule to provoke World War Three, and in the 1980s we have the figure of the charming KGB leader General Gogol (Walter Gottell) who ended up joining the British to achieve world peace. 

Moreover, while Donald E. Westlake and Bruce Feirstein worked on treatments based on Hong Kong's handover to the Chinese in 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies, the plot veered to a multimedia tycoon trying to provoke a war between China and the United Kingdom to increase his ratings and the historical milestone was set apart, the main reason being that EON didn't want to dare a Bond film set on a very political event set the same year the movie was going to be released in case something went wrong with the ceremony.

Back to the artistic aspect, the producers made a mistake in letting Marc Forster take many artistic determinations with Quantum of Solace. Namely, the interpolation of a Tosca performance with a shootout between Bond and Greene's goons held at the same theatre complex in Austria. Something alike happens minutes before as 007 chases an MI6 traitor over the roofs of Siena, Italy, and the scene is intercut with the traditional Palio horse race taking place nearby.

Probably Boyle aimed something along these lines and it felt like too much for Bond, who has a very established formula and "dogmas" whom an audience wouldn't like to be touched. Sam Mendes, another drama director, avoided to impose his aesthetic seal too much on his two James Bond movies, yet in the line of his films, the story whirls around the protagonist recent or remote past.

Depending on the kind of director they end up choosing for Bond 25, we could say Wilson and Broccoli learnt from the mistakes of their past. But the most important thing to point out is that they still keep in mind the message "Cubby" Broccoli left them: "Don't screw it up. Everyone's going to try and mess with it".

With this determination, it's very clear that EON holds its legacy with a very firm hand and there's the certitude that the legacy they knew to build, inherit and hold is in capable hands, despite some occasional hit and miss.

"Cubby" Broccoli always insisted that in a James Bond movie, the star is always James Bond and no-one else. Therefore, when you make a James Bond movie, you are not making a Daniel Craig, John Hodge or Danny Boyle movie.

You are doing a James Bond movie.

Nicolás Suszczyk