It’s been a long road to getting the 25th James Bond movie, No Time to Die, but the wait is nearly over. Daniel Craig’s final outing as the suave spy is less than two months away, and new information has surfaced claiming that this will be the longest Bond movie yet. It’d be wise not to guzzle down any beverages beforehand.
American theater chain Regal and Pathe, a cinema chain located in the Netherlands, both list No Time to Die as being 163 minutes long. This runtime hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, but assuming No Time to Die does clock in at over two and a half hours, it’ll overtake its predecessor, Spectre, which was 148 minutes long. Ironically, the Daniel Craig era of James Bond movies also includes the shortest James Bond movie, 2008’s Quantum of Solace, which was just 106 minutes.
With this being the last time we see Daniel Craig donning the 007 mantle, it’s fitting that this concluding story will have a longer runtime. On a similar note, it was reported earlier this month that No Time to Die will also have the longest pre-titles sequence of any James Bond movie, clocking in at around 20 minutes. For a movie called No Time to Die, it sure seems like there’ll be plenty of minutes for expiration to occur (I know this joke’s already been making the rounds, but it had to be said).
It’s been a long road to getting No Time to Die in theaters. With development beginning in 2016, originally the plan was for Danny Boyle to direct the feature, but after he and writer John Hodge bowed in August 2018 due to creative differences, Cary Funkunaga took over directing duties, making him the first American to helm a James Bond movie.
Filming on No Time to Die finally began in April 2019, though it wasn’t the smoothest production, as there were incidents like a hidden camera being found in a women’s bathroom and a crew member being injured by an explosion. While Neal Purvis and Robert Wade wrote the initial script, Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge was brought in to polish it. The title for what was then simply known as Bond 25 was announced last August, and principal photography wrapped in October.
Taking place five years after the events of Spectre, No Time to Die starts off with James Bond having long left active service behind. However, he’s called back into action to help track down a missing scientist. As the mission progresses, Bond will come across a mysterious villain who is armed with dangerous technology.
Returning alongside Daniel Craig’s James Bond in No Time to Die are Léa Seydoux’s Madeleine Swann, Jeffrey Wright’s Felix Leiter, Ralph Fiennes’ M, Rory Kinnear’s Bill Tanner, Naomie Harris’ Eve Moneypenny, Ben Whishaw’s Q and Christoph Waltz’s Ernst Stavro Blofeld. The newcomers for this round of action include Rami Malek’s Safin, Lashana Lynch’s Nomi and Ana de Armas’ Paloma, among others.
No Time to Die opens in theaters on April 10, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for continuing coverage. In the meantime, figure out what else you plan to see on the silver screen with our 2020 release schedule.
