Bond ready to rumble
WITH its release date readjusted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, No Time to Die is set to hit the US box office on November 20. It was initially scheduled for April 3.
The spread of coronavirus led to closure of theatres in major markets such as Italy, South Korea, China, and Japan. That could have been a major blow to No Time to D ie, which cost more than US$200 million to produce and millions more to market.
Given that hefty budget, the film needs to perform well to make a profit.
Directed by American Cary Joji Fukunaga, the film stars Daniel Craig in his final role as Agent 007; several scenes were shot on location in Portland. James Bond and Jamaica have an inextricable link.
Bond creator, British author Ian Fleming, resided at GoldenEye property in St Mary for many years.
It was there that he created the suave secret agent. No Time to Die’s production launch took place at GoldenEye last year April.
The first Bond film Dr No (1962, and Live And Let Die (1973) were shot mainly in Kingston.
Jamaican actors including (the late) Reggie Carter, Marguerite Lewars, and Grace Jones have had screen time in Bond flicks.
Two of the English actresses in No Time to Die have Jamaican heritage. Naomie Harris — who is appearing in her third Bond movie — Naomie Harris’s mother is Jamaican while newcomer Lashana Lynch’s parents are Jamaican.
Other members of the cast are Ralph Fiennes, Rory Kinnear, Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Jeffrey Wright, Ana de Armas, Dali Bensallah, David Dencik, Billy Magnussen, and Rami Malek.
Craig, 52, suffered a mishap while filming in Jamaica last year.
According to UK tabloid The Sun, he fell during a running scene.
“Daniel was suited and booted for one of the last scenes in Jamaica. He was sprinting during filming when he slipped and fell quite awkwardly,” The Sun quoted a spokesperson as saying.
“He was in quite a lot of pain and was complaining about his ankle. As you’d expect, he was also pretty angry that it had happened. He threw his suit jacket on the ground in sheer frustration,” it continued.
Craig was flown to the United States for treatment.
This injury is one of several sustained by the English actor. He knocked two teeth out in 2006 while filming Casino Royale.
He also ripped a muscle in his shoulder, bruised his ribs and sliced his finger while shooting for Quantum of Solace (2008) and halted filming for Spectre (2015) for two weeks so that he could have surgery.
