In an alternate universe, we’d have seen the newJames BondmovieNo Time to Dieby now. But in ananotheralternate universe, we’d have seen a very different version of that movie—one that was no doubt deemed too “out there” by the film’s producers, but which co-writer and directorCary Joji Fukunagapitched anyway.
No Time to Diewas one of the first films to be delayed over COVID-19 concerns, with its release date being pushed from April to November 2020. We’d seen a couple of trailers by the time the film was delayed, but the story was still being kept under wraps. We knowRami Malekplays the villain, we knowChristoph Waltzreprises hisSpectrerole as the villainous Blofeld at some point, and we know thatLea Seydouxis back as Dr. Madeline Swann, also fromSpectre.
And while Fukunaga’s film is being billed as the final performance byDaniel Craigas James Bond, we can reasonably expect the film to still be, well, a James Bond movie. But if a rejected pitch of Fukunaga’s is any indication, we may be in for a few more surprises than folks are expecting.
During an interview withMiranda Julyconducted forInterview Magazinewell beforeNo Time to Diewas pushed back, Fukunaga revealed that he pitched an idea forBond 25that would have taken placeinside Bond’s head. Yep! Here’s how he described it:
“Miranda, I swear to God, I had an idea that this movie could all be taking place inside the villain’s lair from the last film. There’s this scene [inSpectre] where a needle goes into James Bond’s head, which is supposed to make him forget everything, and then he miraculously escapes by a watch bomb. And then he and Léa blow up the place, and go on to save the day. I was like, ‘What if everything up until the end of act two is all inside his head?’”
Obviously the Bond producers didn’t spring for this one, but that would have been kind of great right? The Bond franchise is fascinating in that, while it has always chased whatever kinds of movies are “trendy” at the time, the films themselves don’t necessarily take many narrative leaps. The biggest change of pace was fromDie Another DaytoCasino Royale, with the latter film rebooting the franchise with a much grittier tone and an emotionally available James Bond.
So how great would it have been to be sitting throughNo Time to Die, watching things get slightly strange, and then go through the shock of learning we’ve never left Blofeld’s stronghold this entire time? It kind of makes me mad this didn’t happen, and no doubt Fukunaga drew at least some inspiration from his underrated Netflix limited seriesManiac. Although that’s a pretty hefty bet and the studio presumably didn’t want to risk angering a legion of Bond fans, not to mention trying to keep this massive plot twist under wraps.
I’m still excited to see what Fukunaga has put together, but man, this “what if” idea forNo Time to Diesounds like an absolute delight.
The non-dream version ofNo Time to Diehits theaters on November 25th.
