After a rocky start, production on No Time To Die seems to be running smoothly at last. The official James Bond Twitter account today revealed that shooting had now finished in Britain, following its start in Jamaica, and has moved on to Matera, Italy. Along with the announcement came a couple of publicity shots of 007 himself Daniel Craig, paired with his on-screen girlfriend Lea Seydoux and director Cary Fukunaga.
No Time To Die is the 25th Bond movie overall and Craig’s fifth and final time playing the role. Meanwhile, almost uniquely in the history of Bond girls, Seydoux will be making her second appearance as Madeline Swann, after the super-spy gave up his career to drive off into the sunset with his latest love at the end of Spectre.
However, his newfound domestic bliss won’t last long. The official synopsis for the film teases that Bond will be forced out of his cosy retirement in the Caribbean when his old pal from the CIA, Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), needs his help to investigate some scientists who’ve gone missing. This will lead him into the path of a new and dangerous foe, played by Rami Malek.
Other new recruits to the franchise include Ana de Armas as Paloma, Billy Magnussen in an undisclosed role and Lashana Lynch as Nomi. Lynch’s role has already caused a lot of discussion online as it’s believed she’s the new 007, as in the agent who’s taken over Bond’s designation at MI6 since his retirement. Speaking of MI6, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw are all back as M, Miss Moneypenny and Q for the third time.
After originally being scheduled for this November, No Time To Die is now locked in to shoot into cinemas on April 8th.