No Time to Die

Cary Joji Fukunaga opens twice. The first movement happens in Madeleine’s childhood, on a frozen lake, before Bond appears; the Matera chase starts only after it. The middle keeps Bond outside the service too: the 007 number has gone to Nomi, and the Cuba sequence stands self contained. The constraint in the last act is not a fight but the way Heracles locks onto a person’s genetics, which shuts Bond’s usual exit. The production was as broken up. Danny Boyle left in August 2018 and later confirmed the dispute was over the script. Fukunaga is the first American to direct an Eon Bond and the first director credited on one as a writer. Phoebe Waller-Bridge reworked the dialogue in April 2019 at Daniel Craig’s request. Craig hurt his ankle in Jamaica that May; in June a controlled explosion damaged the 007 Stage at Pinewood. Dan Romer left the score and Hans Zimmer replaced him, the first composer swap in the series. Aston Martin supplied two original DB5s and built eight replicas, and Chris Corbould made fourteen trips to Matera. A good fit if you accept the opening belonging to Madeleine and the 007 number sitting with somebody else. Not a fit if you want the close to resolve with the usual escape; that door is deliberately shut.