Source: Sky News

The latest installment in the super-popular James Bond franchise has made several records since its release in theatres around the world. After outpacing Sony Pictures latest superhero blockbuster Venom: Let There be Carnage in terms of pre-sale tickets on Fandango and being speculated to earn a massive $55 to $60 million domestically, the film has now exactly performed of what it was expected to and has topped at this weeks box office, earning a total of $56 million even surpassing Venom sequel, Addams Family 2, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and The Many Saints of Newark.

The film has also been praised by critics as well as fans. According to news reporter Comic Book.com, "No Time to Die manages to serve audiences nearly everything they'd want from a Bond film, whether it be the debut or final entry of a performer, while somewhat managing to avoid series pitfalls, the plot ends up feeling nonessential, as does Safin's entire trajectory, yet we're still given multiple surprisingly touching moments with Craig, making for an earned sendoff for the actor whose initial casting for Casino Royale was met with backlash from devotees. No Time to Die likely won't be the favorite installment among fans when it comes to Craig's legacy, but it surely offers the actor the opportunity to showcase all of the skills in his arsenal that he so rightly deserves."

The film has a diverse cast of Daniel Craig in the role of James Bond, Lashana Lynch in the role of Nomi, Rami Malek in the role of Lyutsifer Safin, Léa Seydoux in the role of Madeleine Swann, Ben Whishaw in the role of Q, Naomie Harris in the role of Eve Moneypenny, Jeffrey Wright in the role of Felix Leiter, Christoph Waltz in the role of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Ralph Fiennes in the role of Gareth Mallory / M, Billy Magnussen in the role of Logan Ash, Ana de Armas in the role of Paloma, David Dencik in the role of Valdo Obruche, Rory Kinnear in the role of Bill Tanner, Dali Benssalah in the role of Primo and Lisa-Dorah Sonnet in the role of Mathilde.

Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and produced under Won Production with the screenplay by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Fukunaga, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the film's story continues after the events of its predecessors.

Source: 8days

Recently, Cary Joji Fukunaga shared his experience while directing Daniel Craig's last James Bond film. He revealed the details while talking to Indiewire.

He said, "It feels like the last three years have been a blur, It was all of these things, one after another.” 

“You have companies like Warner Bros. doing day-and-date releases for their films, I don’t think that’s the future, but I understand why the studios are thinking that way. They care more about subscriptions than they do about ticket sales," he added.

Fukunaga said he worried at times that the studio would follow that same path, especially once the news broke that MGM had been acquired by Amazon Studios for $8.45 billion. “I was not part of the decision-making at all, but there was concern on my part during Covid that this might be the end result if the studio just needed to cash in and cut their losses,” he said. “So I’m just really thankful that we got a chance to wait until some people felt safer about coming back.”

He further added, “I don’t see Barbara allowing it to be an online release at the same time, she still holds the control of this property. They’ve been very good about not diluting the brand. They’ve been offered television shows, spinoffs, LEGO movies, and they haven’t done any of that stuff yet. They’ve kept it a very pure, with a traditional release. I don’t see that changing anytime so soon.” 

“I’ll never say that anything’s impossible, because I’d love to see a LEGO Bond film,” Fukunaga said with a laugh. “But at the same time, I understand their love of cinema and protecting cinema is really important. The fact that people in the United Kingdom and other foreign territories are showing up for the film in a way we haven’t seen during the lockdown, during the re-emerging of the pre-Covid norm, is really amazing to see.”

"We shot this on IMAX to be on the big screen,” he said. “Bonds are meant to be experienced in the cinemas. People should be going with their parents, their kids, their friends. It should be an event. That has happened going back generations. There’s no version of this film premiering on a streaming format," he concluded.