Daniel Craig made an appearance on the Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon last night following news on Friday that his final Bond movie No Time To Die is delaying its release from November 20 to April 2, 2021.
Discussing the decision to shift the date, Craig said the current COVID situation was “bigger than all of us”.
“We just want people to go and see this movie in the right way, the safe way,” he said. “You know, cinemas all around the world are closed at the moment and we want to release the movie at the same time all around the world, this isn’t the right time.”
Globally, cinemas have been getting back to business in a meaningful way in the past couple of months following a lengthy lockdown, but continued difficulties in key markets, such as New York where cinemas are still not allowed to open, and a lack of blockbuster product is causing concern. Following the Bond move to April, as well as F9, Dune, The Batman and more dominos falling since, major exhibitor Cineworld announced it would temporarily close all its UK sites and its U.S. chain Regal.
In Craig’s interview, which was timed with ‘James Bond Day’ (October 5), Craig also hinted that amidst this fluid situation, the revised released date can’t be 100% locked. “Fingers crossed April 2 is going to be our date,” he said.
With his final outing as the Brit spy now in the can, Craig reflected on his time in the role. He recalled getting the original call from producer Barbara Broccoli to tell him he’d landed the part. Being unable to tell anyone, he went to Whole Foods and purchased a bottle of vodka, vermouth and a shaker and glass. “I’d never drunk a martini before,” he admitted.
“I will never forget any of that time. It was the most exciting, traumatic time of my life,” he reflected.
He explained that now, after five outings, he had “given everything I can” to the part. “I’m so glad I came back and did this last one,” he added. “We had lots of loose threads that we hadn’t tied up. The story just didn’t feel complete.”
“I needed a break, I’ll freely admit it, I just needed to get my head away from it for a while. Once I had, and we started talking about storylines and things we could do and where we could take it, I was like, “I’m in, let’s do one more and try to the finish the story.”
One thing he won’t miss about being Bond is being given free martinis at every bar he goes into, especially at 9am, he said.
What would Craig’s advice be for the next actor to take on the role? “Don’t f*ck it up.”