No Time to Die

No Time to Die is an upcoming spy film and the twenty-fifth installment in the James Bond series to be produced by Eon Productions for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Universal Pictures. The film features Daniel Craig in his fifth and final performance as fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scott Z. Burns and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, based on an early draft by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade.

The film is scheduled for theatrical release in the United Kingdom by Universal Pictures on 3 April 2020 and 8 April 2020 in the United States by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

James Bond has left active service when his friend Felix Leiter enlists his help in the search for a missing scientist. When it becomes apparent that the scientist was abducted, Bond must confront a danger the likes of which the world has never seen before.

Production
Development of the film began in the spring of 2016. As Sony Pictures' contract to co-produce the James Bond films with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Eon Productions expired with the release of Spectre, another major film studio was expected to land the distribution rights to release Bond 25 in cinemas. In April 2017 Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures and Annapurna Pictures entered a bidding competition to win the distribution rights. It was then announced that MGM has secured the domestic, digital and worldwide television rights to the film. Universal was announced as the international distributor of the film and will also hold the rights for physical home entertainment distribution.

Series veterans Neal Purvis and Robert Wade&mdash;who had worked on every Bond film since The World Is Not Enough&mdash;were approached to pen the script in March 2017. Sam Mendes stated that he would not return as director despite the success of his previous two Bond films, Skyfall and Spectre. Longtime favourite Christopher Nolan ruled himself out to direct. By July 2017, Yann Demange, David Mackenzie and Denis Villeneuve were courted to direct the film. In December 2017, Villeneuve opted out of the role due to his commitments to Dune. In February 2018, Danny Boyle was established as a frontrunner for the directing position and Boyle's original pitch to Broccoli and Wilson saw John Hodge brought onto the project and writing a screenplay based on Boyle's idea, with Purvis and Wade's version scrapped. Hodge's draft was greenlit, Universal secured the film's distribution rights, and Boyle was confirmed to helm the film with a production start date of December 2018. However, Boyle left the production in August 2018 due to creative differences, and the film's release date became contingent on whether they could replace Boyle with a suitable director within sixty days. A spokeswoman for Hodge confirmed that he also was no longer involved. With Boyle's departure, several directors from film and television were considered for the position,   and Cary Joji Fukunaga was announced as the new director in September 2018 via the official James Bond Twitter account. Fukunaga became the first American in the history of the series to direct an official James Bond film. Linus Sandgren was hired as cinematographer in December 2018, and Dan Romer was hired as composer.

With Boyle's departure, Purvis and Wade were brought back to rework the script in September 2018. Casino Royale screenwriter Paul Haggis was brought in to rewrite Purvis & Wade's script in November 2018. Scott Z. Burns was brought on to work on the screenplay in February 2019. At Craig's request, Killing Eve writer and creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge provided a script polish in April 2019 to add more humour and to make the characters more believable. Waller-Bridge will be the second female screenwriter credited with writing a Bond film after Johanna Harwood co-wrote Dr. No and From Russia with Love. Producer Barbara Broccoli announced that Bond's attitude towards women would change in Bond 25 as a response to the Me Too movement. Waller-Bridge argued that the character of Bond had to stay true its original creation and that it was the responsibility of the wider film industry to treat women more respectfully.

Filming
Production was scheduled to begin on 3 December 2018 at Pinewood Studios, but filming was delayed until April 2019 after the departure of Boyle as director. The film will be the first in the franchise to have sequences shot with IMAX film cameras.

Filming locations will include Matera in Italy, Jamaica, Norway and Singapore, in addition to Pinewood Studios. Production commenced in Nittedal, Norway, with the second unit capturing scenes at a frozen lake. Filming began prior to the official start of production to take advantage of local weather conditions. Principal photography officially began on 28 April 2019 in Port Antonio, Jamaica. Daniel Craig sustained an ankle injury in May whilst filming in Jamaica and subsequently underwent minor surgery. Production was further interrupted when a controlled explosion damaged the 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios and left a crew member with minor injuries. Production returned to Norway in June 2019 to shoot a driving sequence along the Atlantic Ocean Road featuring an Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Aston Martin also confirmed that the DB5 and Valhalla models would feature in the film. Production then returned to Singapore, where scenes featuring Craig, Fiennes, Harris and Kinnear were filmed around Singapore, including Gardens by the Bay and Bukit Merah.

In July 2019, filming took place in the town of Aviemore and in the surrounding Cairngorms National Park area in Scotland. Temporary accommodations were constructed in a car park in the town for the production crew of around 300. Some scenes were also captured at the Ardverikie House Estate and on the banks of Loch Laggan, just outside the park. There was further filming at Buttersteep Forest, Ascot, during August 2019.

Previously known as Bond 25, No Time to Die was announced as the official name of the film via the official James Bond social media accounts on 20 August 2019, it was originally "Eclipse" or "Shatterhand".