Danny Boyle has revealed his original plans for No Time to Die before departing the film in 2018, saying that it “was a shame” they never happened.
The Oscar-winning director, whose Sex Pistols drama Pistol arrives on Disney Plus this month, was originally attached to direct the James Bond film but left due to creative differences, with Cary Joji Fukunaga replacing him.
Speaking to Esquire this week, Boyle opened up about his time on the film, which finally arrived in cinemas last year after several delays.
“I remember thinking, ‘Should I really get involved in franchises?’ Because they don’t really want something different,” he said. “They want you to freshen it up a bit, but not really challenge it, and we wanted to do something different with it.”
He added that his plan for No Time to Die would have placed 007 in Russia, adding: “Weirdly – it would have been very topical now.
“It was all set in Russia, which is of course where Bond came from, out of the Cold War. It was set in present-day Russia and went back to his origins, and they just lost, what’s the word… they just lost confidence in it. It was a shame really.”
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As for whether he’d ever return to the franchise, he said: “I don’t think so,” but added that “[Robert] Pattinson would be a great Bond”.
No Time to Die was Daniel Craig’s last outing as James Bond, with the franchise’s boss Barbara Broccoli saying in September that casting talks would begin this year.
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