Universal PicturesPrepare your bladders and bums: No Time To Die is set to be the longest James Bond film ever, with a runtime of nearly three hours.
007 was last seen on the big screen in 2015 in Spectre. In the following five years, the 25th entry in the franchise has suffered a serious case of production hell, with directors bowing out and injuries causing delays.
However, No Time To Die is nearly here. Bidding farewell to Daniel Craig in the role, it looks to be a gargantuan send-off – with a runtime to match.
Universal PicturesThere have been rumours floating around for a few weeks about the film’s hefty length. Now, the MailOnline has reported that cinemas have been told to leave at least three hours available for each screening of the new movie.
That, on its own, isn’t particularly indicative – however, a source also echoed the previous stories. Allegedly, Bond’s latest outing is currently running at 174 minutes, just six minutes off that magic three-hour mark (it’s also still being edited).
Universal PicturesThe source told the publication:
Distributors and cinemas have to be told well in advance how long a film is so they can plan the number of daily screenings. This film is so long because they were constantly adding pages to the script and filming went on way longer than was scheduled.
First there were script issues and then Daniel got injured. He wants his final Bond to be perfect but a lot of people are going to be leaving the cinema to have a bathroom break because this one is clocking in at nearly three hours.
It’s a great film, but there’s a very real fear that audiences are going to be kicking their heels at the length of this one.
The official synopsis for No Time To Die reads: ‘Recruited to rescue a kidnapped scientist, globe-trotting spy James Bond finds himself hot on the trail of a mysterious villain, who’s armed with a dangerous new technology.’
You can check out the trailer for No Time To Die below:
The first trailer teases a huge amount of plot: whatever is going on with Dr. Madeleine Swan (Léa Seydoux), Lashana Lynch as the new 007 in the field after Bond’s retirement, Ana de Armas as Paloma (unknown yet whether she will be a friend or foe to Bond) and Rami Malek’s villain.
As it will mark the end of Craig’s reign as Bond, making him the longest-running 007 in history – beating Roger Moore’s 12-year stint – this should be an epic climax to his saga in the tux.
Universal PicturesLittle is known about story specifics at the moment. However, here’s two predictions from yours truly: the director, Cary Joji Fukunaga, will pull an On Her Majesty’s Secret Service with Bond’s love interest, and Malek’s villain is in fact Dr. No – which would place the end of this film right back at the beginning, allowing for a fresh start with a new face.
No Time To Die will hit UK cinemas on April 2, 2020.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.