Cary Joji Fukunaga explains why he isn't changing No Time to Die during its release delay. No Time to Die marks the twenty-fifth James Bond movie and Daniel Craig's fifth outing as the iconic British superspy. It'll also be Craig's last time as Bond, making the film even more of a momentous event. No Time to Die will pick up some time after the previous installment, Spectre, and find Bond living the quiet life with Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux). However, a secret from Madeleine's past disrupts their peace, and Bond soon finds himself pulled back into the fray.
No Time to Die was scheduled for release back in April, but the coronavirus pandemic disrupted its arrival. At this point, it's common to hear of movies being delayed, but No Time to Die was the very first to do so. As of right now, the film is scheduled for November 20, and the hope is that movie theaters will be open and running normally by then. There are several big movies scheduled ahead of No Time to Die, which indicates studios are somewhat hopeful there won't be any further issues. However, as the situation is so unpredictable, No Time to Die could very well end up moving to 2021.
Even with this extra time, Fukunaga isn't dwelling on potential changes within his film. While speaking to Empire about No Time to Die's seven-month delay, Fukunaga shared that he's avoiding making any changes to his Bond adventure. "You could just fiddle and tweak and it doesn’t necessarily get better," Fukunaga explained. "For all intents and purposes, we had finished the film. I had mentally finished the film. Mentally and emotionally."
This falls in line with Fukunaga's previous comments saying the film is unlikely to change, which were made around No Time to Die's original release date. As tempting as the extra time might be, it makes sense why he isn't interested in revisiting it. Fukunaga has made his peace with the film he's made, and it's better not to alter it now. Had the pandemic not affected it, No Time to Die would have already been released, and Fukunaga wouldn't have even had the opportunity to spend more time on it.
No Time to Die looks to dive even deeper into Bond's psyche than even before, as evidenced by Fukunaga's previous reveals about how the film almost took place inside his head. While Bond grapples with Madeleine's secret and the arrival of new villain Safin (Rami Malek), he'll also confront his past in the form of Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), the iconic Bond villain who first appeared in Spectre. Since this is Craig's last time playing Bond, it's safe to say No Time to Die will be epic even without extra alterations.
Source: Empire
