No Time To Die's stunt coordinator reveals the torrid conditions the crew had to endure during the filming of the opening action sequence in the film. The 25th entry in the Bond franchise went through several delays initially due to Danny Boyle's departure from the director's chair in 2018 and subsequent delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the film was finally released in cinema halls worldwide and in U.S. theaters on October 8th with positive reviews including a certified fresh Rotten Tomatoes score of 84%.
Daniel Craig returns for his swan song as the charismatic 007 agent, James Bond, and he is joined by recurring actors Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Jeffrey Wright, Naomie Harris, Lea Seydoux and Christoph Waltz. The film, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (True Detective, Maniac), also features newcomers to the franchise. Lashana Lynch, Ana De Armas and Rami Malek, who plays Bond's nemesis Lyutsifer Safin. The plot revolves around Bond, who is forced to come out of retirement from his retreat in Jamaica to help an old friend find a kidnapped scientist, which leads Bond on yet another fateful mission.
No Time To Die stunt coordinator, Lee Morrison, recently sat down with Variety to discuss the difficulty in shooting the stunts for the film, particularly the jaw-dropping motorcycle sequence that takes place in the early scenes of the film at Matera, Italy. The scene in question shows Craig's Bond rushing back to Madeleine Swann (Seydoux), who is at the hotel, after members from the evil organization Spectre try to kill him. The sequence involves him driving a motorcycle on the cobblestone streets of the small Italian town, and he eventually leads the bike up a steep platform on the side of a building and jumps over a wall onto a crowded street. Morrison mentioned that the roads were "the worst I’ve ever shot on," labelling the surface as "ancient." He also discussed how they found a workaround to the rough conditions, which can be read below:
"It was Daniel driving for a certain amount of sequence but the surface in Matera, Italy is the worst I’ve ever shot on. The stone is ancient so we thought it would be bad to shoot in winter, so we shot there during the summer. I put road burners on the road, but we found it to be really dry and the surface was worst. The polished sandstone was treacherous and slippery. We also had to get permission to shoot on the footpaths and stairs so we could ride at high speed."
Morrison, who was also Craig's stunt double in some of the previous Bond films, stated that the motorcycle jump scene "took three days to shoot," and cited the impact of wind and rain on the surface as massive factors while filming the stunt. He worked very closely with Fukunaga and Craig on creating the set piece and stressed the importance of making the scene "story-driven" and not just "do action for the sake of action." It is worth noting that the scene is also reminiscent of another thrilling motorcycle sequence from The Bourne Ultimatum (which Morrison also worked on), where Matt Damon's Jason Bourne rides a bike under similar conditions through and across the narrow streets of Tangier in Morocco, so it's quite clear where Morrison got his inspiration from.
Practical adrenaline-fueled stunts have become a staple of the Bond franchise in the post-Pierce Brosnan era, and having worked in the stunt department on all four of Daniel Craig's previous 007 films right from 2006's Casino Royale to No Time To Die, Morrison has established himself as one of the best in the business when it comes to designing stunts. The fact that he has constantly worked on the iconic film series for each of the last five Bond entries is a testament to his love for the craft and his level of expertise. Audiences can finally treat themselves to some of the brilliantly choreographed stunts in Craig's well-deserved sendoff now that No Time To Die is out in theaters.
Source: Variety