No Time for an opening sequence: New James Bond film No Time To Die will NOT feature 007 in pre-credits action for the first time in nearly 50 years
The new James Bond film No Time To Die will not feature the spy in its pre-credits action for the first time in nearly 50 years.
Whether he is walking through the streets of Mexico's Day of the Dead festival or involved in an epic car chase, nearly every Bond film has previously featured 007 in action before the credits roll.
But No Time To Die will break with that time-honoured tradition by not featuring Bond in the opening scenes for the first time since 1973's Live And Let Die.
Instead, it will begin with a scene performed entirely in French featuring Madeleine Swann, the woman for whom Bond retires at the end of Spectre played by Lea Seydoux.
The new James Bond film No Time To Die will not feature the spy in its pre-credits action for the first time in nearly 50 years
Swann is pursued by Rami Malek's villain Safin in the flashback scene, which is the first attempt by the Bond franchise to give emotional backstory for a character other than its eponymous hero.
But not everyone is happy with the move, with managing director and brand expert for Four Communications Piers Bracher saying it risked coming across as indulgent.
He told The Times: 'Bond is something of a fixed recipe.
'The reward of the Bond experience is that it is a predictable formula and that’s why we all like it, or hate it, so much.
'This recipe can occasionally be modernised to suit the times with altered ingredients — new gadgets and special effects, a sprinkling of diversity, cyber criminals etc — but essentially its success is based on the same structure.'
The recently delayed film will be the third of the franchise's 25 not to feature Bond in its opening sequence.
Dr No, featuring Sean Connery for the first time, and Roger Moore's Live And Let Die also omit Bond from their pre-credits action.
From Russia With Love saw Connery play a Russian spy wearing a Bond mask, while The Man With The Golden Gun saw Moore appearing as a mannequin, rather than the character himself.
The new Bond film will begin with a scene performed entirely in French featuring Madeleine Swann, the woman for whom Bond retires at the end of Spectre played by Lea Seydoux
Daniel Craig previously confirmed the Bond film will be his last after starring in Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre
Last year the actor beat his predecessors to be the longest-serving James Bond
No Time To Die had been scheduled to debut in theatres on November 11 but will now be delayed in order to cater for a worldwide theatrical audience, the film's producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli announced earlier this month.
A statement on Twitter read: 'MGM, Universal and Bond producers, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, today announced the release of NO TIME TO DIE, the 25th film in the James Bond series, will be delayed until 2 April 2021 in order to be seen by a worldwide theatrical audience.
'We understand the delay will be disappointing to our fans but we now look forward to sharing NO TIME TO DIE next year.'
The new Bond film, which is produced by Barbara Broccoli, will also star Rami Malek as villain Safin
The 25th film in the franchise finds Bond after he has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica when his old friend Felix Leiter, played by Jeffrey Wright, from the CIA turns up asking for help.
Leaving his seemingly happy life with Madeleine, Bond returns to the field to face Safin who is armed with a new dangerous technology that could impact the world.
The film, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, was originally scheduled for release in April 2020, but was pushed back to November in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
No Time To Die, which also stars Ana de Armas as CIA agent Paloma, will deliver a satisfying ending for Daniel Craig's Bond, according to producer Barbara Broccoli.
The most iconic James Bond opening sequences
The Spy Who Loved Me
The Spy Who Loved Me features Roger Moore's Bond in a hectic ski chase before he launches off a cliff and unfurls a Union Jack parachute
The 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me features Roger Moore's Bond in a hectic ski chase before he launches off a cliff and unfurls a Union Jack parachute.
Stuntman Rick Sylvester nearly pulled the ripcord too late for the scene to be captured on camera.
His heavy ski boots made it difficult to pull the cord but luckily a secondary cameraman caught the footage.
Goldeneye
The 1995 opening to Goldeneye was performed for real, with stuntman Wayne Michaels bungee jumping 720ft off the Verzasca Dam in Switzerland
In 1995's Goldeneye, Pierce Brosnan debuts his Bond by bungee jumping off the Verzasca Dam in Switzerland.
The nearly silent sequence shows 007 jump 720ft off the dam in a single-take shot.
It was performed for real by stuntman Wayne Michaels and broke the record for the biggest fall of all time.
Spectre
Daniel Craig's last outing as Bond in 2015's Spectre featured the spy walking through a street in Mexico City during the Day Of The Dead festival
Daniel Craig's last outing as Bond in 2015's Spectre featured the spy walking through a street in Mexico City and across a roof scape.
The scene seems to be unbroken four-minute tracking shot, culminating in him setting up to kill a target.
But it was actually filmed in four parts, one of which was done at Pinewood Studios in the UK
From Russia With Love
Sean Connery performs as a Soviet man wearing a Bond mask in a training exercise in From Russia With Love
In one of the strangest Bond openings, Sean Connery grimaces in pain as he is strangled in 1963's From Russia With Love.
The character is killed by Red Grant, a vicious Soviet henchman.
Afterwards it is revealed the dead man was not Bond but in fact a man on a training exercise wearing a mask.
Goldfinger
Sean Connery's second appearance as Bond in 1964's Goldfinger features the spy appearing in a dry suit before stripping it off to reveal a white tuxedo
Sean Connery's second appearance as Bond in 1964's Goldfinger features the spy blowing up a hidden heroin lab in Latin America.
After making his way to the lab in a dry suit with a seagull on his head as a disguise, Bond strips it off to reveal a white tuxedo underneath.
Before the credits roll, Connery drops the classic line after electrocuting a villain in the bath: 'Shocking.'
For Your Eyes Only
For Your Eyes Only begins with Roger Moore's Bond dumping a Blofeld-esque villain into an industrial chimney
For Your Eyes Only begins with the first reference to Spectre supervillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in nearly a decade.
The Bond franchise lost the rights to the character in a legal dispute with screenwriter Kevin McClory but his likeness is clear in the opening scenes.
Bond's helicopter is remotely taken over by Blofeld, who is later dumped in an industrial chimney from the chopper.