In Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond in No Time To Die, the suave secret agent is seen to have perished in an explosion at the end of the film. This symbolically also heralded the end of the Craig reign in the franchise, with the search for the new James Bond still underway.
But if one had to analyze director Sam Mendes’ successful Bond thriller Skyfall, the possibility of the character’s death could have been predicted through this film. This theory involves the fate of Dame Judi Dench’s M that could have had a bearing on James Bond’s predicament in No Time to Die.
How Is Skyfall Linked To Daniel Craig’s Final Farewell As James Bond?
In 2021, Daniel Craig starred in his James Bond swansong No Time To Die, in which his iconic character is seen courting death. While this was also symbolic of the actor’s contract with the franchise ending, the secret agent’s demise could have possibly been predicted a few films before through the work of Sam Mendes.
Mendes, who is a successful James Bond director in his own right with Skyfall and Spectre to his credit, could have possibly set the ball rolling with regard to the ultimate fate of the 007 spy through the demise of MI6’s big boss, played by Dame Judi Dench.
In 2012’s Skyfall, Dench’s M who is pivotal not only to the narrative, but also to the personal story of James Bond, is killed by her nemesis played by Javier Bardem. This also played out as a significant moment in the development of future narratives in the series.
Mendes in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, stated that M’s ultimate predicament which was created as a well-planned way forward for the franchise, also laid the foundation for audiences to come to terms with the possibility of these larger-than-life personalities being human after all.
It acknowledged the passage of time, arguably for the first time ever, in the series. It acknowledged that they are mortal, that they are going to age and probably die.
The death of M therefore, could have made audiences understand the vulnerable reality behind the seemingly impenetrable exterior of James Bond, which in turn could have prepared them for his eventual death.
Daniel Craig Was Forced To Step In As Writer For This Film
Apart from making the role of James Bond his own, Daniel Craig invested a little more than just his acting abilities for the franchise. The actor’s second film of the series Quantum of Solace, which is regarded as the weakest of these movies, went through its share of obstacles that affected many aspects of the filming and production.
With the Hollywood Strike of 2007 coinciding exactly with the filming of the 2nd James Bond installment from the Craig era, the film was suddenly thrown into strife with a lack of writers to complete the script.
This made producer Barbara Broccoli turn to her lead actor Daniel Craig to step in and complete the script despite the star not having any prior experience in the writing department. The Cowboys and Aliens actor remembered the challenging time and told Time Out (via Collider),
We couldn’t employ a writer to finish it. I say to myself, “Never again”, but who knows? There was me trying to rewrite scenes – and a writer I am not. Me and Mark Forster were the ones allowed to do it. The rules were that you couldn’t employ anyone as a writer, but the actor and director could work on scenes together. We were stuffed.
The film ultimately went on to do well commercially, but Craig candidly admitted that he was personally not happy with the way the script turned out owing to the various complications that plagued the production.
Skyfall can be rented on Amazon Prime.
