Warning: the following contains spoilers for No Time to Die.
Fans have known that No Time to Die was meant to be Daniel Craig’s last outing as 007. But when the film’s ending made his departure a little more final, many were shocked (and suitably impressed) by the powerful conclusion. However, many involved in the production of No Time to Die were not convinced that Bond’s fate was actually authentic - including Naomie Harris, otherwise known as Moneypenny.
CinemaBlend’s own Mike Reyes recently caught up with Naomie Harris in London to chat about the home release of No Time to Die and the bombshell ending that punctuated Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond. Mike Reyes revealed, to the shocked delight of Naomie Harris, that many cast and crew members had reportedly received alternate endings in their scripts. While Naomie Harris’ script was the authentic version, she hadn’t known that some crew members were in the dark. However, that didn’t stop her from finding the scene suspicious. She explained:
I would have been so outraged if they didn’t give me the proper ending, oh my gosh…I couldn’t believe it. I actually thought they were going to change it. I thought, okay, so they’ve written this ending, but that’s not real. They can’t. They can’t do that. Because that doesn’t happen to Bond ever, right? I mean, I’ve never seen that happen to Bond - ever.
Naomie Harris is, of course, referring to the final scenes of No Time to Die that show the one and only James Bond perishing in a torrent of missile fire. It’s no surprise that she initially doubted Bond’s death - many previous Bonds had faked their demise in one way or another. Daniel Craig’s itneration of the suave superspy was the first to actually die onscreen. Indeed, part of James Bonds’ claim to fame was his perceived invincibility. No matter how dire his predicament, 007 has always been able to finagle his way out of danger. Unfortunately for Daniel Craig, however, his version of Bond had reached its final destination.
While James Bond tragically went down with the ship in No Time to Die, the aforementioned false scripts actually included a drastically different turn of events. They featured an ending in which James Bond not only survived the destruction of Safin’s nanobot facility, but was knighted by the English monarchy. While Naomie Harris received the genuine screenplay, many others did not, including the archivist of Eon Productions (the studio behind most of the Bond films).
In a world where one stray spoiler can ruin a movie’s box office debut, and Marvel plots are kept under such strict lock and key that even some of the actors don’t know what scenes they’re filming, it’s hardly surprising that the production team of No Time to Die wanted to keep their cards close to their chest. Luckily for Moneypenny, Naomie Harris was in the loop from the very beginning.
No Time to Die is available to rent on Amazon Prime Video.
