No Time to Die sequence almost appeared in a Pierce Brosnan Bond movie
Safin's lair was written into the script of Brosnan's 007 swan song.
James Bond screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade have revealed that the villain's lair from No Time to Die almost featured in a much earlier 007 film.
Daniel Craig's last outing as Bond saw antagonist Safin (Rami Malek) operate from a HQ in the sea of Japan which featured a garden populated by poisonous plants.
The setting for the film's final act was inspired by Ian Fleming's novel You Only Live Twice, in which Blofeld possesses his own "Garden of Death" – with Bond producer Michael G. Wilson revealing at a recent BFI event that this idea "has been in every one of their [Purvis and Wade's] scripts at some point".
"In the novel, Blofeld lives in this castle with a poison garden in Japan, on an island," Wade – who along with Purvis has co-written every 007 movie since 1999's The World Is Not Enough – related at the BFI's 'In conversation: 60 years of James Bond' event.
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"[It's] that thing of always using Ian Fleming as a touchstone[...] – we really wanted to get that in there and we did literally write it into several scripts."
"It was in Die Another Day at one point," said Purvis, referring to Pierce Brosnan's 2002 swan song as Bond. "We always wanted to use it but what was good about this [No Time to Die] is this is actually about poisons, so it was relevant."
In the most recent Bond outing, villain Safin was born to a family of chemists who supplied poisons to criminal organisation SPECTRE.
Wade also briefly addressed No Time to Die's divisive ending, which saw – spoiler alert – Bond succeed in thwarting Safin's plot but fail to escape his HQ before a missile strike from HMS Dragon obliterates the island.
Given Bond's allegiance to the Royal Navy, Wade suggested there was an irony in Navy artillery ultimately causing the spy's demise. "We've been very aware of Bond as as a naval person – Commander Bond – and [...] the idea that the Navy kills James Bond is kind of an interesting way for it all to end," he said.
Read more:
- Naomie Harris didn't believe No Time to Die ending was real: 'I thought, is this a joke?"
- James Bond producer wants to "surprise" audiences with 'refreshed' 007
- The next James Bond will be a "thirty-something" and not a younger actor
- James Bond special The Sound of 007 to stream on Prime Video
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Authors
Morgan Jeffery is the Digital Editor for Radio Times, overseeing all editorial output across the brand's digital platforms. He was previously TV Editor at Digital Spy and has featured as a TV expert on BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 5 Live and Sky Atlantic.
