Daniel Craig Had His James Bond Ending Planned Since Casino Royale

James Bond star Daniel Craig has revealed that he already knew how his tenure as James Bond will end, long before it actually took place in the recently released No Time To Die.

Daniel Craig’s James Bond Died In No Time To Die

While appearing in an interview with Variety recently, Craig — alongside Michael G. Wilson ( Eon Productions head) and Barbara Broccoli — discussed his last outing as Bond and why the decision was made to kill James Bond in the climax of the film. Craig revealed that the idea came to him in 2006, after the premiere of Casino Royale, which was the first Bond film. “Everything was going well. People liked the movie,” he explained. “And it looked like I was gonna get a chance to make at least another movie. I said to Barbara, ‘How many of these movies do I have to make?’ Because I don’t really look at contracts or any of those things. And she said, ‘Four,’ and I went, ‘Oh, okay. Can I kill him off in the last one?’ And she didn’t pause. She said, ‘Yes.'”

No Time To Die, which happens to be Craig’s fifth movie as Bond, ended with James Bond staying on Safin’s secret island base to ensure that it gets destroyed by an airstrike, with Bond ending his own life to protect everyone from the deadly Project Heracles.

“I struck a deal with [Broccoli] back then and said, ‘That’s the way I’d like it to go,'” Craig said. “It’s the only way I could see for myself to end it all and to make it like that was my tenure, someone else could come and take over.”

Craig went on to explain that however, the idea didn’t come up until 2015’s Spectre when the actor expressed his reluctance to return as Bond. Wilson revealed that he and everyone at Eon thought that making good on the promise by Broccoli was the best ahead. “I think we thought, all of us had thought, that that was the best way to end this whole thing,” he said. “I think it’s the fitting way to deal with a situation where a person is risking their life all the time. Eventually, the odds catch up with you. I think [James Bond author Ian] Fleming saw it and I guess ultimately we came to that realization, too. It’s also emotionally very important to understand the risks that people like Bond engage in.”

Craig also admitted that despite facing all the difficulties, he’ll miss being James Bond. “It was there before me, and it will be there after me,” he said. “But I’ve had a chance to be part of all of this, and if you can’t get it up for a Bond movie as an actor, what can you get it up for? So, yeah, I’ll miss it a lot.”

Craig also stated that he does not care which actor takes up the role after him. According to Broccoli and Wilson, their search for the next Bond won’t begin until sometime later this year.

You can see Daniel Craig’s last performance as James Bond in No Time To Die, which is now available on Blu-ray and digital download.