We weren’t expecting THIS, Mister Bond...
From Fleabag’s Benny Hill-style rude jokes to a very stingy gift for the crew, secrets of the wokest 007 ever
IT HAS been billed as the most politically correct James Bond movie yet – but No Time To Die has not entirely done away with Benny Hill-style innuendo, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
In one scene, Daniel Craig’s suave secret agent is struggling to get a seaplane airborne as his passenger cries out ‘Get it up! Get it up!’ – prompting the wry reply: ‘I’ve never had a problem with that before.’
Fans who have come to love such doubles entendres might be surprised that they have survived the franchise’s ‘woke’ makeover that has banned outdated sexism and introduced strong female characters, such as Lashana Lynch as another top British secret agent.
However, plans f or her to become the first black, female 007 – taking over the codename from Craig’s Bond after he retires – could be scrapped after a social-media backlash. Sources say she is now likely to get another agent number, 001.
Earlier this year, this newspaper revealed that Fleabag creator
Phoebe Waller-Bridge had been brought in as a scriptwriter to ensure the blockbuster was appropriate for the #MeToo era.
And now we have learned more secrets from the £ 200 million movie, due out in April.
The script has Bond marrying Dr Madeleine Swann – the psychologist played by French actress Lea Seydoux who first appeared in 2015’s Spectre. But she refuses to take her new husband’s name.
The morning after their wedding, Bond wakes sleepy-eyed and says ‘Good morning, Mrs Bond’, to which she replies: ‘Don’t you mean Ms Swann?’
A source said: ‘The phrase “Bond girl” was outlawed from the set. The women in this film are all strong, brave and fiercely independent. These women are not helpless girls who jump into bed with Bond – their reactions are very different from what people might think.
‘Bond tries his usual seduction techniques but they fail miserably. It’s very funny.’
Ms Lynch, 31, said of her double-O role: ‘Everyone was really responsive to having her be what I wanted. You’re given a fresh perspective on a brand-new black woman in the Bond world.’
She was determined her character should be a ‘ real’ woman ‘who has issues with her weight and maybe questions what’s going on with her boyfriend’. She even discussed something which has never made it into a Bond film before: ‘We had one conversation about her maybe being on her period in one scene and… throwing her tampon [into the bin].’
At the start of the new film, Bond has officially ‘retired’ to Jamaica. A movie insider said the original plan was for a ‘popcorn-dropping moment’ when M, played by Ralph Fiennes, says ‘Come in 007’ and ‘this beautiful, strong black woman walks through the door’.
Craig’s Bond is brought out of retirement t o work alongside the female special agent to save the world from a villain who has developed a deadly algae which t hreatens t o ki l l t he world’s oceans – a nod to the concerns of climate campaigners.
In that vein, producers were determined to make the most environmentally friendly 007 film ever.
Crew members were given reusable water bottles which they filled from taps, saving an estimated 230,000 single-use plastic water bottles.
More than 11 tons of packaging waste was also recycled, while producers sent 30 tons of food waste and biodegradable packaging to ‘anaerobic digestion’, in which micro- organisms break down material, producing a gas that can be used to generate electricity.
A further 1.6 tons of food was donated t o feed t he homeless through the City Harvest charity.
Even Bond’s beloved gas-guzzling Aston Martin hasn’t escaped the green makeover. Craig will drive an electric Rapide E model. Only 155 of the £250,000 vehicles have been built.
However, the character hasn’t stopped flying, with filming having taken place in Italy, Jamaica, Norway and London.
The ‘get it up’ double entendre comes after Bond commandeers a seaplane as police cars, sirens wailing, race along a jetty. He lands the plane on a fishing trawler and a major fight sequence takes place.
For all the changes, fans might be able to look forward to the return of one high-value asset: Adele.
She won an Oscar for the theme to 2012’s Skyfall, and now specul ation i s rife t hat t he singersongwriter – who is about to release a new album – is working on the theme song for No Time To Die.
‘ [ Producer] Barbara Broccoli and Daniel Craig both asked Adele to do the title music,’ our 007 source said.
‘ Adele always said she didn’t think she could top Skyfall but the rumour is that she’s working on something.’
‘Bond’s seduction skills fail... it’s very funny’