New York Post - 13.03.2020

New York Post, Friday, March 13, 2020

nypost.com

By JOHNNY OLEKSINSKI

D

IAMONDS are forever

— and so is drama.

In August 2018, just

two months before the

long-awaited 25th

James Bond film, “No

Time To Die,” was set

to start filming, Oscar-winning

director Danny Boyle left due to

“creative differences.” Cary Fu-

kunaga was hired to replace him,

and the flick was delayed until

2020. But on the first day of
      shooting, the script was report-

edly not finished, so a frustrated

Daniel Craig roped in “Fleabag”

writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge to

spruce up the dusty dialogue.

But the worst was yet to come.

Craig broke his ankle, delaying

production further, and famed “A

View to a Kill” co-star Grace

Jones quit because her cameo

role reportedly wasn’t big

enough.

The film was dealt its latest

blow last week when its studio

decided to push the opening from

April to November, due to the

coronavirus pandemic, which has

closed movie theaters in China,

Italy, South Korea and Japan.

But Bond flicks wouldn’t be the

same without angry fits, acci-

dents and creative pushback. For

almost 60 years, the 007 movies

have been sources of scandal,

from hippie actors going rogue to

Bond Girls nearly keeling over

during sex scenes.

Sean Connery’s 007 films —

from 1962’s “Dr. No” to 1971’s “Di-

amonds Are Forever” — were be-

set by injuries. The Scottish actor,

who was the first to play the part

on the big screen, began with a

salary of $13,000, plus a small

share of the box-office earnings.

But while filming 1964’s “Goldfin-

ger,” one of the series’ most popu-

lar entries, he badly hurt his back

during a fight with the title char-

acter’s henchman, Oddjob. Not to

be deterred, Connery shrewdly

used his suffering to negotiate a

5-percent cut of his future films’

net profits. He raked in $3 million

for “Goldfinger” in the end.

Remember the helicopter Bond

The latest in movies, music, theater and more

Hot Ticket

It’s no time to

release ‘No Time To

Die,’ adding the

newest Bond film to

a roster of other

007 flicks that

suffered from

behind-the-scenes

drama or trouble

The release

of “No Time

To Die,”

starring

Daniel Craig,

was pushed

back to

November

due to

coronavirus.

piloted in “You Only Live

Twice”? It cost the poor camera-

man his foot. According to the In-

dependent, the Little Nellie air-

craft was actually captained by its

inventor, Ken Wallis, while cam-

era operator John Jordan peril-

ously leaned out, capturing thrill-

ing footage.

During a sequence in which Lit-

tle Nellie was attacked by two ri-

val copters, one of their blades hit

Jordan’s foot and nearly sliced it

NY Post photo composite

See BOND on Page 34