Acclaimed 007 Novelist Thinks Daniel Craig's Last James Bond Movie Made A Major Mistake

"No Time To Die" was a divisive film among James Bond fans, mainly because its producers made the disastrous decision to kill off 007. That is, they killed off Daniel Craig's version of the spy, who perishes in the final moments beneath a hail of missiles. As you might expect, the shocking ending of "No Time to Die" split audiences, and one man who's certainly on the side of those who wanted 007 to live is modern Bond author Anthony Horowitz.

The writer has penned three 007 novels so far: 2015's "Trigger Mortis," 2018's "Forever and a Day," and 2022's "With a Mind to Kill." But as he told the United Kingdom's Radio Times, he's never been asked to contribute to any movie scripts, which he seems quite happy about. "You need a thick skin for that business," he said. "I'm probably happier out of it." He's also quite glad he doesn't have to tackle the "one major issue" of how to move forward in the wake of Bond's death. "The last time we saw Bond he was poisoned and blown to smithereens," said Horowitz. "How will they get past the fact he is dead with a capital D?"

The author went on to say that he thought killing off Bond was "a mistake," adding, "Bond is a legend. He belongs to everybody, he is eternal — except in that film. If I was asked tomorrow to write the script, I wouldn't be able to do it. Where would you start? You can't have him waking up in the shower and saying it was all a dream." While Horowitz is pretty much bang on in his assessment, there is a positive side to this "major issue" (and even a half-decent explanation as to why Bond was offed at all).

With demand reliably high for 007 adventures ever since 1962's "Dr. No" kicked off cinema's most enduring franchise, it's a bit of a shame that original James Bond author Ian Fleming only produced 12 official novels and two short story collections during his lifetime. Of course, publishers have found a way around that, with several esteemed authors tackling England's greatest spy in the years since Fleming's death. Anthony Horowitz is one of them, having earned plaudits for his ability to recapture Fleming's original style. As The Guardian's Alexander Larman wrote of "With a Mind to Kill," "This is popular fiction at its most accomplished, purring along with the sleek assurance of an Aston Martin." All of which is to say that Horowitz clearly gets it and is worth listening to when it comes to 007's legacy.

As it stands, we have "Peaky Blinders" creator Steven Knight now writing Bond 26, which will be helmed by Denis Villeneuve (arguably, the perfect director for the job). Evidently, Horowitz doesn't envy Knight's job, and it's easy to see why. 

But while the decision to kill off Bond was one of the more shocking in the history of the property, it became more understandable (and took on a dark new meaning) after longtime Bond custodians and producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson sold the franchise to Amazon. Blowing 007 sky-high suddenly seemed like a perfectly reasonable response to Jeff Bezos and his tech buddies getting their hands on the IP, and as such, while Horowitz is right in his assessment, it was an undeniably effective way to wipe the slate clean ahead of 007's next reinvention. What's more, as Horowitz himself says, Bond is eternal. Even when you kill him, he lives.