Record Numbers

By MI6 Staff

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As is common in the film business, a standalone company was set up for the production of the 25th Bond film 'No Time To Die' - B25 Ltd - which is wholly owned by EON Productions. Annual company accounts filed in the UK at Companies House recently have revealed the budget of Daniel Craig's final outing as 007.

Clocking in at £199.47m, 'No Time To Die' is the most expensive James Bond film ever produced.

This amount relates to the 'negative cost' - the amount required to be spent to produce the final film. In the accounts, its line item is described as 'Work in progress'. It does not include publicity and advertising budgets (P&A) which will be fronted by the studio MGM. Due to the unpredicted rescheduling of the release, MGM is already reported to be $30m in the red on the marketing spend.

Interestingly, the statement also reveals that £17.44m had been spent in 2018 on the film. This is presumably the pre-production expenses when Danny Boyle was helming the project. As MI6 reported last week, sets had been constructed in Canada and Pinewood Studios was being rented in 2018.

Production budgets are usually expressed in US dollars, and to complicate matters, the USD/GBP exchange rate has fluctuated wildly in recent years. That makes comparing 'No Time To Die' against recent films a challenge. But based on today's rates, the amount spent on 'No Time To Die' would be $243m. Back in 2015, 'SPECTRE' was reported to cost $245m, but that would have been £156m at the exchange rate five years ago.

Budgets for James Bond films have been difficult to nail down in recent years with EON reluctant to confirm any hard figures. 'Skyfall' was reported to cost $200m, 'Quantum of Solace' $220m, and 'Casino Royale' $150m.

Just because a budget is $200m though, does not mean that $200m was spent to make the film. This is the cost the production would incur if they had to pay for everything. In reality, tax credits and product placements quickly whittle the real number down.