No Time To Die Writer Talks About What She Added To The Script

James Bond actor Daniel Craig is said to have specifically requested Fleabag and Killing Eve's Phoebe Waller-Bridge to work on the script for No Time To Die. There were reports that Waller-Bridge came in to spruce up the dialogue and add more humor, but now she has officially commented on her specific contributions to the movie. [Update: We won't be seeing the improved script as soon as expected, as No Time to Die has been delayed. Due to concerns involving the coronavirus, shortly after tickets went on sale, the movie's premiere was pushed from April to November.]

Waller-Bridge appeared on the Virgin Radio show recently (via The Independent) where she clarified that she was asked to write "dialogue polishes" and to write "different alternatives" for the script.

"They did give me some scenes and then be like, 'Can you write some alternatives for this or have another look at an idea about where it could go in the middle or how it would end?' And then I would just give them options and various scenes and then they would take what they want," she said. "But there was a lot people writing--the director [Cary Fukunaga] was a writer on it as well. And there’d been a few writers before."

Waller-Bridge also mentioned that she was "constantly" speaking to Craig about No Time To Die and the ideas for the story. She also stressed that she can't take credit for the whole thing. "It's a big sort of melting pot of everybody's ideas the whole time," she said.

Waller-Bridge is the fifth credited screenwriter for No Time To Die; she joins director Cary Joji Fukunaga (True Detective, Beasts of No Nation), Scott Z. Burns (The Bourne Ultimatum, Contagion), and veteran James Bond writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade.

Waller-Bridge is the Bond franchise's second female writer. The first was Johanna Harwood, who worked on the very first Bond movie, Dr. No, along with From Russia With Love.

Waller-Bridge was reportedly paid $2 million USD for her contributions to No Time To Die. The movie hits theatres on April 10, featuring theme music by Billie Eilish and a long runtime.

In a previous interview, Waller-Bridge said she wants to see the James Bond franchise move with the times. "There's been a lot of talk about whether or not [the Bond franchise] is relevant now because of who he is and the way he treats women," Waller-Bridge told Deadline. "I think that's bollocks. I think he's absolutely relevant now. It has just got to grow. It has just got to evolve, and the important thing is that the film treats the women properly. He doesn't have to. He needs to be true to this character."

Following the huge success of Fleabag, which earned three Emmys for its last season, Waller-Bridge signed a lucrative overall deal with Amazon that will see her creating new TV shows and earning $20 million per year.