Nearly 60 years after the first Bond film “Dr No” premiered, cinema’s favourite spy, known for his love of fast cars and cool gadgets, returns in the highly-anticipated 25th Bond movie next week after an 18-month delay due to the pandemic.

Costing an estimated US$200 million (RM837 million) to produce, “No Time To Die” sees Bond come out of retirement from an idyllic life in Jamaica to help track down a new villain armed with lethal technology.

“I didn’t think that I was going to do another movie after ‘Spectre’. I genuinely thought that I was going to just pack it in,” Craig said.

“But I’m so happy I got the chance to come and do this one. And we tied up lots of loose ends. We’ve tried to tell one story with all my Bond movies. It’s like they’re all connected in some way and this one just sort of capped it off.”

Running at nearly three hours long, the film, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, promises the usual Bond action, car chases and stunts in picturesque locations, including the cave dwellings of the southern Italian city of Matera.

French actress Lea Seydoux reprises her role as Madeleine Swann from 2015’s “Spectre”, while Rami Malek joins the franchise, one of Hollywood’s most valuable, as villain Safin.

After being postponed three times since its original April 2020 slot, “No Time To Die” holds its world premiere tomorrow in London.