Over the holiday season there was a repeated but unconfirmed story doing the rounds that Dan Romer, previously announced as the composer on No Time To Die, was on his way out due to our old friend, creative differences. His replacement? Names mooted included various members of Hans Zimmer's Remote Control Productions team, with Benjamin Wallfisch and Lorne Balfe being the front runners.
Late yesterday, Variety reported that multiple sources had confirmed Romer was indeed history and it would be Hans Zimmer himself taking over composing duties for the film, due to be released in a mere 85 days. No pressure, then.
While it's not altogether unheard of for films to replace a score or composer that's just not working out, it hasn't happened to a Bond movie before. There's no denying the prestige attached to Zimmer, though, and making such a change at this late stage would be a bold statement in line with EON production's stated aim of making No Time To Die the best Bond possible. Hearing Zimmer's take on the classic James Bond musical motifs is certainly an exciting prospect, made all the more interesting given that Zimmer turned down longtime collaborator Christopher Nolan's forthcoming spy thriller Tenet, and the unique setup of Remote Control Productions means he has plenty of associates to throw at the time crunch problem.
It's not clear what knock-on effect such a move has on the title song, the performer of which has still to be announced, although given how much tradition No Time To Die has already cast aside, it's not impossible the film might take a leaf from On Her Majesty's Secret Service and go for an entirely instrumental title sequence.
There's no official word from the production at the time of writing, but we'll let you know just as soon as we hear anything. In the meantime, over to you: excited for a Hans Zimmer Bond score? Worried Daniel Craig's swansong won't get a worthwhile title song? Sounds off In the comments below.
As of this writing, No Time To Die will be released in selected markets including the UK on April 2nd 2020 and April 8th 2020 worldwide.