Daniel Craig’s No Time To Die did what none of the previous 24 James Bond outings had ever done before. After despatching off Rami Malek’s villain Safin, Ian Fleming’s spy died after being blown to smithereens by missiles hitting the island lair. The world was left in shock and now 007 fans can actually visit the spot where James Bond died.
In No Time To Die, Safin’s evil lair, Poison Island, was set between Russia and Japan in disputed waters. In reality, the movie was shot in the Faroe Islands, found just north of Scotland, specifically on one of their most remote isles.
Only accessible by ferry, Kalsoy (which means man island), is a beautiful, mountainous and mystical place, home to myths, legends and a population of less than 100.
At the northernmost point is a village of 14 called Trøllanes, which translates as Troll peninsula. It’s believed that in the old days the community would be visited every Twelfth Night by the magical creatures.
A young man called Jóhannus Kallgarð owns most of the land, hence his nickname The King of Kalsoy, which was his credit at the end of No Time To Die.
When Express.co.uk visited a couple of years ago, the hospitable Faroese farmer told us that his family have lived there since the 1600s and it’s often scouted by Hollywood for the likes of Star Wars and Game of Thrones. But it was James Bond who went all the way. A small camera crew from the No Time To Die production spent three weeks with The King of Kalsoy at the edge of Trøllanes filming shots for Safin’s island with locals hired as runners.
Originally, Daniel Craig himself had hoped to travel to the Faroes to shoot the scenes, but it wasn’t viable with all his security and crew on the small island. In the end, the spot where Bond dies by a cliff edge was shot for the star to be digitally added in afterwards. However, the farmer was unaware of what exactly was being filmed for the 007 movie, as helicopters helped transport equipment up the mountain landscape. That was until he worked it out.
The King of Kalsoy had access to a script while working on No Time To Die with the camera crew and knew that 007 was going to be added later to the shots and that Safin’s lair would be blown up. After filming concluded in 2019, he took the almighty gamble and ordered a grave for James Bond. The farmer now had the biggest spoiler in cinema history engraved into stone and had to keep it quiet. For months he kept the memorial hidden down at the village in his slaughterhouse as he banked on 007’s death. Flash forward to September 2021 and the star-studded world premiere of No Time To Die took place at the Royal Albert Hall.
The next day, the Faroe Islands had their own one in the capital of Tórshavn with The King of Kalsoy and Prime Minister Bárður á Steig Nielsen, a self-confessed Bond fan, in attendance. The farmer shared with us that when the third act saw 007 head to Safin’s Island, the audience erupted in cheers as he awaited to witness the spy’s fate with great anticipation. Lo and behold, he was of course right, and began plans to unveil his tribute to Bond.
In March 2022, the Faroe Islands announced that the tombstone of 007 would be unveiled by the country’s Prime Minister on Kalsoy, in a stunning video. The farmer told us he’d originally asked Craig himself who wasn’t available, but apparently, the star is still open to visiting the spot in the future. The grave reads, “In memory of James Bond 1962-2021”, referencing the premiere year of Sean Connery’s Dr No, the first 007 movie, as his date of birth. And under this is the Jack London quote M said at the end of No Time To Die upon the news of 007’s death: “The proper function of a man is to live, not to exist.”
The King of Kalsoy himself leads a James Bond Sightseeing Tour of Trøllanes, with a hike up to the spot of 007’s death and his grave, which can be booked here.