Schwarzenegger Answered James Bond's Biggest What If Before NTTD
Arnold Schwarzenegger's True Lies explored an interesting "what if" scenario for James Bond many years before No Time To Die answered the same question. True Lies was James Cameron's follow-up to Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and reunited him with Schwarzenegger. True Lies is a spy comedy where Schwarzenegger plays Harry Tasker, a suave secret agent for a U.S. counterterrorism unit dubbed Omega Sector. He's basically an American James Bond, but unlike 007, Tasker is also a happily married husband and father - though his family believes he's a dull computer salesman.
True Lies is based on the French comedy La Totale!, and played to Schwarzenegger's strengths in terms of comedy and action. True Lies - which features a scene-stealing Bill Paxton - also gave Cameron the chance to stage some outrageous setpieces, though it's not considered one of his best works. The film's portrayal of Islamic fundamentalists as bumbling fools hasn't aged particularly well either, and a planned sequel was canceled following 9/11, with co-star Jamie Lee Curtis stating to Business Times in 2019 that “I don’t think we could ever do another ‘True Lies’ after 9/11.”
True Lies gave Schwarzenegger a chance to flex his Bond impression, and 007's tendency to make dry quips after dispatching foes - especially during the Roger Moore era - was something that greatly influenced Arnold's own screen persona. True Lies also came during the long hiatus between 1989 Bond outing License To Kill and 1995's GoldenEye, which left Bond fans starved for big-screen spy adventures. Schwarzenegger - who feuded with Stallone during the '80s - is having a great time melding his 007 impression with his habit of gunning down villains, but it was actually the family aspect that attracted him to the concept. He was the one who saw La Totale! and brought the movie to Cameron, who told Yahoo! the basic premise for True Lies was "What if James Bond had to go home to his wife and family?’” In exploring this angle, True Lies actually beat No Time To Die to the punch.
No Time To Die marked Daniel Craig's fifth and final outing as Bond, and for the first time in the franchise, reveals that 007 has a young daughter named Mathilde. Given the movie's condensed timeline, No Time To Die doesn't have much leeway to explore Bond as a family man, but it makes for a very interesting dynamic since the character had always been portrayed as the ultimate ladies' man. Craig's Bond movie era opened up a more vulnerable, human side of the spy, with the reveal of his daughter with Madeleine Swann giving a brief glimpse of what family life could have been for 007 - though tragically, the movie plays out in a different direction.
True Lies not only beat No Time To Die to the screen with this idea, but it explored it in much greater depth. Despite his secret agent double life, Tasker is shown to be a loving, faithful husband and dad, and the story mines humor and drama from this dynamic. Given True Lies heightened, almost tongue-in-cheek approach, it can't be labeled as a serious look at how a secret agent would actually balance work and family, but the movie makes for a unique double bill with No Time To Die.