The use of the song in 'No Time to Die' (2021) was first announced in October 2020 for a scene in the movie set in France. According to French newspaper 'Le Figaro', Orlando, producer and brother of Dalida, ''in great secrecy . . . cleared the James Bond producers to use the song 'The Sleeping City'-'' in late 2019. In the 17th November 2020 edition, Orlando said: ''When the phone rang a year ago, I was really surprised (laughs, Editor's note). It really pleased me that the James Bond team looked at Dalida's repertoire. I admit to feeling a touch of pride. Dalida would have loved it too. She really enjoyed watching 007 movies especially the early ones. In the 80s, in the company of Michel Drucker with whom she was very good friends, she went to dinner at the Palace of Versailles at the same table as Sean Connery and Roger Moore. There are beautiful photos of this evening.'' Of the place in 'No Time to Die' (2021) that the song is heard, Orlando said: ''In a scene where James Bond is in France. The production obviously did not send me a preview of the images of the film but a synopsis of the scene. The song is broadcast on the radio and in a nightclub.''
The birth name of famed Egyptian and Italian singer and actress Dalida was Iolanda Gigliotti.
The name of the French song heard in the film is ''Dans la Ville Endormie'' (translation: '''The Sleeping City'' or ''In the Sleeping City'') (1968) by the late French singer Dalida.
After the song was acquired for use in the James Bond movie 'No Time to Die' (2021), the song was then re-issued in a limited and numbered edition 45 rpm 10'' inch (25 cm) vinyl single issue release and a music video made in the style of a James Bond opening titles sequence which is available on the internet to watch.
The use of this song in the James Bond movie 'No Time to Die' (2021) is not the first time an old French ballad has been used in a Bond movie. In 'Skyfall'(2012), a World War II-era French song was heard playing on Silva's island lair. It was "Boum!" and was sung by French singer and songwriter Charles Trenet. The song won the Grand Prix du Disque and was first released in 1938.