James Bond Film ‘No Time To Die’ Release Date Delayed “After Evaluation Of The Global Theatrical Marketplace”
John F. Trent
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The upcoming James Bond film No Time to Die has been officially delayed with the insinuation that it is due to Coronavirus.
The official James Bond Twitter account confirmed the film would be delayed until November 2020.
They wrote:
“MGM, Universal and Bond producers, Michael G. Wilson and Barabara Broccoli, announced today that after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace, the release of NO TIME TO DIE will be postponed until November 2020.”
MGM, Universal and Bond producers, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, announced today that after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace, the release of NO TIME TO DIE will be postponed until November 2020. pic.twitter.com/a9h1RP5OKd
— James Bond (@007) March 4, 2020
In a subsequent tweet they revealed the film would be released in the United States on November 25, 2020. It will be released in the UK on November 12, 2020.
The film will be released in the U.K. on November 12, 2020 with worldwide release dates to follow, including the US launch on November 25, 2020.
— James Bond (@007) March 4, 2020
The delay comes after James Bond fans James Page, the co-founder of MI6 and MI6 Confidential magazine and David Leigh, founder of the James Bond Dossier, published an open letter requesting the film to be delayed.
The letter begins:
“After enduring three delays in production already, it is by no means easy to say this: the release of ‘No Time To Die’ should be postponed.
With the Coronavirus reaching pandemic status, it is time to put public health above marketing release schedules and the cost of canceling publicity events.”
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It continues:
“Major events around the world have already been canceled or postponed due to health risks. Leading tech companies have banned travel for hundreds of thousands of employees, including Amazon and Google. All before the US and UK outbreaks expand.
Developed nations that are suffering from community spread of the virus, including Italy, France, Switzerland, Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea have banned large public gatherings. Italy closed all cinemas in their ‘red zone’ last night. The outbreaks in the UK and the USA are just starting to trend towards epidemics.”
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The letter adds:
“China and Japan have closed theatres for weeks. The Chinese box-office in January and February 2019 combined to $1.5b. The same period this year has netted just $3.9m – a 99.7% drop.
Of the countries with large public gatherings banned or restricted, their combined ‘SPECTRE’ box-office was $313m, or 38% of the global haul.
With a month to go before ‘No Time To Die’ opens worldwide, community spread of the virus is likely to be peaking in the United States. Today, Washington declared a state of emergency. There is a significant chance that cinemas will be closed, or their attendance severely reduced, by early April. Even if there are no legal restrictions on cinemas being open, to quote M in Skyfall, “how safe do you feel?”
It continues:
“Publicity tours for 007 in China, South Korea, and Japan have already been canceled. The release in Hong Kong was pushed to April 30th. These are sensible actions that should be applauded.
That brings us to the world premiere for No Time To Die set for March 31st in London. Hundreds of fans and celebrities from around the world will be flying to the UK to attend. The Royal Albert Hall capacity is above the 5,000 limit that affected countries are banning for public gatherings. Just one person, who may not even show symptoms, could infect the rest of the audience. This is not the type of publicity anyone wants.”
The letter concludes:
“The UK and US outbreaks are in their early stages, but if they follow the predictable pattern of other developed countries, the situation by late March and early April will not be conducive to the box-office.
Delay the release of ‘No Time To Die’ until the summer when experts expect the epidemics to have peaked and to be under control. It’s just a movie. The health and well-being of fans around the world, and their families, is more important. We have all waited over 4 years for this film. Another few months will not damage the quality of the film and only help the box-office for Daniel Craig’s final hurrah.”
The film was currently tracking to have an opening weekend of $88 million and a $269 million total gross in North America. The previous James Bond film, Spectre had an opening weekend of $70.4 million and grossed $200 million at the domestic box office. Before Spectre, Skyfall had an opening weekend of $88.3 million and a domestic gross of $304.3 million.
What do you make of the decision to delay No Time to Die?
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