James Bond’s latest adventure got another speed bump. ‘No Time to Die’, the upcoming installment in the British espionage series, has been postponed again.
The movie will now hit theaters on October 8th. It would originally open on April 2nd.
It’s hardly a surprise that Bond was pushed back to fall. Hollywood has widely expected ‘No Time to Die’ to be delayed as cases of coronavirus continue to rise.
‘No Time to Die’ costs $ 200 million to produce, and it depends on worldwide ticket sales to make a profit. This is almost impossible to achieve when most movie theaters are closed, and the few that are still open operate at a lower capacity. Thursday’s announcement is the third delay of the film in the last ten months. In March 2020, ‘No Time to Die’ will be the first tent pole to move its release amid the pandemic.
MGM launches ‘No Time to Die’ in North America, while Universal has international rights.
The latest scheduling for ‘No Time to Die’ could inspire rival studios to postpone their films for the first few months of 2021. Moments after MGM Bond moved, Universal announced that the studio’s Bob Odenkirk-led action thriller “Nobody” is moving from February 26 to April 2. And Focus Features, the special studio owned by Universal, stomped on Edgar Wright’s “Last Night in Soho” from April 23 to October 22.
Most major movies have been postponed until mid-summer or later, but a select few are on the film calendar in early 2021, including Sony’s “Cinderella” with Camila Cabello (February 5) and Disney and “The King’s Man” of Disney and 20th Century (March 12).
Cary Joji Fukunaga directed ‘No Time to Die’, the 25th entry in the Bond franchise and the last time for star Daniel Craig. The cast also includes Rami Malek as Bond’s opponent Safin, Lashana Lynch as a new 007 agent, and Léa Seydoux as Bond’s love interest. Ana de Armas, Ben Whishaw and Christoph Waltz also star.