The release of the next James Bond film has been delayed for a third time because of the coronavirus pandemic.
No Time To Die had already been pushed back twice, and will now debut globally on 8 October, an announcement on the film’s website said. It had originally been due to hit screens in April 2020.
The film is the 25th instalment in the Bond franchise, and marks Daniel Craig’s final appearance as British secret service agent 007. It also features Lea Seydoux and Rami Malek.
The delay will come as a further blow to cinemas that have been forced to shut for months at a time because of lockdowns. Earlier this week, leading film-makers including Danny Boyle and Sir Steve McQueen wrote to the UK government, calling for financial support for cinema chains because “UK cinema stands on the edge of an abyss”.
Cineworld said in October, when No Time To Die was pushed back for the second time, that delays to big budget releases meant the industry was “unviable”.
Bond’s latest move sparked a flurry of other delays to major releases. Sony has pushed back Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Peter Rabbit 2, Jared Leto’s Morbius, Tom Holland’s Uncharted, and Cinderella, which will star singer Camila Cabello; while Universal has moved Tom Hanks’ Bios from April to November.
If No Time To Die is released in cinemas in October, it will arrive a full six years on from the release of its 2015 predecessor Spectre.
That won’t be far behind the six years and four months that separated the release of Licence to Kill in summer 1989 and GoldenEye in late 1995.
Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, No Time To Die was filmed between March and November 2019 in Italy, Norway, Jamaica and the UK.
Last April an autographed clapperboard used on set raised £13,000 for the NHS when it was offered online by auction house Bonhams.
Move to streaming?
The latest postponement could stoke further speculation over whether the film will ultimately skip cinemas altogether and be released on a streaming platform.
Major Disney titles like Pixar’s Soul and its live-action remake of Mulan bypassed cinemas, premiering instead on the Disney+ streaming service.
Wonder Woman 1984, meanwhile, was made available in the US on the HBO Max streaming service on the same day it received a limited cinema release.
Last year Warner Bros announced all its 2021 titles would adopt a similar dual release pattern, escalating tensions between Hollywood and US movie theatres.
The Dig, a new historical drama starring Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan, was due to be released in selected UK cinemas this month. Now that all cinemas in the UK have been closed, the film will only be available for viewing on Netflix from 29 January.
Might No Time To Die go down the same route? “That’s a good question and I’m not really in a position to answer it,” said Fiennes, who will be seen reprising his role as M in the film. “I would love the idea that people could go to the cinema and have the full effect of the big-screen energy behind the Bond, but I’m sure it’s something the people who make these executive decisions are probably considering.
“I really hope we come through this so people can go to the cinema,” the actor continued. “Maybe they just have to hold their nerve.
“But of course we don’t know, and there may be financial reasons or imperatives that [mean] they have to put it on a streaming system.”
The previous Bond film, 2015’s Spectre, took almost $900m (£690m) at worldwide box offices. A significant part of Bond film earnings come from the UK and European market, and studio MGM may be concerned that Covid restrictions could limit No Time To Die’s box office earnings.
It comes after Warner Bros this month announced it was delaying the release of Sopranos prequel The Many Saints Of Newark. Other blockbusters affected by the pandemic include Jared Leto superhero film Morbius, sci-fi epic Dune and action sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
Source: bbc.com
