The upcoming 25th film in the James Bond franchise, No Time to Die, was scheduled to come out next month: April 2 in the UK and a bunch of international markets and April 10 in the US. However, audiences will have to wait to see Daniel Craig’s final turn as the stories superspy, as Deadline reports that the movie is getting pushed back all the way to the end of the year.
“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,” the companies said in a statement. “The film will be released in the U.K. on November 12, 2020 with worldwide release dates to follow, including the U.S. launch on November 25, 2020.”
Why the change? Well, Deadline cautions that it’s “purely an economic decision” and “not one based on growing fears over the coronavirus.” BUT…it also opens with a note about how the coronavirus is “socking it to the Asian box office,” noting that theaters are closing across Korea, Japan, Italy and France as concerns over the spread of the virus grow. “The studios have been closely monitoring the coronavirus outbreak like many other companies, and have seen a significant impact on the global market with all industries facing difficult decisions during these uncertain times.” China in particular has shut down 70 thousand theaters this year and is poised to lose more than $2 billion, with the release of movies like Dolittle, 1917, Jojo Rabbit, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Onward postponed indefinitely.
So it looks like the studios are delaying No Time to Die in the hopes that, by November, the coronavirus problem will have blown over and people are going to theaters again. The decision may be “purely economic,” but it seems based on economic concerns born of the coronavirus, which is having an effect on industries all over the world, including the entertainment industry. Just look at what’s happening with the Emerald City Comic Con, which was set to go down in Seattle later this month. Thanks to the virus proliferating in that part of the country, with nine dead so far, DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics have both pulled out of the event, which is now looking to be in jeopardy.
For the record, a survey conducted by Morning Consult found that most Americans aren’t letting news of the coronavirus affect their willingness to see movies or plays or concerts or other things that require rubbing elbows with lots of strangers, but that would all change if the virus actually spreads to their area.
2020 is gonna be interesting, isn’t it?
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