The James Bond movie number 25, which title was “No Time To Die” has yet again been postponed, and is now going to be released worldwide on November 25 due to the Coronavirus outbreak all over the world.
This is not the first time the film has been postponed. According to Gamesradar, the sequel to “Spectre” had been scheduled to premiere in November 2019 but was delayed until February 2020 because of issues regarding the director, in February was then rescheduled to April, and now the way the COVID-19 has managed to reach more than 50 countries all around the world has delayed their plans once again.
The producers of the film were the ones to break the news, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli stated that the decision to delay the release date came “after careful consideration and thorough evolution of the global theatrical marketplace”.
But there’s something else and is that, according to the BBC, two of the most popular James Bond websites creators have written an open letter asking for the said delay, specifically until summer, “When experts expect the epidemic to peak”.
The letter, called “No time for indecision”, was released in March 2nd having been written by James Page and David Leigh, they stated that “it is time to put public health above marketing release schedules”.
Continuing with, “It’s just a movie. The health and wellbeing of fans around the world, and their families, is more important. We have all waited over four 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.”
In the same note, the BBC, reported that other major events such as the South by Southwest festival was generating a lot of concerns since it is attended by 70,000 people.
The monetary loses could be tremendous if the movie were to be released in the current context as it’s explained by this note of Variety. According to it, the spread of the virus has caused the closure of many cinemas, in economies as big and as important as Japan, China, and Italy.
Let’s take into consideration that, according to Variety, the movie cost around $200 million to be made and some more to market it. So, it would not be the best timing to be releasing a movie right now, only in Taiwan and Hong Kong the revenue in cinemas has dropped 50%.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, is not only that this movie would not do well, but the whole of the Global Film industry could lose $5 Billion because of the Coronavirus outbreak.
China is the second world’s largest territory in terms of box-office in the world with 70,000 cinemas that won’t open. The whole of this started during the traditional Chinese New Year Celebration, between the end of January and the end of February, ticket sales for this year just made it to $4.2 million, falling a little bit short in comparison to the $1.76 Billion of last year.
“No Time To Die” will be the last time we’ll see Daniel Craig as 007, with no replacement at sight so far. The British actor is going to be joined by a star-studded cast, including Lea Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Ana de Armas, and the Academy Award-winning actor Rami Malek.
The film was directed by Cary Fukunaga and is set to break numerous records despite the delays. “No Time To Die” is set to be the longest James Bond movie so far, and the theme song, recorded by Billie Eilish, has been one of the most listened to songs of the year, doing incredibly well both in sales and in streaming.
Let’s wait and see if it does when is finally released, as the franchise enthusiasts are so excited for it as horse racing fans for the Kentucky Derby. The date announced was November 12 in the UK and the 25 in the US.
