No Time to Die's release date has been delayed seven months due to coronavirus. The film had already been impacted by the outbreak of the disease, with its Chinese premiere and press tour cancelled due to concerns. However, No Time to Die remained on track for its theatrical rollout in April 2020, with MGM putting together a very visible marketing campaign to hype up Daniel Craig's final adventure as James Bond (including a rather expensive Super Bowl TV spot). Excitement was continuing to mount for the movie, which was projected to possibly break the all-time James Bond opening weekend record at the box office.
With No Time to Die right around the corner, coronavirus continues to be a serious concern around the world. DC Comics recently cancelled convention appearances, Mission: Impossible 7 paused production in Italy, and Hollywood studios are forming coronavirus strategy teams as they deal with the situation. And now, the team behind No Time to Die has made the decision to postpone the film's release globally for several months.
Today on the official James Bond Twitter account, it was announced the film has been pushed back from its original April 2020 date and will now debut on November 12, 2020 in the U.K. and November 25, 2020 in the U.S. Other worldwide release dates will be revealed later.
The tweet mentions the "global theatrical marketplace" as a deciding factor here. In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, just about all of Chinese movie theaters have been closed, and it's possible locations in other countries eventually follow suit. China is the world's second-biggest film market (behind only the U.S.), so it's understandable why the No Time to Die team chose to delay the movie. Obviously, the studios and producers are hoping coronavirus is contained by November, allowing them to conduct business as usual around the globe. The Bond films have always been massive worldwide draws and have done sizable business during Craig's tenure. Spectre grossed $880.6 million back in 2015, and 2012's Skyfall crossed the $1 billion mark. MGM and Universal want No Time to Die in a position to be as successful as possible - particular since it has the highest production budget in Bond history. It'll be interesting to see if any other Hollywood studios shuffle their tentpoles around now that one domino has fallen.
With the move, No Time to Die is now in a more competitive window than before. Instead of being the biggest blockbuster in town (getting a three-week jump start on the summer movies), it'll now share the spotlight with titles like Eternals (November 6) and Godzilla vs. Kong (November 20), assuming those movies don't change release dates to avoid competition with 007. That being said, No Time to Die should still do very well in the fall; the Bond films have historically released in November (the last six came out in that month) and this one is a proper event to boot, being Craig's swan song. Even amidst the other genre picture, there'll be plenty of excitement for No Time to Die.
Source: James Bond
