No Time to Die had the most expensive TV spot at the 2020 Super Bowl. Considering how massive a draw the NFL championship game is (this year saw nearly 100 million people tune in), it isn't surprising companies use the big stage to promote their products with attention-grabbing commercials. Movie studios have been a part of the Super Bowl for a long time, building hype for their upcoming tentpoles. The likes of Black Widow and Fast and Furious 9 aired spots this year, generating more buzz on the heels of their respective full-length trailers.
Another highly anticipated 2020 release to get a Super Bowl commercial was No Time to Die, Daniel Craig's final outing as James Bond. While brief, the footage teased all of the spectacle, witty banter, and intrigue fans have come to expect from the 007 films. MGM was definitely looking to make a big splash at the Super Bowl, and they spared no expense to leave an impression on moviegoers.
According to Variety, MGM spent roughly $5.69 million on the 30-second No Time to Die Spot. That figure is slightly more than what Universal forked over for Fast and Furious 9 and Minions: The Rise of Gru commercials ($5.5 million each) and what Disney paid for Mulan and Black Widow ($5.3 million apiece).
Money is clearly no issue for MGM and EON on No Time to Die. The sequel was recently reported to have the biggest budget in the franchise at $250 million (a number that covers the film's production, before advertising is factored in). That's certainly a large sum of cash, but it should ultimately prove to be a worthy investment. The Bond films are always massive draws at the box office; Craig's previous outing, Spectre, grossed $880.6 million worldwide and turned a considerable profit. With No Time to Die marking Craig's 007 swan song (and being the 25th installment in the overall series), it's a massive cinematic event in the first half of the year and will likely have no trouble attracting a sizable crowd. Perhaps it could challenge Skyfall's $1.1 billion haul.
A number of major studios (including Warner Bros. and Sony) sat the Super Bowl out entirely, while Paramount opted to go for cheaper pre-game show slots. The general feeling beginning to spread is paying more than $5 million for a single 30-second spot is not the best use of resources, which is why there are fewer Super Bowl movie trailers these days than in years past. It's usually a smart practice to try to keep costs down, but No Time to Die is as close to a box office lock as there is. MGM knows they're going to make their money back when the film hits theaters, so this was simply a justifiable (but still large) price to pay to continue to raise awareness for 007's next adventure.
Source: Variety
