No Time To Die Delayed To November 2020

The Return of James Bond has been delayed yet again.

It has been officially announced – 007’s 25th film No Time To Die, which originally was to be released onto the world in April 2020, is now being delayed until November 2020.

This film has encountered a long, arduous, problematic, ordeal of an odyssey to get to movie screens. It has battled a variety of hurdles throughout the production and that will seemingly continue right up to its release. It’s really been quite an amazing tale to follow.

This latest announcement concerning No Time To Die was released on 007’s official social media accounts on March 4 – only a month from its planned release in the UK.

“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.”

Needless to say, this announcement surprised and disappointed Bond fans all around the world.

This is the fourth – FOURTH – delay the film has encountered regarding its release. 

Let’s see – originally, when it was known as ‘Bond 25’, it was scheduled for a November 2019 release. Then it was pushed back to February 2020. Soon after it was then moved to April 2020, which is where it stayed for quite awhile, until today’s news announcing it would be delayed again, this time until November 2020. It will be released in the UK on November 12 and in the U.S. on November 25.

No Time To Die’s release date has become a game of musical chairs for 007 and his fans.

This latest delay has nothing to do with script problems, directors changing, the star getting injured, writers strikes or ‘creative differences’. This time it’s due to outside forces the world is facing, namely the coronavirus. 

The rampant outbreak of the coronavirus has been impacting many things, one being the global theater marketplace. It has forced some countries to close theaters. Italy, Korea and China, who is the second biggest movie market in the world.

So, currently there’s a significant percentage of theaters that are unavailable for the film to be released in. Naturally, the filmmakers and studio want No Time To Die to be as profitable as possible and felt it wouldn’t be given the current situation the theater market is in right now.

The decision made to delay the film was an economical one. Delay it now and release it later in the year when hopefully it will enjoy a much more profitable run.

This makes sense. There was rumblings for several weeks leading up to this announcement of whether it would be wise for them to delay the film’s release, but I really did not expect it to actually happen. Delaying the film with only a few weeks before its release date is, as one article pointed out, “unprecedented”.

No Time To Die is the first major film that has reshuffled its release due to the fears of the coronavirus. It will be interesting to see if Hollywood shifts some of its other upcoming big-budget films due for the summer in a similar way.

This in no way was a hasty decision by the studio and EON. They must’ve been contemplating this for quite awhile. They just didn’t come to this decision last night.

They had to have weighed the pros and cons of this move and calculated the cost of delaying the film would present a better case scenario than what would happen if they went forward with the films April release and what No Time To Die’s box office would be. They must have decided it would be the better risk to take.

Just consider all the marketing, the planning, the scheduling that was already in place for No Time To Die. I’ve been seeing the film started to be featured on magazine covers, press junkets were scheduled, promotional products were lined up. Billie Ellish’s song was released and is currently high on the charts.

I had one thought about that No Time To Die ad they spent millions of dollars to get played during the Super Bowl! That seems like a waste now. All the momentum that they were trying to build for the film is now going to come to a halt for eight months. 

Then we have the fan side. Some fans have already bought their movie tickets for the film. My friend Jeroen – aka DutchBondFan – made travel plans to goto London specifically to see the film there the day of its release. Now Bond events have to be held without a James Bond movie. It’s crazy! 

I can’t imagine how this eight month delay will benefit the film itself. I figured it was mostly in the can, done, completed! Maybe with the extra time they can refine some effect shots or play with some of the music a bit? Most likely they’ll put it in a box and wait to take out in November.

This might be disappointing news for Bond fans….well, actually yes it is! It’s frustrating, annoying, disheartening. We’ve been waiting for this film for so long! This has been such a journey with this movie. Sometimes it feels it will never come out. We were only weeks away from it this time folks! 

So, that’s where we’re at Bond fans. The wait for No Time To Die will continue for a bit longer…