It was
announced yesterday that, amid growing concerns surrounding the Coronavirus outbreak, MGM had decided to delay the release of
No Time To Die by over 7 months. Now,
THR reports that this move will likely cost the studio between $30 million and $50 million before all is said and done - but the alternative would have been costlier still.
NO TIME TO DIE: Have A Listen To Billie Eilish's Haunting New JAMES BOND Theme Song In Full
The fact of the matter is,
Bond movies do very well in China, and there are currently around 70,000 theaters closed in the Middle Kingdom alone with no plans to reopen anytime soon. Had MGM stuck with the original release date, it's estimated that the film could have had a minimum of 30 percent shaved off its final box-office tallies — a possible $300 million out of a likely $1 billion worldwide haul.
It certainly sounds like they chose the lesser of two evils.
There's a lot of speculation that
NTTD may just be the first of many big tentpole releases to take this kind of action, but
Disney does maintain that
Black Widow, at least, will be staying put. Likewise Universal's
Fast 9.
Originally scheduled to hit theaters on April 2 in The U.K. and April 10 in The States, the 25th
James Bond movie has been pushed back until November 12, 2020 in the U.K. and November 25, 2020 in the US.
About The Author:
Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.