‘No Time to Die’ Gets Pushed Back Due to the Coronavirus

In breaking news that came as a surprise to everyone, MGM and producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli announced on Wednesday that they delayed the release for No Time to Die, the 25th installment in the James Bond series, because of fear of the coronavirus currently affecting the world. It’s true. They have thrown one of the most anticipated blockbusters of the year into the November release calendar.

As of now, a new release date has been set for November 10 in the U.K. and November 25 in the U.S. when the original release dates were supposed to come out next month on April 3 and April 10, respectively. The pushback comes with the fact that the coronavirus is around China, Italy, and France, and the film costs a hefty $250 million. Fandango already had tickets on sale and have since disappeared on their site.

With this, who knows if other studios will take a huge risk in pushing back their planned release to a future date if they know they would make millions in other territories.

As frustrated as I am about the news, it makes sense since it’s understandable to make sure everybody around the world can see it without worrying about those being contagious in a theater. Still, it’s a major bummer that fans have to wait 7 months to see Daniel Craig’s final appearance as 007. At least it’s continuing the trend of having a Bond movie opening in November since I feel like it belongs in the fall rather than coming out in spring. With its new release date, the film will now open a week before Godzilla vs. Kong and will compete against Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon, King Richard, and Happiest Season during the Thanksgiving weekend.

Regardless of pushing it back, No Time to Die is still going to make a ton of money in its opening weekend, and it gives me more time to re-watch the four previous Craig movies. (I was planning to watch them this month before the new one comes out.) With this news, I wonder if Craig will mention any of this when he’s hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend since he there’s to promote the film in the first place. Besides that, let’s hope that there’s a cure to stop this from spreading.

The film is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and the cast also includes Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Ana de Armas, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Jeffrey Wright, Ralph Fiennes, and Christoph Waltz.