The release of James Bond feature No Time To Die has been postponed from April to November 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The 25th film in the spy franchise was set to receive its world premiere on March 31 at London’s Royal Albert Hall before beginning its UK and international rollout through Universal on April 2, ahead of a US release on the April 10 Easter weekend through United Artists Releasing.
However, studio MGM, distributor Universal and producer Eon released a joint statement today (March 4) to announce that the release of the film has been postponed by seven months to November 12 in the UK and November 25 in the US.
The statement said: “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.
“The film will be released in the UK on November 12, 2020 with worldwide release dates to follow, including the US launch on November 25, 2020.”
It marks the first major feature to have its release pushed due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has seen cinemas close across China and Italy, and has resulted in the Chinese box office dropping by $1.91bn in the first two months of the year compared to the same period in 2019, according to Comscore.
No Time To Die’s release in Hong Kong had previously been pushed back to April 30 while publicity duties in China, Japan and South Korea had been cancelled before this wider move.
It would have been the first Bond film to have been released in April. Since Goldeneye in 1995, the franchise has earmarked release dates in October, November and December. Prior to that, Bond traditionally had a summer release.
The previous Bond film, Spectre, took more than $880m at the worldwide when it was released in 2015 while Skyfall remains the highest grossing in the franchise, taking $1.1bn in 2012, and ranks as the second biggest film at the UK box office to date, where it took nearly £103m ($132m).
Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, it marks Daniel Craig’s fifth and final performance as James Bond and co-stars Rami Malek, Lea Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Christoph Waltz, Ana de Armas and Lashana Lynch.
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