After the death of the original Hollywood James Bond Sean Connery earlier this year, many became even more excited for No Time to Die, the follow up to Daniel Craig’s 2015 Bond endeavor Spectre. No Time to Die was originally set to release this past April, then was delayed until this November as a result of the COVID Pandemic. Now, as the pandemic has begun to flare up again and social distancing mandates are being reinstated to the fullest extent, it is believed that another potential delay may be in order, this time to April 2021, a full year after the film’s original release. Some have begun to question whether the film will ever see theaters at this point, or if it is set to follow the lead of many of the blockbuster films this year in abandoning a theatrical release altogether.
Bond film
Many have been excited to see Craig reprise his role as James Bond one final time for the 25th installment in the Bond series, however it looks as though they may have to wait a little longer. While MGM Studios, responsible for producing the film, was one of the more proactive film houses in combating the pandemic and delaying productions, their efforts do not seem to have helped them much in the long term. Now, MGM is delaying the film once again, ensuring fans that a theatrical release is absolutely in order, just not in the timely fashion many had hoped. At this point, releasing the film seems to be even more difficult than some of the action the action James Bond sees in the film, with its future very much in the air regardless of the tentative release dates MGM ascribes to it.
In box offices, the film could genuinely generate a billion dollars in a normal landscape. The same could be said for many movies that have faced interruptions in both production and release. Other films facing these difficulties are Wonder Woman 1984 and Mulan, both of which have ultimately opted to release their films digitally to avoid any further delays and bring fans what they want. While MGM has staunchly opposed this idea, any further delays beyond this may warrant a change of heart as the film has been delayed for an entire year at this point, and after a while fans may begin to lose hope. April could still roll around and provide us with an incredible piece of cinematography; we just simply do not know how the pandemic will progress. Until then, we await Daniel Craig’s return to the screen as 007 for one final time, and hopefully sooner rather than later.
