Daniel Craig's final outing as James Bond has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic for the second time this year. MGM, Universal, and 007 franchise producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli announced No Time to Die will be delayed until April 2021.
The 25th installment of the James Bond franchise was originally scheduled to debut in theaters in April 2020. However, the film was one of the first major Hollywood blockbusters to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic when MGM, Universal, and the producers opted to push back its release date until November 2020.
All three parties said No Time to Die will now be released in theaters on April 2, 2021, in order for the film to be seen by a worldwide audience. "We understand the delay will be disappointing to our fans but we now look forward to sharing No Time To Die next year," the filmmaking team said in a statement. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the studios were intending to stick with the November release date for the next James Bond film. However, the closing and re-closing of theaters in key markets forced them to abandon those plans.
Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga from a script he co-wrote with Neal Purvis and Robert Wade and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, No Time to Die will mark Daniel Craig's final appearance as James Bond after previously portraying the famous MI6 agent in Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, and Spectre. The film will see a retired Bond returning to active service after his old friend CIA agent Felix Leiter seeks his help in finding a kidnapped scientist. The mission sends Bond on a path towards a mysterious new foe named Safin, who appears to have ties to his former lover, Dr. Madeleine Swann.
No Time to Die is not the only Hollywood blockbuster to be postponed more than once this year because of the pandemic. Disney recently decided to push Marvel Studios' Black Widow to May 2021 while Warner Bros. opted to delay Wonder Woman 1984 until Christmas day of this year.
The news of No Time to Die being delayed will likely hit movie theater owners the hardest. Exhibitors were already more than upset by delays that occurred over the summer season and were counting on tentpole projects like the James Bond film to entice moviegoers back to theaters this fall.
No Time to Die is scheduled to be released in theaters on April 2, 2021.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter