"No Time to Die", the next installment of the James Bond franchise, is likely to be MGM's biggest release of 2020. It had been slated for an April launch date. But in recent months, the novel coronavirus has become a serious problem.
Locations where large crowds gather in public, such as movie theaters, have been taking extra precautions. This has also caused movie studios to reassess release dates for their most anticipated projects. And now MGM has decided to make a change.
'No Time to Die' release date changed to November
Audiences will have to wait about seven additional months to see James Bond's newest adventure.
According to Entertainment Weekly, 'No Time to Die' will be released in the United Kingdom on November 12. And it will be followed by a November 25th release in the United States.
It's not uncommon for a new James Bond movie to be released around Thanksgiving in the United States. There has been speculation that the movie could even do better financially in North America with a November release.
Whether or not this would be the case elsewhere in the world remains to be seen. China is expected to be one of the biggest markets for the new 007 feature. And it also happens to be the epicenter of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Hoping to help stop the spread of the virus, tens of thousands of movie theaters have temporarily ceased operations.
MGM apparently hopes that the virus won't be as much of concern in a few months' time.
"No Time to Die" is not the first major motion picture to be directly affected by the novel coronavirus. And it might also not be the last. Production has been halted for the time being on the next installment of the "Mission: Impossible" franchise.
And other highly-anticipated releases such as "Black Widow" could be pushed back to a later date.
Things could still be a little awkward for MGM and the James Bond team. The promotion has been going on for some time already in anticipation of the movie's imminent release. Billie Eilish's theme song with the same title has already hit the airwaves.
Other eagerly-awaited Movies are coming in November. As such, it could be tricky to build up hype for a second time.
Expected to be Daniel Craig's final turn as Bond
"No Time to Die" is apparently Daniel Craig's last James Bond movie, as noted by CBS. He first played the role in "Casino Royale" released in 2006. A new leading man is one of multiples changes likely to be coming to the long-running franchise. While it remains popular, some elements of the movies have failed to strike a chord with people. Especially with cultural changes to have been ongoing in recent years.
Bringing Phoebe Waller-Bridge in as a co-screenwriter was apparently done in hopes of addressing this. The movie is directed by Cary Fukunaga, who stepped in after Danny Boyle dropped out.