The first time Daniel Craig’s fifth and final James Bond film “No Time to Die” moved, it was the first major feature to do so at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and that subsequently led to many others moving shortly after.
The next time was last week when it shifted again, this time moving back a further five months to an April 2021 date – a full year out from its originally intended opening. That has also led to numerous other films being delayed many months and a real concern over the state of the whole cinema exhibition industry.
Speaking to Jimmy Fallon on last night’s “The Tonight Show,” Craig spoke about the decision of the film to abandon 2020 altogether and says it ties to the studio’s desire to open the film at the same time all around the world:
“We just want people to go and see this movie in the right way, the safe way. You know, cinemas all around the world are closed at the moment and we want to release the movie at the same time all around the world, this isn’t the right time… Fingers crossed April 2 is going to be our date.”
Cinemas are still at partial capacities all around the world while movies have been a tough sell in the U.S. domestic market, even for large tentpole films. Bond’s primary box-office comes from overseas though, and a resurgence of cases recently in markets like the UK has those involved understandably concerned.
