No Time To Die now expected to delay again

A new round of delays to blockbuster movies looks incoming – and James Bond seems certain to be amongst them.

It was around ten months ago that the team behind the new James Bond film, No Time To Die, took the world by surprised with the announcement that Daniel Craig’s final adventure as 007 – No Time To Die­ – would be delayed. For some, it was the moment that made clear just how serious the pandemic sweeping the world was likely to be.

Since then, the Bond team had planned an autumn 2020 rollout, but that was delayed again to this coming April. Now, with no clear path to cinemas reopening anytime soon in sufficient numbers across the UK and US, rumours are building that the film is going to be put back again.

Variety, for one, has reported that both No Time To Die and Fast & Furious 9 “will likely vacate” their current April 2021 release dates “unless a whole lot more people get vaccinated”. Given that Covid vaccines take time to take full effect, the numbers of vaccinations involved would require most people to have the option of their jab by the start of March at the very latest. That seems highly unlikely.

One Dutch exhibitor – with thanks to Anton Volkov for the heads up – is already reporting that the film is moving back to November 2021. Tellingly too, there’s no sign of the re-ramping up of promotion for the movie this time. Generally, it’s regarded that a three month build up would be the norm. Few in the industry though now believe James Bond will be back in April.

Official confirmation has not been forthcoming, but with the vaccination programme in the UK likely to take until next autumn at the quickest, it looks very much like an even longer wait for 007.

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