Actor Daniel Craig may not have the most number of films from EON Productions where he stars as British super-secret agent James Bond, but the period of time in which the role belonged to him was pretty long. His first appearance has been in 2006’s “Casino Royale,” technically based on the first Bond book by Ian Fleming, with the film serving as reboot to character and franchise. In the following films Craig evolved his Bond’s characterization from brutal yet emotional rookie 00 Agent to professional and composed covert antihero. “No Time to Die” is supposed to be his final movie as the character. Now if only its premiere does not keep getting repeatedly pushed back.
It is beginning to feel like “No
Time to Die,” the 25th EON Productions “James Bond” film and the fifth
starring Daniel Craig should be titled “No Time to Premiere” instead. Variety would have it that MGM has been
forced to postpone its cinematic release for the sixth time. Instead of this
coming April it will now be later this year, in October 8. Of the six reschedules
the Bond film has had already, this is the third time that the reason has been
the still-ongoing global pandemic of COVID-19.
The pushback of the release date
is notable because EON Productions has insisted that “No Time to Die” has to
come out primarily in cinemas. Already the production company has nixed plans
by its partner studio MGM to begin offering the movie to a digital streaming
platform like Netflix or Apple TV+. The reasoning is understandable. At a $200
million budget, the best way to recoup and make a bank is with a box office
premiere. But with theaters still either closed or offering limited seating,
the prospects of the movie earning “traditionally’ are uncertain.
Originally slated for November
2019, “No Time to Die” had its first schedule slip after original director and
co-writer Danny Boyle left with production team over creative differences. First
moved to February 2020, it was pushed again to April last year as replacement
director Cary Fukunaga worked to finish the film. Then came the first
COVID-related delay as the premiere became November 2020. At first the April
2021 pushback felt like the last, only for the new October release date to
frustrate viewers again. MGM is releasing “No Time to Die” in North America
while Universal Pictures handles international distribution.
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