Is there really No Time To Die? That’s funny, we seem to have nothing but time these days. It’s not like it’s all that safe to do much of anything, including heading to the theater. So when the news broke Friday afternoon that the long anticipated Bond sequel had been pushed back yet again, we barely winced. We do miss the smell of overly buttered popcorn and the feel of squishing into narrow seats, but not even a nicely suited Daniel Craig could get us to risk our health right now.
MGM and Universal clearly understand as much, which is why, per Variety, they are holding off on releasing the Craig and Ana de Armas starrer until April 2, 2021, despite reviving up the PR machine again in September. We wouldn’t expect any less caution from this particular team, which was the first major project to pull its big premiere at the top of the pandemic. “MGM, Universal and Bond producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, today announced the release of No Time To Die, the 25th film in the James Bond series, will be delayed until 2 April in order to be seen by a worldwide theatrical audience,” the filmmakers said in a statement made to Variety. “We understand the delay will be disappointing to our fans but we now look forward to sharing No Time To Die next year.”
If this release date remains on the calendar—and there’s honestly no telling what April will look like at this rate—No Time To Die will be pitted directly against the ninth Fast & Furious installment, F9, which would make it the loudest day in movie theater history. We have a feeling that further delays will culminate in a better fate for our eardrums, but again, anything can happen. MGM and Universal joins Walt Disney Studios in delaying the big releases into next year.