MGM set to lose more than $30M after delaying release of James Bond film No Time To Die due to coronavirus outbreak
The release of the upcoming James Bond movie No Time To Die has been pushed back seven months to November because of the coronavirus.
And on Thursday, The Hollywood Reporter said that MGM, the studio behind the Bond films, could lose upwards of $30 million due to the delay.
‘The marketing outlay already was significant with just four weeks to go before the release, including a $4.5 million Super Bowl spot that ran in February,’ THR.com reported.
The Hollywood Reporter said Thursday that MGM, the studio behind the Bond films, could lose upwards of $30 million as an result of pushing back the release of No Time To Die to November
‘The marketing outlay already was significant with just four weeks to go before the release, including a $4.5 million Super Bowl spot that ran in February,’ THR.com reported
By moving the film’s release from April to November, MGM is hoping to preserve the huge box office haul that the 25th Bond outing is likely to earn.
The Bond films make a significant portion of their profits from international markets.
The last film, Spectre, made more than $679 million from overseas theaters in 2015 with more than $84 million of that total coming from China.
In a statement, Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said the decision was made ‘after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace’.
The closing of more than 70,000 Chinese theaters for the past several weeks, has devastated the world’s second largest movie market.
Releasing No Time To Die as scheduled could have shaved ‘a possible $300 million out of a likely $1 billion haul at the worldwide box office’, The Hollywood Reporter said.
The 25th James Bond film is Daniel Craig’s fifth and final outing as 007. Publicity tours with the actor, pictured Tuesday in NYC, had already been scrapped in China, Japan and South Korea
The spread of the coronavirus has decimated the world’s second biggest movie market in China and movie theatres in other countries such as Italy and Japan are also shuttered. The global outbreak is predicted to cost the film industry $5 billion
Publicity tours in China, Japan and South Korea for Daniel Craig’s final outing as 007 had already been scrapped before the decision to delay.
And earlier this week, influential fan website MI6-HQ posted an open letter which said it was time for MGM and Universal ‘to put public health above marketing release schedules and the cost of cancelling publicity events’.
Questions had also been raised about the No Time To Die world premiere scheduled for March 31 at London’s Royal Albert Hall which can seat more than 5,000 people.
The global coronavirus outbreak is predicted to cost the film industry $5 billion, according to The Hollywood Reporter this week.
Hollywood film release and production schedules have already been affected by the outbreak of COVID-19.
Last week, Paramount Pictures halted production on the seventh Mission: Impossible film, which had been scheduled to shoot in Venice, Italy.
Paramount also postponed the Chinese release of Sonic the Hedgehog while Disney postponed the Chinese premiere of its live-action remake of Mulan.
The coronavirus outbreak emerged in China and has spread globally. Asof Thursday night, more than 98,000 people have contracted the virus worldwide, with more than 3,300 deaths.
The coronavirus outbreak emerged in China and has spread globally. As of Thursday night, more than 98,000 people have contracted the virus worldwide, with more than 3,300 deaths