No Time to Die, the latest James Bond movie, has been postponed by seven months as fears over the coronavirus persist, making it the first major Hollywood movie to change its release date since the illness broke out in China and spread around the world.
The newest installment in the 007 saga will now be released in cinemas in November, pushed back from its original April rollout. MGM and Universal, along with the movie’s producers, released a statement Wednesday saying that they made the decision “after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace.”
They added that the movie will open in the U.S. on November 25, with a U.K. opening set for a week earlier on November 12. The statement made no mention of the coronavirus, though some Hollywood trade publications inferred that the decision was due to the virus.
Daniel Craig is reprising his role as 007 for what he has said will be the final time in the 25th installment of the Bond saga.
The coronavirus is expected to have a significant impact on the global film industry’s bottomline as moviegoers around the world and especially in Asia choose to stay away from cinemas.
Many movie theaters in China are already closed while cinemas in South Korea and Japan are bracing for the worst. The Hollywood Reporter noted this week that the worldwide film industry could lose $5 billion from lost box office revenue and other impacted activities.
China ranks as the second largest movie market in the world, while Japan is No. 3.
No Time to Die isn’t the only Hollywood blockbuster facing a coronavirus dilemma. Disney’s live-action Mulan is still set to open in the U.S. on March 27, while Universal’s F9 (Fast & Furious 9) is scheduled to roll out worldwide in late May.
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