James Bond has seen off many a megalomaniac, killed a vast number of villains and has escaped more tight spots than a potholing Johnny Vegas, but it seems he’s met his match.

Picture the scene, our hero revs his Aston Martin and overtakes traffic as he rushes to his final liaison with the criminal mastermind trying to take over the world. Missiles are prone behind the headlights and Moneypenny’s remotely directing him on shortcuts to avoid traffic. Then, just as he’s about to thwart the generic baddie’s plan, a St John’s Ambulance worker stands in the way of the MI6 agent and demands he don a mask and sanitise his hands.

Which is basically what just happened to No Time To Die. The film’s release has been postponed, coz Corona.

Which is annoying because we were meant to be running an ‘everything we know so far about the new Bond film’ feature today, but the decision to delay the movie’s release until November 12th, or November 25th if you’re in the US, is otherwise a good one. We’ll just have to wait to enjoy Daniel Craig’s final outing as MI6’s best hit-man because after lobbying from fan sites to delay the movie (we wonder if at the instigation of the producers) it was announced yesterday that the date would be put back.

With Coronavirus looking like it’s here to stay, the studio clearly saw the PR implications of hanging huge No Time To Die posters across every capital in the world as Coronavirus continued to create real-life casualties.

There was also a consideration for audiences. In an open letter the founders of fan sites MI6 Confidential and The James Bond Dossier wrote “Just one person, who may not even show symptoms, could infect the rest of the audience”. As such James Bond could unwittingly prove to be Britain’s undoing. And then what would M say?

And, of course, there’s also a commercial aspect to the decision. James Bond is an incredible money spinner, the franchise took nearly $1bn in worldwide box-office takings for the last film, Spectre. With countries starting to crack down on public gatherings (many Chinese cinemas have already closed) there is a real expectation that No Time To Die’s takings could be significantly dented.

Of course it’s disappointing to everyone excited about

But the silver lining is that good things really do come to those who wait. The anticipation and hype will now continue for another nine months and the 25th Bond film will be a huge Christmas success!

 

Just one person, who may not even show symptoms, could infect the rest of the audience

Want to receive more great articles like this every day? Join our daily email now