The studios behind the upcoming James Bond film, “No Time to Die,” found themselves in a pretty terrible position this week. With coronavirus continuing to spread with containment unlikely anytime soon, do you release the potential $1 billion film (with theaters around the world beginning to close their doors due to the outbreak) or do you move the film to a later date and hope everything gets worked out by then? As we know, the folks involved chose the latter, and apparently, it’s going to cost them a pretty penny.
READ MORE: ‘No Time To Die’ Delayed Until November Due To Coronavirus Impact
According to THR, MGM is expecting to lose somewhere between $30 million and $50 million due to the decision to move “No Time to Die” from its April release date to November, right before Thanksgiving. The expense comes as the studio was already well into its marketing campaign for the film, which included spending upwards of $4.5 million on a Super Bowl ad back in February.
However, despite that massive loss, the studio is probably happy to take the hit, as some analysts think that “No Time to Die” could have suffered a global box office loss of 30% according to estimates being lowered due to affected areas, such as China, not being able to support the film. And if “No Time to Die” is expected to creep near $1 billion (“Spectre” earned more than $880 million five years ago), then a 30% decrease is a lot worse than “wasting” $50 million right now.
So, despite $50 million seeming like a huge amount of money, it’s clear why the decision was made to move the film 7 months to Thanksgiving. But right now, we just have to deal with the awkwardness of seeing the beginnings of a Bond marketing campaign with no film to show for it. All those cover stories in the trades, the ads on TV, and more seemingly for nothing. Oh, and let’s not forget that Daniel Craig is hosting “Saturday Night Live” tomorrow…promoting a film that’s coming in November.
Oh well. Consider this a sneak preview.