HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO
As the payoff line always goes: ‘James Bond Will Return’. Although even the most ardent fans of Ian Fleming’s MI6 agent must’ve started to wonder exactly when. When No Time To Die was postponed in March 2020 just weeks ahead of its global release, due to the escalating coronavirus pandemic and imminent closure of cinemas around the world, it sent shockwaves through the industry. A Bond movie is an event, after all. Especially one that marks Daniel Craig’s final outing as 007.
“As early as January, and especially all through February we were really monitoring it closely,” notes NTTD director Cary Joji Fukunaga – the first ever American to helm a Bond movie. Filming had only just wrapped in October 2019, but it was on course for its April release, until the agonising decision to delay was taken, making it one of the first blockbusters to postpone in the pandemic. “I think it was pretty clear that we had to do it and that other people would do it,” reflects producer Michael G. Wilson. “It was inevitable.”
Since then, has been on ice. With Covid cases swelling, the initial November 2020 re-date was pushed to April 2021, causing consternation as reports emerged almost immediately that the Cineworld chain – banking on the Bond cash-cow – was set to permanently close some venues, struggling as it was with a dearth before it, this 25th Bond outing was being viewed as the saviour of cinema – a mission, perhaps, too great even for James Bond. By January of this year, the film was postponed again, this time settling for an autumn 2021 release. Third time lucky?
