Bond 25 has been moved once again. This time it was pushed from February 14, 2020 to April 8, 2020.
So, if you were planning to take your Special Someone to see the next James Bond movie next Valentine's Day, it's back to flowers and candy for you. Or it's back to the Disney film that's supposed to be opening that day. Or it's back for another viewing of the DCEU's Birds of Prey.
This is just the latest date change for what is expected to be Daniel Craig's final movie as James Bond. Production was supposed to start in December 2018 with a release date of November 8, 2019 in the U.S. But some twists entered the story through director Danny Boyle quitting from creative differences. Cary Joji Fukunaga was hired as the new director, with production rescheduled to start on March 4, 2019 for a release date of Valentine's Day 2020. But that was just recently changed to April 8, 2020.
April 8, 2020 is actually a Wednesday, the Wednesday before Easter weekend. So that gives Bond 25 -- or whatever it will eventually be a titled -- a headstart for a long opening weekend at the box office. In semi-related news, Fast and Furious 9 recently vacated its April 10, 2020 opening, moving to Memorial Day 2020.
Right now, there doesn't seem to be much competition for Bond 25 on April 8. That should change, but it was probably smart to leave February 2020.
Right now, Warner Bros. has Harley Quinn's Birds of Prey opening February 7, 2020, a week before Bond's previous release date. There's also an Untitled Disney Live Action movie opening February 14, 2020. You might think Disney and Bond don't have much overlap, and you might be right, but better to find some fresh air away from the current releases.
All of this could change in the next year, maybe even next week. Keeping up with movie release date changes is a full-time job, and it wouldn't be shocking if studios lost track of their own releases themselves. In this day and age, just getting a theatrical release date vs. going straight to Netflix or VOD is a win.
Bond 25 will definitely be coming to theaters, and it sounds like it'll still be in 2020. This film will follow Daniel Craig's Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), and Spectre (2015). From what little we know of Bond 25, it sounds like director Cary Fukunaga plans to continue the Bond character arc that started with Casino Royale.
It's not clear yet which past characters will return, but apparently Cary Fukunaga plans to bring back Lea Seydoux's Dr. Madeline Swann, Ralph Fiennes's M, Ben Whishaw's Q, and Naomie Harris' Moneypenny, among others. With filming set to start in March, we should get some confirmed answers very soon.
So Bond 25 is currently opening April 8, 2020, but let's see what happens from here. For now, bookmark our 2019 movie release date schedule to keep up with everything coming out this year.
