Did you feel like the excitement surrounding No Time To Die was getting a little too hopeful? Maybe those claims that the film was going to absolutely, positively be out in November seemed a little too optimistic for your liking? Or maybe you were just thinking that the 25th James Bond movie could have used another delay, for the safety and well-being of its fans. Well, no matter what your feelings were, No Time To Die's theatrical release has been delayed yet again, with a new slot opening in spring 2021.
Per an official statement by the powers that be, the hotly anticipated end to Daniel Craig’s tenure as 007 is now going to debut on April 2, 2021. Take a look at the official statement below.
For those of you keeping score at home, this puts this high stakes action-adventure tale on an opening date almost a year later than the finished product was intended to debut. In a shocking twist of fate, it also puts the film in direct competition with another huge debut that’s scheduled to come from its co-distributor, Universal Pictures, as that’s the day that F9 is supposed to drop.
For some, this writing seemed to have been on the wall for some time. Between whispers as early as this summer that No Time To Die could be moved into a blockbuster season slot in 2021, and Universal pushing The Croods: A New Age into a newer, earlier release date that was within striking distance of when No Time To Die was going to be unfurled upon the world, this sort of play did feel like a viable option. The optimistic parties in the world probably thought that the studio was trying to take advantage of the lack of competition in the theaters, as well as Universal’s new deal with AMC that allowed films to run for 17 days before going to premium VOD. Now the cards are on the table, and we’ll have to wait about five more months before James Bond gets to tangle with Safin, over a mysterious plot we still have very few clues about.
Undoubtedly, the move to April 2021 is something that partially was made to ensure No Time To Die can be released in as many theaters as possible, as the limited capacity theaters are running at right now would put some additional pressure on the film’s performance. But also, with the fans questioning whether or not they’d want to go out to the theater to see a James Bond movie in these conditions, it’s a fair guess that those concerns were a major factor in this decision as well. Needless to say, we’ll have more on this situation as it develops, and for the time being, No Time To Die and F9 will now be released on April 2, 2021.
But as always, James Bond will return to CinemaBlend; and when stuff like this happens, we’ll be sure to update our 2021 release schedule to reflect the ever changing landscape of the theatrical world.
