The upcoming James Bond film No Time to Die has been pushed back yet again, with its release date moved from April 2 to Oct. 8.

The news comes from Variety, who had speculated recently that No Time to Die would struggle to make a profit with an April release, given the climate of COVID-19-era moviegoing: As of that report, 65 percent of U.S. theaters remained closed, while vaccine rollout continues to progress slowly.

"Both F9 and No Time to Die are reliant on worldwide grosses, particularly in Asia where action franchises are especially popular," the publication wrote. "Since their respective studios sink a dizzying number of marketing dollars into global promotional efforts, the companies will have to make a decision by the end of January to avoid dropping unnecessary expenses. Should those titles get postponed again, studios may eye the holiday 2021 corridor in hopes of steering away from the COVID-19 crisis once and for all."

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The series' 25th title, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and starring Daniel Craig in his final Bond role, was originally scheduled for a November 2019 release. But, like many other major films, it was postponed multiple times — first due to the departure of original director/co-writer Danny Boyle, then due to the pandemic. The date moved from February 2020 to April 2020, then to November 2020, then to April 2021.

According to an earlier Variety report, before delaying No Time to Die, MGM Chairman Kevin Ulrich spoke to both Netflix and Apple in "exploratory talks" about selling them the film or licensing it to them exclusively for one year. The studio was reportedly unable to agree with either on financial terms.

 

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