The release of the upcoming James Bond film, "No Time to Die," has been pushed back from April 2020 to November 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Instead, the 25th installment in the British spy franchise will hit theaters in the U.K on Nov. 12 and in the U.S. on Nov. 25. It's the first Hollywood film to change its release schedule due to the virus.
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"MGM, Universal and Bond producers, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, announced today that after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace, the release of NO TIME TO DIE will be postponed until November 2020," a statement from the movie's official Twitter read.
"No Time to Die" was originally scheduled for a March 31 world premiere in London and a North American debut on April 10.
The Bond films make a significant portion of their profits from international markets. The last film, “Spectre,” made over $679 million from overseas theaters in 2015 with over $84 million of that total coming from China.
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Concerns had already been brewing around the imminent release and the global outbreak. Publicity plans in China, Japan, and South Korea had previously been canceled. And on Monday, the popular James Bond fan site MI6-HQ published an open letter to the producers urging them to delay the film's rollout.
“It is time to put public health above marketing release schedules and the cost of canceling publicity events,” the letter said.
Daniel Craig is James Bond in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions’ action adventure SPECTRE. (Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions)
Hollywood film release and production schedules have already been affected by the outbreak. Last week, Paramount Pictures halted production on the seventh “Mission: Impossible” film, which had been scheduled to shoot in Venice, Italy. The studio also postponed the Chinese release of “Sonic the Hedgehog.”
The coronavirus outbreak emerged in China and has spread globally. In all, more than 94,000 people have contracted the virus worldwide, with more than 3,200 deaths.
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"No Time to Die" is Daniel Craig's last movie as 007. It also stars Lea Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes, and Christoph Waltz. Oscar-winner Rami Malek joined the cast as Bond's next nemesis along with franchise newcomers Ana de Armas and Lashana Lynch.
The film was directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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