No Time to Die, the 25th installment of the James Bond franchise, is pushing back its planned theatrical release date in response to the novel coronavirus outbreak. Originally scheduled to premiere in April, the film will now skip the spring and summer entirely and come to theaters on November 12th in the UK and on the 25th in the United States.
As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, MGM had already canceled publicity tours and other events for No Time to Die as the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, began to take hold. MGM, alongside Bond producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, said the decision to postpone the release altogether came “after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace.”
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. pic.twitter.com/a9h1RP5OKd
No Time to Die becomes the first major Hollywood flick to be pushed back as countries and scientists work to slow the transmission of the novel coronavirus. A Bond fan blog, MI-6 HQ, recently published an open letter — “No Time for Indecision” — requesting that the film’s release be delayed. “The health and well-being of fans around the world, and their families, is more important,” the site wrote, also noting that moving forward with an April release could be disastrous for box office performance. Movie theaters in countries heavily stricken by outbreaks have been temporarily closed.
Other high-profile upcoming theatrical releases include Disney’s Mulan later this month, with Black Widow and F9 both following in May, so MGM might not be alone in switching up plans in the interest of keeping audiences safe. Over 90,000 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed globally, with over 3,000 deaths resulting from the disease.
EXCLUSIVE: With the coronavirus socking it to the Asian box office, Deadline has learned that MGM, Eon and Universal are postponing the next James Bond movie, No Time to Die from its UK and international release date of April 2 and its U.S. Easter weekend global day-and-date of April 10, and moving the 25th 007 movie to Nov. 25, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
“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. The film will be released in the U.K. on November 12, 2020 with worldwide release dates to follow, including the U.S. launch on November 25, 2020,” said a statement given exclusively to Deadline by the three studios.
That date brings Bond back to November, which is a season he’s launched from largely going back to 1995’s Goldeneye (except for Tomorrow Never Dies which opened in the U.S/Canada on Dec. 19, 1997). No Time to Die will now face off on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving with Warner Bros. Will Smith King Richard, Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon, and Sony’s comedy The Happiest Season.
This is purely an economic decision we understand, and not one based on growing fears over the coronavirus. Bond is a day-and-date worldwide release, and with the franchise back in the hands of MGM fully post Sony’s distribution of the last four Daniel Craig movies, along with Universal, all parties involved need to have all foreign territories working at their maximum in order for the latest Bond to be a continued box office success. For a tentpole of this size and scope, that kind of decrease in business would have a significant and detrimental impact on the film’s ultimate global take.
I’ve heard that the move for No Time to Die should not be perceived as a concern about the safety of theaters outside of areas where public health officials have restricted or recommended against attending public events.
All together, the last four Craig 007 movies – Spectre, Skyfall, Quantum of Solace and Casino Royale — have grossed $3.2B in the overall near $7B franchise, with Skyfall being the highest grossing pic of all-time in the 58-year-old series at a whopping $1.1B. Failing at the box office is not an option for Mr. Bond, and for the studios to stick to their original release plan would be a disservice to their partners in exhibition.
Get ready for a big domino effect when it comes to rival studios following MGM/Eon/Universal’s example in re-scheduling their day-and-date event pics. It’s best to wait out the resurgence of key Asian offshore territories, if you have a major event pic on your schedule. No Time to Die, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, leaves behind a very lucrative Easter weekend period that’s up for grabs. How much does Easter weekend stand to make? The 2015 and 2016 holidays delivered back-to-back record openings with Uni’s Furious 7 ($161.2M) and Warner Bros.’ Batman v Superman ($181M) driving respective weekend grosses for all titles to $247.1M and an all-time Easter high of $278.5M Stateside.
However, ever since China shuttered its exhibition structure due to the coronavirus outbreak, MGM, Eon and Uni have been in a wait and see mode. With theaters closing across Korea, Japan, Italy and France, there was a clear need to push the release of No Time to Die. The studios have been closely monitoring the coronavirus outbreak like many other companies, and have seen a significant impact on the global market with all industries facing difficult decisions during these uncertain times.
China alone is poised to lose more than $2 billion since shutting 70K theaters this year. The release dates for Universal’s Dolittle and 1917, Searchlight Pictures’ Jojo Rabbit, Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog, and Pixar’s Onward have all been postponed indefinitely. For the period of Jan. 1-March 3, Comscore reports that South Korea’s box office is -60%, Italy’s is off 70-75% with roughly half of its cinemas closed (through we’ve heard that’s bound to improve by this weekend), Taiwan is down 30% year on year, along with Singapore (-35%), Philippines (-35%) and Hong Kong (-55%). In total, the global box office is expected to see at least a $5B hit in 2020.
Recent Bond movies have typically had their openings staggered around the globe over two weekends, with initial debut in the UK and select territories, followed by the U.S. and other offshore markets.
For example, when 2015’s Spectre opened in the U.S. to $70.4M, it added 71 markets in its second foreign weekend for a take of $117.38M, bringing its overseas cume to $219.22M and WW haul to $289.6M.
When Skyfall opened to a franchise domestic record of $88.3M in Nov. 2012, the pic’s running overseas tally was at $428.6M, bringing its global take to $516.9M (all numbers unadjusted for inflation).
Uni has No Time to Die all over the world sans some legacy MGM markets, i.e Nordic territories and the Middle East which are being sub-distributed. A UK world premiere was scheduled for Monday, March 30. Originally No Time to Die was to go April 2 and 3 in UK & Ireland, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Serbia, Slovenia, India, South Africa, and Turkey. Then in sync with U.S, the following overseas markets were to open on April 8-10: Australia & NZ, Belgium, France, Italy, Russia, Ukraine, Baltics, Indonesia, Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, and All of Latin America
The decision to movie No Time to Die, we hear, was fully supported by everyone involved with the movie.
One year after he revealed he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, Jeopardy host Alex Trebek has updated fans on his condition while revealing new details about his mental and physical struggles.
"The one-year survival rate for stage 4 pancreatic cancer is 18%," Trebek said in a video posted on social media on Wednesday. "I'm very happy to report I have just reached that marker."
The longtime game show host told the public in March 2019 that he was undergoing treatment for cancer, with a stage 4 diagnosis indicating it had spread beyond his pancreas. But he vowed at the time to "beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease."
In his video on Wednesday, Trebek was candid about his experiences undergoing treatment.
"Now I'd be lying if I said the journey had been an easy one," he said on Wednesday. "There were some good days but a lot of not-so-good days. I joked with friends that the cancer won't kill me; the chemo treatments will."
"There were moments of great pain, days when certain bodily functions no longer functioned, and sudden, massive attacks of great depression that made me wonder if it really was worth fighting on," he said.
But Trebek said he "brushed that aside quickly" because he didn't want to betray his wife, "who has given her all to help me survive."
"It would have been a betrayal of other cancer patients who have looked to me as an inspiration and a cheerleader of sorts of the value of living and hope," he added. "And it would certainly have been a betrayal of my faith in God and the millions of prayers that have been said on my behalf."
A spokesperson for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network said in a statement that Trebek's openness about his disease had "transformed the conversation around pancreatic cancer and provided hope to people impacted by the disease."
This isn't the first time Trebek has been brutally honest about his treatment. Last year, he revealed to Good Morning America that he was often experiencing deep bouts of depression.
In his latest video, Trebek said he is doing his best to stay positive.
Referring to a discussion with his oncologist, he said they were working to ensure he is still alive in another year.
"If we take it one day at a time with a positive attitude," he said, "anything is possible."
Alex Trebek says he almost gave up on life during his battle with cancer, but he's glad he didn't and is celebrating a huge milestone.
The beloved "Jeopardy!" host just gave an update on his health, and there's good news. The one-year survival rate for stage 4 pancreatic cancer is only 18%, but Alex just crossed the 1-year mark!!!
He says he's had good days and bad days and joked that he tells friends the cancer won't kill him but the chemo probably will. He says he's experienced great pain and many of his bodily functions went haywire.
Most ominous ... Alex says he had extreme bouts of depression during his treatments "that made me wonder if it was really worth fighting on." Scary words, but he says he realized giving up on life would be a betrayal to his wife, God and other cancer patients.
As you know ... Trebek is in the midst of the fight of his life, battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Last May, Alex revealed his tumors had shrunk by more than 50 percent, and in September he announced he was undergoing more chemotherapy.
Though the past year's been incredibly trying, he's been hanging in there and fulfilling his hosting duties as planned ... possibly better than evertoo.
This included January's 'Greatest of All Time' tournament, which really seemed to lift his spirits, and he's showing no signs of slowing down.
In fact, our "Jeopardy!" sources tell us tickets to the show to see Alex are so hot right now ... they're booked up through April.
Trebek's also been staying busy away from the game show -- he just donated $100k to the Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission to help out with L.A.'s homelessness crisis.
As for the future ... Alex says the 2-year survival rate is only 7%, but his oncologist told him he's sure a year from now the two would be celebrating.
Ben Affleck owes fellow actor Adam Driver big time after saving his 8-year-old son Samuel's birthday.
During Tuesday's episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Affleck recounted the ordeal, explaining that Samuel is a huge Kylo Ren fan, the character Driver plays in the "Star Wars" franchise.
After rushing back to Los Angeles from work in London for the birthday party, Affleck found out from someone he works with that the presents he ordered for his son didn't arrive yet.
"So it meant I had to show up to my son's party with no gift for him. And there was this sort of sinking, awful feeling," he said. "And then he goes, 'But, there is something! Adam heard it was your son's birthday. So he called your assistant and got your address and sent some presents, and signed a card and a picture from Kylo Ren.' ... So I took those presents and went to see my son."
Affleck said Driver had also previously agreed to record a birthday message for the super fan.
"I watched him open all the other presents, and then I said, 'Sam, my presents didn't get here on time. But I did get a present from somebody who really wanted to make sure you got a gift,' and he was like, 'Who?' And I said, 'Kylo Ren,' " Affleck shared.
He continued, "He opened the presents, I played him the video of Kylo Ren, and it was an incredibly moving and powerful moment. Adam made me a hero to my kid, and I will never, ever, ever forget that."
Affleck couldn't praise Driver enough, adding that his gesture "meant the (expletive) world to me."
Affleck said being there for his son's birthday was especially important to him as a "divorced dad," who only gets "half the time" with his son.
Affleck shares Samuel with ex-wife Jennifer Garner. The pair were married from 2005 to 2018. They also share daughter Violet, 14 and Seraphina, 11.
Affleck recently spoke to USA TODAY while promoting his new movie “The Way Back," where he plays a former high school basketball star who returns to his alma mater as the team's head coach.
“The greatest fiction of this movie is that at any time I was a great basketball star in high school,” Affleck joked. “I am not a great athlete; never been my thing. I mean, I can hit a little bit; I can play a little baseball, but I’ve always been interested in acting and that’s kind of what I’ve dedicated my time to.”
Contributing: Ralphie Aversa
Ben Affleck: 'I have completed treatment for alcohol addiction'
More: Jennifer Garner recalls being 'surrounded by paparazzi' while married to Ben Affleck
For the past few years, Ben Affleck has been defined not so much by his professional output but by a single paparazzi photo from 2018. In it, he’s standing on an overcast beach with a towel wrapped around his stomach as he gives a thousand-yard stare into the surf; it was described much more evocatively around that time in a New Yorkeressay entitled “The Great Sadness of Ben Affleck.” The combination of his noticeably huskier physique, his Ed Hardy fresco of a back tattoo, and his expression of utter despondence turned him into an instant meme. No matter that it was relatively public knowledge he was on some serious skids, having recently separated from wife Jennifer Garner and rumored to be grappling with a drinking problem. “Sadfleck,” a tragicomic avatar of soured masculinity, was born.
In Gavin O’Connor’s unaccountably strong new drama The Way Back, Affleck plays Jack Cunningham, a man not so far removed from this warped-mirror image of himself. He’s a high-functioning alcoholic who’s gotten the hang of concealing his protective shell of perpetual tipsiness. Between his morning shower-beer, his discreet plastic-cup commute beer, several on-the-job beers at a construction site, and his nightly stupor at the neighborhood watering hole, he can keep himself sufficiently sedated from one day to the next. Affleck performs drunkenness with conviction and specificity, all too aware that verisimilitude won’t come from the right speech-slurring. The brilliance lies in the little grace notes that feel painfully true, like how he taps a finger on the can before popping a beer, sometimes with the nail and sometimes with the side of his thumb, or his method of loading each successive beer into the freezer, replacing it with the next on deck when he grabs the last.
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Between the known metatext and Affleck’s bone-deep commitment, this moving central performance largely purges the film of its high potential for the maudlin. O’Connor and cowriter Brad Inglesby take care of the rest, exercising admirable restraint as they stoke pathos and send their man down the road to redemption, a path often paved with over-the-top contrivances. Their trick is to approach the inspirational sports picture without irony and with great tact, embracing an inherent sentimentality while avoiding every cornball pitfall. (Jack’s rock bottom doesn’t go too far down, for example.) It’s a reminder that the most trite material—in this case, getting a second chance at making good—can be powerful when handled honestly.
Jack’s comfortable numbness gets disrupted by the reluctant agreement to coach his old high school’s basketball team, a scrappy underdog crew that’s seen better days. Though the metaphor may be a groaner, their shot at a comeback syncs up with Jack’s unobtrusively, right down to the deft withholding of the final shot. The obligatory ex-wife (Janina Gavankar) is spared most of the usual histrionics and other indignities, allowed instead to join Jack in his pain once its unspeakable cause has been revealed. As his sidekick, a bespectacled assistant coach/math teacher with a mind for stats, Al Madrigal gets to do some actorly heavy lifting and rises to the task. In one of the more affecting shots, Affleck drifts through the foreground of a frame that stays on Madrigal as he telegraphs the resignation that Jack’s beyond his help.
O’Connor, whose experience in the genre includes such well-received dramas as Warrior and Miracle, gets a lot done in long takes. The standout is Jack’s eventual breakthrough in rehab; in another timeline, that’s Affleck’s Oscar reel, the scene clinching his reentry to Hollywood and the public’s good graces. He’ll just have to settle for the knowledge that this showing can stand comparison with his best. It makes a compelling argument for movie stardom as a potent force of audience association and identification. We shed the inevitable eye-water because it’s Ben Affleck up there, a living person with whom we’ve cultivated a relationship over two-plus decades onscreen. O’Connor leaves Affleck high above the ocean, on a basketball court overlooking an idyllic shore. In one shot, we can see just how high he’s risen since that day at the beach.
The Duke of Cambridge made a lighthearted remark during his trip to Ireland on Tuesday.
While attending a reception at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin, the 37-year-old royal recalled how Queen Elizabeth II had visited the same spot back in 2011. At the time, Her Majesty had been shown how to pour the "perfect pint." Now, William said he and Kate Middleton were "retracing the footsteps" of his grandmother.
"Now, ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you it is not often that I find myself following The Queen to a pub," he quipped. "But I am looking forward to testing for myself the theory that Guinness tastes even better in Ireland than overseas."
Taking a "slightly more serious note," William then thanked the attendees for coming to the reception, which was hosted by the British ambassador of Ireland, and thanked them for "all that you do to support the very special relationship between our two countries."
On Wednesday, Kensington Palace's official Twitter account shared a clip of William's speech in which he mentions The Queen. The Royal Family's official Twitter account, which posts content from Buckingham Palace about the work and activities of The Queen and other royals, was also tagged. It wasn't long before it received a reply.
"Cheers!" a tweet from the Royal Family's account stated along with a beer emoji.
During the reception, William and Kate also met with representatives from Irish sport, film and television, business, charity and education sectors and tried some Guinness. The Duchess of Cambridge wore a gorgeous green dress by The Vampire's Wife. In fact, it was the same design Princess Beatrice had worn to Ellie Goulding's wedding in 2019.
William and Kate have certainly had a full itinerary this trip. In addition to attending the reception, they met with the president of Ireland Michael D. Higgins and his wife Sabina. They also visited the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin and rang the Peace Bell. In addition, they met with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Today, they're making more stops, including visiting Jigsaw, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health.
