James Bond ‘No Time to Die’ could lose $50M with coronavirus delay
MGM's move of the big budget film from April to November could be the first of many in Hollywood
Morning Business Outlook: MGM Universal Studios is delaying the release of the upcoming James Bond movie 'No Time to Die' amid coronavirus fears; United Airlines plans to reduce passenger-carrying capacity 20 percent on international routes and 10 percent on domestic flights.
MGM could lose $ 30-$50 million dollars after opting to move its upcoming James Bond film "No Time to Die" from its upcoming April 10th release date to November due to the impact the coronavirus is having on the global movie business.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, a key reason for the loss is because the studio has already spent a significant amount of money on the marketing of the Daniel Craig spy flick including a $4.5 million Super Bowl TV ad that ran in February.
The move did satisfy the wish of several fans. The website MI6-HQ.com petitioned EON Productions, MGM and Universal Pictures to reconsider the release noting the public health concerns of traveling to the theater amid the coronavirus outbreak.
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MGM was likely staring at a major loss if it would have held the release date as the outbreak shows no signs of slowing and the film due in theaters in four weeks. The budget for "No Time to Die" is in line with recent Bond films at an estimated $245 million. With movie theaters in the world second-biggest movie market -- China -- shuttered and those in Japan and Italy barely in business, the film was looking at losing some $51 million in ticket sales for the opening weekend in those three countries alone based on the opening for "Spectre" in 2015.
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"No Time to Die," which is the final outing of Daniel Craig as 007, was set to launch its world premiere in London on March 31. However, Craig is still slated to host "Saturday Night Live" this weekend -- part of the MGM's marketing push. "SNL" could possibly rerun the episode in November.
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