No Time to Die has been pushed back again. The 25th entry in the James Bond franchise is now scheduled to be released in theaters on Oct. 8, IndieWire reports.
No Time to Die was originally slated for a April 2020 release, but like nearly every 2020 film except for a select few, including Tenet, it was delayed. An optimistic November date was set, but that didn't go as planned either. It was moved again to April 2, 2021.
In the midst of these constant release date changes, MGM screened the film for streaming services with an asking price of $600 million. According to Deadline, none of the streamers offered even half of that amount. MGM's pursuit of a lucrative haul for the film comes at a time where the studio was rumored to be close to filing for bankruptcy.
Given that the Bond franchise is already a tent-pole for MGM that could fetch in the upward nine-figures in a thriving theater business, the studio needed this film to succeed financially, but the pandemic was standing in its way. Since it's also going to be Daniel Craig's last turn as Bond, MGM was likely banking on this known fact adding to its appeal.
Another motivation for MGM to squeeze as much money out of No Time to Die is that the film had a reported $250 million budget, making it the most expensive Bond film ever. This, of course, doesn't take into account the money that went into marketing the film. With all that in mind, you can understand why MGM needs to somehow turn a significant profit.
The Cary Joji Fukunaga-directed film finds Bond living a normal life in Jamaica when he's visited by Felix Leiter, an old friend from the CIA, who needs his help. Bond returns to duty to save a kidnapped scientist, but discovers that there's more to this mission than he had expected.
