'No Time To Die' Will Maintain Its Oct. 8 Release Date: Here's Why

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

A couple of weeks ago, the movie community took an anxious deep breath as Sony Pictures announced they were delaying Venom: Let There Be Carnage by three weeks from September 24 to October 15. Given that it seemed Hollywood was finally resuming normal business, an ugly reminder of our harsh reality popped back up. Three weeks isn’t all that long though, right? What’s the big deal? Well, apparently Sony is going to push the film into January 21, 2022, taking the release date of Morbius, according to recent reports.

Now, if that does happen, the future of the fall movie slate will start to feel quite dicey again as fans are left wondering what other blockbusters will be delayed into 2022 and beyond. One movie that won’t be delayed, though, is the long-awaited No Time To Die.

During their presentation at CinemaCon this week, MGM’s Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy confirmed that the film would be maintaining its current October 8 release date. Phewwww.

“We know it’s been a long wait,” De Luca said. “Trust us, we felt it too. But the wait is nearly over. Obviously we’re beyond thrilled to be joining with our friends and producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, and our incredible director, Cary Fukunaga, all of whom value and worship the theatrical experience with everybody in this room.”

De Luca said the filmmakers “are all bringing Daniel Craig’s final performance of James Bond to the theaters this fall. And we can’t wait for audiences to see the remarkable way he’s closing out his legacy with this film. This man leaves it all on the field.” He added that the film is “going to blow your mind.” [via EW]

As for why No Time To Die is holding firm, the studio simply cannot afford to eat the costs of another marketing push, as the film has already been delayed multiple times. Back in March 2020, it was the first major film to delay its release date: following an initial delay to November 2020, the film was then pushed to April 2021, and then finally October 8. Bond is easily the biggest ticket in MGM’s library and in order for it to remain a profitable film, as some point, they’re going to have to stop sinking money into it. October 8 seems to be that point.

Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (True Detective, Maniac), No Time To Die will see Daniel Craig portray famed MI6 secret agent 007 for the final time. In addition to Craig, No Time To Die also stars Rami Malek as the film’s main villain, Christoph Waltz as Blofeld, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Rory Kinnear, Jeffrey Wright, Léa Seydoux, Ana de Armas, and Lashana Lynch.