No Time To Die delay costs James Bond movie studio $30 million
The movie was postponed by seven months due to the coronavirus outbreak
Delaying the release of No Time To Die by seven months will cost MGM between $30-50 million, sources say.
The upcoming James Bond film was originally due for release on 3rd April, but is now not expected to hit cinemas until October in the UK and November in other countries.
The decision was made in light of the coronavirus outbreak currently affecting several nations around the world, leading to the closure of 70,000 cinemas in China and more than 800 in Italy.
These developments would have significantly limited the film's potential box office gross, but pushing No Time To Die so dramatically came with its own substantial cost.
The Hollywood Reporter has learned that MGM, the film studio that releases the James Bond films, will lose anywhere between $30-50 million out of the move.
This money was spent on marketing for the film's initially planned release in April, which will now have to be scrapped and rolled out again in the lead up to its new November date.
This cost will be on top of the film's existing production budget, thought to be around $250 million, making it easily one of the most expensive films of the year.
No Time To Die is Daniel Craig's final performance as Bond and is likely to be a strong performer for that reason, expected to post a comparable number to Skyfall's $1.2 billion gross and Spectre's $880 million.
No Time To Die arrives in cinemas on 26th October 2020
Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.