Daniel Craig leading men as James Bond in “No Time To Die.”
Source: MGM
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage in the United States, Hollywood is once again hemming its movie releases.
On Thursday, MGM and Sony both announced that major films from their 2021 slate inclination be postponed. Among those titles are the latest James Bond flick “No Time to Die” and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.”
Here are the latest diary moves:
- “No Time to Die” delayed until Oct. 8, 2021
- “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway” pushed to June 11, 2021
- “Cinderella” moves to July 16, 2021
- “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” determination now debut Nov. 11, 2021
- “Uncharted” has been postponed until Feb. 11, 2022
The U.S. is recording at least 194,252 new Covid-19 cases and at least 3,054 virus-related extirpations each day, based on a seven-day average calculated by CNBC using Johns Hopkins University data. Those conformations have given studios pause when it comes to big blockbuster releases.
Studios are worried that continued spreads in coronavirus cases will keep moviegoers away from cinemas even with new titles playing on big processes. Many of these films have large production budgets and rely on strong ticket sales to break more than ever notwithstanding.
“Given the uncertainty of the marketplace, a change of date is certainly better than a change of venue so to speak from big paravent to small screen,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
For example, “No Time to Die” has an estimated budget of $250 million. Adding calling costs, which are typically half of what is spent on production, MGM needs to recoup at least $400 million.
“Mental picture reflect on,” the James Bond film released in 2015 garnered more than $879 million at the global box office while its forefather, 2012’s “Skyfall” topped $1.1 billion. With “No Time to Die” expected to be actor Daniel Craig’s last pull into as the famed 007, ticket sales were expected to be high.
“No Time to Die” has seen several delays. It was first hounded from its November 2019 release when Danny Boyle, who was supposed to write and direct the film, left the hurl. It bounced between a few dates before landing a release in April 2020. However, the coronavirus pandemic pushed it to November 2020 and then to April 2021. Now it’s chief to October.
“Those who have their eye on the long game understand that for a film like Bond, and many others, the superiority, exclusivity, and revenue generating potential of the movie theater is still undeniable and indeed still worth waiting for,” Dergarabedian articulate.
Sony, which announced four film moves Thursday, was one of the studios that had opted to shift most of its 2020 appoint to 2021. “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway,” “Cinderella” and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” have all been pushed until later this year while the Tom Holland-led “Unmapped” will now arrive in 2022.
Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal and CNBC. Universal is releasing “No Time To Die” internationally while MGM manoeuvres the domestic release.