No Time to Die to run about 3 hours, Mail says

No Time to Die teaser poster

No Time to Die’s running time will be about three hours, the Mail on Sunday said, citing a source it didn’t identify.

The current running time is two hours and 54 minutes “though it may get even longer,” the Mail said. The 25th James Bond film still is in post production.

The Mail’s source said script pages were being added during filming and that principal photography went longer than scheduled.

There’s been a buzz for a while that No Time to Die will be the longest in the series made by Eon Productions.

The MI6 James Bond website published a Jan. 17 story that detailed how some theaters were being told to expect a 174-minute running time. Anton Volkov, founder of TrailerTrack (@antovolk) has tweeted such information, such as THIS JAN. 16 TWEET and THIS JAN. 22 TWEET.

The running time of Bond films has expanded during the era of star Daniel Craig. Only 2008’s Quantum of Solace had a running time under two hours. The rest — Casino Royale, Skyfall and SPECTRE — all have been well over two hours.

No Time to Die will be released April 2 in the U.K. and April 10 in the U.S.

Aston Martin’s bailout and auto industry uncertainty

Iconic publicity still for Goldfinger with Sean Connery leaning against the Aston Martin DB5.

Aston Martin, the niche British sports car maker, this week got a bailout. But the preferred ride of the movie James Bond demonstrated just how unsettled the global auto industry is.

Aston Martin got a rescue valued at 500 million British pounds ($656 million) according to CNN.

Billionaire Lawrence Strollis leading a group that will pay 182 million pounds ($239 million) while Aston Martin will issue another 318 million pounds ($417 million).

However things turn out for Aston Martin, the U.K. company is a runt among global automakers. Meanwhile, much larger automakers with greater resources are confronting much uncertainty.

China, the world’s largest auto market, wants automakers to move away from the internal combustion engine that has powered cars and trucks since the start of the 20th century. The European Union is moving in a similar direction. The U.S. wants to ease regulations. It’s a very complicated situation for automakers.

On top of that, self-driving vehicles are supposed to be the next big thing in the auto industry. Making that practical will require billions of dollars in investment.

The global auto industry faces much uncertainty. Some familiar brand names may disappear as things shake out.

Still, there’s little argument that Aston Martin is struggling. Even automakers far larger than Aston Martin don’t really know what’s next.

Put another way, enjoy Aston Martin in No Time to Die. By the time Bond 26 comes out (whenever that is) the global auto industry may look a lot different than right now.