Bond 25 questions: Another delay (?) edition

New (well, tweaked) No Time to Die character poster

There is a report (via the MI6 James Bond website) that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Universal are seriously considering pushing back No Time to Die’s release to the summer of 2021.

The movie currently has a November release date. This week’s news follows a series of delays in the release date for the 25th James Bond film.

Naturally, the blog has some questions.

Can’t the movie come out on a video on demand (VOD) format?

There’s not enough cash involved to make a profit on a movie that cost $250 million (give or take a million or two) to make.

Such expensive movies need to have as many revenue sources as possible. And for a pricey film like No Time to Die, that means a theatrical release — whenever it can happen.

Meanwhile, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (the Bond franchise’s home studio) doesn’t have deep pockets.

Maybe a big studio can roll the dice and put a “tentpole” movie out first on VOD. But MGM ain’t it.

But I’m 60 or older and am among the most vulnerable to COVID-19. Why can’t we go ahead with VOD?

Studios don’t care about you. Neither do advertisers or most marketers (except for makers of catheters or other products intended for older people).

Put another way, once you hit 50 years old, you’re nothing to them.

Who do they care about?

Younger people who have to buy a lot more products than their parents and grandparents. In the case of movie studios, younger people are more likely to see movies.

But I’m a long-time fan! I’ve followed Bond for decades!

See answer for question 2.

Isn’t that a cynical outlook?

The studio bosses don’t think so. That’s the way it is.

MGM, Universal consider 2021 NTTD date, MI6 says

No Time to Die poster

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Universal are considering pushing No Time to Die’s release date to a “Summer 2021 release window,” the MI6 James Bond website said.

A decision on such a move “will be due soon,” the website reported.

The 25th James Bond film currently is scheduled for November after a delay from April.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has jumbled movie release schedules. Films such as Tenet, a new Christopher Nolan movie, have had multiple release dates.

In March, when the decision was made to delay No Time to Die until November, COVID-19 had caused theaters in China to shut down and Italy was the site of a major outbreak in Europe. Marketing for No Time to Die was well underway when the delay to November was announced.

Since then, Asia and Europe have moved to contain the virus. But major states in the U.S. — including Florida, Texas and California — have had major outbreaks. Theaters in the U.S. have been deciding when and how to reopen.

No Time to Die is being released in the U.S. by United Artists Releasing, co-owned by MGM, and by Universal internationally. MGM also is Bond’s home studio.

The last James Bond film to have a summer release date was 1989’s Licence to Kill.