Bond 25 questions: Still on track for November?

No Time to Die teaser poster

There hasn’t been a lot of news on the No Time to Die front. But there has been enough to get fans interested. As usual, the blog has questions.

No Time to Die Licensees are moving forward. Doesn’t that mean that No Time to Die has to be coming out in November, as scheduled?

That depends on whether you think the licensees are in the loop or not.

But yes, we have new NTTD-based Funko Pops and two limited-edition Aston Martin cars based on the 25th James Bond film coming out.

What do you make of the comments by an MGM executive on a recent investor call?

Personally, I think Christopher Brearton, the company’s chief operating officer, is hedging his bets.

On the one hand, he said Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer “currently” has three films scheduled for 2020, including No Time to Die in November.

On the other hand, he also said: “We continue to monitor and adjust the timing of our remaining 2020 (film) slate.”

But we’ll see.

Will No Time to Die come out on premium video on demand (PVOD)?

It’s one thing to bring out Bill & Ted Face the Music (from MGM’s Orion brand) on PVOD. It’s another to bring out a big “tentpole” movie like No Time to Die.

Walt Disney Co. is going the PVOD route with Mulan, another big movie. But Disney doesn’t have a lot of company right now.

Brearton said “great movies” can “be monetized” in a number of ways. But he certainly didn’t say No Time to Die would go the PVOD route. He spoke more generally about using theaters and PVOD in the near term for films.

MGM still lists No Time to Die as November release

MGM’s Leo the Lion logo

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, at least for now, is still listing No Time to Die as a November release.

“We continue to monitor and adjust the timing of our remaining 2020 (film) slate,” Christopher Brearton, the company’s chief operating officer, said on an investor call earlier this month.

Brearton listed three releases with 2020 dates: Bill & Ted Face the Music (coming out in theaters and premium video on demand) late this month; Candyman, released through Universal, in October; and No Time to Die in November.

No Time to Die originally was slated to come out in April but was delayed to November because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Movie theaters have been slow to reopen amid the virus.

“The theatrical marketplace is in flux,” the executive said. “There’s great uncertainty about what the near term holds for access and attendance.”

Brearton said MGM still is optimistic about theatrical distribution in the long run. The studio may utilize a mix of theaters and PVOD to distribute movies in the near term, he said.

No Time to Die is being released by United Artists Releasing, co-owned by MGM and Annapurna Pictures, in the U.S. and Universal internationally.