The No Time to Die publicity machine apparently decided Nov. 3 was a great day to lift media embargoes for No Time to Die stories. Given how nobody can see the movie for the foreseeable future, it’s more like STFU Day.
Yes, yes, this was probably decided back when the 25th James Bond film was scheduled to come out this month. Still, given how nobody is going to see the movie until April 2021 (if then), there’s an odd feel to all this.
Example: GQ comes out with a long story about Rami Malek, with lots of photos of him wearing expensive clothes. Meanwhile, the 39-year-old actor assures us we’ll be “shocked” when the movie comes out.
Whenever that is. OK, champ. Get back to us when we can actually check it out.
Example II: NTTD director-screenwriter Cary Fukunaga boasts to The Playlist that the Safin villain played by Malek is “bigger” than Blofeld.
Earth to Cary: That’s not much of a boast. Better than Donald Pleasance? Charles Gray? Telly Savalas? Christoph Waltz? Blofeld was best on-screen in the Eon Productions series with the body of Anthony Dawson and voice of Eric Pohlman.
Example III: Harper’s Bazaar came out with a new issue with Lashana Lynch on the cover. It also has a (nominal) No Time to Die spoiler. So if you really want to see it, CLICK HERE. Later on Tuesday, the entire Harper’s story goes online with the spoiler displayed prominently, including the headline.
Yes, No Time to Die has had its share of bad luck. But this week rings hollow. “You wait and see! It’ll be really good!” Whatever. Whenever.
Filed under: James Bond Films | Tagged: Bond 25, Cary Joji Fukunaga, GQ, No Time to Die, Rami Malek, The Playlist |
The Spy Command 
Bill, Please send me a street address and I will send you an autographed book!
Best, Steve
Sent from my iPhone
>
Steve: I sent you an email.
Regarding Malek’s comment that the new film will “shock” us: This feels to me like a very 2010s comment. So much of this past decade’s cinema franchises has tried to shock us in some way (‘The Last Jedi’, ‘Spectre’, ‘Avengers: Endgame’) instead of just delivering a good story well.