“No Time” Hold-Up Hurts Theaters

Late last week came this news. From The Spy Command:

No Time to Die has been delayed again, this time to April 2021, the Eon Productions official James Bond website said.

The 25th James Bond film has had a series of release dates. At one point, it was to come out in April of this year. It got pushed back to November because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Now we’re seeing ripple effects from that decision:

The second largest cinema chain in the US is temporarily closing its doors nationwide. Cineworld, parent company of Regal, announced that it will be suspending operations of its 536 Regal theaters as of Thursday, October 8. The suspension also affects 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse cinemas in the UK.

Cineworld had only just reopened theaters in August. The closures will impact approximately 40,000 employees across the US, the company announced. It also affects 5,500 employees in the UK, The Guardian reports.

Today’s announcement follows news over the weekend that the release of the 25th James Bond film, No Time to Die, has again been pushed back to April 2021 due to the ongoing pandemic. Theaters were counting on the latest 007 installment to drive sagging ticket sales.

The full report on Cineworld’s decision is here.

READ MORE: “NTTD: Key Events, Dates That Shaped Expectations,”
by Bill Koenig (The Spy Command).