In early October, with cases of Covid-19 rising in Europe, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer decided to pull the plug on its plans to release “No Time to Die” at Thanksgiving.The studio had made a similar decision last March as coronavirus first gripped the world, pushing the release of the 25th James Bond adventure back by eight months only to discover that it hadn’t run far enough ahead of a worsening public health catastrophe.
The move was financially painful, given that the studio had already spent $66 million in marketing costs.
Bringing “No Time to Die” to the screen was already a pricey proposition — the film, which marks Daniel Craig’s final turn as 007, carried a $301 million net budget.
Plus, Craig and producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G.
Wilson, who control the rights to the series, have generous backend and profit participation deals, limiting the amount of money MGM is able to make on the movie.
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