As the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak continues to spread across the globe, its repercussions are felt in the film industry. The effects on the Chinese film industry were felt almost immediately, as 70,000 theatres across the country were closed for the foreseeable future. Chinese ticket sales over the period of January 24th to February 23rd were $4.2 million, a meagre amount when compared to the $1.76 billion that was earned over the same period in 2019.
The outbreak has also resulted in delayed-release on a slew of films including Doolittle, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Onward. Now, it’s delayed the release on the highly-anticipated James Bond film, No Time to Die.
The Cary Joji Fukunaga-directed film was scheduled for an April 2nd release. However “after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace,” the film will now arrive on November 12th.
The postponement comes after a call to delay the release due to coronavirus was published on James Bond fan site MI6-HQ. The website published an open letter, urging producers to delay the release of the film.
“With the coronavirus reaching pandemic status, it is time to put public health above marketing release schedules and the cost of cancelling publicity events,” the letter read.
As it stands there are now 50 recorded cases of coronavirus in Australia.
