Watch: No Time To Die trailer as Bond set to return November 11
No Time To Die will feature Daniel Craig in his fifth and final outing as superspy James Bond — after yet another delay.
The final trailer of the much-delayed Bond film No Time To Die has been released along with confirmation 007 will return to Australian screens on November 11.
But for Australian audiences it will be almost impossible to avoid spoilers including the final outcome for Daniel Craig’s James Bond in his fifth and final outing.
The story picks up after the capture of villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld, played by Christoph Waltz, with Bond no longer in active service.
The long-awaited clip sees the pair come face-to-face, with Blofeld asking Bond: “Now your enemy is my enemy. How did that happen?”
Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, No Time To Die will follow Bond on a mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist which will put him on the trail of a new villain, played by Rami Malek.
Léa Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris also star, with Jeffrey Wright, Christoph Waltz and Ralph Fiennes as “M”.
The trailer is a sure sign that the 25th Bond movie is on course for its scheduled release. Scheduled to open in Australia last April, the film was one of the first to be pushed back in 2020 in response to the pandemic, most recently to September 30.
While the nationwide release date of November 11 gives Australian states in lockdown a chance to reopen cinemas, it is significantly after the opening in the US on October 8 which could put a dampner on ticket sales.
The global film industry is pinning its hopes for a box-office recovery on No Time To Die, but distributor NBC Universal is still grappling with the challenges thrown up by Covid-related lockdowns.
Industry experts told The Australian last month the scheduling of Hollywood blockbusters around Covid lockdowns will be done on a case-by-case basis, influenced by factors including global release dates, licensing obligations and financial marketing risks.
Stephen Basil-Jones, executive vice-president of Sony Pictures Australia, said that if blockbusters are launched in cinemas in Australia’s locked-down states after other states have seen them, it will reduce box office returns: “There’ll be other films coming along that will be fresher, more immediate,” he says.
Michael Hawkins, of the National Association of Cinema Operators, said that even though cinema seasons of Free Guy, Suicide Squad, No Time To Die and Dune have been, or could be, truncated by lockdowns, they will eventually screen in all Australian states.
“Exhibitors will make room for these titles among the new blockbusters launching,” he said.