It looks like we’re all going to have to wait a little longer for the next James Bond film. I mean, we’ve all waited this long, so why not longer? The film seems destined to not be seen. With the recent coronavirus outbreak and films like Disney’s upcoming live-action Mulan (2020) being in debate on whether its release date should be postponed, fans got on the ball just a couple days ago to petition the last Daniel Craig Bond movie have a later release date, according to JoBlo Media. Something about that must have worked, because as of this morning, according to Entertainment Weekly, “after careful consideration,” No Time to Die has now greatly shifted its release date officially from just next month on April 10, 2020 to the holiday season date of November 25, 2020. This will likely both anger and relieve many Bond fans, but it is nice to know that public health is being put ahead of financial success. Although, the shift to November might only improve the box office returns No Time to Die will receive.

With the seemingly string of bad luck No Time to Die has faced since pre-production, it seems only fitting that the 25th Bond film would have one last obstacle to overcome. As many Bond and movie fans know, or anyone who keeps up with film news knows, No Time to Die has had issues from day one, from the obvious reservations of the film’s star Daniel Craig, to a change of directors, to a change of film composers, to now yet another release date change. At one point No Time to Die was supposed to release fall 2019, then that was pushed to the curious Valentine’s Day 2020, then to the most recently marketed date of April 10, 2020. While the November release does make a Bond fan like me upset because of my high anticipation for the film, it does make more sense to me. The last several Bond films starring Daniel Craig have all released in November (i.e. Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), and Spectre (2015)). Pierce Brosnan (Mamma Mia! (2008)) was the previous actor last seen as Bond before Daniel Craig in Die Another Day (2002), and all of his films including that one were released in November or December. In fact, the last Bond film to not release in the fall was back in 1989 with Timothy Dalton (Toy Story 3 (2010)) as 007 in License to Kill when it came out in July. Both of these stand to reason. You usually get more of a theater crowd during the summer or around the holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas. But February and April 2020 never really did make sense logistically or financially. Maybe the Bond producers wanted to keep closer to the intended fall 2019 release date and get it out as soon as possible. While many fans (the ones who did not petition) are likely to be upset by this coronavirus news, it will probably see better box office results with a November release date, which it deserves. We can only hope that things in the world will be better by that point so we can finally see this thing.

At least in the meantime we have those awesome trailers to keep us excited, along with the recently announced, published, and posted title song from the youngest Bond film singer to date, Billie Eilish. In case you were not aware, you can go listen to it now on YouTube. It definitely fits in with Adele’s “Skyfall” from the movie of the same name, and Sam Smith’s “The Writing’s on the Wall” from the most recent Bond film, Spectre.

Directed by Cary Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation (2015)), No Time to Die will now be released in the US on November 25, 2020, and in the UK on November 12, 2020, where obviously a large part of the 007 fan base lies. The movie will star Daniel Craig (Logan Lucky (2017)), Ana de Armas (Knives Out (2019)), Lashana Lynch (Captain Marvel (2019)), Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)), Léa Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Color (2013)), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained (2012)), Jeffrey Wright (Shaft (2000)), Ralph Fiennes (The Reader (2008)), Naomie Harris (Collateral Beauty (2016)), Rory Kinnear (The Imitation Game (2014)), and Billy Magnussen (Into the Woods (2014)).