The hotly-anticipated James Bond film No Time To Die is reportedly set to have the world’s biggest premiere when it is released in September.
According to reports from The Mirror on Saturday, MGM and the film’s producers are said to have set aside £10 million for the grand event in the UK.
It was claimed that those behind-the-scenes are keen to have the premiere take place in a large London stadium like Wembley Arena.
Wow! James Bond film No Time To Die ‘is set to have the world’s biggest premiere with a £10 MILLION budget’, it was reported on Saturday (pictured: Daniel Craig)
A source speaking to the publication claimed: ‘They think they can pull off the biggest in-person premiere of the post-pandemic era, and have already put aside a whopping £10million for an event in England that will signal the return of these kinds of flashy movie launches that everybody’s been missing for the last year.
‘They are looking at the biggest venues in London, starting with Wembley and going down from there, and have enquired about the Staples Center in Los Angeles for a US premiere.
‘MGM and the Bond team have never liked the idea of launching this movie without a red carpet event, which is one of the many reasons they’ve rolled with all the delays.’
MailOnline has contacted representatives of the James Bond franchise for further comment.
Big event: It was claimed that those behind-the-scenes are keen to have the premiere take place in a large London stadium like Wembley Arena (pictured: Ana de Armas)
The much anticipated blockbuster has seen its planned premiere pushed back multiple times due to the Covid pandemic, after originally being slated to come out in April 2020.
But following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement that the government hope to end all lockdown restrictions on June 21, it was reported in February that No Time To Die’s release has been brought forward to 30 September.
Reports surfaced about the release date change after Tom Linay, who is marketing company Digital Cinema Media’s Content Business Director, tweeted the news.
Exciting: The blockbuster has seen its planned premiere pushed back multiple times due to the Covid pandemic, and is now slated for release on September 30
The final entry in the franchise to star Daniel Craig will still be released in the United States on October 8 as planned.
MailOnline has contacted representatives for Eon for comment at the time.
Since the Covid pandemic began, No Time To Die has opted to push back its release date rather than be released at a time when cinemas are either closed, or forced to open with limited capacity.
On Monday Boris confirmed that cinemas in England will re-open on May 17 with social distancing measures in place, adding it’s hoped that all legal restrictions will be lifted on June 21 if the vaccination programme continues.
Worth the wait: The final entry in the franchise to star Daniel Craig will still be released in the United States on October 8 as planned (pictured: Rami Malek)
It comes just a month after No Time To Die changed its release date to early October from April 2, after already being hit by several delays due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The film, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, was originally scheduled for release in April 2020, but was pushed back to November before the release was changed once again to April 2021 in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
No Time To Die is the 25th film in the franchise, and finds Bond after he has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica when his old friend Felix Leiter, played by Jeffrey Wright, from the CIA turns up asking for help.
At last! No Time To Die was set to come out on April 2 after originally being slated for April 2020, but has faced multiple delays due to the Covid pandemic
Leaving his seemingly happy life with Madeleine (Lea Seydoux), Bond returns to the field to face Safin (Rami Malek) who is armed with a new dangerous technology that could impact the world.
Producer Barbara Broccoli has already teased what fans can expect and said that the movie will deliver a satisfying ending for Daniel’s Bond.
Speaking on the official James Bond podcast, she said: ‘It’s a culmination of everything that his portrayal of the character has been through and it ties up all the storylines. It’s a pretty epic film, I have to say.’
Ending: The new release will be Daniel Craig’s final outing as the spy after landing the role for 2006’s Casino Royale. He has also starred in Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre
After pushing the film’s release back to April 2021 in October, MGM quashed rumours about whether it was thinking of offering the film to streaming services for a $600 million one-year licensing deal.
‘We do not comment on rumours. The film is not for sale. The film’s release has been postponed until April 2021 in order to preserve the theatrical experience for moviegoers,’ an MGM spokesperson told Variety.
Bloomberg had reported that Netflix, Amazon and Apple had all been approached about the possibility of the movie being offered up for Premium VOD.
Denial: After pushing the film back to April 2021 in October, MGM quashed rumours that it was thinking of offering the film to streaming services for a $600 million one-year licensing deal
However, according to Deadline.com, none of the streaming services were willing to put up more than half the amount the studio was seeking.
Lead actor Craig did defend James Bond producers’ decision to delay the premiere of the new film in October last year.
Speaking on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Craig said: ‘This thing is just bigger than all of us. We want to release the movie at the same time all around the world and this isn’t the right time. So fingers cross April 2 is going to be our date.’
The new release will be Craig’s final outing as the spy after landing the role for 2006’s Casino Royale. He has also starred in Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre.
Nope! It was reported that no streaming service had been willing to put up more than half the amount the studio was seeking (pictured: Ralph Fiennes Naomie Harris, and Rory Kinnear)