James Bond publicity tour in China ‘scrapped’ over coronavirus fears

James Bond No Time To Die — The cast will not be completing a promotional tour in China (Picture: Universal Pictures)

Daniel Craig will not be bringing 007 to China for the release of No Time To Die following fears about the growing coronavirus outbreak.

Ahead of the release of No Time To Die in April, James Bond and co were due to embark on a publicity tour in China for the country’s huge film market and attend a premiere in Beijing for China.

But following developments with coronavirus, with the number of cases worldwide reaching 67,000 on Saturday, officials in Beijing have ordered everyone returning to the city to go into quarantine for 14 days, closing 70,000 cinema screens across the country in the process.

With it looking unlikely that the theaters will open again anytime soon, The Times has reported that Daniel and his co-stars Ana De Armas, Lashana Lynch and Rami Malek have cancelled their upcoming tour to China.

The closing of Beijing’s cinemas is set to have a huge impact on No Time To Die’s launch, as the Chinese film market is the second largest in the world, with the last Bond film Spectre taking in a record breaking £36 million in its opening weekend alone.

Metro.co.uk has approached James Bond reps for comment.

New James Bond 25 film: Cast announcement. Featuring: Ana de Armas, Naomie Harris, Daniel Craig, Lashana Lynch, Lea Seydoux, Cary Joji Fukunaga When: 25 Apr 2019 Credit: Supplied by WENN **WENN does not claim any ownership including but not limited to Copyright, License in attached material. Fees charged by WENN are for WENN's services only, do not, nor are they intended to, convey to the user any ownership of Copyright, License in material. By publishing this material you expressly agree to indemnify, to hold WENN, its directors, shareholders, employees harmless from any loss, claims, damages, demands, expenses (including legal fees), any causes of action, allegation against WENN arising out of, connected in any way with publication of the material.** — The cast of No Time To Die (Picture: ZJJG/LNG/WENN)

epaselect epa08219051 Workers wearing protective suits gather after they disinfected a residential area in Beijing, China, 15 February 2020. Beijing officials ordered everyone returning to the city after the holidays to go into quarantine for 14 days in order to control the spread of coronavirus. The disease caused by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has been officially named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO). The outbreak, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has so far killed at least 1,526 people with over 67,000 infected worldwide, mostly in China. EPA/WU HONG — People in Beijing have been encouraged to stay in quarantine to stop the virus spreading (Picture: WU HONG/EPA)

It’s already breaking records as the longest Bond film to date (at almost three hours long), with Grammy-winning girl of the moment Billie Eilish recording the new theme tune we’ve had on repeat since Friday.

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Meanwhile, a new teaser for the film has dropped, reuniting Daniel with sassy Bond girl Ana after they recently starred together in Knives Out.

We also got a sneak peak at Bohemian Rhapsody star Rami’s masked baddie Safin (did anyone else think Phantom of the Opera? Just us?), as well as Christoph Waltz’s return as villain Blofeld following his debut in Spectre.

James Bond: No Time To Die is released in UK cinemas on Friday 3 April.

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