The No Time to Die delay is just the latest example of major public and commercial events being scrapped due to reasonable fears of the coronavirus crisis. In the last week alone, Google has cancelled its I/O developers conference, which was slated for May, Facebook’s F8 Developers conference has likewise cancelled, and the Game Developers Conference, which was scheduled to occur in San Francisco later this month, has been postponed until at least summer. Amazon, Twitter, and Mashable have all also pulled out of SXSW (although the film, music, and tech festival is still scheduled to go on), while Disney closed Shanghai Disney in January and more recently closed Hong Kong Disneyland, and is now also temporarily shuttering Japan’s Tokyo’s Disneyland and DisneySea. The Universal Studios in Tokyo has likewise closed.
These events appear prudent given the rapid spread of coronavirus across six of the planet’s seven continents, including recent escalation in the U.S., which has seen 129 confirmed cases and nine deaths so far. Globally there have been more than 94,800 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection, which has resulted in the death of at least 3,238 people.
No Time to Die still remains one of the most anticipated movie events of 2020. Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, it is the 007 swan song to the Daniel Craig era, which has lasted five films. Intended to close the book on Craig’s iteration of James Bond, the movie has already endured delays in the past as it evolved from a Danny Boyle project into a Fukunaga movie. The film also stars Léa Seydoux, Ana de Armas, Lashana Lynch, and Rami Malek as the newest Bond villain, Safin.
