I‘m still hoping for a comfortable and safe streaming or blu ray premiere here at my flat in time for Christmas.
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I have my doubts about any large scale premiere event this year. Without having each and every person screened with slow PCR tests - guests, staff, journalists, fans - it may not even be realistic to plan for a huge gathering of VIPs. We’re currently seeing escape mutations popping up the impact of which by October is still unknown.
It may be just about feasible to release the film and let markets themselves decide whether to run the risk or not. But an event with celebrities and industry heads partying seems like a stretch as of now.
The important thing to understand is, the vaccine rollout isn’t the major force behind the falling case numbers in the UK yet - that’s the impact of the lockdown. Until October the vaccination may be enough to provide a grade of herd immunity. But we’ll probably only see in October whether that is actually the case.
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And really - 10 million pounds for a useless event? If we need to be made aware of this movie, such a premiere will not help.
Giving away 10 million pounds to charity, yeah, that would raise awareness.
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If they do carry on with a UK premier they really should offer tickets to the NHS folks. They deserve the red carpet treatment after everything they’ve done this past year.
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I understand the commentary about spending 10 million pounds. From a Bond fan point of view though the franchise is a spectacle and something like this would be fitting of the series and Craig’s farewell. And if true, it’s an indication the movie really is coming out this year.
If they could pull it off I’m all for it.
In pre-COVID-times I would have shrugged off the big premiere as “yeah, that’s something they would do”.
But the world has changed. And premieres which burn money like that are just… well, disgusting to me.
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While I appreciate the banging of the Covid drum and the, ever ‘erring on the safe side’ with streaming options, at the end of the day, that isn’t Bond. Is it?
£10m on a premiere, footballers get paid more than nurses, one could go on.
At the end of the day, if Bond were to limp out with barely a media squeak, then this would not demonstrate a show of confidence, that, by the time the vaccines are rolled out to all, would be a responsible and positive approach to the ‘coming out from under Covid’. In my opinion. And, I daresay a limping release would not pave the way to recoup the funds and revenues for a project that, not only has to return a profit, but lay the way for aNother Bond film.
Push to shove, the world has to get confident again. And this, in our little universe, could do it. Responsibly.
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I have no doubt that there will be some kind of hullabaloo to get NO TIME TO DIE off the starting blocks. Will it be a stadium event, like a rock concert? Or a series of smaller affairs spread over the markets?
The usual premiere events are more or less pulled just for the reporting about them. The meet-and-greet and aftershow party crowd pay a handsome penny - but the big profit is the publicity, the media coverage.
Now with NO TIME TO DIE being released after the plague the coverage will certainly be there. The premiere itself would be a largely symbolic event*, more important for the general atmosphere than for the film perhaps.
*Aren’t all premieres largely symbolic?
What would really irritate me after all of these delays is if, being in Australia, I have to wait an extra two weeks for the release here just so the producers and stars can do their red carpet world tour.
I’ve always resented having to wait the extra time for the releases here, and it will be doubally worse after waiting all this time (especially as it could open to full capacity cinemas here in Australia tomorrow if they wanted).
I respectfully disagree. Is Bond really “oh, don’t care about anything else, I always go BIG, eff other people”? Not to me, he isn’t.
I´m not arguing for “barely a media squeak” but for a media approach that fits these times, not the 1960´s.
And really, confidence is not what will help us through this life-or-death-or suffering for the last years of your life-situation. It´s sensible ideas and solidarity.
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The drama notwithstanding, has Eon ever demonstrated a ‘don’t care’ and/or irresponsible attitude? As far as I have noted, there has never been any conflict in this area. Serial postponements would seem to exemplify such.
But, if vaccine rollout plans are to be believed, then so too should others plan for a Return to Normal, or as close as.
The ‘confidence’ to which I speak is not a confidence based on anything other than the vaccines are seen to be working, people are not falling over, and there is something to incentivise a return and celebration of sorts. ‘Confidence’ will not be demonstrated with an endless diatribe of believing one will forever sit in ones box, in perpetuity.
I believe you might understand this.
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You’re right to believe I might.
But again, confidence is silly in this context.
If Great Britain is vaccinated to a helpful degree in October then that’s wonderful. But the rest of the world, a huge part of the world, will not be.
To think that a 10 million pound premiere will show confidence that everything is normal again or can be soon - well, that’s some sort of colonial attitude which I do not subscribe to.
Of course, those kinds of premieres will happen again, I have no doubt. But I am very confident that the mass audience does not care about those PR methods of yesteryear anymore. They will be aware of a film when it is hyped on social media. Anything else, they will shrug it off. Sure, it will fill the tabloids and their social media accounts. But if they didn’t go ahead with that premiere it would not change one iota about the box office.
And again, I find it not only ridiculous but disgusting to burn that kind of money for all those VIPs. And I feel pity for those who encourage those events without even getting the chance to attend it.
But that’s just my personal opinion. So I put on my moderator hat again now and say: yay… a big premiere for the fans.
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Ok, being myself of a largely, non social media using age, I daresay you are absolutely right.
One minor point, the money being spent on such an event is one thing, but premieres are also Charity Events, so money will be raised for at least one good cause. And, while we do not know which charity that might be, what are the chances that it could go to something Covid related this time?
Now, as to whether the money spent equates to, or is Less than the charitable earnings, well that is an entirely other argument for just how disgusting it all is…
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For the German fans: Today, Universal has shifted some release dates in Germany - but September 30th for NTTD remains the same.
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Now almost confirmed (though Cineworld is the first major UK chain to announce such a deal with Universal) - Bond is coming home for Christmas (if not delayed again)
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A welcome development if it turns out this way.
Fact is, if we wait for everything to be perfect there are never going to be any future releases. This market will only gradually recover and releases will have to take this approach for the foreseeable future. In some markets this may be the new normal for good.
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It is impossible to say when exactly every country can open cinemas safely again. Maybe a release of any movie really should depend on the local vaccination situation.
Here in Germany, some parts are further along than others. In NRW it still is going very slowly (and being in the last group I will probably have to wait until August/September before I am able to even ask for a first shot).
But movie releases cannot be spread apart anymore, piracy would dent the grosses immediately.
So, let’s face the facts, MGM and EON. NTTD was targeted to be the most successful of all Bond films, but it will end up as the least grossing one, due to these circumstances.
Home video will be great though.
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To think that we already expected that for last Christmas… 
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