MGM and Universal’s James Bond film “No Time to Die” has set a new high for Hollywood this year, passing the “Fast & Furious” film “F9” to become the highest-grossing MPA release of the year and third-highest among all global films.
Since its release in the U.K. and several other international territories on Oct. 1, “No Time to Die” has grossed $579 million internationally, where Universal is handling distribution for most territories, and $154 million domestically, where MGM is handling distribution. That gives it a total of $733 million, topping the $721 million that “F9” grossed over the summer.
While profits from theatrical grosses have been significantly reduced because of increased costs for marketing, product placement, and other factors related to its repeated delays forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, “No Time to Die” has outperformed multiple Marvel films, including “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” which is the top domestic grosser this year with $224 million but has only grossed $206 million overseas.
No Time to Die brought Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond to a close in style when it premiered last month in cinemas, but it could well prove to be the ultimate swan song as the film’s worldwide box office takings passed the $733 mark this weekend, making it the highest-grossing Hollywood film of the year as it sped past F9: The Fast Saga. While the film may not have performed as well as some at the domestic box office, with Eternals set to push it down to 7th in that chart, the international appetite for Bond has been enough to boost the film above the 9th outing of the Fast and Furious franchise.
With both films coming in part from Universal Pictures, they will be quite pleased with the outcome, as the two films are currently holding off Marvel’s 2021 offerings of Black Widow, Shang-Chi, and the Legend of the Ten Rings and, for now, Eternals. Although there are a small number of big movies to come, including this week’s release of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and December’s Spider-Man: No Way Home and The Matrix Resurrection to come, 2021, and indeed the pandemic era, looks like it is going to be dominated by Daniel Craig’s superspy departure.
The journey of No Time to Die to cinemas has not been easy, having originally been planned for release back in 2019. Owing to the departure of Danny Boyle as direct, the film was delayed until April 2020, and that was enough to land it into the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. A decision was initially made to delay the movie until November 2020, then April 2021 and finally, with a hope of giving the movie the theatrical run it deserved – and with all involved adamant it would not be going to a streaming platform – it landed in late September for most international markets and early October for the U.S. and fans were more than ready for it.
Michael De Luca, Chairman of MGM’s film group, and Pamela Abdy, MGM Film Group President said of the achievement, “We are so thrilled to see audiences returning to theaters across the world and for their ongoing support of the theatrical experience. After a long delay, we are especially gratified to know No Time to Die has entertained so many moviegoers the world over. Along with our partners at Eon, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, all of us at MGM are grateful to the teams at Universal Pictures, United Artists Releasing, and in our own MGM territories for their tremendous efforts to cross this great milestone with No Time to Die.
Due to the unheard-of delay with the movie’s release, it has led to Daniel Craig being crowned as the longest-serving Bond in the almost 60-year history of the franchise and the search for his successor to be postponed to 2022 to allow the actor to have his final moment of glory as the iconic character.
The film was released on digital, DVD and Blu-Ray in early November after only a 31 day theatrical window, which is usually unheard of for such a big movie, however as large numbers of the older demographic that James Bond films appeal to have been hesitant to return to cinemas just yet, it should lead to No Time to Die also doing well in the home media market as well.